What do you do when you feel extremely tested by situations? Do you fight it? Do you become embittered and angry by your circumstances. Or do you just run?
Or maybe you panic and flee like there is no tomorrow. What do you run from? People? Places? Things? You don’t understand and you don’t like it, so you fight or run from it. Well here is my advice, don’t run and don’t panic and don’t be angry. Trust in God’s presence with you.
Do you ever feel that your buttons are pressed and you’re being squeezed in the wrong place? We all have that thing that turns us off. For me it is stress. I don’t like to be stressed. I don’t like to be poured into a boiling pot that soon scorches. This is stress: Situational stress, emotional stress, relational stress, work stress. I often feel it in different ways. But in the past whenever I was squeezed to my limit, the inevitable result was fear, anger and fleeing the situation. I know I like to run, I don’t like to feel uncomfortable in conflicts and hardships. But then I was put in a
situation I could not easily flee. And somehow I was surprised by the results. I saw God is good. And I learning that God will work all things out for good even the stress that seems terribly unbearable. God can use anything, he can make the stresses work in your favor and not break you.
I like to think about the biblical character Joseph. He was stuck in some stressful situations. First he had problems with jealousy from his brothers. They sold him into slavery. He was alienated and betrayed by family. Being a slave he could not run. But he could have become angry. He had
family stress and Situational stress. He didn’t get a break later when he was thrown in jail for a couple years either. But God had his plan to turn everything out better in the end. He will put it all together. Joseph stayed cool through it all and trusted God. God was with him there in the stress of life. Especially if you are God’s child, God is for you and not against you. God has done this for me on plenty of past occasions and I have learned from it. I realized I became stronger at the end and I saw God work it out. This was the outcome of God giving me the strength to perseverance. There is something about pushing on in spite it all and trusting God with any horrible circumstances. The sun comes out again.
I encourage you if you are stressed by something, keep pushing through it. In the end you will be happy you did. Don’t run from it but persevere through it. Trust that God works all things for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)
Reflections on the Eternal Lover-- is finally-- here!!!