Counseling in the AM – Wedding in the afternoon – Two Sermons Sunday Morning – Guest Presenter at a Sunday Night Service…I was feeling as if the plate was adequately filled. NOW THIS…

Tonight at 9:00pm I discovered that one of my young ones had left the tub running in our master bathroom. I was down stairs working on my wedding message when I suddenly heard the sound of water running across the ceiling. I was unsure at first what it was.  I went upstairs to investigate and when I opened my bathroom door I was greeted with at least two inches of water.

Incredible!

Elizabeth and I have ripped the carpet up in our room and in my son’s room down stairs.

It was amazing to me that we would have this opportunity to deal with this little life lesson late on Friday and now into the Saturday before my Sunday message on STRESS.

Pressure can be created by events like this. A lot of times when we get under stress we blame our circumstances. They are not the cause of stress. It is easy to point to a bunch of external things. We allow these external things to steal our joy, our hope, our peace, and our confidence.

In a very serious way, God is using this opportunity to help me recognize that stress is the response. Stress is in your mind. It’s how you react to circumstances. Stress is a combination of a bunch of complex emotions; worry, tension, anxiety, guilt, fear, bitterness and anger - all these things put together based on your way of thinking. That’s why the Bible says if you want to deal with stress, you’ve got to change the way you think.

2 Timothy 4:5, says “You should keep a clear mind in every situation.”

I felt overwhelmed at first, but quickly Elizabeth and I decided to look to God for our strength. He is my Jehovah Jira, my Provider.