A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
The newspaper columnist “Dear Abby” recently published a letter from a man complaining of the stresses in his life and asking, “Don’t I have a right to a stress-free life?” He craved the approval of his family about
some dubious life-style choices he was making, and they wouldn’t condone them.
“Yes,” answered dear Abby, “of course you have a right to a life without stress. Go ahead and move away from your family and join your friend.”
A life without stress? Are you joking? What planet was the poor man living on? And how did dear Abby think he could avoid the stresses of life by moving to another city? Because, of course, all of life is fraught with stress. We are human beings, and we face the uncertainties of life every day. We must earn money for food and shelter, find protection from disease and accident, risk political upheaval, love and be loved, interact with unreasonable human beings. If we love someone, we risk their loss. But if we shun relationships, we face loneliness and isolation. How can any human being escape the stresses of life?
As I read that newspaper article, I remembered a night long ago. I was nine years old, sitting alone in the dark on the wooden steps of our front porch in Dallas. As I looked up at the glittering stars of the Milky Way in the night Texas sky, I was overwhelmed by the vastness of God’s creation and my fragile humanity. I said to Him that night, “God, you have no idea how hard it is to be nine years old and have so many troubles.”
(You may smile at that. After all, I had a father and mother who really did take wonderful care of me, in spite of the burdens they bore. Daddy pastored a huge church congregation and carried them on his heart all the time. In those lean days he had to provide for the family. Mother struggled, in those depression years, to put nutritious food on the table for a large family and many guests. She sewed our clothes, supervised our many activities in music and sports, and taught a big Sunday school class of young women. What were my burdens compared to theirs?)
And I was wrong, very wrong, in thinking God didn’t understand me and my “troubles.” Jesus, God Himself, once came to earth to live the life we live so He would understand our worries and have compassion for our bleak condition. He was once a nine-year-old boy with more “troubles” than I’ve ever known, certainly. He had younger brothers who scoffed at Him. He had the reputation around town that He’d been “born in sin,” out of wedlock. He was hated simply because He was so very good.
But Jesus endured every temptation ever known to any human being just so He could help us when we are overwhelmed by the stresses of life. Hebrews 4:15,16 says,
This High Priest of ours, Jesus, understands our weaknesses,
for He faced all of the same temptations we do,
yet He did not sin.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive His mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need it.
So even now, many years later, as I struggle with the stresses of old age, I receive His mercy, (oh, the grace of it!) and find Him always helping me when I need Him, just as He did for that nine-year-old child so long ago.