This re-post is to honor PFC Andrew Timothy Morrison – who is growing into the likeness of his name. He is a manly warrior that honors God. He is a soldier and i thought some readers might benefit. Oh, by the way, he is a decorated Army shooter, with multiple qualifications, thus the focus of the note… Go “now” reader, and enjoy.
Hope all is well Andy. Was just thinking about the problem of handling stress. You might be facing some now. And then it hit me… You already know how to handle stress because of your skills as a rifleman. Sounds strange, I know. Hang in there with me. Here goes…
One of the best ways to handle stress is to go to “right now.” I don’t mean this second. I mean “now;” right now, that really small place between the past and the future. You want to be in that place when everything hits the fan.
Right “now” is where you can talk to God and hear His answer. Right now is where there’s no worry about the past or fear about the future. Right now is where you can think the clearest. It is real quiet there… calm… simple. It doesn’t matter how loud or fast everything is going around you. When you are in now, you can be going a million miles an hour with your hair on fire – but everything is A-OK. And I bet you already know what “now” is son.
In that moment right after you settle in, pull your weapon in snug and start to line up… everything probably starts to slow down a little, you hear your breathing – and maybe even your heartbeat. On a good day, when you are in “the zone,” you look downrange and all of a sudden, everything stops. That target looks so big, you just KNOW you’ve got all day and can’t miss. You squeeze off a round and you don’t even have to look. You know where it went. That zone is “now.”
Here is the point. Ask God to help you be in the “now” all the time. Everything just works better there. Better emotions, better decisions, better actions, better everything. It might just save your life one day – or help you save another. You get the stress reduction, plus you get to be in a place where you and God can talk without being interrupted. Yeah, just you and Him, right now.
As we dwell in God’s Presence, we are able to overcome the past. In Him we are prepared for overwhelming victory in the future. In Him, we are an un-stoppable “Army of two.” But God said it better in Romans 8:37, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Got stress? Worry? Pain? Fear? Exhaustion? Go “now” with Him. It really works.
