Worry Can Be A Good Thing.

“Stress” seems to be quite a popular complaint among people in this day and age. But, is it a new thing? Do we have the right to sit here and stress out about things and to also presume that our parents and grandparents didn’t stress out about things too? They had their own sets of problems to worry about. Money wasn’t so easy to come by. There were illnesses and sicknesses back in those days that, thanks to medical advancements, we don’t have to worry about any more.

And yet, nowadays, crime, sickness and debt seems to be increasing everywhere.

And I think of the times over my life that I had been stressed about something or someone. And I can guarantee you this, the amount of worry that I had invested in those things far outweighed the amount that was really needed. Yes, I had debts. But God had put me into a job that allowed me to pay them off. Yes, I had family worries. But God had allowed me to be surrounded with a very supportive family network to help me.

And as I walked through my daily life, although I didn’t always feel him, God was always there. I know He was. He promised me He would be. But sometimes the cares of life just seemed to be foremost in my mind and take over everything. But God was always there. 

But stress is nothing new at all. All of the Bible characters are recorded to have been stressed at one point or another. Every single one of them. Consider Job, Abraham, Moses and King David. And at some point or another they all eventually turned their thoughts to God only to realise that God was there all the time.

When I was a young lad I grew up near a hillside which had caves in them. From this cave in the hillside we could see all over the city and across the lough to the other side. We could see for miles. But we could also be protected for the cave was up high and had to be climbed into. It could well be regarded as a very strategic position to get away from someone.

We read a few times of King David taking refuge in a cave. The most well known one was the Cave at Adullam where he hid from King Saul…

1st Samuel Ch22 (1)David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. (2)And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.

It is also recorded that King David took refuge in some caves at a place called En Gedi which is about 30 miles south east of Adullam near the coasts of The Dead Sea.

1st Samuel Ch24 (1)Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, "Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi." (2)Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. (3)So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.)

So, David well knew the protection that caves could give to him from any enemies. But we miss one rather important point when we read of David in these caves. Although he took refuge in these caves King David never forgot where is real refuge lay. Eventually his heart and mind turned to where his real refuge lay with his great God, Jehovah.

Read what David writes …

Psalm 57 (1)Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by.

Adullam is a national park in Israel now. It is about 25 miles south west of Jerusalem. But curiously, there are no caves to be found there anymore. That’s a bit like my stress. When I revisit those old occasions in my mind they all seem so disconnected from who I am now. And the stress that I had invested so much emotional energy into at the time is nowhere to be found.

But, you know what? God’s still here. He always has been. And he’s still there with you too.

Whatever emotional, mental or physical cares you have during these times God will give you the strength to deal with them. For He is with you. Somewhere nearby.

On a hill called Calvary
Stands an endless mercy tree
Every broken weary soul
Find your rest and be made whole
Stripes of blood that stain its frame
Shed to wash away our shame
From the scars pure love released
Salvation by the mercy tree

©The Mercy Tree by Krissy Nordhoff, Michael Neale.

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Location: H3W9+VX Belfast, UK

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