Stress and Anxiety

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” - John 6:29

That's my daily work, the work God asks of me? To trust? The work I shirk. To trust in the Son, to trust in the wisdom of this moment, to trust in now. And trust is that: work. The work of trusting love. Intentional and focused. Sometimes, too often, I don't want to muster the energy. Stress and anxiety seem easier. Easier to let a mind run wild with the worry than to exercise discipline, to reign her in, slip the binders on and train her to walk steady in certain assurance, not spooked by the specters looming ahead. 

Are stress and worry evidences of a soul too lazy, too undisciplined, to keep gaze focused on God? To stay in love?

Isn't joy worth the effort of trusting? Because I kid no one: stress brings no joy.

- Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts