Too proud to accept it?

But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. (Psalm 59:16)

Where do you turn when you are in distress? Do you veg out in front of the TV, streaming this or that in the hopes you can take your mind off whatever is causing all the stress? Do you head to the fridge or scour the cupboards to find another snack? Do you go online to buy one more thing you really won't use all that much? What we do in our times of stress and where it is we turn when we need to 'destress' is very important for us to recognize. It could show us just how much we depend upon what 'we' can do rather than what God wants to do.

Things will always be there that give us great pain, anxiety, or sorrow. It is part of life to deal with this kind of stuff. The acute physical or mental anguish the stressful thing causes isn't meant to be dealt with on our own, though. When we are attempting to deal with it all on our own, we are likely to find our 'fix' for the stress is not quite hitting the mark. We might even get to the place where we feel more guilty about having done whatever it is we did to 'destress' than we felt the anguish of the original stress!

Stress is 'natural', but we have been given supernatural strength to overcome it. When we turn to Jesus at the first notice of the distressing thing, we might just find the physical or mental anguish we 'could' experience is already made lighter because he is taking that load off of our minds and hearts and placing it in his. The more we learn to turn to him first, the less guilt and anxiety we will feel over our not so perfect 'fixes' to the stress because we won't be heaping guilt upon guilt on top of all that stress.

Have you ever refused a helping hand? I have, and it wasn't because I didn't need it. It was because I was too proud to accept it. When God reaches out to you in your 'distress', he is asking you to take his hand so he can help you get through it easier. Will the stressful stuff still be there for us to 'go through'? Probably, but we 'go through' together, not alone. We 'go through' in his strength and power, not ours. Just sayin!

The Lord is for me (and you, too)

Let all who fear the Lord repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.” In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 118:4-6)

The more we interact with people around us, the more we realize it is almost impossible to please everyone. There will always be someone in the group who thinks differently, opposing every move we make. What do we do when we face opposition? If you are like me, you get a little distressed by the resistance at times. You might want to just pull in like a snail inside its shell, but that doesn't solve the issue, does it? I have learned to take my distress to the only one who can 'de-stress' it - God. I bring the issue to him, but I also bring the 'players' in the issue - including me! There are times when my attitude is the one needing adjustment, while it is the attitude of others that needs it at others. Who am I to judge which one of us needs the adjustment? I have found it is much better to leave that one in God's hands.

What can mere people do to us? If we have lived our lives trying to be people-pleasers, then we think those individuals who we have worked so hard to 'please' can do a great deal to us, but nothing could be further from the truth. People cannot destroy us - though they may try. People cannot get at the Spirit of God deep within us - try as they might, the presence of God is our refuge, and it is where we flee when under attack. Sometimes I need to remind myself over and over that God is for me - all the fear that is trying to rise up from within my emotions is never going to change the security I have in him. It won't change it for you, either! We may have to tell ourselves over and over that God is for us and we will not fear, but that is okay. God knows we sometimes battle against those emotions, and he stands at the ready to help us rise above their attack.

The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things! (Psalm 118:14-15)

The strength within isn't always evident - sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we walk in a power not our own, a victory that has already been won, and a placement that remains secure regardless of the enemy's attack. Just sayin!

Driven toward truth

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. (Psalm 119:143) 

The late Walt Disney said, "It is kind of fun to do the impossible." With God, much of what we see as impossible is really not, but that doesn't minimize the fact that the impossible comes with its own stress and pressure. There is a certain 'stress' within faith - trust requires stepping outside of our comfort zone from time to time. When we do, the pressure that can bear down on us can almost overwhelm us. This is why we must press into our relationship with Jesus even harder during these times. 

Someone once told me to enjoy that stress and feel that pressure. Why? It meant I was going to see God work within my life in ways I had never experienced before. So, I took that advice and actually took a different attitude toward all that pressure as the 'impossible' closed in around me. Do you know what happened? Before long, the 'attitude' I had assumed actually began to change my focus away from the mounting pressures and stress toward God's goodness, protection, and provision. I saw things within the Word of God that I hadn't seen before - things that helped me navigate unfamiliar territory. I enjoyed my quiet time with Jesus just a bit more because I could find renewed peace and settled emotions in those times.

Pressures and stressors abound - especially when we are faced with the 'impossible'. Some have tried to tell me we experience stress because we aren't trusting God deep enough. I have to challenge this because if that were the case, we'd never be out from under great stress and tremendous pressure! We can always trust God more, go a little deeper in our relationship with him, and have our eyes opened to truth in new ways. As our psalmist reminds us, pressure and stress should always drive us toward truth - to a firm foundation upon which we can stand strong when the winds of change are coming at us like a gale force wind. 

