Feeling unstable
Molly Fairclough,
12th Nov 2019
Tags:
Life
Blog
Father God
Identity
Insecurity
Self-worth
Unstable: likely to change or fail; not firmly established.
Regardless of what season of life you’re in, whether you’re starting school or university, or just getting back into the swing of daily life, chances are you know what it’s like to feel unstable.
You probably know what it feels like to be overwhelmed by change, and shaken by uncertainty.
We have come to accept instability as a part of life.
Being unstable is basically just a part of the culture for teens and twenty-somethings at this point. You can’t scroll through Instagram without seeing memes about mental breakdowns and being generally fragile. It seems like we have come to accept instability as a part of life.
The question is, is there a solution? Is there anything in life that can make us feel stable and grounded?
I have had quite a lot of instability in my life, and fragility is a feeling I know well.
For example, I remember this one week at University. I was having a rough time and was feeling especially fragile as a result. I sat down for a Christian Union committee meeting, as I always did on a Monday. Everything seemed okay, until my friend commented that my fake tan matched my orange jumper.
Fake tan was never something that made me self-conscious.
Now, I am a frequent user of fake tan, and it is always orange (don’t judge me). But, it is never something that has made me self-conscious, let alone make me cry.
However, on this particularly fragile day, this harmless remark was enough to make me well up and run to the bathroom.
Not only was it extremely embarrassing, but it was also just confusing. I’m not a crier as it is, so why did I just ball my eyes out in a bathroom stall because my tan matched my jumper?
I didn’t know it then, but looking back, I can see that it’s because I had lost sight of my foundation; the thing that grounds me. I had lost sight of God.
I take time to ground myself in God.
When I’m feeling unstable, I take time to ground myself in God and trust that he has power over every situation (yes, every situation).
I may feel a bit shaky, but I’ll never fully crumble.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t still feel a bit fragile now and again. But I know that I am never truly unstable because I have a firm and trustworthy foundation in God.
God is my assurance that everything will be alright.
He is my comfort in the chaos of life, my assurance that everything will be alright, my foundation, and my rock.
As a verse in the Bible says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2)
