The Good In Stress

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still water. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness, for His name's sake."   -Psalm 23:1-3 (ESV)


- I wrote the following for the weekly Monday Memo email which is sent out to the ministry team I work with as a story of encouragement. - 


Recently I listened to a Ted Talk which displayed positive aspects of stress. For years we've been told how terrible stress is for our health, yet this talk laid out reasons why it's our attitude towards stress - not the stress itself - which can be bad or good. The speaker said that if we respond positively, stress can make us stronger, more courageous even. If we reach out for other people during stressful situations, connecting with others and sharing our loads, this can be a significant benefit for our overall health.

Last week, the Casa G boys and team went camping near the beach, since they were on vacation from school. We packed for hours on Monday and were supposed to head out at 7 am on Tuesday, except that it took two hours to load up the trailer with all our things. Just as we pulled out of the driveway, around 9 am, one of the boys called. They had taken a night bus and were already at the beach. They wanted to know where we were (translate: how soon will you be here to feed us??). With hungry boys calling, it was stressful to know we had a five-hour plus drive ahead of us, before setting up camp for a week. Yet all we could do was drive and trust that God had laid out the week before us to work His will through the boys and the team. He did.

That week, we used the book "Safe In The Shepherd's Arms", by Max Lucado, to do morning and evening devotions on the 23rd Psalm. Each boy was paired with a staff member so they could work together to present a devotion using chapters from the book. Some of the boys were nervous, stressing about having to speak in front of the group. Yet with encouragement and hard work, each devotion was thoughtful and meaningful. When Phil gave the boys a challenge to memorize Psalm 23, they immediately opened their Bibles and started reading, enthusiastically rising to the occasion. By the end of the week, everyone was much more familiar with a Psalm which lovingly tells us all to trust and rest in God, through stressful and all other times.

With mission work, we know how important it is to be flexible. Plans will change: it's a balance of knowing we will likely stress out about things, yet need to put it all in God's hands. Our team couldn't know what God would bring about in that week of camping (which included rain in the tents on the last night, one guy getting sick for a day, and plenty of bug bites). It's easy to get stressed out when things aren't our version of ideal. Yet it also reminds us to lean on each other and God, and hopefully to see things not as a burden but as a chance to take on the challenges of ministry and life with positive focus and trust. That kind of attitude reflects on those we minister to, and blesses us as well.