Stress and Distress

When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice, (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. (Deut 4:30-31)

distress (n) 1. great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble. 2. a state of extreme necessity or misfortune.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 25 Feb. 2008. . (italics added)

How often are you in distress? Ask some people, and they will tell you they are nearly always in distress. When you look at the dictionary definition, however, the key words are "great", "acute", and "extreme". The word is intended to convey a condition above and beyond the ordinary stresses of life. We are blessed that this is not the normal circumstance we live in.

But times of distress do occur, whether through physical illness, emotional turmoil, or external events which weigh down upon us, like loss of a loved one or financial difficulties. God knows this (notice that word "when"?) , and He wants us to know and understand that He is the Author and Architect of all things; there is no "oops" in God's vocabulary. In the verse above, the words of Moses ring out with God's promise to remember us and sustain us, if we only will turn to Him, and hear His voice, and obey His Word. No matter the degree of difficulty we face, God is able to overcome it, and when we trust in Him to help us, we bring glory and honor to His Name in the process.