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Stress Test Devotional April 15

by David Joynt on April 15, 2024


MATTHEW 6:27 | 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?

 

Why resist worry? It is ineffective. My friend Alf Halvorson quotes “Psychology Today” that examined the sources of our worry. Forty percent of our worries are about events that never happen. Thirty percent about past events we cannot alter. Twelve percent are caused by others’ criticisms—and we can never please everyone. Ten percent are over health issues, but science tells us worry worsens health problems! Only eight percent are worries about things we can actually impact in a positive way.

 

Jesus jokes that worry added a “cubit” to our lives. Literally this could mean 18 inches to our height, figuratively it could mean adding length to our lives. Either way, in a sentence, He points out the futility of worrying about things outside our control.

 

What do you worry about? How do you manage stress?

 

 

Gracious God,

Help me to address real issues and trust You in things I cannot control.

Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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