Truth has a way of dispelling myth and misplaced trust. When we want security and peace more than we want pressure and stress, we might just be drifting into a bit of complacency in our walk with Jesus. To experience growth requires pressure and stress. We might not know how powerful time in his Word can be until we begin to feel the pressure drive us into it just a bit deeper. We might not know how peace-filled our lives can be in the midst of trials galore until we begin to worship and lift our hearts in praise to him. When we least feel like getting truth is likely when we need it the most. Just sayin!

Sit back and marvel

 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (Romans 8:28)

There have been moments when I just didn't know what to say to God - unsure of what really was going on inside of my mind and emotions, just needing to get out those feelings, but really not sure how to put them into words. How about you? Do you ever experience those moments when there is an overwhelming sense of heaviness within, but you cannot really express it in words? I am so glad God can understand our sighs, groans, and even our silence. He knows our heart better than we do, but he also understands the mixed-up muddle of emotions that can occur at times. The more mixed-up we are about the things, the more we need to lean into God for his perspective and a fresh infilling of his peace.

Every detail is worked into our lives for some manner of good. I had a hard time understanding how 'bad stuff' could actually be turned into something I would benefit from in the long run. Yet, over the years, I have seen God take the various 'bad moments' and bring some element of growth within me that wasn't previously there. I guess this is what he means when he promises to bring good from the bad. It doesn't mean we won't face the hard stuff in life - it just means we don't face it alone and we don't face it without a purpose. We might be in a place of despair, but he remains in a place of control.

I live in a home that is over thirty years old now, so as each year passes, I try to do something 'big' to improve it and keep it in tip-top shape. One year I replaced the roof and central air. The Arizona sun means the outside needs painting from time to time. The inside needed a fresh coat of paint, so that was another year's project. The bathrooms needed a refresh and now the flooring is being redone. These projects come at a cost - financially, physically, and emotionally. I don't like to live in chaos - I like order (no...I am not OCD, I just like the comfort of things being settled). 

I think our minds are a little like these 'big projects' around the house. There is a cost that comes with all the emotional turmoil we face in those hard times. Our minds get all muddled-up, emotions riding high one day and down the next. Our thoughts can be carried away like a feather on the wind. Our bodies feeling the tension of the season we are in. There is no better time to take things to God than when we are experiencing those moments. We may not even have one clue what to ask for, but he knows exactly how to take the chaos of our present and create something so beautiful within us. Just like when the floors are all done, we will step back, sitting in peaceful repose, and marvel at what he has done. Just sayin!

Settled, Sure, and Sane

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4:6-7)

When we are presented with alternatives, we are being given a choice. If you have ever gone into a restaurant with pages and pages of menu items, bound together in a spiral bound book of sorts, you probably have been so frustrated by all the choices you just chose your old "stand by" because you couldn't read through them all before the waitress returned! When the choices are many, the anxiety associated with making the "right" choice is significantly higher than when the choices are simply this or that. At least we stand a 50/50 chance of getting our choice right with the latter example, but with the spiral-bound menu of choices, who knows what the odds might be? There is something to be said about "limiting the choices", isn't there? I don't give small children a litany of choices - I present one or the other. Why? When presented with each choice, they usually want them both - when presented with fifty items, they want them all - but they can only have one! It is much easier to teach right choices when the options are fewer! God knows this, too! So does the enemy of our souls! He knows presenting us with so many choices which baffle our minds is a good place to get us in the middle of a muddle. He likes it when we are in a muddle!

Increased demands are just as befuddling to us as are too many choices! When the demands on our schedules, skills, or services are many, the anxiety associated with the increasing demand increases. If choices and demands can increase our anxiety to fever-pitch, maybe it is time we learn how to collaborate with the only one who can really direct us to the right choice and settle us into a place of inner peace in the midst of the chaos. Learning to shape our choices and stressors into prayers is fundamental to keeping ourselves out of the middle of the muddle. Too many think prayers have to be these elaborate, well-orchestrated, divine sounding, stop all activity, get on your knees kind of words lifted to the heavens. The Lord has heard more "fly-by" prayers from me in my times of increased demand and uncertain choices than I can shake a stick at! If I waited to get down onto my knees, I'd never get things sorted out! All God desires is for us to make our concerns known to him - he doesn't care if it is on the "fly" or on our knees! He just wants the opportunity to connect.


I cannot tell you how many times I have been in the middle of a mess of stress and just asked him to give me guidance - short and sweet. Right there, he begins to settle in around me with his peace and I can focus on what matters, getting direction on how to proceed and then it seems like the stressors get put into the right perspective. When things are in the right perspective - or at least I can see them from that perspective - they look a lot less "anxiety-laden" than they did before! "It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." Life happens at a pace we can barely manage sometimes. In those moments of "over-activity" and "increased anxiety", it is good to re-center, re-connect, and re-commit. We change our focus from the increasing demand and innumerable choices toward Christ and his leading in those moments. We take a moment or two to just offer up those prayers and then just listen. We may think we don't have the time to listen but remember this - the amount of time you invest in listening equates to less time in the midst of the muddle. Re-committing is really the outcome of the first two - when we get our focus right and allow our hearts to be connected to the one who knows the answers, the ability to make the choice in front of us or deal with the demand which is the most urgent becomes apparent. Most of the time it only takes a moment to allow the sense of God's wholeness to permeate our inner core and settle us right down. Just sayin!

