In Every Situation…

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, “Mom, why are some of your hairs white?”

“Well,” her mother replied, “Every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, “Momma, how come all of Grandma’s hairs are white?”

That’s funny! And you know we do, we all have a lot of stress in our lives – things that make us unhappy. The truth is, so many of us are carrying around so much, and, it is easy to point the finger at someone else. It is easy to try and find someone or something to blame. But that doesn’t help, does it?

In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul gives what looks like a prescription for dealing with anxiousness and stress. He writes:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In your own life, you may very well have noticed the connection between gratitude, trust, and God’s peace. May you and I follow Paul’s advice more often.

Let us pray: God of grace, we thank you for the way your blessings have rained down upon us – grace upon grace – gift upon gift. Today, even at this moment, we hand you our burdens, our stress, our anxiety… We ask you to help us trust you. May your peace rest upon us, and flow through us. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.