Don't Let Stress Get You Down!

     Living our day to day lives can be stressful, and this is especially true as we have been sheltering at home.  We think going to work each day or even going grocery shopping is stressful, but being at home?  Yes, especially when it came suddenly.  On top of the concern for our health, there are many facing unemployment, teaching the children at home, and some who must also work from home.  So the challenges are different, but stress-filled all the same.
     This is the second pandemic I have personally lived through.  The first was when I contracted

polio in 1955.  Many of you reading this may be unaware of the frightening time when polio swept across this nation striking fear into the hearts of many.  It was not restricted to any one age group either and there was no vaccine or cure.  Polio hit the U.S. in 1894 but the worst outbreak came in 1952 when over 50,000 people contracted this disease.  The first vaccine was created in 1954 by Jonas Salk and was followed by an oral vaccine some years later.  Polio led to paralysis, disability and at times, death.  It was also highly contagious.  Like the COVID 19 virus, there were some who did not have symptoms; therefore, it generated a lot of fear and stress in each community.  If you survived  the active disease phase, it took many weeks, months and even years in order to return to a normal life.  Now we are facing a new unknown enemy which seems to attack the most vulnerable.  So how do we address the stress of our present day pandemic?
     Looking into the Scriptures has always been a source of comfort and calm for me and recently, I have been reading passages from I Samuel and the Psalms concerning David and his flight from his father-in-law King Saul.  We learn from I Samuel 10 that Saul was anointed King over Israel by Samuel the Prophet.  However, just a few chapters later, Saul violates the laws of God and is rejected as King.  He became possessed of a spirit that caused him tremendous mood swings, and many times, David was the target of Saul's jealousy and rage.
     As a shepherd boy, David defeated Goliath to win a great battle over the Philistines for King Saul. He became a musician in the King's house since his music seemed to soothe Saul's moods.  However, David became more and more successful in battling the enemies of Israel, and when Saul saw this, he became jealous.  Eventually, this conflict escalated to the point that even though David had married Saul's daughter and served him with faithfulness, he was now the target of Saul's attempts to kill him.  Talk about stress!  A life on the run is not something anyone would want to experience.
     Interestingly enough, David found solace in pouring his heart out to God.  He wrote and sang the Psalm to God as a prayer during his most trying times.  One such Psalm is Psalm 56 written when the Philistines seized him in Gath.  Not only did he have Saul after him but he also had to contend with these pagan people who hated the Jews.  Instead of pitying himself, David wrote down and poured out his heart to God.  This is one thing we can do today for ourselves.  We can keep a prayer diary where we write down the thoughts of our heart as we give them to the Lord.  If we do this faithfully, we can look back over time and see how the Lord has answered us.  In the Psalm, David says in verses 3-4:  "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?"  Just declaring this as a faith statement releases the stress that builds up in our lives.
     Another thing David did when confronted by his enemies was to sing to the Lord songs of praises.   We know he wrote many of the Psalms and that he was a singer from the days he spent as a shepherd boy.  In Psalm 59, when Saul's men were searching for him to kill him, David wrote these words:  "But I will sing of your strength;  I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.  For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.  O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who show me steadfast love."  David does not depend on his own strength but freely declares, in this anxious time, that God is his strength.  In the act of singing God's praise, we find refreshment for our souls.  Stress, worry and fear rush out the door of our heart when we name the name of Jesus in song and prayer.
     A final example of David's victory over stress is found in Psalm 57.  Once again, he has fled from Saul.  Yet, instead of whimpering about his situation, David begins to glorify God and exalt his name in this Psalm.  In verse 2-3, David writes:  "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.  He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me.  Selah  God will send out His steadfast love and faithfulness!"  Then in verse 5, he says:  "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!  Let your glory be over all the earth!"  No self pity in these verses.  We can see David releasing his stress by bringing glory to the God who alone has control of his life and situation.  Shouldn't we do the same?
     No matter where life finds us today, we can take the same positive action as King David did when he was on the run.  No Philistines, crazed King or virus can back us into a corner if we will begin to do what David did:  sing to the Lord songs of praise, write down our fears and pour them out before our Lord, and glorify God despite our circumstances.  We know from the Bible that David was protected by God and kept in His love.  We also know that nothing will happen to us today that does not first pass through the hands of our loving Father in heaven.  So let us be quick to release the stress, and enter into the rest that comes from the hands of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  What He has promised, He will do.  Selah!