There seems no more stressful a time than the school year. I feel stressed even writing that sentence; the mere thought of all of the homework I have to do, the papers I have to write, on top of working, seems to overwhelm me sometimes.
Something that I have found that has helped me is solitude. Carl Sandburg once wrote;
It is necessary now and then for a man [or woman] to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask himself "Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?
Sometimes the only answer to the craziness in our lives is to step back from the craziness itself. Your first idea of a place of solitude may not be a forest; it may be a drive, or sitting in the corner of a coffee shop with a book. An effective one for me is to sit somewhere alone outside and pray. When you pray, ask God to lift the stress from you and to remind you that school is just a thing. While its important, its not a life or death situation. Go somewhere and be alone.
At the same time, we need friends. We need people who understand us and can help walk us through our stressful times, or just be stressed with us. We need solidarity. That may be your parents; if not, your friends. If solitude doesn't help, maybe people will. We are close to God when we are alone; we are even closer to Him when we pray as a group. Evil has a habit of fleeing God. And prayer is effective. God can turn stress into something else; William Barclay once said that "Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory." We can turn our stress into something to glorify God. Instead of freaking out about something, give that fear to God and use the hope that He gives you to accomplish what He is calling you to do. And when we have others supporting us, we are stronger and more encouraged in our daily lives.
Jesus himself practiced both solitude and solidarity. While one day he worshiped and feasted with 5000, he also prayed alone in the garden before he was arrested. He knew the importance of being alone with God. He showed what it looks like to go to God immediately instead of letting the fear stay in His head. Perhaps in those times He remembered Psalm 118:6, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid."
We don't have to worry. When you worry, pray. Find a spot alone; find a friend. But whatever you do, don't let fear and worry and doubt and anguish be the victor. We don't accomplish anything when we sit back and worry about it. So why not step forward and face it, knowing God is on your side?
