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“... but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...” - Romans 12:2 Transformation. A marked change in appearance, nature or form. It’s a biblical concept that is found throughout the entire Bible. From Abraham physically transforming his body through circumcision (Genesis 17"31) to the Disciples miraculously developing the ability to speak multiple languages after receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4); the idea that we become different or new in God is a powerful part of our faith in God. Yet, while it is true that we are a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); unfortunately we still continue to be tempted and taunted by sin. We stand between two different worlds - the Godly world which we have now been given access to; and the Human world which is full of temptation. Last week we explored these worlds and started discussing how our values can influence which world we walk in. We discussed how it is important to step away from these worldly values and instead embrace Godly values. However, I don't know about you but just getting told to stop embracing the worldly values and start embracing Godly ones is as likely as my daughter going to sleep immediately after I tell her to. Instead, we need to recognise the role and importance of choice in any and all situations. It is one of the greatest gifts of God - free will and the ability to choose which dates back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. No matter the circumstances - whether they are good or bad - we have the choice to act in line with our Godly values or act in line with Worldly values. Have a look at this diagram. It is known as the "Choice Point" and outlines how, no matter the situation, we can decide time to walk towards Godly values or away from them. By doing so, we can also identify factors which may encourage us from walking away and strategies to help us embrace walking towards our Godly value. Source: The Act Matrix Let me give you a simple example. I love chocolate. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate. You want to make me happy; offer me some chocolate. However, eating it all the time does not align with my value of being healthy. I therefore have two competing values - enjoying life (by eating chocolate) and being healthy (by not eating chocolate). Now imagine I get invited to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory and an all you can eat chocolate buffet - this is the situation. I feel excited, happy and my desire to eat chocolate increases. I start thinking about how good it would be to eat the chocolate; how yummy it would be. My mind immediately starts thinking of reasons to eat too much chocolate, even though the value I want to be embracing is eating healthy. I think about how hard it would be to regulate my eating while at the chocolate factory - can you imagine all the different types of chocolate I could try - and how much I would miss out on. However, in the long term, acting away from my value of being healthy comes with significant cost including possibilities such as feeling sick from overeating; having a sugar high and subsequent sugar crash and gaining weight. And so, instead of meeting my short term desires to overindulge in chocolate, I make a decision to moderate my chocolate intake to act in line with my value to be healthy. Now I want you to think about our current circumstances. It can be pretty rough at the moment with restrictions on travel, the suggestion to wear a mask outside and the financial impact of COVID on our work and lifestyle. It's easy during these circumstances to be focused prioritising yourself and your needs - a worldly value which we are seeing every day in the shops, with people not wearing masks and failing to socially distance. But the Bible says that we need to be transformed through Christ and stresses the importance of caring for others and supporting them (Philippians 4:2). And so, when we are placed in the situation where we can choose between our worldly values and Godly ones, we can use the Choice Point to make a conscious, mindful decision to follow God and his ways. And in our final week on this topic, we are going to explore how to discern God's values using some of the techniques we have previously covered. Written by Ashleigh Crosilla

Do not be conformed to this world - Romans 12:2 I want you to imagine you are celebrating a milestone birthday. Maybe its your 30th, 40th or even 70th. You are having a big party with all your close friends and family. COVID is no longer a problem so you are in a big room with lots of people who love you - and it is time for speeches. Up stands your best friend or partner - someone who knows you intimately and starts describing you. How do they describe you? Do they say you are friendly? Loving? Supporting? A good friend? Husband? Wife? How does that make you feel inside? Warm? Comforted? Proud? This exercise is designed to help us identify our values - which are words or concepts which define how we want to live our life. These values are developed throughout our life - some we get from our parent; from school or from our friends and life experiences. They influence how you think; how you act, feel and what you do. But sometime's we develop values which are not in line with what God wants for us - values which are of the world so to speak. Romans 12:2 tells us not to “conform” to the world, meaning that we need to recognise when we are acting in a way that is perhaps ok for the world but is not ok for God. For example, I value fun and friendship. In acting in line with this value I may regularly go out with