Stretched

Building 429′s anthem on the radio proclaims, “we won’t be shaken” and declares a hopeful heart that we can take whatever this world throws at us.  It’s true.  Absolutely true… that God has given us a powerful women against the domineering assault of stress and pain.  Through his help and presence we are cared even when it doesn’t feel like we’ve got the stuff to take it.  The psalmist declares this too:

Cast your troubles upon the Eternal; His care is unceasing! He will not allow His righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22 (The Voice)

This important truth might just save you today…or tomorrow.

But consider too that God knows what tensions you live in.  You don’t have to pretend like the small stuff you’re sweating is irrelevant to Him.  He cares.  And He holds you through it.  Nancy Ortberg describes this tension in her book to leaders, Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands, and her suggestion (among many) is to know that some tensions are meant to be lived in…and managed.  Picture the rubber band: in it’s unstretched state it holds nothing.  When it’s stretched it finds it’s healthy purpose.  Stretch too much and…SNAP!!!  So we like the rubber band find what tensions we must manage.

Ongoing stresses of course are unhelpful and described by smarter people than me as damaging to your brain and health.  And by all means, resist the enemy’s temptation to sit in worry and frustration.  Just remember that the way we trust God…with the big stuff and the small…is learning how to used best and confident in His all-sufficient strength.