Things have gotten quite busy of late. This past week I put in extra hours finishing a paper for publication, and then immediately had to begin working on another paper for a conference that I am presenting at in early June. Neither of these papers have anything to do with my dissertation, that really big piece of writing that I still have hanging over my head. Combined with a full work schedule and, of course, wedding plans, I've found myself quite stressed out of late.
Friday night, my mom and my dear Ashley bore the brunt of my stress, as I chose to stress out over how many invitations we would need to order. Admittedly, it was not one of my finer moments, despite the patient and loving suggestions from Ash and my Mom. It was one of those moments where I allowed things that were larger than the question of wedding invitations make me into an unreasonable person who was acting as someone much less than himself.
On Friday night and Saturday morning as I prayed for forgiveness, I also prayed for help to manage my stress. Help came in thoughts of my wonderful Dad and a phrase that he frequently repeated in times of trial. In times of stress, Dad would often give me a blessing, and he would draw upon the words of the Lord: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10; D&C 101:16).
In such times, this counsel can seem counterproductive. The problem usually seems to be that we don't have enough time or energy to do everything that needs to be accomplished. And yet the Lord tells us to "Be still, and know that I am God." We understand how His command "Peace, be still" is helpful when the sea is raging, but how does it help us when we are stressed? Perhaps we may wonder, "How will being stopping and being still help me when the problem is that I don't have enough time to do everything that is needed?" And yet, a moment of stillness is exactly what is needed.
To be able to stop, take a deep breath, and say a prayer with faith that He is God will help us to stop working ourselves into a frenzy. I suspect that I'm not the only one who gets more and more anxious as the responsibilities pile up, and in an effort to accomplish them all, I work myself into a frenzy. Resultantly I manage to do less and accomplish less. By stopping for a moment and calling upon the Lord in faith, we can return to our work with renewed faith and calmer hearts, accomplishing far more in such a state than is possible in a state of frenzied anxiety.
As I stopped for a small moment of prayer and faith, I returned to my work with an ability to accomplish more than I had been able to do earlier. That is always the case.
Brett
Dad always had a way -- he still does, apparently -- of being able to calm down even the scariest and most chaotic situations. I saw that in place in his professional life and it was always a constant in his personal life in our home, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to look past the piles of chaos and responsibility in our lives, but I think you're onto something here with Dad's sage advice to "Be still . . ."
Truly, if we will humble ourselves to ask for help (be it from mortal or eternal realms), we can accomplish more than we ever could on our own. Our real strength comes from the Lord and, as Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."