Stress and Recentering

Stress - I recently had a run in with this friend. Much as I'd like to leave it behind, my experience so far has been that stress is an inevitable part of life. Like it or not, we'll all continue to run into it through life. While pondering my immediate circumstances, I was reminded of several facts which added perspective to the situation. Before jumping into them though, we should set some Scriptural context.

While I didn't realize it at the time, the path my thoughts took was based on a sermon I heard a year or two ago in Moses Lake, WA. The pastor of the Church I was attending was working his way through the Psalms of Ascent. For Psalm 121, the first verses set the focus for the sermon: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2, ESV)

The thrust of the message was that our constant response to life needs to be one of looking back up to God. In so doing we consciously make Christ the center of our focus, rather than the circumstances. This ends up pushing our focus up and beyond the immediacy of what we are walking through.

With that background, there were two facets of looking to Christ which jumped out at me:

1. God's Providence - Stress is a perfect opportunity to practice trusting in God's control over life. I wish I could say remembering this fact magically changed my circumstances. It didn't. The hand I was working with was still the same. What it did do though was add a fuller context to my view of life. These weren't simply a set of random circumstances I may or may not be able to control. Instead, they were pre-planned activities which God arranged for my benefit and His glory. Even though the stressful circumstances remain, remembering that God is in control is part of centering our focus back on Christ.
2. Limited Horizon - The other facet which which jumped to the forefront of my mind was the fact that I didn't have much perspective on what was actually happening. The space between the here and now and when I hit the horizon line of the future is pretty limited. That's not limited to just a few occasions. For just about everything that life throws at us, the horizon of our perspective is very close. Sure we'll be able to see further in some cases than others, but rarely will we have anything close to an adequate vantage point from which to understand the path we are walking on at the moment. Realizing this should also help us remember to focus back up on Christ, whose vantage point encompasses all of history.

And, there you have it folks - nothing to deep or brainy, but hopefully some thoughts which help you in your walk today. Look up to Christ and center your focus on Him. He knows both where you are at and what is coming. Further, He has planned it for your ultimate good and His greatest glory. It's hard to ask for more than that.