Headed into stress

God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2)

The way we think is the determining factor in how we perceive the circumstance in front of us right now. In changing the 'way' we think, we can be transformed. When we ask God, he tends to give us a different perspective than we've been seeing through our own eyes. There are some of us who go through life just feeling like 'come what may', we are stuck with it - there just isn't anything else we could have done about whatever it is we are facing. We don't live by some "chance" encounter or outcome (fate). We live by faith - based on a firmer foundation than kismet. Sometimes we live with a whole lot more stress in our lives than we really need to - simply because we think the stress is coming from outside of us. Stress is something INSIDE of us - it comes from the way we think and the choices we make as a result of our thinking. One of the easiest ways to get out from under the pressure of stress is to "reframe" our thinking. We want to discount the actual "benefit" of stress - seeing it as a bad thing and something to be avoided. Stress is really God's way of speaking to us - it is a means of getting our attention. It is a signal of sorts - to get us to see things from his perspective. We are not going to see things differently until something gets our attention which will cause us to question the way we are seeing them. This is how God uses stress in our lives - it begins to get us asking questions - and God can use those questions! If we understand what causes stress, we might hear the questions a little clearer and a little faster!

Stress come whenever we find ourselves making compromises. Anytime there is a struggle between what is "right" or "wrong" in our lives, we find ourselves encountering some of the feelings we associate with stress. Even when we choose to take the path of "right", we often feel like we aren't stress-free. Why? It is a good kind of stress! Stress actually pushes us beyond the last place we were. If you think of muscles, they only develop strength when we push them beyond what they are "used to" doing - they need a little stress to get them "toned". Even with the path of "right" there will be stressful challenges designed to help us develop. Two things come out of this "good stress" - a building of integrity (foundation) and a letting go of control (trust). Stress is present anytime there is conflict within relationships. This type of stress is usually related to someone's selfish choices. When the other person can see things only their way (or perhaps it is you who sees things this way) - it is that way which makes sense to them, and they don't quite understand why the other party cannot see things the same way they do. Conflict has started! Then there comes this belief that no one understands where you are coming from - unreasonable as though it may be, not everyone will be able to think exactly like you think! Conflict takes root! Changing our perspective can help us see our selfishness and open us up to the possibility of another's viewpoint.

Stress increases as we sense of any form of "competition" within either the relationship or the circumstances. If you don't believe me, watch a family play a rousing game of Monopoly sometime. Someone wants Park Place or Boardwalk - when they get it, they manage to buy all those houses and hotels, causing the rent on that tiny square to skyrocket to astronomical values. Landing on that space almost bankrupts the other players. What does the other guy do to offset his losses? He buys up lots and lots of other property, getting monopolies on those properties until he can garner some monies of his own from others landing on his investments. The one property has some value, but when you "own it all", the value multiplies! Competition at its finest! At the core of all this competition is something we might not recognize - comparison. You own this, I don't. You own that, I don't. You have a monopoly, I don't. Competition also involves making value judgments about what the other guy is doing and why. We see things as "against" us - every move is designed in some way to "take us down". If you don't think this increases stress, just drag out the Monopoly game! When competition enters the picture, what we forget is the truth of God's grace and favor - they aren't given because we compete to get them. They are given because he loves us first! Competition always puts grace out of the picture - compassion brings grace to life! Not sure what is getting at you 'internally' today, but I do know a change of perspective might be in order. Just sayin!

Be a gift giver

There are times when I come into my office to find a bottle of my favorite soda, or a small snack that will help me make it through a long day. They aren't 'expensive' items, but they mean the world to me. Have you ever just left a small gift on someone's desk while they were out of the office - no note, no explanation, just something which might bless them on a day when nothing seems to be going right for them? What happens in the moment the person notices the gift upon their return? They ponder it, don't they? It gives them "cause to pause". There is this period of time between the "shock" of receiving the gift and the moment their curiosity causes them to ask, "Hey, who put this here?" For just a brief period of time, they stop focusing on the issues which made them so irritable in the first place, don't they?

