Helpful Advice in Dealing with Stress | Matthew 21:17

[00:00:00] Real Truth Daily. This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman

[00:00:07] Hi everybody, welcome back to Daily Truths. I've never seen people more stressed out than they are right now.

[00:00:13] Coming out of COVID-19 and rising inflation, all the pressures that we have in work, commitments, assignments, conflict, relationship breakdown, things that are happening in people's lives that stress them out.

[00:00:26] How do people cope? How do you cope with the stresses of life? And you might say, well I go to the Lord and that's great.

[00:00:33] Or I have daily devotions including watching Daily Truths. That's great. Or I talk to my friends. That's wonderful.

[00:00:41] But there's another thing I want to suggest today that can help you deal with everyday stresses, strains, and pressures of life.

[00:00:49] We're in the book of Matthew chapter 21. And as you remember, Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

[00:00:55] People said, hey, Lozanna, son of David. He goes to the temple. He clears the temple.

[00:01:00] Those who are lame and those who are blind come to him and are healed. The Pharisees give Jesus a hard time.

[00:01:07] They mock little children for praising the Lord. Jesus rebukes him by saying, hey, even kids are capable of praising me.

[00:01:14] He's had a pressurized day. Now it's time to retreat. Now it's time for him to get away.

[00:01:22] And what do we find it saying in verse 17 of Matthew chapter 21? Listen to this.

[00:01:28] And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there to Bethany two miles outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

[00:01:39] He probably stayed with Mary and Martha, and by this time Lazarus was raised from the dead.

[00:01:45] So these were good friends. That's probably where he stayed. Now why did he go there?

[00:01:50] Think about the pressures he was under. Think about what was coming up that week.

[00:01:55] Think about what he had experienced the day before and also that day, the rebuking and ridicule from the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes.

[00:02:02] Think about the pressures he was under. And so Jesus to cope with it all went to get away, to talk to friends, to reflect, to relax, to recuperate, to reengage with the Father.

[00:02:16] Jesus purposely got out of town and spent some time with friends to get ready for the week.

[00:02:24] He retreated, if you will. He went on a sabbatical for a day, if you will.

[00:02:32] So think about that. Where else did Jesus go when he needed to get away?

[00:02:37] The Bible says Jesus went off to a solitary place free from distraction, free from the pressures and commitments of life, free from being asked another question.

[00:02:48] He spent time with the Father. He went to a solitary place. What did God the Father do on the seventh day after he created all things?

[00:02:56] It says that he rested on that day. Now again, we've talked about this. Why did he rest on that day?

[00:03:02] Not because it was all pooped out but in order that he might give us an example to follow.

[00:03:07] Even Madison Avenue understands how important it is to get away.

[00:03:12] I recently saw a Southwest commercial where these people came up to somebody's house and they had a gift in their hand.

[00:03:18] And the guy said, I don't know who God is this stupid thing or the gal said that.

[00:03:22] And then the little monitor thing on the doorbell, the lady was listening to that who they were going to give the gift to.

[00:03:29] And she said, I got you that stupid thing. And then the next thing it says is, want to get away?

[00:03:36] People need to get away. I think of that song by the Beach Boys years ago called Kokomo talks about wanting to get away to a place where you can relax and be refreshed.

[00:03:47] Whose idea is that? God's. What do we see Jesus doing here? Going to a place to retreat and spend time alone or with some dear friends to reflect upon the day and be reengaged and energized for the next day.

[00:04:02] It's important to deal with stress by friends. Here's the bottom line of this devotion.

[00:04:07] It's important to deal with fret with with stress by getting away.

[00:04:13] And so maybe you need to do that. I know that when my wife and I go camping and we go camping a lot, by the way, I go out in the garage.

[00:04:22] We have our camper in the garage and I look at it and immediately my blood pressure seems to go down.

[00:04:28] When I go camping and we got it all set up, I can sit in my easy chair, look at the beautiful surroundings, take in the scenes that God has made and say,

[00:04:37] The more stressed we are, the more moments we need.

[00:04:48] If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us. Make sure that you take time to get away regularly.

[00:05:00] Have a great day in the Lord Jesus Christ and that is today's Daily Truth.

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[00:05:23] Come back tomorrow for your next Daily Truth.