Stress Success

Get out of your fetal position, quit walking the floor, go outside and look into the sky.” Here is what you will find. “‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:25)

Stress is the gap between what we face and what we think we can face. It is the difference in what we believe we must do versus what we believe we can do. You can call it the “stress factor.” It is the canyon between the “ought to” and the belief we “can’t do.” One medical doctor put it simply, “A person’s stress level has to do with what a person believes.”

There is ancient advice that was given almost three millennia ago by a prophet named Isaiah who was facing along with his nation an unbelievable time of stress. Isaiah gives us a divine prescription for stress that comes from the heart of God. So when life becomes unbearable, the storm gets too strong, your rope of hope has been cut in half and you feel like throwing in the towel, there are ways to have stress success. We’re going to look at one of those ways today and two more tomorrow.

First, if you want to have stress success, you must look up at the unequaled God. This may sound simplistic but when you are stressed out, you need to start by waiting until dark, and then go outside and just look up. That is exactly what Isaiah told the Nation of Israel to do, “Get out of your fetal position, quit walking the floor, go outside and look into the sky.” Here is what you will find. “‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One” (Isaiah 40:25).

This God, Isaiah’s God, the Bible’s God, is an unequaled God. You can put every other so called “god” together and it would not equal God’s little toenail. The proof is not in the pudding; it is in the stars. “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26) When Isaiah wrote those words and the ancient Israelites read those words, they had no idea what an incredible statement that was. But when they were obedient and looked to God in the midst of their stress, they experienced peace like no other.

The same can be true for you, my friend. If you’re feeling stressed today. Start by looking up.

Dear Lord, thank you that you are the unequaled God. No one is like you. And only you can give me what I need to make it through this stressful situation. I pray that you would remind me when I’m stressed to look to you first and foremost to find the peace, joy, and comfort I’m searching for. In Jesus’ name, amen.