What do you do when you have a stressful day? Do you pray, smile and move on or do you pray and struggle to set your worries and anxieties at God’s feet?
In theory it is easy. There is lots of advice out there ranging from 5Rs of stress management, 4Cs of Christian mental toughness to developing spiritual practices. Most of these help us prepare for stress. They are not as helpful when we are in the middle of stress. When a devout Christian is in the middle of a storm, which will happen, it is because the Prince of Lies is crafty and not because our God is not with us wherever we go.
There are many good verses in The Bible which will support what I have to say – Pray and wait. You do not have a choice, your stress will melt away when you learn to wait. What does that mean? Not do anything? No, it means to turn up your obedience to full throttle. Do what you are led to do by the Holy Spirit. If it means, just going through the motions of putting one step in front of the other, go for it.
“Wait on the Lord;
Psalm 27:14
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
“But those who wait on the Lord
Isaiah 40:31
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.”
“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
Lamentations 3:25
To the soul who seeks Him.”
The hardest thing for us to do is sit still and not fiddle around. When in the middle of a stressful situation, we have to remember to Pray and then trust that He will come through. When we continue to fret, it shows that we
- do not trust that He answers prayers
- do not trust in Him unconditionally
- think that we can do a better job at fixing our issues than the author of this universe
Use your stress to grow closer to God. Stop doing whatever urgent matter you are attending to and fall on your knees, pray and wait for help to arrive. And when it does, do not forget to rejoice. You may be too beaten and battered to rejoice, but watch Him in action. He is with you always, He is fully aware of how urgent your situation is and He knows what will happen if the matter at hand is not addressed.
“Be still, and know that I am God;
Psalm 46:10
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Dear Jesus,
There are times when I pray for help and do not wait for You. Please forgive me. Help me remember that You always come through. You make my life better when you teach me to wait. Your grace and mercy abound in my life. Amen.