My mouth is where I feel it first. Because my bite has changed with age, if I get stressed out, I start to clench my teeth and rub raw spots on my tongue and cheeks.
This serves as a low-fuel indicator light.
And I’m not like the guys, who live for the adventure of seeing how far they can drive on a low fuel light, without running out of gas. (Why do they think this is fun, and why didn’t anybody warn me it was a thing when I got married?)
I don’t like the idea of stranded.
So when I see the warning light of stress, I want to take care of it right now.
Gut reaction is to make the stress go away: “Could somebody please make it all go away?” “Please let it be summer so school is over.” “Please send us a check for a million dollars.” “Please erase everything on my calendar.”
Or.
The stressors stay in place and my heart runs to the Lord at all hours of the day and night. He is my shelter.
Matt and I shook on a deal about a month ago. I told him he had to act cheerful about the snow until March 1, and I promised that come March 1, wouldn’t complain about the increasing heat. On February 26, we had yet another blizzard that dropped a good six inches of fresh snow. So when Matt bowed his head over lunch, he thanked the Lord for the snow (seemed a little forced to me) and for our good shelter.
In Montana, we are people who know the value of a warm shelter when the winds howl and the snow blows sideways from the north.
In my heart, this is what it means to go to the Lord with all the pressures in my life. I get behind his sturdy walls, and he gives me the necessary fuel to keep going—strength and help. But also his joy.
“But may all those who seek refuge in You rejoice; may they ever shout for joy, because You defend them; may those who love Your name be joyful in You” (Ps. 5:11).
We are loved.
We have help.
God cares.
This is a warm and protective relationship, and no stress can steal away the joy we siphon endlessly from the Lord.
If external stressors are pressing on you today, I pray you will internally go to the Lord for fuel to keep going. May you find in him a safety and depth of love and help that will cause you to relax your clenched jaw and tight shoulders. {eoa}
Christy Fitzwater is an author and pastor’s wife living in Kalispell, Montana. She is the author of Blameless: Living A Life Free from Guilt And Shame and My Father’s Hands: 52 Reasons to Trust God with Your Heart. Find her devotional writing at christyfitzwater.com.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett