Don't give access to stress

Monday March 29, 2021

Don't give access to stress

Then the Lord closed the door on him. Genesis 7:16

After forty days, Noah opened the window he had made on the ark. Genesis 8.6

Eight people confined for a whole year : Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives. Outside ? The greatest natural disaster ever known in living memory : the Flood.

The whole earth was showered with downpours and it can be assumed that the passengers of the ark, who heard the commotion outside, were tossed about.

Despite its imposing size (144 meters long, 24 wide and 14 high) the arch had only one door and one window. God himself closed the door just before the catastrophe. As for the window, it was so small that it did not offer a real view of the external events. So much so that Noah had to send out scouting birds to test the progress of the receding waters, before considering his exit.

We too are constantly bombarded with agonizing news through the media, while the world is in turmoil.

"It's not about cutting yourself off from the world, but rather about not giving too much importance to what shouldn't be."

How can we escape the stress that assails us like the downpours of the Flood ?

Let’s take Noah and his family as an example and choose :

- to stay in the shelter of the ark, in the presence of God.

- to let God close the door to what is bad for us.

- not to drill dozens of openings with a breathtaking view of the disaster, leaving us in awe of what is going wrong.

- to stick only to the window that God has placed on the plane of the ark to observe events.

- to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit (the dove), in order to discern the times.

- to wait patiently for the moment of our deliverance.

It's not about cutting yourself off from the world of course, but rather about not giving too much importance and time to what shouldn't be.

Then God spoke to Noah, saying, Come out of the ark, you and your wife, your sons and your sons' wives with you. (Genesis 8:15-16)

A prayer for today

Lord, help me focus on you and not on the things of this earth. I choose not to constantly feed on stressful information but rather to remain confident in the ark of your presence.

Solange Raby

Source (The Thought of the Day)