Stress vs. Trust

Lately, I've had my right eye lid rough and peeling. The peeling was also in small spots on my face but not as noticeable as the eyelid. For several weeks I've talked about stress being the culprit as though it was my vastly important schedule which created the problem.

Isn't it funny that being stressed is somehow the hallmark of doing "important stuff". Even one of our daughters was talking about how both she and I have this eyelid peeling thing going on when we get stressed...a wonderful way to relate with each other.

Last night, I set my cell phone to get up at 7:00a.m., but knew that God was going to get me up earlier...which He did. I can tell you He never sleeps because He was talking to me before my buzzer went off. He told me that I didn't have a STRESS ISSUE, but rather a TRUST ISSUE.

What could I say? Absolutely nothing because as always He was totally right. I was feeling stress, or I was responding to environmental demands or pressures and it was showing up in my body. I suppose I thought there was something "strong" about handling stress, but obviously I wasn't handling it very well. But, God says to cast all of our cares on Him for He cares for us...to not be concerned but trust in Him with our whole heart and to NOT lean upon our own understanding. He says to rest and keep our focus on Him.

Recently, I was relaying a vision God had given me many years ago when we were contemplating bankruptcy as a way out of our financial dilemma. I saw myself traveling down a road on foot and to the left and to the right were ugly weeds which I intrinsically knew represented the troubles in our life. It was horrifying because it felt like the weeds would overtake me. Suddenly the road began to lift like it had hydraulics pushing it up higher and higher. As I looked on either side of the road the very things which were trying to overcome me were now shrinking in size simply from the perspective of being raised up.

Looking forward, I found myself standing before the throne of God. A bright light emanated from the throne and a warmth filled my being. I was seeing our troubles from God's perspective and I realized they were not insurmountable. As Veggie Tales would put it..."God is bigger than the boogie man".

So, today, I start again with learning to trust in a God who can be trusted...who loves me and wants to have His hands forming my life. Well so much for gutting it up and wearing "Stress" as a badge of courage. Perhaps I need to don a different badge which says "Trust" as a reminder of what happens when I let the God of the Universe order my steps. Live and learn...with hope and trust.