Too Stressed to Be Blessed?

Posted on May 17, 2023 by

It stopped me dead in my tracks.

At the height of the pandemic my wife was watching the news, and as I passed through the room, I heard some expert being interviewed about the coronavirus. She said, “If you’re not stressed by all of this, there’s something wrong with you!” Her words stopped me cold, for I remember thinking, “No, if you’re not stressed by all this, there’s something right with you!”

You see, the apostle Paul says we should “rejoice in the Lord alway” and “be careful” (or full of care) “for nothing,” but rather pray about “every thing” (Phil. 4:4-6). If you can do that, he promises that “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

The reason we can always rejoice in Christ is that “God… hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places–in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), and those immutable blessings cannot be altered by circumstances. They stand impervious in the face of any and all of the unsettling things that can happen in our lives. That’s what enabled Paul to offer us “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.”

So “acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace” and “thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job 22:21). In times like we just endured with the Covid-19 virus, even many believers felt too stressed to be blessed. But in reality, we are “too blessed to be stressed,” as a popular Christian saying has expressed so well. “The Lord of Peace Himself” is willing to “give you peace always by all means” (2 Thes. 3:16), but you have to be willing to always “rejoice” in your blessings to maintain that peace.

So in times of turmoil, remember to keep God’s reassuring words in mind: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:10). That’s the very definition of being “careful” or full of care “for nothing.” It is the exact nature of being spiritually minded, and “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6).

In short: if you’re not stressed in times of turmoil, there’s something right with you, not wrong! source

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