my friends and share a couple of bottles of wine, and finish the night quite drunk. This is quite a normal and acceptable thing to do from a worldly perspective, but Ephesians 5:18 tells us not to get drunk as that can lead to debaunchery. As such, I now have a choice - to continue to conform to the World or stop. “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” - 1 John 3:6 1 John 3:1-7 talks in line with this. It stresses how we cannot be both in the world and connected with God. How we cannot have a relationship with God - be close to God - and keep acting in line with the World. John 14:6 tells us we need to go through Jesus to connect with God and it is only through reading the bible, praying and engaging with others in our community that we can learn and connect with Jesus and therefore recognise whether our values and therefore actions are of God or not (Hebrews 4:12). Therefore, if we are to no longer be confirmed to this world we need to make sure to spend regular time with God and his word; giving him the opportunity to speak to us, showing us where we are sinning - where our values are not aligned with his and make the decision to stop. Next week we are going to explore the second part of Romans 12:2 which instructs us to “transform” our mind and how we can use the psychological concept of ”The Choice Point” to recognise when we are in a situation where we need to change and some common barriers which may stop us from choosing to do so - Written by Ashleigh Crosilla

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - Romans 12:2 When I first found out that we would be going into lockdown I had all these plans about what I would do during my additional time. I would exercise for 30 minutes every day; tidy the linen closest and spend an hour with God every morning. Unfortunately, while I gave it my best shot, the truth is that life got into the way and suddenly lockdown was over and my linen closet hadn't been sorted, my exercise regime was all over the place and my plan to wake early every day to spend time with God was interrupted by my 4 month old daughter. While in many ways this is completely understandable (4 month old kids are hard work), the clashes involved in these various goals ultimately resulted in me achieving nothing. Unsurprisingly, this lack of success in achieving goals is a common part of life and a definite source of frustration. As such, psychologists often suggest that instead of focusing on achieving goals, we instead try and act in line with our "values". Values are the ways that you define how you want to live your life. Much like flavours of ice cream - there are infinite ways to articulate your values and everybody has their own favourites or ones that they want to live by (for a list of values click HERE). The beauty of living by your values rather than goals is that it allows you to broaden how you define success. For example, instead of having the goals to exercise regularly, complete household tasks and spend more time with God, I could instead focus on the values of living a healthy lifestyle, being organised and connecting with God. In this case, what I was actually able to achieve (exercising intermittently; keeping my house generally clean, and; praying while changing Rosa's diaper) was actually acting in line with these values. As Christians, we often find that our worldly values clash with our Godly values and can prevent us from drawing close to God. Over the next three weeks, we are going to explore this concept and how we can seek transformation in how we live our lives through inviting God into transforming our values - how we live the way God designed us to live! -Written by Ashleigh Crosilla.

Over this past three weeks we have explored the concept of the Observing Self and how we can use it and the Thinking Self to hear God's voice clearer and without distraction. In doing so, we have explored cognitive strategies to work with our thoughts including diffusion and mindfulness. However, not all of us are good at using thought based strategies to quieten our mind and instead find that visualization techniques are a more effective strategy. In our final week on this topic we are going to explore how the Psalms use imagery to relate who God is and help us know Him more clearly - thus helping to quieten our mind and hear and "see" God. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. - Psalm 23:2-3 Imagine I want you to start by taking five deep breaths. Breathe in through your mouth, inflating your stomach for four and then breathe out through your mouth, again counting to four. Repeat another three times, feeling your body relax and all the tension leave with your exhale. Now start to imagine that you are lying nearby this beautiful pool. The grass is soft and comfortable underneath you; the wind is gently blowing through your hair and you can smell the freshness of the river. You are nice and relaxed as your body slowly sinks into the ground, comforted by the knowledge that the ground is supporting you. As you relax by this pool, you can hear the water trickling, flowing past you. There is no one around you - nothing but refreshing stillness. Now I want you to imagine Jesus comes to sit beside you. What does he look like? Is he old and wise? Or young and hip? Notice the color of his hair, what he is wearing - the confident and relaxed posture he is in. How is sitting in his presence - do you feel safe, calm and relaxed? He is talking to you now - what is he saying? Observe the sound of his voice – is it gentle? Warm? Friendly? What is he saying to you? How do His words make you feel? Reflect on what he is saying and what you are feeling and then in your