The Faith Journey: A Devotional

Dealing with Stress by Turning to God

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." – Matthew 6:24

You cannot serve two masters. That's a difficult thing to think about. Delve into the meaning of that verse. Think of other "masters" you serve. Serving two masters involves putting other things or people above God. For you, it could be school, money, self-image, your job, your phone, a relationship, or any other things you can imagine.

For me, it's school. I spend hours on homework; I stress over every assignment and every grade. I put trust in myself and my own plans when I should trust God. Many times, I've put schoolwork above reading the Word and spending time with God. I am serving two masters, and that needs to change. School is important, but it should never be above God.

There is most likely many of us who stress over things that do not matter. None of our worries or responsibilities or anything in this life compare to God. With school, many of us stress out when we get a bad grade or when we're in a time crunch for an assignment. For me, recently, I've given a large part of myself to English and PreCalc. I love English, but I'm in AP this year and there are always around three assignments due the next class. This week, I've stayed up past 12 each night working on English. As for PreCalc, I'm struggling. I am not good at math and I don't particularly care for it. For the first time, I received a C+ on a math test and my grade in the class is sitting at a B. I've been freaking out and continually stressing. I about had a small breakdown honestly, but then I stopped. I stopped, and I spoke with God. And I knew, I knew the stress was all me, and that I shouldn't worry. I also realized how little my struggles were, and how they didn't compare to others' struggles or to God's love for me. I also knew that school is nothing compared to Christ. A grade doesn't define me or any of you. When you're out of high school or out of college, no one is going to remember or care about your grades. And you know what, you probably won't care either. That's how small your problems and struggles are – that's how insignificant the wrong master you're trying to serve is. God's the only master. He is with each of us all the time, and, like me, when you freak out over a grade or anything else, He waits for you to come to Him and put your trust in Him. When I finally sat down and stopped, taking a deep breath, He was right there to listen to me. When I was ready, God was there. He put in perspective how miniscule school and homework is. I felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders. That's how we all feel when we realize we are trying to serve two masters and then stop and put our trust fully in God.

Stop, think about what you're doing and how you're doing it. What is your attitude like? What kind of effort are you putting in school or your job or a relationship? Stop, and think about what you're putting first. Is God still at the center of your life – do you stop and talk and read from His word? Or do you spend all your time on something else, thinking of other things? If so, I implore you to stop in those situations, take a deep breath, and talk with God. Get your priorities straight and put your trust in God.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." – Proverbs 3:5-6

By trusting in God, he will make all of our crooked, rugged paths straight. The path may still be rough, but by putting God first, you will be on the right path serving the only master.

We all have different talents and gifts from God. He gave us these gifts to use to His glory, and He has a beautiful plan for our lives. We just have to say "yes" and trust in Him.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." – Jeremiah 29:11