Chill Out
For my birthday, I asked one of my kids to get me an adult coloring book with crayons. I heard it’s a relaxing exercise and everyone (especially me) needs to learn how to chill out more. Then I thought about the crayons. I don't really like crayons because they get flat and round too fast and it is hard to stay within the lines. Map pencils aren’t any better because they need to be constantly sharpened and they make scratchy, annoying noises. Remember I was doing this activity to relax. The kids told me they now have twist and color map pencils and crayons - talk about innovation!
So, my birthday arrived, and I opened my present and was all excited to receive a brand-new coloring book and twist coloring pencils! Like so often, presents get put to the side with the hustle and bustle of work and I soon forgot about my coloring book. After all, who has time to relax?
Recently, I had a particularly stressful day at work andI remembered my coloring book so I quickly got it out to force myself to relax. That’s how it works – right? I love pretty pictures and I had fun coloring for about seven minutes. “Why weren’t the objects in the book picturesque like scenery, trees or homes,” I asked myself? “Every page was filled with these weird geometric shapes.” My eyes were forced in all sorts of directions which made me dizzy.
Trying hard not to stress out over staying in those tiny lines, I put on my magnified readers, so I didn't strain my eyes. I played some music so I could listen to my favorite songs while I colored. I am supposed to be chilling out, right? About five more minutes passed and I assessed my picture and realized I still had more than half of the page to go. Anxiousness set in and I wanted to finish so I could do other things. It became a race against the clock - almost like a project at work that seems to go on indefinitely.
Being a person full of energy, sitting on the couch coloring and concentrating was a stretch for me anyway. My ADD was off the charts by now. Pretty soon my coloring became faster and faster just so I could complete this unidentified object not caring how it turned out. My pulse started to race. “Was I having fun yet?” I asked myself. Relaxed? Definitely not!
Was this really a gift I wanted? Why on earth did I think it would be a good gift? Soon I was on a mission to go faster so I could finish, but my coloring got messier and my picture was awful. Talk about starting to feel bad about my artistic abilities - - I couldn’t even complete a simple coloring book page.
How did I do this when I was a kid, I wondered? “By golly, I will finish this picture if it kills me!” I exclaimed. Realizing art was definitely not my thing and whoever they are that said every adult should color to de-stress is absolutely wrong.
Then it hit me, and I realized this is just half of one picture in this entire coloring book (aka gift) of at least 100 pages filled with geometric shapes that meant nothing.
Looking down, I saw that my favorite colors were getting worn down and I didn’t have much more room to twist before they were gone. “What if I was left with ugly colors?” I decided I am going to have to take up a new hobby for entertainment. I know, I would tear out this disaster of a page and re-gift this book to someone else so they could relax!
Philippians 4:6 speaks to us about relaxing. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!... (6) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Note how this verse starts with praise. My mom always told me; God lives in our praises. It is important that we praise God in all things as scripture tells us. Praise Him in the good times and praise Him in the hard times. Praise Him in the easy times and praise Him when we are stressed to the max during our struggles, or even when coloring!
Why you may ask? Because He is God and our creator, and He deserves our praises. This is where faith comes in because if we understood everything then there wouldn’t be the need to trust Him. Do you really want a God you can fully understand? Then he would be human and not omnipotent.
In the Bible, when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he replied with the example of the Lord’s prayer. Think about how the Lord’s prayer starts – “Our Father, Who Art in Heaven – Hallowed be thy name” – acknowledgement and praise.
After you spend some time praising and acknowledging Him the verse continues (rejoice in the Lord), it tells us to not worry (be anxious for nothing)– basically chill out. I can almost hear God saying, “Diana – why did you stress out over that – don’t you know I have it handled already?” Scripture continues, but in every situation – this isn’t only on Sunday’s or Thursday’s or with small situations. Trusting Him means in EVERY situation (having to do with all things and people in our lives). The scripture goes on to say present your requests to God – these become our prayers.
Note the three-letter word after we present our requests to God - - the word AND. Once we have rejoiced, once we have let go of control of the situation and surrendered it in prayer to allow God to work, “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Do you know the kind of peace I am talking about? The kind that doesn’t make human sense in a horrible situation. Have you felt it? I have and I can’t explain it, but when I let go and let God – then I feel an overwhelming sense of peace even in the midst of calamity and that is the unexplainable ability to truly “chill-out!”
- Diana