This week, we’re exploring stress, and how we as Christians should handle the stresses of life. As you know, stress comes to us all, and it’s usually not at the best times. It’s when you’ve already got a tight deadline on your history project that your English class assigns an extra paper to write, causing you lots of stress.
So how do you handle the stresses of school and stress of life in ways that bring God glory and point others to Him?
One of the best ways comes from looking at the account of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41.
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
One of things we see from this account is that in stressful situations like these, we have a choice. We can be like Jesus, and choose peace, or we can be like the disciples and choose panic.
Both Jesus and the disciples faced the same storm. The storm was real, and the disciples were in real danger, and had every reason to be afraid. Jesus did too. But His response was different. He chose peace. Instead of looking at how bad the situation was, He exercised faith.
He chose faith and seeing God as bigger than the scary situation. Then He stood up and took authority over the storm.
You can do the same thing when you’re faced with stressful situations. You can choose to panic or you can choose peace. Today, challenge yourself to choose peace. God’s peace is greater and enough for you in every situation you face.
