Stress

Have you seen this sign at Village Inn? “STRESSED? You’ll find the answer when you spell it backwards.” Funny but true, right? How many of us binge on comfort food when we’re stressed? Or worse?  

There’s an intriguing story in Luke 10 where Jesus deals with someone all stressed out. Her name is Martha, and she’s hosting a meal at her house for a good-sized group of people. Problem is, everybody (including her sister) is sitting around listening to Jesus teach instead of helping her with lunch. So she charges out into the living room, interrupts the greatest Teacher who ever lived, accuses her Savior of being insensitive, and orders her Creator to help her sort out a problem in the kitchen with her sister. All the signs of stress are there—anxiety, irritability, suspicion, unreasonable demands. We all know the feeling, don’t we? 

How did Martha get there? Jesus explains: "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it.” (Lk 10:41-2 NLT) 

What’s He saying? Just this: “You are focused on all these other things, but you should really be focused on one thing: pleasing me. That’s all that matters.” Jesus says the same thing to us: “Not all of that, but Me. You don’t need to have 20 items on your TO DO list; just have one: Please me. Trust me. Serve me. I’m not going to give you more than you can manage. If you have more to do than you can get done, could it be that you took all that on yourself?”

By Chaplain Josh Waltz, Parker Police Department