The blessed life or the stressed life …

Those who know me would think I have a disdain for platitudes. That’s not quite accurate. It’s platitudes that sound pretty but aren’t accurate that I dislike. But a good quote loaded with truth? Bring it on!

Take, for example, this platitude: “Too blessed to be stressed.”

Now there’s a statement that is loaded with truth!

When you consider all that God has already done for us, our blessings vastly outnumber our troubles. The Apostle Paul highlighted this reality when he wrote, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ,” Ephesians 1:3.

How can people so richly blessed become stressed? It can only happen when we don’t trust Christ with Lordship over our lives. Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trustalso in me,” John 14:1.

Yet there are a lot of “troubled hearts” out there, which means there’s a lot of mistrust as well. We tend to think the presence of trials in our lives is proof we’re on our own, or that our problems are bigger than our God. Here’s what Jesus had to say about that:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world,” John 16:33.

When we don’t trust God for what we need in life, we become stressed. But Jesus spoke directly to this issue:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need,” Matthew 6:25-33.

If we trust what Jesus has said, it appears we are, indeed, too blessed to be stressed. But some will insist on living a life that is too stressed to allow themselves to be blessed. Which life are you living?

Scotty