Dear Friends in Christ, The past year has been filled with uncertainty, disruption, and fear. The evil one would like for us to fret constantly but worry has no power here because we have Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, the Prince of Peace. He has conquered sin and death so we know that ALL worry was and can be dissolved in His most capable and merciful hands. We are so very blessed.

The quote below popped up in my Bible Study last week. As someone who developed severe anxiety years ago and is vulnerable to worry, it truly resonates with me. I hope it does for you too.

“Every time fear freezes and worry writhes, every time I surrender to stress, aren’t I advertising the unreliability of God? That I really don’t believe? If I am grateful to the Bridge Builder for the crossing of a million strong bridges, thankful for a million faithful moments, my life speaks my beliefs and I trust Him again.”  Ann Vaskamp

I look back on my life and see how the Lord built bridges that led me out of despair, confusion, pain, anxiety, anger, and grief. A million faithful moments where He reached down to keep me from drowning just as He did for Peter.

Surrendering to stress means we have made stress a god. We think about it, hold it close, and let it take over our thoughts which then affect our words and actions. Please understand, I am not talking about a medical diagnosis of anxiety whereby you have trouble functioning in your daily activities. In that case, you need and deserve counseling and possibly medication. These are the day-to-day worries that we sometimes give way too much of our time and energy.

Doesn’t it feel like a dagger in your heart to think that when we succumb to these worries we are advertising the unreliability of God? As Christians, we need to always be a beacon of the Lord’s faithfulness and there is no better time to do that when we are struggling and suffering.

St. Therese of Lisieux said it well, ” Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude.” It’s a good reminder for us during these more challenging times. When things start to become stressful, have we humbly surrendered to the Lord, and are we grateful for the million faithful moments from the past and the ones to come.

At the end of this post are a few Bible verses that strengthen me and I hope do the same for you. I need a lot of reminders to keep me on track, so I like to post these in places I frequent throughout the day. It could also be on your computer screen or phone screen.

Another thing that helps me is setting timers through the day to pray, even if it is just a few aspirations like the ones below. It is said that saying the Rosary is like offering Mother Mary a crown of roses. I think these little prayers are like offering the Lord, the Blessed Mother, and St. Joseph sweet, little violets. You can place loved ones names in the aspiration.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you. Save souls!

O Holy Spirit, sweet Guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in You. Help me to do Your holy will.

Oh my Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything!

Good Jesus, give me a deep love for You, that nothing may be too hard for me to bear from You.

Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, set our hearts on fire with the love of You.

Jesus, I trust in You!

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours.

Savior of the world, have mercy on us.

We adore You O Lord and we praise You because, by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.

Our Lady of Lourdes, please intercede for our physical, emotional, and spiritual healing!

Mary, our hope, have pity on us!

Mary, most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us.

The next time worries come knocking on your door, tell “them” they have no power here because Jesus guards your heart. Firefighters tell us to stop, drop, and roll if there is a fire. When little “fires” of stress occur, perhaps we should remember to Stop, Drop (to our knees), and PRAY. Be assured of my prayers for you and I am most grateful to God for yours.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)