Healing Journey

What if by slowing down and loving well, we could find find healing?

I have lived short-term in three Latin American countries and have a few years under my belt with American culture. In all four of the countries where I have lived, my heart breaks seeing people who suffer and struggle to just get by, and I am not talking about financially. People are tired, stressed, weighed down by the demands of the world. I see it in their dull eyes, tense bodies, lack of joy. Modern culture doesn't discriminate when it comes to who it devours.

Context: Last year at age 24, I was on the brink of complete burnout. I was chronically aching all over, wrestling with terrible anxiety, and felt numb to everything. I had spent the last few years of my life serving vulnerable youth and not prioritizing taking care of myself out of fear of being selfish. I was consumed by the need around me. It felt impossible to ever stop, to ever say no, to ever allow myself to be passionate about anything besides fixing all the brokenness that surrounded me. That is a slippery slope. When I was constantly exposed to heavy things, I could not ignore them. They started to weigh on me. But, even still, I have to remember that I am not God. No human bears the responsibility of fixing the world and all its problems. We cannot. We must trust that his infiniteness will be magnified in our limited capacity to do.

So we choose to keep loving, serving, working, and gathering. Yet, even followers of Jesus are burning out like the rest of the world. Why? Following Jesus does not make us immune to the world or give us super-human abilities. We still have limitations. Why do we think that we can be involved in excessive amounts of activities or commitments, whether they be "good Christian" things or not, and not feel the affects of having a saturated life?

I am not the most qualified person to be sharing this, but I share from from my personal story. I don't believe we need another medication to ease the aches, another religious activity to inspire us, another counseling session to calm us down, another night out to distract us. These are good things, but without an accompanying lifestyle change, they are just another box to check off. We need to slow down, reprioritize, and make time to do simple things that our souls really crave: take a walk, call a friend, watch the stars, be still and connect with God through nature around us, cook a good meal. I think we need to make space for God to love us and move in our midst. We cannot experience that when we are running 90 to nothing.

I used to run as far as I could from a simple lifestyle. It felt boring and betty homemaker to my vagabond soul. Until I realized that these are the things that healed me- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I experienced restoration because of the grace and love of God I experienced through people who walked with me, the friends who listened, the homemade meals that nourished me, the sunsets and stars that filled me with awe again. The Lord allowed me to experience the healing power of slowing down and being loved by others in simple ways.

I am passionate about empowering others to walk with God in a sustainable way which includes holistic wellbeing. I believe this includes sharing my testimony of healing and how others can find healing for themselves as well. You don't need to have lots of resources or be in a certain location with access to certain products to heal. This is the theory: slowing down and taking time to love God, love others, and love ourselves is the first step to healing. Healing is a lot simpler than we make it, but that doesn't mean it is easy.

Jeremiah 6:16 says to "stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls". Today, may we pause, reflect, and ask God to guide us as we seek holistic healing that brings peace, not just for our sake, but for the sake of a broken world around us who also desperately needs it.

What area of your life needs healing or restoration? How is God calling you to slow down and love/be loved today?