I keep asking people how to "cope with stress emotionally, mentally, and physically." How silly I've been all this time, when the answer was right in front of me.

‘What God wants from you in this crisis, in this hour of need is to — return to Him, wait on Him, be quiet before Him.’ I wonder if there’s not good men and women sitting here today who, feeling pressure relationally or vocationally, ministerially or financially, are saying ‘Help me!’ to this counselor, or ‘Save me!’ to that group — when all along the Lord would say, ‘First and foremost, come to Me.’

God can say ‘Yes’ to my prayers, or He can say ‘No’. Either way, it’s an answer. How many, many times I have said, ‘Here’s my supplication, Father . . .’ only to see that, down the road, what takes place is a whole lot better than what I asked for. ‘If your child asks for bread, which of you would give him a stone?’ asked Jesus. ‘Or if he wants a fish, who of you would give him a scorpion?’ (Luke 11:11-12). Sometimes we think we’re asking for salmon, but the Lord recognizes it as a scorpion. Sometimes we cry for bread, but the Lord sees it’s a boulder — and He loves us too much to give us something which would hurt us.

So what are we to do? We’re to make our request — and then rest in God’s peace, a peace which passes our understanding (Philippians 4:7). We’re to say, ‘Lord, I choose not to wring my hands. I choose not to try to figure out how I can strip the Temple or ally with Egypt. I choose to return to You, to rest in You, to worry about nothing, to pray about everything, and to be thankful for anything You decide to do.’ And what happens may just blow your mind.

Isaiah 41:10 forever.