Stress is Zapping my Joy

OK, there you have it. I am stressed, and it is zapping my joy just a tad.

I am normally very high energy but just didn't quite have it in me today, so when three people greeted me at church and asked how I was and I responded, "OK" instead of my usual great or similar, I took a bit of razzing. And I just didn't have it in me.

I didn't have it in me because I am sad. Sad about lousy choices that are relationship wreckers. Sad about lies and belligerence, sad about what too much alcohol does to a person. Sad about how I could have thought things were so good and have the last week unfold.

We always have a chance to ask for prayer in Sunday school class; and I did. And this was my prayer: That Matt free fall to his bottom without any parachutes or rescue nets, more than likely provided by me, whether intentionally or not. A month at home reveals some tough realities which are too easy to dismiss when visits are short. So a hopefully rapid crash to bottom, whatever that is; and that is a very scary prayer...His bottom has had more than one trap door in the past.

May I love and support him and those who need love and support without enabling. That is my prayer for me.

So anyway, at the end of Sunday School, one of the guys who had razzed me a bit came up to me and said, "I owe you an apology." "For what?" I answered. I didn't even remember that he had teased me. When he told me what for, I was kind of surprised, and immediately accepted his apology.

But it was a very valuable reminder to me that we really don't know the pain someone is experiencing under whatever veneer they display. And I am more transparent than most, so imagine the harm us joking, bouncy folks can do if we are not sensitive to what others may be experiencing. So it was just a timely lesson in watching expressions and body language if the spirit is nudging you to sense that something isn't quite right.

So I am tired and sad. Lord, give me peace and strength. And I know He will.