“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”
Psalm 68:19

Before becoming a freelance writer, I was a social worker. One day, I attended a workshop on stress management to gain hours toward continuing education. The speaker’s premise was that we can manage our stressful lives through education and positive thinking. She shared with a room full of professionals how an attitude change had lifted her out of a pit of despair and worthlessness.

While she was a captivating speaker, I found limitations to her self-help, self-improvement idealogy. What am I supposed to do when I get to the end of myself? Where do I turn when my tank of positive thinking has run empty? What do I do when I can’t find the answer to my problem in a textbook?

Even though the workshop presented some helpful solutions for handling stress, it failed to introduce the Stress Manager. Knowledge may expand the limits of the mind. Assertiveness may create healthy boundaries in our relationships. Rest can rejuvenate our emotions. Exercise will even strengthen our body. But the soul is under spiritual distress. We are woefully unable to save ourselves.

Only one person ease the distress of the soul. Jesus is the Counselor who carries my burdens. He is my Stress Manager and, oh, so much more.

Thank you, Jesus, that your well of hope and peace is infinite. Let me draw from it all the days of my life. Amen.