"The Stress Test": A Reflection on the Psalm for October 14th, 2018: Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 90 

​Fill us with your love, O Lord, that we may rejoice and be glad.

Teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! 

Fill us with your love, O Lord, that we may rejoice and be glad.

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. 

Fill us with your love, O Lord, that we may rejoice and be glad.

Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands. 

Fill us with your love, O Lord, that we may rejoice and be glad.

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I cannot help but reflect upon the past week, as I read this Sunday’s Psalm. It was a particularly stressful one for me. I had several midterm exams, which I find quite stressful as a student who is trying to maintain a scholarship, and someday get into medical school. In addition, I’ve been dealing with stresses outside of school that have made it a little harder to focus on my other responsibilities. It was supposed to be a lousy week, and I was absolutely dreading it. The weekend before, I even had a few moments of panic in anticipation of the stress that was ahead. But when l expressed my discontent about the coming week to my family, and how I felt that I had absolutely no time to waste or to relax, my grandmother lovingly told me that I simply did not have the luxury to be anxious and dreadful. There was just no time for it. My only option was to trust God, and ask Him to placate my worries.

At first, I thought to myself, “She must not understand what my week is about to be like. She must not realize how bad this week is going to be.” But her words stuck with me. After a little bit of thought, I realized that she did, in fact, understand. The difference between our thinking was that she actually trusted in God, and rejoiced in Him always—even through the hard times. This kind of trust has always been very hard for me, especially when it comes to my studies. For some reason, I don’t tend to ever fully trust in God when it comes to school. I always think I have to do it all on my own, and that there is nothing God could do that would make a difference.

Was I ever wrong about that! I decided to fully trust that God would help me and be there with me through my trying week. Because of the trust I placed in Him, the kind of week that used to result in several meltdowns and crying fits, ended up being not so bad. I would almost go so far as to say that it was a good week. God was there for me, and helped me through every step. What more could I need at a time like this? He filled me with His love, and helped me to rejoice in Him and be thankful—even throughout the stress. This experience helped me to realize that we don’t always have to be at our happiest to be able to rejoice in God. He wants us to do so everyday, and especially on our bad days, so that He can fill us up to take on whatever struggles may lie ahead. True joy is found when we lift up our anxieties to God and rejoice in Him, giving thanks for the peace that He brings.

​Megan Noye

"True joy is found when we lift up our anxieties to God and rejoice in Him, giving thanks for the peace that He brings."
- Megan Noye (Ora Reflections)

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