"Stress"

Have you ever lost your keys and then,

Searched ’til you were weary,

Got so mad time and again,

Until your wife got teary.

Or maybe it was just your phone,

That you somehow left behind,

You needed for someone to lend,

Some patience or to find,

Some way to calmly deal with it,

Without coming all apart,

But stress and all the feel of it,

Can plumb disturb your heart.

When cars won’t crank and tires won’t roll,

And the traffic makes you late,

When you don’t have cash to pay the toll,

And the cows push through the gate,

We ought to stop and take a breath,

And maybe say a prayer,

Don’t worry ourselves half to death,

Find peace to better fare.

His peace can be a referee,

To rule our hearts and minds,

God will give it graciously,

Because He is so kind.

So pull the plug on all that stress,

And say Lord, take control,

He can sort out every mess,

That steals peace from your soul.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV)

It is inevitable that all of us must face stressful situations. We’re not in heaven yet, after all. But when we do, what is our reaction? Sometimes how we feel and what we do or say makes it even worse, escalating things to something even more unmanageable. Paul’s counsel is that when threatened we should immediately pray about it and receive God’s peace. His peace comes when we pray and turn it over to God, before we may have the solutions we need. But peace comes from Him and it will actually guard our hearts and minds. It’s bigger than what we understand or feel, but we can always count on it.

Lord, relieve our stress, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Weller, used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.