own time take another five deep breaths, inhaling for four and exhaling for another four; starting to notice your body and then the world around you. Reflect How was that? What did you notice about this exercise? Did you sense Jesus in your imaginings? Could you hear him? Our imagination is an incredible gift we can use to create visual images such as this to connect the God who is with us, described so helpfully in passages like Psalm 23 above. Note, very importantly, that we let the word of God inspire our imagination and guide us to Jesus - otherwise, we could well be making up just about anything and calling it Jesus. We can visualize our conversations with him in a similar manner. For example - when I am feeling poorly I visualize myself curling up like a baby in God’s arms. Similarly, I often talk to God imaging him like Aslan from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. These visualizations allow me to focus on him, connect with him and be welcome to him speaking to me. The most important thing, in the end, is to use your mind to create spaces for God to become present to - God is of course not simply confined to our minds, but by his Spirit he certainly can and does speak into our thinking and animate our imaginations with powerful insights from him. So, as we finish this series, I hope that it has helped you to feel closer to God; to hear his voice and not get distracted by other things going on in our mind. Written by Ashleigh Crosilla #prayer #hearing_God #Faith #Hope #Imagination

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you - Psalm 119:11 ESV How do we know we're doing God's will? Even more, how do you know that it is God's voice communicating with you? In times when you are distracted, stressed, searching for a particular answer - a particular response - how do you tell God's voice from your own? The Psalm’s continually talk about and refer to hearing God’s voice. Psalm 73 acknowledges that we are continually with God, and that he holds our right hand. It states that he guides us with his counsel and that he is the strength in our heart (Psalm 73:23-26). And the awesome thing is that we can use both the "Observing Self" and "Thinking Self" (here's more on what these are) to notice when we are distracted by our constant thinking, redirect our attention, observe what we are hearing from God and think about whether what we are hearing is in line with his word and teaching. Diffusion One of the easiest techniques for noticing when we are distracted is a psychological concept called "Defusion". Defusion aims to help us separate ourselves from our thoughts by observing the nature of them. For example, instead of worrying about what is for dinner we can instead say to ourselves, "I am currently worrying about what we are having for dinner". Once we have done this, something changes in us. We shift from our thoughts happening to us, to having choice, some control, and a new sense of ability to direct our thinking and thinking attention. Thus, we can choose to redirect our attention back to our praying, reading of God's word, and in short, focus on God. Defusion can be useful in our connecting deeply with God. For example, noticing the paper of the bible we are holding in our hands, the shape and look of the text on the page, or how the sentences sound when we read them are all ways of increasing our sense of noticing. We are diffusing the experiences we're having - drawing them out, becoming more present to them, noticing the different aspects and elements of what we're doing right then and there. Introducing a note of thankfulness into each aspect of what we notice, like having a bible to touch and connect with for example, increases our awareness of God. And when God speaks into our thinking, reading, reflecting, and praying, we can notice this too. How? How do you notice when God speaks? The short answer is that God has a certain tone that is different from your own. God has insights and wisdom that are not your own. And so in your thinking and observing, there will come points where a tone or insight kicks into your processing that is thoroughly different from your own. This can be the voice of God. The more consistently we repeat spending time with God, the more consistently we will experience this, the more we will recognise - this is not me, this is God. How does anyone learn a specific voice in their world? By spending consistent time with that person, you learn their tone, their intonations, their turns of phrase, their insights into the world. It is definitely the same with God, although on a whole new level - He is the Creator of the Universe after all. So, next time you try to spend time with God i encourage you to use the Observing and Thinking Selves to focus on him. Written by Ashleigh Crosilla #prayer #Gods_voice #noticing #thinking #observing #faith

