We all get it, try to deal with it and even try to avoid it but stress is an inevitable part of life that can actually help us to keep in check and balance.

When tired, we can get things out of perspective and begin to feel things that are not true. We can be overwhelmed by circumstances and feel alone but the truth is that we are not alone especially as Christians. God has made provision for our loneliness in that when Jesus returned to Heaven, he gave the Holy Spirit to every believer to live in them so that they would have a residing friend forever.

How do we live free from this stress which is a 21st century phenomena which is experienced more and more it seems by the average human being? I have a friend who is very stable and a mature Christian and she advocates resting in God, abiding if you like. In John 15 of the Message Bible, Jesus himself says: “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined to me.” It is a fact that unless we do abide in God, we cannot produce the qualities of life that God intends or even do anything. We can attempt to do things in our own strength but the results are futile. God wants us healthy and well and has given us foods and rhythms in our lives to keep us that way (eg regular sleep patterns) and ways to exercise our bodies and minds (by meditating on God’s word) but it is only as we rest in Him that He does what is needed in and through us.

One of my favourite verses in Scripture is “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (in Psalm 37:7) or as The Message Bible puts it “Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him…”By meditating on these words in itself can produce peace and calm. God is in control even when all around us doesn’t appear so.
Children need order and rest in the midst of their many activities. As God ordered creation, then he wants to order our lives also. It’s not surprising that the content of God’s order in creation in Set A of Diamond Books, ‘The Creation Series’ appeals to autistic children it seems, I think for this very reason.
Let’s nestle close to our God in these days as the storms rage around us. We can be safe in the eye of the storm!