And being a Christian committed to living a godly lifestyle, spreading the gospel, building a culture of life and, yes, battling the spiritual forces who would do us in can...well, create a little stress from time to time. Right?
The issue then becomes what do we do to stay on top of our circumstances when they start pressing in. To begin with -- 1) Pray for strength and wisdom. 2) Take God seriously and yourself less so. And 3) Use the vertigo caused by dizzying problems to better relish the security that is ours in heaven. As the old country hymn goes:
This world is not my home;
I’m just a passin’ through.
My treasure is laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
O Lord, You know I have no friend like You.
If heaven weren’t my home, O Lord, what would I do?
No, those angels beckon me from heaven’s open door.
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
(Of course, I can only hear this great song when I sing it to myself since the American Association of Christian Song Leaders and Worship Directors has apparently forbade hymn singing in our nation. What? You say there’s no such organization? There’s gotta’ be. How else could virtually all evangelical congregations in the country turn their backs on the heritage, the theological solidity, the musical quality of Christianity’s rich hymnody in the favor of the emotional manipulation represented by the simplistic, repetitive, frequently heterodox ditties of our day? Oh no; it must be a conspiracy of some sort. We wouldn’t make this kind of exchange on our own, would we?)
Anyhow, let's leave that point (and, of course, the entirely fictitious AACSLWD) and move on.
Returning to my list of what to do when circumstances press in, #4 would be to “press back!” In other words, just keep working. Whether we “feel” like it or not, whether it’s convenient or not, we have a responsibility to keep God’s priorities in view and, as faithfully as possible, to carry them out with perseverance, principle and even pizazz!
Don't fret. Heaven will provide a sweet and much welcome rest for us at the end of our journey. The Scriptures are clear and trustworthy on that point. But for now, we’ve still got some work to do.And keeping busy is itself a pretty good way to beat stress.
(One more important note. If your ideas of heaven are kinda' fuzzy and they don't provide the kind of valuable consolation and excitement I refer to above, please put Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven, and/or Joni Eareckson Tada's, Heaven: Your Real Home on your immediate "to read" list! You'll do no better favor for yourself all summer, I guarantee.)