"When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul." Psalm 94:19 Don't we want to get quickly to the experience of Psalm 94:19 - where we hear God's consolations and experience the cheer of our souls? But it's not always that simple in practice, is it? I mean, have you ever found it difficult to fall asleep because you keep thinking about things? Maybe it was what happened at work that day, or a disagreement with a friend. Or perhaps it is thinking about the future - worrying that you might catch COVID, or what is going to happen to your job, your financial situation. Maybe you just couldn't sleep because of sheer excitement!!! In any case, instead of sleeping your mind is keeping you awake with an inner, ultimately unhelpful, dialogue. From the field of Psychology, we would call this mental activity that keeps us stimulated a part of ourselves called the "Thinking Self". It is the unconscious part of our brain that plans, does, sees, feels and acts. As a general rule, it is very difficult to control this part of our mind and yet, is very easy to spend our time consumed by it. It is the part of our mind that can help us to connect with God but also the part of our mind that can disconnect us when we are distracted or focused on other things. Often we spend time battling this part of our mind, getting frustrated when it doesn't do what we want. However, we also have a different part of our self - an observing part. This "Observing Self" is the part of us that we draw upon when we notice the thinking part of our brain. It isn't just a straight stream of consciousness - it is the capacity to notice what we are thinking about within. It is the part of our consciousness that says "hey, I am feeling anxious today" or "hey, I am focused on cooking dinner rather than connecting with God". The beauty of the Observing Self is that it empowers thinking choices within - once we realize what we are doing, observing that our Thinking Self is not focused on God, we have a choice. We can chose to redirect our attention towards God, or we can decide to continue to focus on whatever else is going through our mind. We can notice how the thoughts, feelings, and activity of the Thinking Self is making us feel, and then decide whether we want to continue along this path or instead focus on God. More importantly - we can use the Observing Self to observe God. We can observe the stillness that comes from connecting with Him - the peace and calm of His presence. Much like the Psalms themselves declare, we can focus on noticing God, engaging with the Holy Spirit and seeking comfort from Him. And in doing so, we just might find the Thinking Self calms right down. Try it this week - as the Psalmist found in Psalm 73: But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refugee; I will tell of all your deeds - Psalm 73: 28 Written by Ashleigh Crosilla #thinking #observing #self #prayer #hearing_God #faith #peace

Have you ever been spending time with God and instead of being able to focus on him, you find your mind wandering to other things. Often they are menial thoughts such as "What is for dinner?" or "when was the last time I did the washing?" Other times the thoughts can be more powerful and, on occasions, distressing - such as thinking about a past fight that you had with someone you love, or some form of conflict at work. In any case, instead of focusing on God, instead of being present with him we are distracted by other thoughts - our inner or thinking voice which appears more dominant and powerful. And the hardest thing about this voice is that it is honestly, impossible to turn off. "No doubt about it! God is good - good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world." [Psalm 73:1-5, MSG] The Bible indicates that this difficulty in focusing on God is not something that we alone experience. Asaph, who either wrote these Psalms or transcribed them from King David, clearly writes above of being distracted to such an extent that he missed God's goodness, love and power. What's Ahead Over the next four weeks, using the Psalms, we are going to explore this concept of the "thinking self" and how it can impact our ability to connect with God. We are going to discuss the idea of the "observing self" - a part of ourselves that can help us to focus on hearing God's voice rather than getting stuck in unhelpful streams of consciousness - and explore some strategies that can be used to help us do this. But to begin with, I want to demonstrate the power of the "Thinking Self" using a very simple exercise. Start by grabbing a stop watch and setting it for a minute. For the next minute, I want you to imagine a white elephant. I want you to imagine what it looks like - focus on it legs, ears and trunk. I want you to think about where you would see one, either in the wild or at a zoo. Consider what it would be fed and maybe reflect on what it would be like to ride one. Spend a minute focusing on the white elephant. Ready? Set? Go! Done? I would imagine that it was pretty easy to think about the white elephant. It's an unusual thing to think about - probably not something you consider on a daily basis (I know I don't). Ok, now I want you to reset your timer for another minute. For the next minute I want you to think about anything BUT a white elephant. I don't mind what it is, but do not let the thought, idea or words "white elephant" into your mind. Ready? Set? Go! How was that? Much harder right? Most people find that they cannot stop the thought of a white elephant from coming through - even if that thought is "Don't think about the white elephant". Sometimes in life we feel like we are in battle with our own mind, trying to prevent a thought coming through. But just like with this "white elephant" exercise, we find ourselves battling and resisting thoughts that simply keep intruding into our consciousness. It can be exhausting and ultimately ineffective. Which is why we aren't going to keep fighting with our own mind! Instead, next week we will start learning to distance ourselves from our thoughts and begin recognizing when we are being distracted by our thinking self. - Written by Ashleigh Crosilla #Hearing_God #Prayer #Faith #Trust #Mind

