I am so stressed! I am stressed out beyond belief! In fact, if stress burned calories, I’d be a supermodel. I am being bombarded from so many different directions that it’s beginning to take a toll on me mentally and physically. I am in the midst of moving my mother out of her home into a smaller place; my daily job has been insanely busy and hectic; the band that I play in has been working every single weekend; my responsibilities at church have been steadily increasing; and family and household obligations are thrown into the mix as well. It just doesn’t seem to stop. I am running nonstop. I am so stressed!
It’s times like this when it would be really easy to fall into old bad habits, to pick-up some new vices to cling onto, or just to give up entirely and walk away from it all. (Many people do some or all of the above when under extreme stress.)
But then we read today’s scripture passages (Romans 8:31b-39; Luke 13:31-35) and we are reminded of a powerful message that we often forget, especially when we are stressed out. And that message is this: our God loves us! Absolutely nothing can separate us from God’s love, and we can conquer all things through him who loves us.
This is a message that brings hope. This is a message that brings strength. To remember that we are all God’s children and that we are loved so deeply that God gave us his only Son who died, rose, and now intercedes for us. Jesus can help us in our times of stress – we just need to come to him. In his message, in his act of love, we find strength. We realize that we must carry on. We realize that we have to stick to the plan.
And the plan is to carry out God’s will in our daily lives. We are to use the gifts and talents that God gave us and carry out his mission of love here on earth. And in that mission, we will find incredible strength for our journey.
Sure, it is so tempting (not to mention a whole lot easier) if we just did what makes us feel good, what satisfies us, and what makes our life easier. But let’s face it: we always find true blessings when we emerge from our sufferings.
It is time for us to stick to the plan: today, tomorrow, and each day forward. Today, let us reflect on how much we are loved by our Creator and Father. Let us realize that no matter what is going on in our lives, no matter how stressed we are, our loving God stands right beside us, holding our hand and guiding us all the way, giving us the strength to persevere in whatever comes our way. It’s time for us to stop focusing on how stressed we are and to remember how blessed we are.
