Thrown Down ... but Not Broken
Did you know palm trees are enormously flexible? They can bend in storms right down to the ground but still spring back up, unaffected.
Hear Alex share 5 tips for how we too can be like that in this #PandemicSeason - thrown down, but not broken - bouncing back from the inevitable challenges that hit.
Hey everyone, it's Alex here and I just wanted to encourage you with something that encouraged me.
I have a bit of a fascination with palm trees and I was actually looking into them on Google and I discovered that palm trees are really bendy and flexible trees. In fact, during hurricanes and strong winds and storms, these trees are pretty resilient and they can bend almost down to ground level without being uprooted or breaking, so pretty crazy, right?
And it made me think about this verse in 2 Corinthians 4:9 which says this, 'we have been thrown down but we haven't broken'.
And I don't know what your pandemic experience has been like or what the next few months or the end of 2020 is gonna look like for you, but you're still here! We're still standing, despite having been thrown down, we haven't broken.
And so during this next season, I wanted to encourage you, what does that look like for you? How can you be like these palm trees and how can we become resilient in the face and in the midst of adversity? And how can we be people who gain strength during a crisis?
And so I just wanted to encourage you with maybe some five tips on how you can do that.
And the first one, is to just stay connected, to stay connected with friends and family. There is a scripture from Solomon in Ecclesiastes 4:9 which says, 'two people are better than one. If someone falls, they can pick the other up'. So definitely make sure that you're surrounded and surrounding yourself with people, good people.
The second one is monitor your self talk, clock like how are you spinning a certain situation? How are you thinking about it? And are you speaking negatively? What is your self talk like? The third is just to look for life's lighter moments. There is a scripture I'm sure maybe you've heard of it, which says, a happy heart is good health but a broken spirit is draining. And so yeah, in the midst of a crisis, in the midst of all the challenges, look for life's lighter moments 'cause that will pick you up.
And the fourth and final point, kind of is a crucial one actually, is to take care of ourselves, to take care of yourself. And once you're taking care of yourself, you can be good for others and then that helps you to also be able to give. So take care of yourself, make sure you're sleeping well, eating right, exercising, reducing any stress you may be experiencing. 'Cause then that way you can position yourself to be good news, to comfort and to help the people around you and to give.
God is here and he's helped us, and he's sustained us this far. And how can you be a blessing to somebody else as well? First, you have to look after yourself and then you can give.
So there we go: palm tree, resilience, adversity. And just remember, you can be like this palm tree that doesn't break or it doesn't get uprooted but can stand strong and flourish in the midst of a crisis.