By the grace of God and covered by prayer, I made it home safely. Fifteen plus hours of driving. It was truly amazing. Cruise control all the way, hardly any traffic.
Hmmm, maybe that's why the drive was stress-free: no traffic, accidents, or slow-downs. Yes, definitely a contributing factor. I could drive MY speed, MY way, with no one to block MY goals. I could relax and enjoy the trip, focus on music or a conversation with a friend, or the scenery. I thanked God for the awesome drive!
At other times, Don and I have made some not-so-stress-free drives to and from Florida, one of them just last Christmas. Accidents, heavy stop-and-go traffic, bumper to bumper at some points. Took us 12 hours to make a normally 9 hour drive. VERY stressful and frustrating! And, um, we complained way more than we prayed.
Maybe God's involvement made the difference?
Absolutely!
It is possible to have a traffic-full stress-free drive!
Let go of goals and expectations of how the drive SHOULD be, and accept the drive for how it is. Accept that your goal of arriving at a certain time will not be met. Accept that you can't use cruise control. Accept what is, let go of what could be. Most of all, seek God for what He has for you in the midst of the mess, and thank Him for being with you.
This is also true in life.
Much of our stress is self-imposed by holding on to expectations that don't match reality. Or by setting unreasonable goals that are difficult to meet on a good day. Or by our inability to adjust when plans and circumstances change.
Or, most of all, we stress out by forgetting to include God in our plans, and when we don't ask Him for help when things change.
It's our choice: try to make it happen our way (stressful), or seek God for His plan and peace (stress-free).
What stressful situations are you navigating today? God will show you how to adjust, and will give you His peace. All you need to do is ask!
Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
the one who seeks finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8, NIV)
"Much of our stress is self-imposed by holding on to expectations that don't match reality." These words really hit home. Thanks Mary, for a great post!
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