Waking up with hives on day 3 of a ten day Alaskan cruise wasn’t exactly what I had planned or hoped for. Out of nowhere, they were everywhere! My body was covered with raised, red blobs that screamed to be scratched. I wasn’t sure what triggered the hives, and it became more and more frustrating when I couldn’t identify a cause.
Over the next few weeks, my hives didn’t go away. Every morning I was greeted with hives in new places, and every morning I would research new information about what might bring some calm to my body.
I wasn’t sure how to pray. I mean, obviously I prayed for God to take them away. But I also prayed for strength to endure. I prayed for the hives to not itch, to not appear on my face, to not keep me from sleeping. I prayed for wisdom in discovering the cause and knowing which medications would work. Who better to ask for help with my body than the One who created and designed it?
I’ve actually been talking with God about bringing calm to my body long before these hives showed up. A few years ago I noticed a slight ringing in my ears when I was trying to fall asleep. Stress really turns up the volume, and the high pitched ringing only increases my anxiety level.
It’s a cycle of irritation that can lead me to wonder if I will actually lose my mind.
Unknowns Start the Cycle:
1. Frustration & Fear
Frustration about this annoying ringing in my ears; Fear about what might be causing it
Frustration about the surprise appearance of hives; Fear about an unknown trigger
2. Research & Reaching Out
Research all things tinnitus; Reach out to specialists
Research foods and medications that may cause allergic reactions; Reach out to doctors about next steps
3. Prayer
“God, please quiet the ringing in my ears. Please show the doctors if there’s anything serious causing it.”
“God, please take away these annoying hives. Please help me find the cause so that I can avoid it.”
4. Frustration & Fear
The cycle repeats when the solutions I’m trying aren’t working.
What Breaks the Cycle?
The only way to Break the Cycle of being Consumed by the Unknowns of life is to Trust God with our Frustrations & Fears. Worry and anxiety might be the first place our minds go when faced with an unknown, but we don’t have to get stuck there.
We can be Concerned without becoming Consumed.
If singing “Let it Go” was a viable solution, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. There are people and problems in this life that we care too deeply about to just let it go. The people we love are often on our minds, and when problems present themselves, our thoughts can run wild with worry. But we have another option: We can be concerned without becoming consumed.
Trusting God is a choice we get to make so that we won’t become consumed by the worries and troubles of this life. Who better to reach out to than the God who created and designed us and the people we love?
We can put our trust in action by changing our prayers from a list of requests to a posture of trust:
“God, I trust you to quiet the ringing in my ears so that I can focus and get to sleep. I trust that you will give me what I need when I need it.”
“God, I trust you to remove my hives, to identify the cause, to calm my worries. I trust that you truly care about me, and you will have new compassions for me in the morning to face whatever comes.”
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23