First, a recap Over the past 5 weeks, we have been exploring the different stages we experience when going through change and different strategies to cope with these changes. "Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." - Exodus 13:22 We began with recognizing the grief that occurs when situations change and we have to mourn what we have lost. We discussed the importance of recognizing the impact that something may have on us and giving yourself time to process it. "The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name." - Exodus 15:2-3 The second week we talked about the joy that occurs when we are set free. Much like the Israelite's rejoiced when they were released from slavery (Exodus:12 - 14), we talked about the importance of praising and worshiping God and taking time to enjoy the freedom He brings. In our third and fourth weeks together we discussed how to handle the anxiety and fear that can occur when things don’t go to plan. "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelite's looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord." - Exodus 14:10 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” - Luke 22:42 Much like Pharaoh deciding to chase after the Israelite's, we talked about how to manage and give space for anxious thoughts and feelings. But using Jesus as a role model for coping with anxiety provoking situations, we discussed how to handle uncertainty through trusting in the power of God. This week This week, as we finish up this series, I want to focus on the power and importance of hope in times of uncertainty and change. When things get scary and overwhelming it is difficult to believe that things will change and get better. This is clearly being demonstrated at the moment where people are again starting to panic as COVID begins to spread through Victoria and NSW. But, like the Israelite's who panicked when Pharaoh started chasing him, the situation - the stressor - does eventually resolve. In the Israelite’s case, this was done by God‘s miraculous power when he parted the Red Sea. "The Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left". - Exodus 14: 21 - 22 And while there is no assurances that we will experience a miracle as obvious as a sea splitting into two, we know that God is still in control over this situation and we can trust Him, knowing that things will change. We can do this by recognizing and finding space for the fear and uncertainty. By taking a step back and instead of being anxious noticing and recognizing this fear we can turn to God and hand it over to him. And it doing so, can redirect our attention towards the possibility and what the bible says about God and his power. Think about it this way. Our brains are wired to protect us and therefore when something scary or anxiety provoking happens our mind naturally focuses on it - kind of like a bat signal in our mind. But the way our brain works means that we don’t realize it is a bat signal, instead we just start thinking about what it means - where we should go, how we can become safe. But if we instead say to ourselves, “hey, that’s my brain focusing on a bat signal” we can then stop staring at it and instead start focusing on something else such as looking for Batman coming to the rescue. So, this week, make the decision to start looking intentionally for Batman (ie. God) as he gets involved in the situation rather than focusing on the bat signal warning us of danger. Because, God promises that he will be with us; that he will protect us and that these tough situations will end. - Written by Ashleigh Crosilla. #fear #anxiety #COVID #lockdown_toolkit #overcoming #God #faith #hope

Would you go into this bathroom? Imagine being where the photographer is positioned in this physical space - how are you feeling? "Icky" is probably a really good description, right? What does anxiety feel like to you? Is it butterflies in the stomach? A pain in your chest? A sensation that something terrible is coming? For me its jitters in my body and this sense of hyper-vigilance that creates a rather intense desire to run. Its a really unpleasant feeling - a feeling that, if I had a choice, I would do anything to get rid of. When a situation triggers it, my instinct is to do anything - everything - to be free of it's grip. The Bible is full of examples of the Israelite's similarly applying many different strategies to avoid that "icky" feeling: when facing Pharaoh after leaving Egypt (Exodus 14); when hearing accounts of the Canaanites in Israel (Numbers 13-14); when having to consider defeating Jericho and fighting Goliath to name a few (1 Samuel 17). In each of these situations, their instinct was to panic and then avoid whatever was making them anxious. Which unfortunately for them, did not solve the problem. Does it ever? On the other hand... ...Jesus demonstrated an alternative strategy to handling anxiety when he chose to follow God's will and be crucified on the cross rather than turning away. I don't know if you have ever truly thought about what Jesus physically did for us, but in going to the cross he faced significant physical, emotional and spiritual pain - pain that I honestly cannot imagine. Considering this, I don't blame him for being so scared and anxious that he sweated blood (Luke 22:44). Yet, though he faced all this "ickyness", he allowed his feeling state to be part of the picture, and further surrendered his whole self with faith in God's good will. "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” [Luke 22:42] And so can we Firstly, it is important to recognize that these feelings are unpleasant and that we don't want to be in the position of feeling them. It's good to seek God and ask for the situation to resolve or the feelings to go away, but often we have to travel through the situation and manage our emotions before things will resolve. Secondly, imagine these feelings are like a custom hand blown glass ornament that we need to hold and move. When we pretend the emotions