The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
I believe that a large part of stress is the result of misplaced expectations, requiring the people and circumstances in our lives to meet needs only God can meet. Most people who know me well would tell you that I’m a very strong woman. It took a complete physical, emotional and spiritual breakdown for me to realize that I was only as strong as my human personality and abilities would allow me to be. I was, in short, looking in all the wrong places for the deepest needs of my heart to be met. When all was stripped away by a two-year battle with clinical depression, I was left with nothing but broken dreams and unanswered questions. There, in that dark pit, surrounded by the meager remains of a shattered life, I discovered that God is enough. “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.” Just as the shepherd meets every need of his sheep, God meets our every need. Just as the sheep totally depend upon their shepherd’s care, we must depend totally upon God. He is our Source and in light of that reality, stress flees, leaving only peace. Stop. Get off of the merry-go-round. Come into God’s presence and rest there until stress has gone and peace has come.
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