A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person; a heartfelt present cools a hot temper. (Proverbs 21:14)

Have you ever been on the receiving end of this type of "blessing"? If you have, you will definitely understand what I am about to say. The undeserved kindness of another "shuts you down", doesn't it? In the moment where you "pause" and "consider" the blessing, something "transforming" begins to happen inside you. In the tiniest of gifts, there can be the biggest of rewards! It would be easy to discount the moodiness of a coworker with huge deadlines looming, plans not coming together as they should, and "issues" just cropping up at every turn of the clock. Yet, isn't there something awesome in figuring out one small way to bless their day?  I have been on the receiving end of these types of blessings more than once. It may have been a lovingly written note just letting me know they were standing by me during the rough patch - thinking of me, there for me. It could have been the bit-sized candy bar labeled with "Break wrapper, savor the richness, and feel the stress melt away". At other times, it was just the nudge of a friend saying, "Let's go to lunch - you NEED lunch!"

Stress increases irritability, does it not? Do something to relieve the stress in a positive manner and it is a wonder how much of the irritability seems to "melt away". There is much we can do to 'de-stress' our days, but nothing quite does it as well as just finding center again. Irritability is a condition in which we are "readily excited" - almost to the point of being impatient and often to the point of being downright angry. It is not a good place to be. No wonder scripture reminds us of the "cooling effect" of touching someone with our "heart", not just our hands, but our true, unselfish heart. It is not the "gift" which releases the frustration and irritability - it is the "heart" behind it! So, the next time you can share a little of your heart with someone who is "readily excited" - do it! Your "gift" of heart can make all the difference to them! Just sayin!

My favorite shorts

One of my most comfortable pair of 'knock about the house' shorts has developed a stress tear at a very 'not so easy to fix' location. I will attempt to fix it, but a stress tear is kind of hard to fix because it follows the path knit in the shorts and it isn't parallel to the seam! So, try as I might, these may be 'beyond fixing' in the long run. Try as we might, we can attempt to bring the frayed edges of the tears in our lives known as "stress tears" together without the tear being noticed, but it is almost impossible. Things just don't match up and if we simply join at the point of 'stress', the surrounding fabric of our lives has also been weakened, so that patch is not going to last long either.

“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wine skins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wine skins so that both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17)

We experience these same kind of "stress-tears" in our character, commitments, and constitution. The things we have become so familiar and comfortable with, like our little habits or routines, actually "fit" us well, but are riddled with weakened areas that can "burst-out" at anytime. The very moment that the stress of life gets a little too much to contain, we experience the "stress-tear" and it leaves us feeling a little too exposed! A lot of us think that the answer to those "stress-tears" is to simply apply a little patch here and there, until what was exposed is covered up well again. Some of these "patches" are not all that bad - like when we attempt to incorporate prayer as a "patch" to our worries. The thing we don't recognize is that the entire "garment" of worry is what is giving us the trouble - patch one area and another will give out under the stress of life! It isn't the tear that is the problem - it is the quality of the fabric we are attempting to bind together!

Jesus doesn't offer us "patches" in our lives. He offers us completely new garments! He says to be clothed with his righteousness - to be outfit with his graces, power, and authority. The "patches" are our doing - the new garments are his! In various times in our 'fashion history' as a nation, patched jeans were the "in" thing - but that did not last long. Now kids wear purposefully "distressed" or 'whole-riddled' jeans - paying good money for those "stress-tears" in perfectly new fabric! I may not fully understand the "statement" of such attire, but I do know that my Lord is not keeping up with the latest fads when it comes to our lives! His garments are perfect - fitting us to a "T" and adorning us with just what we need in those areas of our life where character, commitments, or constitution are a little too 'stressed' and 'flawed'! I don't know about you, but the times of simply "patching-up" the failures of my life have not been working and they need to be over. I am serious - we need this spiritual wardrobe exchange of our ragged garments for his beautiful garments! Isn't it about time that we evaluate the "patch" jobs of our lives and truly shed the old garments in exchange for his new ones? Just askin!

Making it

You know that I believe in the best "control" in our lives as the transition of control - giving control to the one who is able to manage our lives the best - God. "Losing what is dear to us" really doesn't excite any of us because it wouldn't be 'dear' to us unless we wanted to keep in near! It is in loss that we understand the need for comfort and most of us would rather bypass the loss part entirely. It is also in loss that we connect with that which is most important to us - because sometimes it takes loss to help us see very clearly how much importance something has in our lives. There is just something about loss - physical, emotional, financial, or relational - that causes us to look at our lives again and evaluate where we are now that the loss has occurred. We become "evaluators" of where we have been, what we have done, and the cost that we have paid for where we find ourselves today.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you." (Matthew 5:4)

When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing. (James 1:9-11)

Things in and of themselves are short-lived in terms of how long the last in our use or enjoyment. We tend to count on them sometimes as though they are permanent, though. We expect our cars to run when we hit the ignition switch and not to ever get flat tires when we need to be a certain place at a certain time. We don't count on them sputtering to a halt in the middle of an intersection. When we take them to the mechanic and hear the news that the cost of repairs outweighs the remaining value of the vehicle, we find ourselves faced with tough decisions. None of us really wants to hear that we need to realize that things are really not permanent. They change with time - they are not permanent or lasting in any terms of the word. Even a diamond has no worth to us after we are buried!

