Sunset Hills United Presbyterian Church

DEALING WITH THE STRESSES OF LIFE
             
There is no question about it!  We live in a stressful world, a turbulent world in which we must learn to cope with the stresses of life, or else we will be pulled apart at the seams.  No one is immune.  Stress is no respecter of people.  It touches the life of every person in one way or another.  So how do we deal with stress?
             
One morning a first-grade teacher walked into her classroom to find little Johnny, six years old, standing up in the front of the class with his stomach stuck way out. Thinking that was an odd thing to do, the teacher walked over and asked,“Johnny, why are
you standing there with your stomach sticking out?”
       
“Well,” he answered, “I had a tummy ache this morning and I went to the nurse, and she said, ‘Just stick it out till noon and maybe it will be O.K.’”!
           
That is how some people go through life (stressful situations) – just  sticking it out till noon, just coping , just enduring, just surviving.  But life is more than that.  Life is more than “sticking it out.”  Life is a wonderful gift to us –even with all its stresses and problems and pressures.  And God wants our lives to be full, meaningful, abundant, and creative.
            
And that brings us back to the messages for Lent and Easter. 
The mistake that the disciples made was the mistake of “little faith” –  trusting God’s love and providential care.  The care message of Easter is that God is with and always will be with us. 
And that God is reaching out his hands to us. All we have to do is reach back.

Worship with us Sundays at 10:15