2 Corinthians 12:7-9 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I wrote about stress avoidance yesterday. (And yes, thank you, most of the work on our house seems to have worked out O.K.)
I have some bad news. You can’t avoid stress. Not all of it. And sometimes things are going to get really bad — for almost all of us.
Yes, I know, what Paul had to deal with was a lot worse than “stress”. But his response to the “thorn” in his flesh gives us a great model for how we should handle stress … and a great deal more.
First, Paul prayed. It wasn’t just routine prayer. It wasn’t quick-hit prayer — it was repeated seeking. In fact he several times asked Jesus to “come alongside”. He “besought” — it’s a word that shares its root with the one used about the Holy Spirit coming alongside. So that’s the first thing to do when stress mounts up. Pray. Earnestly and repeatedly pray that Jesus come alongside.
The second thing Paul did was to recognize the resources that he had. Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul listened. He heard. Jesus was telling him that he had already supplied him with all he needed. In fact no matter what he got into, Jesus’s grace would always be enough. The further he was driven into hard places, the stronger he would become. And he did! When we run into stress, we need to see what resources God has given us — and use them.
Thirdly, and lastly, Paul relaxed! I know that’s a pretty brief summarization of “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”, but that’s what it amounts to. Paul embraced his weakness and claimed Christ’s strength to carry him through. When we get stressed it’s time to recognize the stress, admit we can’t handle it, and sit back and watch Jesus take over.
So there it is — easy as one, two, three … and you know that there are plenty of times I can’t pull it off!