WORD: OC's 60-Day New Testament Planಮಾದರಿ

Jesus Knew All About Stress

I can’t imagine what Jesus must have been feeling leading up to His death. How could He bear it? How could he remain so patient with his disciples when they were still so clueless?

Something that amazes me about the events leading up to the crucifixion is that Jesus never lost it. He never blew his top, came unglued, lost his cool, went off on someone. The Man was calm and focused the entire time.

I wager to bet that most of us have never been under the amount of stress and pressure that Jesus surely felt leading up to his death. I imagine that none of us has had so much riding on us. And I am certain that I have never been as scared as Jesus must have been before His death.

Yet He never lashed out, He never became irrational. He was calm, and kind, and patient throughout the entire experience.

Just yesterday I lost my patience because the line at Starbucks was too long. I also had a mini-panic attack about the giant laundry pile I needed to tackle, and then I spent a good 30-minutes stress eating to avoid dealing with a conflict at work.

Friends, we have no excuses. The next time we start to think that no one can be as busy or stressed or tired or overwhelmed as we are, let’s re-read the events leading up to the crucifixion of Christ. When we begin to justify acting like a spoiled child when things get a little difficult, let’s remind each other that Jesus had every excuse to freak out, yet He chose to be kind, and gentle, and full of grace.

What this world definitely does not need is more people losing it. What this world could use a lot more of are people that are kind, gentle, and full of grace.

Written by Summer Lashley
Staff Member, Oklahoma Christian University