Hi, my friend! How was your weekend?
I spent mine as guest speaker for the Lethbridge University Drive Alliance Church women’s retreat. Today I’m basking in the afterglow of powerful worship music, sweet fellowship, and study time in God’s Word. This Thursday I’ll fly to Winnipeg, Manitoba and experience the same with a group of Baptist women.
I’m humbled and grateful for this ministry with which God has entrusted me. How fun to meet spiritual sisters across Canada and around the world, and to encourage one another in our faith journey!
And then reality strikes. 
A three-day turnaround between events both this week and next means precious little time to tackle my routine to-do list and none to work on two major writing projects. Add to that the physical demands of traveling back and forth between various time zones and facing unexpected travel delays (like last night when my plane was an hour delayed), sleeping in many different beds, and missing my exercise routine. Women routinely tell me that they would love to do what I do, but they don’t see the behind-the-scenes challenges.
I’ll be honest—at this point in times past, I would have been feeling more than a tad stressed. But not now.
Despite the challenges I face right now, a sense of calm fills me. What’s the difference? I’ve chosen to believe that God will empower and equip me to do what He’s called me to do, just as He’s done so faithfully in the past. I’ll take one step at a time, thankful for His promised presence and power.
I’m also being intentional about lassoing my thoughts. Each time they throw worry my way, I refuse to play that game. Instead, I incorporate the “let us” commands found in Psalm 95:1-7:
“Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains.
The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too.
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker,
for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.”
Singing praises to the Lord, giving thanks for His many gifts to me, making everything I do an act of worship, and acknowledging Him as my maker and keeper calms my anxious thoughts. Knowing that He’s watching over me and caring for me keeps my heart in a quiet state.
The next time you feel stressed, recall these “let us” commands and join me by putting them into practice, okay? The difference they make will amaze you.
#bgbg2 #OvercomingStress #OvercomingFear
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