Have you ever felt like something is not quite right, but you can’t put your finger on it? I’ve had that feeling the last couple of days. I can tell because I am unusually forgetful and distracted. I might walk into a room and can’t remember why I went in there, and then retrace my steps, remember what I needed, and go back. And do it all over again. My thoughts jump from one topic to another like fleas on a dog. I can be deep in conversation with someone and stop talking mid-sentence, completely forgetting what I was going to say next.

And I withdraw. I don’t want to talk to anyone, be near anyone. I just want to stay in the bed and pull the covers over my head.

Sometimes it takes me getting to the “covers-over-the-head” stage before I’m willing to stop long enough to figure out what might be going on. Am I am losing my mind?  Oh, no. Maybe I’m developing early Alzheimer’s. But wait. People with Alzheimer’s don’t usually escape to their bed and pull the covers over their heads.  It’s the people that are anxious or depressed  that do that. Am I depressed? Anxious? What is stressing me out so much that I don’t want to get out of my jammies? 

I start reviewing the last few days.  Well, I just got back from a wonderful Christian writers conference. I met some great folks. It was uplifting and informative.  But instead of benefiting from this flood of information, I am letting it paralyze me. So much to do. Where do I start? Do I finish what I have been working on, or do I abandon it and go a different direction? Do I take one expert’s advice and build my platform for a year before publishing my book, or do I send off book proposals now? Should I focus on writing articles, or starting a video blog?

So here I am. Under the covers. In my jammies.

I know, I know.  God can help me break free from this downward swirl of thoughts and emotions. I’m just not quite sure how. Sigh. As the covers creep back over my head, something catches my eye. The book Ordinary Graces by Lucinda McDowell is peeking out of my purse, placed there by my new friend Lucinda right as we were leaving the conference. I reached over and pick it up, and I start to read. Each devotion holds a fresh truth, and page by page I feel my fears slip away like raindrops beading off a windshield.  Peace—that supernatural peace that only God can give– settles over me. I can relax. God’s got this. And He’s got me.

What about you? Are you feeling the effects of stress? Have you been forgetful? Distracted? Hurried? How might God be speaking to you?

In Isaiah, God said “Do not fear for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about, for I am your God.”

God is here. He loves us more than we can fathom. And when we focus on God, and not our situation, our fears fade away. He knows what we need before we ask Him. God will help us to see what our next steps should be–and when it is best to just be still.

Because He knows that sometimes what we need most is a jammy day.

By Lydia Floren