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Some people believe God’s way to deal with stress is to make them
invincible.
These persons pray for more money so they can cover their bills and
purchase their dreams. They beg God for more strength to turn their
days into twenty-hour whirlwinds. They ask Him for more talent and
wisdom so that they can fulfill the positions they accepted to please
others and to hide their own inadequacies. They plead with God to help
their children accomplish goals and successes they were unable to reach
for themselves.
But it doesn’t work. Regardless of how much money they earn, they are
always over extended. Even if they can whiz through twenty-hour days
there is never enough time. No matter how well they perform their
tasks, they still feel inadequate. Though their children may excel far
beyond their dreams, they never are quite satisfied with them.
Stress is removed from our lives not by increasing our abilities but by
recognizing and accepting our limitations. St. Paul once wrote, “I will
not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses” (2 Corinthians
12:5). Most people want to hide their weaknesses but St. Paul says that
we should admit them.
The key to removing stress over money usually lies more with curbing our
desires and disciplining our pocketbooks than in increasing our
incomes. The key to removing the stress that results from trying to
fill impossible schedules is to limit our commitments. The key to
avoiding stress over jobs we cannot accomplish is to admit our
weaknesses and to politely but firmly refuse to be drawn into projects
we neither enjoy nor need.
We will enjoy our children a lot more if we will love and accept them as
they are instead of trying to make them what we wanted to be.
There is a fable about four animal friends who tried to excel equally at
running, swimming, climbing and flying.
The duck injured his foot trying to climb trees and soon was only
mediocre in all the subjects, including his specialty of swimming.
The rabbit started out as a great runner, but did so much extra work
trying to develop his swimming skills that he strained his muscles and
could barely hop.
The squirrel, who was the best climber, became frustrated in flying
class, lost his self-confidence, and eventually climbed no faster than
the others.
The eagle broke some of his feathers trying to climb trees and never
regained his superior flying abilities.
Silly animals. If they had just understood their limitations, they
could have excelled in their strengths.
Silly people. If we quit wanting the things we can’t afford we can
better enjoy what we have. If we stop moaning about what we can’t do,
we can enjoy what we can do. If we like ourselves as God made us and
not as others want to make us, we can begin to experience peace and
acceptance.
Paul Jetter, Upper Valley Community Church |