We are often find our careers take a turn we did not expect, the economy sends us into a tizzy because ends no longer meet, or the people we thought would be there for us in times of hardship are just not sensitive to the turmoil we are finding ourselves enduring right at this moment. These are the very opportunities for God to embrace us like he has not been allowed to before - they are not to be wasted in self-pity and grief. Our "counting on" people, things, or circumstances has kept him at arms length. In the time of whatever this loss might be for us, he can finally pull us closer than we have been before. Our defenses are let down, and he can reach into our hearts in comfort, in correction if needed, and in his healing compassion.

When God embraces us, he is taking us in eager anticipation of what we will experience next to his heart - there is an intense willingness on his part to pull us near. He takes that which is ready to be received because he never will force himself on us. Comfort is only accepted by a readied heart. Correction is only useful if the ears and mind are open to listening to it - swaying the heart to follow in due time. Compassion only connects with our misery and walks with us in the moments that cause us distress when we are open to having a "walking companion". We may not fully recognize the real frailty of those things, plans, and people who have been given a position of "trust" in our lives. Yet, in the loss of these, God stands ready to reveal his love - and yes, if necessary, his correction. The two are not opposites - they go hand in hand. It is in love that correction brings us close. It is in love that comfort accomplishes healing. It is in love that we understand the strength of his embrace. Just enjoy his embrace - you will make it to the other side of this stress, my friends! Just sayin!

Stressed, but not stressed out

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 

(Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)

Stress is something we have in life, but we don't have to be stressed. 

(Chad Moore, Pastor Sun Valley Community Church)

What stresses you out the most? What causes you to "be stressed"? When you stop to think about it, stress isn't really a bad thing. I have my favorite stretch plastic wrap that clings really well to the sides of the dish so I can create a tight seal when I need to keep in the freshness or preserve the moisture in some food. It isn't one of the name brands, but I love it nonetheless. What gives it the cling is really the response it has to the "stress" I exert upon it. The pulling of it tight against the sides of the dish until it creates a "drum-like" appearance is what makes this cling really solid. The stress is actually helping the wrap do what it was designed to do. So...isn't it quite possible the stress in our lives is helping us perform as we were designed to perform?

There is much to be said for "stress" - ranging from a really negative perspective of it being the stuff that kills us to a very positive perspective of it being the stuff that helps us grow. Even too much of a good thing can become harmful to us, though. Just the right amount of salt brings out the flavor in the food. Too much of it actually destroys or overpowers the taste of all the other food. The fine balance of "having salt" and "being over-salted" can be likened to having stress and being stressed - - - too much of a good thing becomes harmful when allowed to get into places it doesn't belong!

We aren't going to get through life "stress-free" and I am pretty sure we wouldn't want to live that way anyway. The stress we face actually helps us keep our "true center" - - - it drives us toward God and dependence upon him. This is the right way to view stress. The wrong way is to think we can make it through somehow in doing something differently, depending upon our own magnificent ideas to get us through to the other side. I know I wouldn't want to do surgery on my own body - - - and I would be a fool to attempt it. When my body is under stress because of disease, I want to take it to someone who knows how to alleviate the stress it is under. 

The antidote to stress is not to run from it, or even attempt to change the circumstances on your own so you don't have it any longer. It is to turn to God and turn it over to God. Then he will help us "in our stress" to not "be stressed", because we will know rest and peace within our souls. It is called trust. We might just do well to get to that place today. Just sayin!

Stress or Calm - It is all in the "now" we choose

I often see things on my social media feed which catch my attention. Some make me laugh, like the cats cavorting with each other, or the dog chasing his tail incessantly. Others make me cry, like the stories of hurting women sold into sex trafficking, or those of families losing everything to an overnight fire which ravaged their home. Every now and again, someone posts something which gives me seconds to pause and then to explore the scripture - simply because the words speak deeply to my spirit. One such post happened this morning. It read: Stress makes you believe that everything has to happen right now, faith reassures you that everything will happen in God's timing! (posted from Godfruits.com)  Read that again, will you - you might just discover something of truth in that so rich it leaves you pondering, as well.  Stress is that force exerted in your life which either pulls you or pushes you with such strength it is almost impossible to resist.  It works against rational thought and creates chaos in normally reasonably balanced emotions.  Yep, it indeed says everything must happen right now - if not, all will be lost.  It isn't rational, remember?  It isn't patient, remember?  It is urgent, demanding, nagging, and insistent!  It drives us to choose the timetable it places in our lives, not the one God has designed!

