28th. June. 2021. Daily Devotion.
34 ‘Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.’ Luke 21:34-36.
Here is another challenging saying of Jesus. It speaks of the all-too-common human desire to cope with the stress of life in the escapism of pleasure and alcohol.
Stress is something we all have in varying degrees, and if we are forced to live with it for an extended amount of time, it can take a physical and mental toll. It’s not unusual to have physical symptoms and mistake them for something else. The question is not whether we have stress but what we do about it.
A typical way to address it, in our culture, is to drink. Alcohol has the ability to temporarily relieve stress. It relieves it, in part, by numbing us to the pain it creates. It allows us to detach and lose focus. It causes us to stay in the moment and not dwell on bigger things. But of course, it is temporary and can lead to a cycle of ever increasing dependence
The way out of stress is to stay away from temporary fixes and focus on the day we will be with our Lord. As we pursue him and see his faithfulness in our lives, our anxiety will lessen. He will prove faithful, and the more we trust him, the more we will find our hearts are lightened. He will walk together with you and lift your burdens in his timing. It is not the quick-fix; the process of discipleship is harder but develops character. As we refuse to compromise to the easy way out, we change on the inside. Adapted from M. Cranford, University of California, Irvine.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I offer to you the burdens and challenges in my life. I trust in your timing and know that you are in control. Give me the courage and the strength to look to you in my times of trouble. Give me your peace as I commit to following you in all I do. Amen.
Prayer for Facing Trials
Lord, I have planned my strategies and figured out how I will try to solve my problems, yet, I have not consulted you. I am a fool, Lord; forgive me. For I know that my problems are not simply problems that were given me to solve, but also burdens that you have allowed me to bear, and that the purpose of these burdens is to show me that you and only you can lift them from me.
I cannot do it myself, great God; only by my prayer to you, can my burdens ever be borne. And I pray you, take up my burdens while I am on earth, today, just as you will take them up when I am with you in heaven. By the grace you gave me through the sacrifice of your only Son, relieve me. May I do your will while I am alive, just as I will do your will when I am together with you again, in paradise. For there and no place else lies my salvation, and all true happiness. Amen.
For Those Making All Kinds of Journeys
I pray for all who will be making journeys today: For those who are going to a new job and for those who are going to work for the last time today; For the emergency services who will travel at high speed on land, water or in the air, to bring help to others; for those starting a new life as they move into a new home, or those travelling to or from prison, for people who will go into hospital today; for young people on their way to school, college and university; for those who are lost on the journey of life; For those who will die today and make their final journey.
I remember all these people now, and ask your blessing upon them, Lord. Amen.
