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The Antidote for Anxiety and Depression: Trust in Abba Father’s Care – Pt 46

Take Care of Yourself!

Take heed unto thyself…

– 1 Timothy 4:16

Last week Monday I had a crisis. After six in the morning, I was sitting at my desk in my office finishing up my devotion when one of my nieces called me. When I saw her name on the caller’s ID automatically my heart skipped a beat as the first thought that came to me was my mother is unwell. I have prayed that God will keep my mother so that she wouldn’t have the need to visit the accident and emergency (A&E) department or be hospitalized again. I answered my phone and my niece told me that my big sister who takes care of my mother was unwell to the point where she couldn’t walk and the lady who works with us wasn’t coming that day. It therefore meant that I had to go to take care of my mother because she is unable to do anything for herself. I started thinking about how I was going to manage when I had to work. I have been working from home and last week was one of my busiest. I thought that maybe I can ask someone to assist me but I didn’t know who to ask as there was no one I could have thought of to call. At that point I knew that I had no other choice but to go to care for my mother.

In previous times, having received such phone call I would have dropped everything and immediately in anxiety run to their rescue but this time I did not. I remembered a conversation I had with a friend in Canada about selfcare first before I attempt to help others. She used the analogy of an airhostess’ instructions on how to apply the oxygen mask in the event of a crisis, given to passengers on an aeroplane. She reminded me that usually you are told to put the oxygen mask on yourself first then you can assist other passengers if needed. Therefore, I decided that I would take care of myself first before I go to see about my family. I finished my devotions and committed the situation to God in prayer. Then I had my shower and prepared for my day. After which I made and ate my breakfast which for me is very important. Then I went to assist my family.

When I got there, it was after 9:00 am and my mother had only just awakened. For that I give God praise because she wasn’t awake before and waiting on me to get there. I needed to bathe her, change her bed linen, wash the wet bed linen, make her breakfast, feed her and give her medications. I didn’t know if I could have done it. I didn’t even know where to begin but Holy Spirit helped me as I worshipped and praised all through it. I had such peace of mind. All I chose to think about were the reasons to give God thanks and so I did. After I had finished taking care of my mother she went back to sleep and woke up again after 1:00pm. I gave her lunch and again after she had her lunch she went back to sleep until in the evening.

Tuesday morning, I woke up promptly at 3:00am. I had my devotions and wrote my daily devotional for my blog on my website. Then I applied my emotional ‘oxygen mask’ first before I went to take care of my mother again. I needed to get her ready to go for dialysis for 7:00am so I got there after 5:00am. Having cared for her on Monday it was easier to do on Tuesday.

Persons in helping professions often neglect selfcare in the busyness of helping others. As much as I love and I’m very good at my work, having to also be there for my family sometimes gets overwhelming and if I let my guard down the enemy can attack my mind and emotions to cause me to be anxious and depressed. This is why it is very important for me to pay attention to myself first, especial my relationship with God. This is paramount if I am to continue to be effective in my vocation to help others.      

The young pastor Timothy was just as busy in ministry taking care of a large Church and giving his all to serve the people. However, he soon found out how overwhelming his ministry could be. Hence, the Apostle Paul encouraged him in 1 Timothy 4:16 “Take heed unto thyself…”

The phrase “take heed” is derived from the Greek word epecho, a compound of the words ep and echo. The word ep means on, and the word echo means to have or to hold. Compounded together the word epecho means to grab hold of something very tightly, which describes an extremely firm grip (Renner, 2003).

I really like how the Greek scholar Rick Renner expounded on this phase “take heed”. According to Renner (2003) it could be translated:

  • “Get ahold of yourself…”
  • “Make your own spiritual life a priority…”
  • “Don’t get so busy that you forget you have spiritual needs too…”  

If you have been giving your all to help others, whether in your ministry or on your job or for your family and friends and you believe that you need to save the world like I used to believe, I admonish you as the Apostle Paul admonished young Timothy, stop and pay attention to yourself today. Remember that you too need to be nurtured and replenished if you are going to continue effectively in serving those you are called to help. Especially those of you in helping professions remember that selfcare is of paramount importance so that you don’t get burnt out.

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Daddy, I worship You for You are gracious and merciful towards me. I thank You for always being there for me and for helping me in difficult situations. I thank You for the privileged opportunities to help others in the vocation with which You have called me. I know my life is not my own, I belong to You so I ask you to help me to pay attention to myself and to daily nurture my relationship with You. I declare that I am daily walking worthy in my vocation and I effectively serve others because I am paying attention to myself also. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ mighty name with thanksgiving. Amen!