Stressed out?

By Gregory Mitchell

One Friday I came home from a strenuous week at school, ready for a relaxing weekend. Then a quick check of my school assignments signaled two days of grueling work. After a tough week, the last thing I wanted to do was more work! It looked like this was going to be one of my worst weekends in a long time.

Greg Mitchell didn't let stress ruin his weekend.

I felt so overcome by stress I couldn't think. Eventually, though, I was able to sit down and stop panicking.

I realized that I had three choices that weekend. I could:

• blow off all of the work

• sit home, do the work, and be miserable, or

• take on the work I had been assigned and understand that God would give me the ability and strength to do it.

I chose the last option, and I had a fun weekend. And I accomplished a solid amount of work, as well. By Monday, I was ready to face another busy week.

Choosing to ask God for help was a very important step. I found this Bible verse in Job to be a help in coping with the heavy workload. It says, "For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him" (Job 23:14). I learned from this that I didn't have to do all that never-ending work alone. I had a very powerful force taking me through it.

I also opened up Science and Health and read something that reinforced this for me: "The term Science, properly understood, refers only to the laws of God and to His government of the universe, inclusive of man. From this it follows that business men and cultured scholars have found that Christian Science enhances their endurance and mental powers, enlarges their perception of character, gives them acuteness and comprehensiveness and an ability to exceed their ordinary capacity. The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose" (p. 128).

I realized I had three choices that weekend.

I think this means that each of us has unlimited potential, because each of us is the son or daughter of an omnipotent God. Every morning I can wake up knowing that God gives me the intelligence and time to finish all the work that I am assigned to do. And when I sit down to study, I can feel God with me and remember that He has given me unlimited resources.

Stress about work is something that I have to deal with almost every day. But understanding that I have the ability from God to tackle any assignment is, for me, a very effective way to deal with the stress. It may be an opportunity for the people around me to see how turning to God can help them do their work peacefully.

Reprinted from the June 2000 Herald of Christian Science.

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