Small spaces don’t bother me too much, but I’m pretty sure I suffer from some other claustrophobic disorders.
Like…
- clothes claustrophobia—the overwhelming compulsion to get out of tight, uncomfortable clothes
- calendar claustrophobia—the realization I have packed too many commitments into my schedule
- news claustrophobia— the sensation of being suffocated under the weight of too much information
- deadline claustrophobia— anxiety, often accompanied by the hallucinatory sound of a ticking clock, that intensifies as the due date for a project (or newspaper column) approaches
There are more, but you get the idea. Feeling squeezed and pressured is pretty much the norm for most of us these days, but there is a way to cope and I think it can be summed up in one word: perspective.
For me, nothing relieves life’s various “claustrophobias” like taking a moment to step out of the pressure cooker and look at the bigger picture. To remember that most things are not as big, dire, heavy or permanent as they seem and, in fact, God is still on His throne.
One practical way I can quickly regain perspective is to simply go outside and look around. Woods, rolling pastures, a gorgeous sunset, mountains—all help me zoom out and remember that my small story is just a tiny part of a much larger book. But the very best place in nature for me to escape the tiny confines of my little life is the ocean.
Even after countless trips to the beach, that first glimpse of the ocean still takes my breath away. It always has, going way back to when I was a kid and my family spent just about every spring vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla. I couldn’t wait to spot the Gulf of Mexico for the first time on each trip. The overwhelming bigness of the ocean hinted at a Creator I wanted to believe in, but didn’t yet know, and always served, then as now, to put my world, life and problems in perspective.
Now that I know the One who holds the seas in His hand, the seemingly endless blue-green waters also remind me of the glorious eternity He has planned for all who believe in His Son, Jesus. A future free from all the stresses of this life.
Our lives are like puzzles and try as we might, we just can’t see more than a few small pieces at a time. We obsess and stress over those pieces—some beautiful and some not—but we almost never really know exactly how they fit into the big picture.
The thing is, it’s not our puzzle to put together—it’s God’s. And if we just quit staring at our pieces and look up for a minute, He reminds us that He knows exactly what He’s doing, He will finish it, and it will be beautiful.
Maybe this is what the psalmist was expressing when he wrote, “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:1-2)
We need higher; we need bigger; we need stronger; we need God. When I feel pushed “to the end of the earth” and my “claustrophobias” kick in, I need to remember the One who is so much higher than I am.
From where He sits, nothing is too big, too hard, too heavy, or too hopeless.
“For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, The Lord God of hosts is His name.” – Amos 4:13