Meet Alana Bell

Have you prayed about it as much as you’ve worried about it? This is a saying that I have on my office wall where I can see it every day. When I stress out about things, I tend to try to talk them through with my close friends and worry about the outcome. God often seemingly tries to get my attention by giving me things that I can’t think my way through. He wants me to be dependent on Him. So when I read His Word, I have peace; when I pray through things instead of worrying, I have peace. Scripture says, there’s a peace that "surpasses all understanding" when we do these things (Philippians 4:6-7); that’s truly the only way I know how to explain it.

As Christians, we can experience seasons when we seemingly bounce from bad times to bad times or from good times to bad times, only to repeat the process. God knows this about us and purposefully sets such stumbling blocks in our road, not as a means to disappoint or frustrate us, but as a means to drive us to Him.

The psalmist talks of his delight in God’s law, but His law is not just the Ten Commandments. While it includes them, the law is the whole counsel of God’s Word. All of God's Word gives this psalmist—and us—comfort. We also have the blessing of having Jesus’ counsel in the Gospels.

While we may not receive relief from the pain we are experiencing, we can at least have His peace through His Word. The relief God is wanting us to see is this: He sent His blameless and perfect Son to die on the cross so that we could be cleansed of our sins and live an eternal life with Him forever and ever in a world where there is no stress or heartache or pain or brokenness.

If you wonder how God could possibly care for you in your lowest times, remember how He sent His Son to die so we could enjoy His presence forever. Whatever bad times we’re going through, we are always to remember that God’s law is our comfort and our delight.