don't exist it is similar to us pretending we don't have the blown glass ornament in our hands. Unfortunately, what generally happens if this is the case is that we hit our hands on something, break the glass and cut our hand open - i.e. in pretending the feelings don't exist we unfortunately have them build up and get worse. Alternatively, we can be so afraid we are going to break that we hold onto our feelings really tight and focus entirely on them, thereby missing the world around us. A healthy and hopeful approach to our emotional state is to imagine gently hold the glass (of emotions); recognize that our feelings are there and are what they are, allowing space for these feelings whilst still continuing to move towards our goal. That is, we can still feel icky and unpleasant emotions but continue to explore and engage with the outside world. How? Through turning to God, practicing strategies like breathing exercises that settle our hyper-vigilant bodies, and practice taking perspective on our lives and situations (stepping back and naming our feelings, our current situation, and the high likelihood that our emotional state and life circumstances will change and that our lives will continue to develop according to God's good plan), we can move with and through our more intense "icky" feelings. How about it? Are you ready to face the uncertainty? Are you ready to walk through the discomfort, the chaos and the emotions? Know that you are not alone when you feel this way - Jesus is walking right beside you. He knows what it is like to feel like this - and he can help you handle it. Together! Isn't that the greatest reason for hope? #anxiety #fear #COVID #lock_down_tool_kit #transformation

I don't know about you, but something feels different about this recent resurgence of COVID cases in Melbourne. Maybe it is because the first time I was consumed with a newborn baby and sleep deprivation; maybe it was because the state was going into lock-down rather than relaxing restrictions or maybe it is because I now have a greater understanding of the possible consequences of an uncontrolled community transmission; but my anxiety is surprisingly high. Even though there are little to no cases in NSW and the government is strongly demonstrating that they effectively managing the situation. We've made progress over the last months in keeping the COVID-19 virus under wraps, but there's new reason for anxiety and concern. The Israelite's demonstrated the same thing. They had literally just watched God send multiple plagues to motivate Pharaoh to release them from slavery, including protecting their first born sons while killing the Egyptians. They were making progress to the Promised Land and yet, at the very first hint that Pharaoh is coming after them again, they got overwhelmed with panic. In the middle of their progress, anxiety struck deep and hard. "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelite's looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord." [Exodus 14:10] Their solution to the problem was to suggest that they should not have left Egypt. That it was better to have remained there (even though they had previously been crying out to God for freedom). Their instinct was to seek the quickest and easiest way to feel safe - to be free from their fear and anxiety. In psychological terms, we call this "The Cycle of Anxiety" or "The Cycle of Avoidance". In brief, it means that when we are exposed to an anxiety provoking situation - e.g. the possibility that the virus may re-enter the NSW community - we take the quickest and most immediate action to get rid of or avoid those thoughts and feelings (like buying up tons of toilet paper; or, self isolating; or, pretending that the virus is a con conducted by the government). In the short term it is effective in making us feel better, but in the long term we actually do not solve anything (and the anxiety tends to gets worse!). Instead of thinking the worst or seeking out the quickest path to get rid of the fear like the Israelite's did, we instead need to "face the fear" - whatever it is. We need to do the following: put our trust in God, knowing that He is good and in control, and assert (to ourselves) that he is taking good care of us. Praying through the Psalms is a very helpful and practical step here. Stop thinking that the worst is going to happen, and instead make an honest assessment of the true reality of the situation. Be realistic - not pessimistic, and not blindly optimistic. Slow down, take some deep breaths and start focusing on the positives - what progress has been made, what good has taken place in recent weeks - such as the effectiveness of social distancing or that church is able to restart again because we have actually contained the virus in this state. Lastly, we need to learn to manage the feelings of anxiety; which we are going to explore in more detail next week. So, my question to you this week is: Are you identifying with the Israelites - starting to feel anxious and worried during this time of potentially fresh uncertainty and looking for the quickest strategy to get rid of these feelings? Or can you instead recognize that this is what you are doing (or tempted to do) and instead turn to God, trust him and challenge those unhelpful thoughts and beliefs? #anxiety #fear #COVID #lock_down_toolkit #transformation