Sensible thoughts lead you to do right; foolish thoughts lead you to do wrong. (Ecclesiastes 10:2 CEV)

Stress has the greatest inroad into our lives through our thought life.  If we were to be honest here, we'd have to admit to the many times stress has played the main part in getting us off-track and down many a road we might best have left untraveled!  We get all wrapped up in the "what if" of every frenzied thought stress places in our minds and we run with the loudest thought - a trait I don't recommend to anyone!  The quietest thoughts are often the most rational ones, in case you haven't noticed that since you have been listening to those who scream the loudest!  Sensibility is not the foremost thought of a stressed life. In fact, you might just wonder if there is an sensibility in your life when stress is high and demands are mounting.  Sensibility is really an mental acuity which apprehends quickly.  Stress is often the force which keeps us tied up with thoughts which "dull" our ability to apprehend truth quickly - instead directing us to apprehend whatever it is pawning as the truth!

The difference between sensible thought and irrational thought is sometimes a matter of just a few seconds, but when stress is the "manipulating" factor in our lives, we often opt out of taking those extra few seconds to allow the sensible to come to the forefront.  Herein lies our greatest opportunity - to wait long enough for the dust created by the whirlwind of stress to settle.  In so doing, we often see something of truth which evaded our attention when the storm was raging.  One thing I have discovered - you cannot patch a leaky roof in the midst of the rainstorm.  You ride out the storm the best you can, then you set out to repair the leak.  Why?  The "adherence" of the shingle or the roofing tar is best when conditions are at the optimum, not at the worst!

Stress demands our attention, sends our emotions into overdrive, and clamors for immediate responses.  Learn this now and you may save yourself a great deal of trouble down the road.  The "immediacy" of the need presented by the thought we are entertaining might just be the "clue" we need to breaking free of the responses we have to the pull stress puts in our lives.  Rarely does God work this way - in fact, he tells us to wait upon him - to take time to discover his riches and find rest in his presence.  This is not the demands of "immediacy" which stress places in our minds - but the small voice that signals we need to step back and create a little "breathing room" in our lives.  

Over the last half year or so, I have observed something in my aging mother which comes as a little bit of a surprise to me considering her "slowness" in all she does.  When she wants something it is "now".  Let's go to the store "now". Write that down for me "now".  Maybe this is the result of being 96 and thinking life is short so she must take advantage of every moment.  I won't fault her for it.  She doesn't have a whole lot of "now" left, so I want her to take full advantage of it while she does!  But...I am not at the same place in my life and I cannot respond to everything in my life with such "immediacy".  In fact, I will probably make a whole lot of blundering moves if I do!  If I were to be honest, I have a whole journal of those already!  "Now" is the moment I step back and listen harder.  "Now" is the time it takes to settle my thoughts and listen intently for the still small voice of God.  "Now" is the time it takes between the whirlwind and the calm after the storm.

Stress demands we trudge through the storm blindly.  God's plan is for us to know peace.  Stress calls out for us to listen to the saga of frenzied thought it poses.  God's voice beckons us into a calm sanity.  I don't know about you, but I kind of like the idea of being calmly sane!  Just sayin!

God, I'm making a fly-by!

When we are presented with alternatives to things the purpose is to give us a choice.  We can have peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and honey, or just peanut butter - based on our "mood" of the day, we choose what comes closest to our desired sandwich.  Alternatives are just a lot of choices.  If you have ever gone into a restaurant with pages and pages of menu items, bound together in a spiral bound book of sorts, you probably have been so frustrated by all the choices you just chose your old "stand by" because you couldn't decide fast enough!  When in doubt, it's a hamburger for me!  The problem with "too many" choices is the increased anxiety a multitude of choices actually affords.  

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.  (Philippians 4:6-7 MSG)

When the choices are many, the anxiety associated with making the "right" choice is also significantly higher than when the choices are simply this or that.  At least we stand a 50/50 chance of getting our choice right with the latter example, but with the spiral-bound menu of choices, who knows what the odds might be?  There is something to be said about "limiting the choices", isn't there?  With small children, I don't give them a litany of choices - I present one or the other.  Why?  When presented with two items, they want the both - when presented with fifty items, they want them all - but they can only have one!  It is much easier to teach right choices when the options are fewer!  God knows this, too!  So does the enemy of our souls!  He knows presenting us with so many choices which baffle our minds is a good place to get us in the middle of a muddle.  He likes it when we are in a muddle!

Recently, as with each and every winter season which comes, our hospital "business" has increased.  Sickness abounds, people are under the weather, and sick people need the care of seasoned professionals - so they head to the emergency room and soon find their way to our waiting beds.  As the capacity to accept more and more patients begins to lessen due to more demand than beds, we find the stress levels beginning to increase for those of us taking care of those in need of our services.  Why?  Increased demands are just as befuddling to us as are too many choices!  When the demands on our schedules, skills, or services are many, the anxiety associated with these many demands increases, as well.  

