WHEN THE STRESS GETS WEIGHTY

Allow me to visit openly with you guys and gals who are pedalling the best you can to serve in the most exciting venue on earth....the kingdom of God.

Stress is. The push and pull of it can eventually become so distracting one can hardly function in the normalcy of any given day. The mind prefers to enter the ring of a wrestling smackdown hoping to conquer....something.

I'm there. First, I have two books in the works; one is a new manuscript and the other is a rewrite of an earlier book. Second, I have two publishers; one for each. One publisher was in a freak accident at a major east coast airport. Something fell from above while he was waiting for his ride and broke his neck. He is in rehab. The other publisher has become very ill and is bedridden with no ability to focus on my book or anything else.

I am not well. I have been sick for about ten days and it's all I can do to function about the bare necessities of any day. A hefty segment of our congregation is engaging in great discussion regarding key elements of our future. Sometimes those repeated meetings become touchy.

What do I do?

I thank God when I pray! Who wouldn't want to say they sit in my chair day after day? Who wouldn't wish to write one book; let alone two? Who wouldn't want a congregation stressing over advancement and possibilities? I'm not wasting one moment of all of this bemoaning poor me. I'm not poor! I'm richly blessed!

And so are you. Trouble? Conflict? Uncertainty? Good grief....get a faith. Do you really think your God has suffered shoulder surgery and can't reach your part of life? Of course not. Your God is endlessly creative! Your God hears and He hears well. Everything is worked out and we simply wait for His revelation as to what it is.

My point is obvious. Yes, serious matters impose themselves upon our radar. Take them seriously. Then be sure to thank God for them and thank Him for His provision and eventual arrival. Our God makes every day a really good day. Evidently Paul and Silas thought so. They made lemonade out of the lemons. We do the same: we want, we can, we will.