"The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name." [Exodus 15:2-3] I love both this song and scene in the Prince of Egypt. The acknowledgement of the difficulty, the focus on hope and the rejoicing after the challenge has ended is, for me, so powerful. And, in our current circumstances - so vitally important. When times get challenging, our brains are designed to focus on the challenge - on the threat - as a way to protect ourselves. When you think about it, it's an important survival mechanism. After all, if you found it easy to get distracted when running from a landslide, you probably wouldn't survive. However, in times of chronic stress, it is quite easy for us to remain focused on our metaphorical landslide, even after it has ended and we are standing in a safe valley. The Israelite's could have focused on big scary thoughts like "what if the Egyptians change their mind" (and, ultimately they did!) or small scary thoughts like "where are we going to get food" or "where are we going to sleep". But, instead they went - "Yes! We are free! Praise God. Rejoice!" Praise God. Rejoice King David is another excellent example of someone who takes the time to rejoice and praise God. The Psalms are full of verses where David recognizes and honors God, celebrating in the freedom he has experienced through him. He speaks directly to God, singing, praying and playing music to honor him. Similarly, so should we. While the risk of COVID isn't entirely over, the time of greatest challenge is starting to end. Church will be transitioning back to in-person services shortly, we are able to return to work and socialise, and the number of new community transmitted cases in NSW is low to none. We are in a safe valley and it's time to breathe. Look for the positives ("I can do a workout in the gym!") rather than the negatives ("The sports stadiums still cannot be full!"). Talk to your friends and family about other non-COVID related topics (e.g. "My sourdough bread is as good as the one you buy at the local bakery"). Do uplifting, relaxing activities such as picnics, getting a massage, or spending time in physical proximity with those you love. Most importantly, praise God. Read a psalm (or two). Put on some worship music. Play an instrument. Pray. However you honor God, take some time this week to do it. #Transitions #Change #lockdowntoolkit #Growth #Joy #Rejoice

"Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." (Ex 13:22) I don’t think I remember a year as chaotic as 2020 has been. From the extensive bush-fires that started late 2019 to floods that soon thereafter followed and now to COVID-19, every one of us has been through a variety of emotionally, mentally and financially taxing changes this year. Our entire world has changed as we know it over the past 6 or so months and the future is not as certain as it was before all of this. The book of Exodus tells the story of the ancient Israelite liberation from slavery in Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land. The plagues they experienced before Pharaoh decided to release them, whilst magnificent, would have been scary at points, and only begun them on an uncertain journey ahead. There would have been complex psychological impact upon them from the experiences of the plagues alone. While they didn’t have the luxury of mental health experts and research to help them as they processed their experiences, they did have a God who literally led them where they needed to go. Exodus 13:22 talks of a “pillar of cloud” during the day and a “pillar of fire” at night which constantly showed them the way and gave them a clear reassurance that God was with them. Similarly, it is worth remembering that we do have God with us. This is one of the symbolic names of Jesus (Matthew 1:23). He encourages us to seek Him and turn to Him for comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). It is important after a time of stress, anxiety and challenge to recognize that we need rest and comfort - to process the feelings that we have just experienced. So, how do we do that? Firstly, start by recognizing and acknowledging that this has indeed been a challenging, scary, and at times overwhelming experience and that you may be feeling unpleasant emotions at times. It is ok - and important - to grieve any loss you may have experienced, including financial loss, employment loss or perhaps you know someone who has been sick or died over the past 6 months. Secondly, once you have acknowledged these feelings, take some time to find comfort before God. I always imagine how I would respond to a little child showing signs of distress. I would give them a hug, kiss and tell them it was ok. I would tell them that it is ok to cry, to feel sad and feel scared - to validate the feelings they are having. Do you know, God is no less understanding and kind towards us? Give yourself time to cry before Him. Be honest and open with your friends and family. There’s a reason God was so tangibly present to the people of Israel during this time of change and transition – it was because they needed to experience the comforting presence and guidance of their delivering Father. We need the same, no less. Lastly, remind yourself these emotional experiences will eventually change and good emotions will arise. If we ignore our emotional states or pretend they don’t exist, they will remain unprocessed and jump out at you – often at not-so-helpful moments. But if you yourself the freedom to process them before God, God is so patient and kind to bring healing, give seemingly meaningless experiences meaning, and provide fresh purpose to your life – the bedrock experiences of true joy, peace, and passion. So, this week. Give time to acknowledge how you are feeling. What emotions are you dealing with, more rather than less? And what positive steps can you take, yourself and with others, become stronger and better? Let’s be quick to be the kind of support we need for each other, this week and ongoing. #COVID #Isotoolkit #TheroadOUT