Too Blessed To Be Stressed

I’m pretty addicted to computer games. There have been a number, over the years, I have enjoyed. Right now I’m playing Zynga’s Castleville Legends. I’m in an alliance of ladies who play and help each other. It’s a generous,  supporting group with a fair number of believers. We encourage each other and have a lot of fun. The ladies are from all over the US, probably Canada, and several are from various parts of the UK and Ireland.  I was chatting in the alliance this morning with a couple of the ladies. One is having back issues. Her name is Ginger Batchelor.

Ginger has had problems since a head on collision in 1991. At the time she had several cervical vertebra fused in her neck. Now she has three bulging discs, compression of the spine, pressure on her sciatic nerve all of which cause great pain. Physical therapy is keeping her going now, but she will most likely end up having surgery.

Ginger made a statement today which shows her reliance and faith in Hashem (God).

---

TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED

What a wonderful saying. Many reverse this in our heads even if we don’t say it out loud. Too stressed to be blessed. We demonstrate it with our actions. We rush around taking kids to activities. We fuss and fume about delays or complications. We snap at our families. We worry about, well, just about anything. 

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Recognize the verses from James 1? What about these from Romans 5?

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

Just as always, Hashem is concerned about our character. The circumstances of the trials of our lives are of little importance. They are temporary. How we act is important to Hashem and to those around us.

Paul wrote these words, it is believed, while in the Marmertine Prison shortly before his execution.
I think Ginger’s saying sums up what these apostles wrote so long ago. I hope I’m always
TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED.

---