I'm going to be 21 years old by the end of this week and have just been choosen for jury duty. I am scared to death of it. I've heard horrible cases and I have never had the stomach for that kind of stuff. I can literally gag at anything bad i hear and I have emetophobia to make it worse. I've struggled for years and looked for God but somehow i still don't feel strong enough. I don't know what else to do.
I can't even eat when i go out because i get scared i might gag. i can't watch the news for fear of seeing and hearing gross stuff. i can't do anything and have locked myself in my mind. where is god in all this?

I'm forever being called in for jury-duty, federal and state, and I dread the thought of dropping everything to serve, but it's not as bad as it seems.
The chances of you actually being selected to sit on a jury are actually pretty slim...only a small percentage of those in the room get chosen.

If you do get called to sit on a jury of twelve, or as an alternate juror, the experience is actually very educational. It just as important as serving your country... our entire society rests upon this system of due-process.

On rare occasions, a note from the Doctor can get you excused, but the courts appear to not be very sympathetic towards that, except in extreme cases.

I've seen the judge order pillows for jurors with back problems etc, even allowing some to sit or lie on the floor, but they did not get out of jury duty, haha!

God is in the part called Justice.

It's a hard but necessary duty.

Perhaps God is in the blessing you've received.
What other cultures in what other times have citizens been able to be tried by due process by their peers? Its practically unheard of in man-kind's sordid history. Yet here you have an opportunity to be part of it. Who knows... some day you may be falsely accused, and you'll count on attentive peers who care about the judicial process to weigh your case and judge in your favor. Or perhaps (God forbid) you are the victim of a crime and you must count on a jury of peers to carefully weigh the case and issue justice in a just manner.

i understand its a necessary thing but what if i get something i can't handle?

You just tell them that you can't handle it, and they pick someone else. For example, if I was picked for jury duty, I'd tell them that I'm suffering from depression and PTSD, and wouldn't be able to handle a really tough case impartially. They'd then pass me over and pick someone else.

If it's a physical problem they tend to be sterner, but if it's genuinely an ubearable level of anxiety that would impede your ability to function calmly, then they really shouldn't force you to serve.

i understand its a necessary thing but what if i get something i can't handle?

I think you have too low an opinion of yourself if you feel there are things you wouldn't be able to handle.

I think you have too low an opinion of yourself if you feel there are things you wouldn't be able to handle.

that's another thing I struggle with is doubt. i try to be strong but i feel like i doubt my faith too much.

& to daughter: thanks for the tip. i will be sure to let them know i can't handle something tough.

I can't stomach these things either. I can via auditory but not via visual or smell. It's an automatic reflex for me to get nauseous and start fainting. Don't feel bad, you're not the only one. I'm thankful for the ones who can handle them, otherwise there'd be no doctors or nurses or medical examiners or crime investigators or anything like that. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, right?

I can't stomach these things either. I can via auditory but not via visual or smell.

Wow I can't even do it via auditory. I start to panic hearing details. But I agree I'm thankful too for the ones who can. I think about that all the time.
I actually never used to be like this. I suffered post traumatic stress just a few years ago from seeing something graphic. I never lived it down. I always wonder what was God's purpose in that. It made me search him out more, which might be it but till this day i still can't get over it. it makes me feel weak in faith.

Wow I can't even do it via auditory. I start to panic hearing details. But I agree I'm thankful too for the ones who can. I think about that all the time.
I actually never used to be like this. I suffered post traumatic stress just a few years ago from seeing something graphic. I never lived it down. I always wonder what was God's purpose in that. It made me search him out more, which might be it but till this day i still can't get over it. it makes me feel weak in faith.

Nah, it's got nothing to do with weak faith. We react how we react. I'd encourage you to just turn this whole event that happened over to the Lord, and ask Him to use it for His glory and according to His plan for you. And then let it go and accept yourself for who you are. Things impact us all differently, and you should be deeply impacted by seeing certain things instead of being calloused and indifferent. Whatever impacts us the deepest, gives us opportunities for deep and real prayer as we allow God access to what is happening with us deep down.

Jaaniya, I pray that the Lord will give you strength and grace over this. I also agree with the others here that you will not be selected for jury duty if you
honestly tell them what you have told us. Many are called but few are chosen :lol:.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7

thank you all so much. :hug:

Don't worry about it you'll probably get some guy who took the paint of his neighbors house with a power sprayer.

haha, best line EVER!