l love summer! It takes forever to come to Pennsylvania, but when it finally arrives, I am here for it. I love the break from school and schedules and the freedom to just enjoy summer. I love being outside in the sun, extra time to spend in my morning time, and all the iced coffee!

Pressure and Stress

But even as I enjoy summer break, I am conscious of the fact that school begins again in just a few short weeks. Once school starts, the busiest part of our year kicks off. While that’s really good, it also brings with it lots of pressure and stress. Right now is a good time to think about how we’ll handle that stress and pressure before it’s actually here.

Psalms 119 has something great to say about handling stress and pressure that we need to take note of.

As pressure and stress bear down on me,
    I find joy in your commands.

Psal 119:143 NLT

Two Opposing Thoughts

This verse seems so contradictory. You have two different, opposing thoughts. Pressure and stress…and joy. How do those work together? The writer of Psalms understood that the greater the outside pressure or force on us, the greater the internal pressure needs to be so that we don’t get crushed. The way to withstand great amounts of pressure externally is to have an equal and opposite pressure internally.

We have to get strong inside…spiritually if we’re going to make it. We have to develop those spiritual muscles of faith, trust, obedience, and joy. The author of this Psalm tells us that the way to fight back under pressure and stress is to find joy. Where do we find that joy? In His Word.

A Different Way

The greater the stress and pressure, the more important spending time with God becomes. Yet, we often do just the opposite. We cut short our time with God to get to our work sooner, so we can get more accomplished. As the stress increases, we take on more and more just to try to keep our head above water.

Yet, God shows us a different way of dealing with stress and pressure. He tells us to bring our burdens to Him and let Him carry them for us.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

I Peter 5:7 NLT

The days we feel the most stress and pressure are the days that it’s crucial to fit in our morning time routine. We can’t skip our time with God on those days because that’s the only way we’re going to find the joy we need to keep going.

More Encouragement

Check out my post, My Favorite Bible Studies to do This Summer for recommendations for Bible studies and be sure to check out Manney Resources for all things morning time routine—journals, Bible studies, and more.