There’s one truth about life on this planet that I have to remind myself of over and over again. You’d think I’d have it down pat by now, but that’s just not the case. Maybe it’s my personality, or just old habits, but despite my best efforts, give me a good dose of demanding circumstances, and I instantly start scrambling. I don’t just mean bustling to get the job done; I mean full-out overwork, discarding sleep/eating well, hustling in the worst sense of the word. 
This past two weeks has felt like, well, a pressure cooker. Steve had a heart procedure that got fairly complicated afterwards (BUT now he’s home recovering very well), a few too many employees needed time off all at once, our farm season kicked into ultra high gear… you can imagine how it felt. 

I’m actually *sure* you can imagine it, because WE ALL HAVE PRESSURES. Yours may not involve flower deliveries and heart ablations, but you have your own intense, pressure-filled situations. Struggling kids, personal addictions, financial fears, health crises, lost opportunities… the list of potential trials in this life is endless.

The crushing difficulties are going to come, in my life and yours, but what I’m trying to change in my life is my RESPONSE to them. 
I don’t want to be ruled by my circumstances. I want to “act, not re-act,” as the old saying goes. 
BUT HOW?

The truth is, I simply don’t have the strength to act rightly in the face of my plans going awry and bleak circumstances. My only hope is to ask God for help.

It’s an amazing, wonderful truth that he does give me the ability to respond rightly when I ask him to do it. When I plow through in my own way, bootstrapping my path and “gettin it done,” exhibiting unhealthy behaviors all the while, I’m miserable. I may get the job done, but it’s a wretched process. 

When I do what’s right – walk through the difficulty while obeying what I know God’s Word tells me to do (exhibiting self control, gentleness, patience, etc., and not giving in to anxiety), I may still get the job done, but my perspective is radically different and the process infinitely better. 

Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15