Life will throw you curve balls. We can take all sorts of preventative measures to counter stress and learn to cope or manage it to our advantage. We can also pop pills for relief. Nonetheless, the sources of stress press their ugly tentacles our way every day. We must first realize where anxiety comes from. It comes from anxiousness and stress as well as crisis after crisis; but also often from fear of the future. We worry about things we don’t feel capable of handling or meeting the challenges ahead.
RELEVANCE
God too seeks to advance His cause of setting you free! He wants to be your source. He wants you to seek Him for His solutions. He wants you to come to peace and contentment through the power of His Holy Spirit.
One individual who experienced extreme levels of stress was David. He spent years running through the wilderness from the pursuit of King Saul. His enemies were real. So was pain of heart. He didn’t see his conflict with Saul coming to resolution. His “prayer diary” reflected in the Psalms records His tenacious and relentless engagement with God. We learn a lot from David.
“Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.”
(Psalm 69:1-3)
David communed with the LORD and found the Holy Spirit to be his source of peace and comfort. Time after time, God did meet David with His healing touch.
“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
Cast your burden on the Lord. He is your strong tower and source of refuge and safety.
REFLECT AND RELATE
What fears haunt you?
Where do they stem from?
How can you be relentless in seeking the LORD for His solution?
What regular times of devotion can you spend with the LORD?
REFERENCES
Psalm 4:1-8; Psalm 29:1-11; Psalm 55:1-23; John 16:33; Matthew 11:28-30