If choices and demands can increase our anxiety to fever-pitch, maybe it is time we learn how to collaborate with the only one who can really direct us to the right choice and settle us into a place of inner peace in the midst of the chaos.  Learning to shape our choices and stressors into prayers is fundamental to keeping ourselves out of the middle of the muddle.  So many think prayers have to be these elaborate, well-orchestrated, divine-sounding, stop all activity, get on your knees words lifted to the heavens.  The Lord has heard more "fly-by" prayers from me in my times of increased demand and uncertain choices than I can shake a stick at!  If I waited to get down onto my knees, I'd never get things sorted out!  

All God desires is for us to make our concerns known to him - he doesn't care if it is on the "fly" or on our knees!  He just wants the opportunity to connect. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in the middle of a mess of stress and just asked him to give me guidance - short and sweet.  In a matter of just a short time, he begins to settle in around me with his peace and I can focus on what matters, getting direction on how to proceed and then it seems like the stressors get put into the right perspective.  When things are in the right perspective - or at least I can see them from that perspective - they look a lot less "anxiety-laden" than they did before!  I echo Paul's comments:  "It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Life happens at a pace we can barely manage sometimes.  In those moments of "over-activity", it is good to re-center, re-connect, and re-commit.  Re-centering means we change our focus from the increasing demand and innumerable choices toward Christ and his leading in those moments.  Re-connecting means we just take a moment or two to just offer up those prayers and then just listen.  We may think we don't have the time to listen, but remember this - the amount of time you invest in listening equates to less time in the midst of the muddle.  Re-committing is really the outcome of the first two - when we get our focus right and allow our hearts to be connected to the one who knows the answers, the ability to make the choice in front of us or deal with the demand which is the most urgent becomes apparent.

It doesn't take much to settle into God's peace - sometimes it only takes a moment to allow the sense of God's wholeness to permeate our inner core and settle us right down.  Just sayin!

Stressed to the max?

The way we think is often the determining factor in how we perceive a circumstance.  In changing the way we think, we can be transformed.  If you haven't realized it yet, God tends to give us a different perspective than we'd see on our own.  There are some of us who go through life just feeling like come what may, we are stuck with it - there just isn't anything else we could have done about it.  This could not be farther from the truth!  We don't live by some "chance" encounter or outcome.  We live by faith - but faith is based is based on a firmer foundation than kismet.  Sometimes we live with a whole lot more stress in our lives than we really need to - simply because we think stress comes from outside of us.  The truth is, stress is something INSIDE of us - it comes from the way we think and the choices we make as a result of our thinking.  One of the easiest ways to get out from under the pressure of stress is to "reframe" your thinking.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2 MSG)

Many times we want to discount the actual "benefit" of stress - seeing it as a bad thing and something to be avoided at all cost.  In actuality, stress is really God's way of speaking to us - it is a means of getting our attention.  It is a signal of sorts - to get us to see things from his perspective.  We are not going to see things differently until something gets our attention which will cause us to question the way we are seeing them.  This is how God uses stress in our lives - it begins to get us asking questions - and God can use those questions!  If we understand what causes stress, we might hear the questions a little clearer and a little faster!

- Stress come whenever we find ourselves making compromises.  Anytime there is a struggle between what is "right" or "wrong" in our lives, we find ourselves encountering some of the feelings we associate with stress.  Even when we choose to take the path of "right", we often feel like we aren't stress-free.  Why?  There is a good kind of stress!  Stress actually pushes us beyond the last place we were.  If you think of muscles, they only develop strength when we push them beyond what they are "used to" doing - they need a little stress to get them "toned".  Even with the path of "right" there will be stressful challenges designed to help us develop.  Two things come out of this "good stress" - a building of integrity (foundation) and a letting go of control (trust).  

- Stress is present anytime there is conflict within relationships.  It doesn't matter what the relationship, stress comes when conflict arises.  If you don't have a clue yet about how conflict actually comes into relationship, let me give you one word of advice - it is usually related to someone's selfish choices.  When the other person can see things only their way (or perhaps it is you who sees things this way) - it is that way which makes sense to them and they don't quite understand why you cannot see things the same way they do.  Conflict has started!  The thing which usually comes next is the belief no one understands where you are coming from - unreasonable as though it may be, not everyone will be able to think exactly like you think! Conflict takes root!  What we do with how we are willing to see things and what we will believe about others is often the basis of conflict.  Changing our perspective can help us see our selfishness and open us up to the possibility of another's viewpoint.

