Stressed. That’s actually how I was feeling, quite stressed. What does stress really mean? According to the Oxford dictionary it is experiencing mental or emotional strain or tension. This feeling leads me to pass judgement on myself unfairly I might add.  Perhaps you have been here too and had the same thoughts about your life or yourself. Here’s how the thought goes. I should be stronger and just be able to deal with it. I only feel stressed because I am weak. So basically, I get a frustrated with myself because I feel stressed, and I feel like that stress is a feeling I have no right to feel. I dismiss the stress as weakness on my part instead of the truth of what it really means.

Things that we are responsible for in life become like weights. The more things that we are responsible for, the more weight that is on our shoulders. For instance, in my case I have work, a home I manage, finances to keep in check, debts I have to pay, my children’s school and medical care to be mindful of, all of my children’s needs including the luxuries like concerts and lessons and items such as that, my own spiritual life and growth, any place I have volunteered to help and assist, and on top of all that my own health and sanity to manage. That’s a lot to keep together. That’s on a normal day when you don’t throw in any unforeseen items. Like in the last two months when I’ve had to move unexpectedly. Both pack and unpack. Or when items I expect to arrive in my finances come two weeks late and I have to figure out how to shift everything. So essentially, I have these regular burdens and responsibilities that I carry every day. Not just a few of them but a lot. Add to that any of the extra things that life might throw at me. It’s no wonder that I want to dodge them.  It’s no wonder I feel not strong enough and even stressed.

Yet I find myself sitting here this morning knocking myself for feeling stressed, when the reality is how could I not feel stress with all the pressure of life and all the responsibilities bearing down on me? How could mental or emotional strain not be the condition I’m in? 

The truth I need to recognize is that I am not weak to feel this way. If I were a weak woman, I would have folded by now under all the pressure. So, I will not let these feelings inform my opinion of myself. I am in no way less than because pressure leads to this crushing feeling of stress. The truth is life it’s quite burdensome for me as it is for many other people. So what do I do with this knowledge.  If simply recognizing that I shouldn’t be critical of myself for feeling this way is not enough to relieve the pressure of it all? Is there a simple cure or remedy?

There is not a remedy within myself, but there is help.  What might that help be? The first step is knowing where to go for help. Matthew 11 says “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We have to be willing to lay down our burden and somehow give this to the Lord. How do we give our burdens to God? The answer is found in another place in scripture. It says in Philippians 4 verses 6 through 7, “Do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is where prayer makes a huge difference in our life. As believers we can try to continue to carry all of our concerns and cares on or own. God’s not going to wrestle them away from us, he gives us a choice. We can choose instead of anxiousness and stress, to come to him and give him our burdens. In prayer we can release our concerns and cares to the Lord. Since I have so many daily responsibilities and burdens, daily, sometimes hourly, I will need to come to God and leave each one at his feet. Ultimately, he is my provider, he is the one who orders my steps, who gives me favor, who gives me strength, and who provides the peace I need to not allow anxiety and stress rule me. I can feel peace because I know that when I place my finances, my children, my work concerns, my unexpected challenges, my health concerns, my relationships, and even my very spiritual health and mental well-being in his hands. Then I can rest, after I release my cares to him and trust in his ability to take care of them. 

I’m not going to be able to work out every situation in my life. I can rest in the peace knowing that if I’m seeking him that he will take care of these things. Now this does not mean that I don’t need to work. This does not mean that I don’t need to make wise choices with my finances or with my health. This does not mean that I am somehow putting everything in God’s hands and doing nothing proactive in my life to take care of myself or my life. Not at all. What it does mean is that I recognize that ultimately these things are in God’s hands and along with the actions that he gives me to do that are wise, all I need to do other than that is rest and trust. 

No amount of scheming and strategizing to try to determine how to solve a problem will truly lead me to the resolution. I’ll do what I can do that’s within my power and then I can rest and leave my cares to God. Some people might say this answer is too simple so it can’t be right, or they may argue that this is an oversimplification of what we should do as a believer. But it’s not. We do act as far as we can, but the first action should always be recognizing that God is big enough and that our problems aren’t ours only, because we are his, our concerns are his concerns. We don’t bear the burdens and responsibilities of our life on our own shoulders when we bring them to the Lord. In this way he can carry the weight for us. Or at least the load will feel lighter. 

Maybe you’re like me this morning and all you see are the burdens. I challenge you to look up and see the one who wants to carry it for you. That’s what I’m doing. I’m reminding myself of my faithful Lord who’s never failed me, and who promised that if I come to him I will find rest. You can find rest for your soul too under the shadow of his wings. You can exchange your heavy load for his much lighter one. You can sleep on the boat in the middle of the storm because you know God is taking care of you. No matter how many plates you have spinning in the air, no matter how much responsibility you think is yours to shoulder through life on your own, remember it’s not yours to carry alone.  As it so beautifully states in 1 Peter 5 and I challenge you today, “cast all your cares on him, for he cares for you.” Do you believe it? Will you release it? My friend, I pray you find rest and peace today from the stress of life, as you bring your burdens to the Lord.