- Stress increases as we feel the sense of any form of "competition" within either the relationship or the circumstances.  If you don't believe me, watch a family play a rousing game of Monopoly sometime.  Someone wants Park Place or Boardwalk - when they get it, they manage to buy all those houses and hotels, causing the rent on that tiny square to skyrocket to astronomical values.  Landing on that space almost bankrupts you.  What does the other guy do to offset his losses?  He buys up lots and lots of other property, getting monopolies on those properties until he can garner some monies of his own from others landing on his investments.  The one property has some value, but when you "own it all", the value multiplies!  Competition at its finest!  At the core of all this competition is something we might not recognize - comparison.  You own this, I don't.  You own that, I don't.  You have a monopoly, I don't.  Competition also involves making value judgments about what the other guy is doing and why.  We see things as "against" us - every move is designed in some way to "take us down".  If you don't think this increases stress, just drag out the Monopoly game!  When competition enters the picture, what we forget is the truth of God's grace and favor - they aren't given because we compete to get them.  They are given because he loves us first!  Competition always puts grace out of the picture - compassion brings grace to life!

So, not sure what is "internally" getting at you today, but I do know a change of perspective might be in order.  Just sayin!

Being carried away by currents of stress?

Ever "feel" like you just cannot get a handle on things and like the whole world is just spinning out of control?  We all have these days, but a lifestyle of this type of "feeling" will absolutely undo the strongest person!  We can receive all kinds of input all day long - what we do with the input and how we allow it to affect us determines if we will live in peace, or fall to pieces.  If you stop long enough, you might just begin to realize there is a link between peace of mind and stress.  The more physical, mental, or emotional strain we put ourselves under, the more we begin to feel a little tension in our lives. The more tension we begin to "feel" without "processing" it correctly, the greater the chances are it will affect our peace.

A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones.  (Proverbs 14:30 MSG)

Look at the link between a sound mind and a healthy, flourishing body.  The more stress we accumulate without processing it, the more it begins to affect our body.  There is often more to a few extra pounds on our frame than just not exercising as much as we should, or eating a few more calories at lunch than is really called for.  We have to "process" what we take in, but when we take in more than we can "process" and add to it the stress of life accumulating out of control, we are sure to reap a pretty unhealthy response. The body can "process" almost anything, but we have to give it time and the right means by which to process it.  The same is true of our mind and spirit. As long as we give them the right time and means by which to process what is coming into them, we can "deal" with the stuff coming our way.  Neglect the time, or use an incorrect means to deal with the stuff and your peace will soon be turned into havoc.

Peace is more than a "feeling".  Jesus said, "I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid." (John 14:27 ERV)  The world gives us a peace which is elusive - based on circumstances and things we can "control". When we throw in things we cannot control, the world's peace flies right out the window.  The peace Jesus gives is "his own peace" - in other words, he gives us enough of HIM to deal with the things life throws our way.  If we find our peace is not enough, what we really need is more of Jesus, not more of what we have already been doing!  Too many times we think peace is a thing, but if we read this correctly, peace is a PERSON, not a thing!  We need more of the PERSON of Jesus if we are to "deal" with the pressures of life.

We can probably all associate with the idea of "runaway emotions". Unchecked emotions run rampant in our brains, releasing all kinds of hormones which eventually begin to do damage in our bodies.  In looking up the word "runaway" this morning, I found it means to desert.  When we allow emotions to "runaway", we are "deserting" our post of peace - we are choosing to see the things which are out of OUR control as out of ANY control in our lives. Most of the time, when we begin to be carried away with the emotions, we are "leaving our post" - running away with what is carrying us along.  

I live in the deserts of Arizona, so when rain comes here, the ground cannot always soak it up quick enough.  People are constantly warned about flash floods in the dry riverbeds.  In fact, we have a "stupid motorist" law here - because so many try to cross over what appears to be only a few inches of water, but get carried by the raging current of muddy water and debris.  Then they need rescue and the rescue costs them dearly!  They don't cross the usually dry wash without some type of warning of the impending danger of doing so - there are signs posted reminding them of the potential dangers of crossing even those 6-12 inches of water.  The same is true of most of the emotional "current" in our lives - we see clear warning signs, but just don't heed them!  When we launch out into the "current" of emotion, we get carried away - needing rescue!  Remember, all "rescue" costs us something we may not have been prepared to "pay"!

Another key idea in our passage is the "corrosive" part of emotional strain. Not only do we get carried away, abandoning our post of peace, but we begin to experience the corrosive effects of wearing emotions.  Corrosion doesn't occur immediately - it occurs over time, with a gradual deterioration sometimes not noticed until it begins to weaken the "frame" of what once existed.  When we try to make our own peace, rather than standing firm in God's peace, we are going to deteriorate somewhere down the line.  There is no "protection" as great as the PERSON of PEACE.  

Here's the truth:  Peace is a PERSON - seek the PERSON of PEACE and you will have enduring peace.  More of Christ equals more peace.  Nothing else will quite do when we are dealing with the corrosiveness of stress in life.  Just sayin!