The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
1 Peter 4:7
Well, the first thing that I read is “The end of all things is near.” Now, this is just me, but, if I knew that the end of ALL things was near, it would be very hard for me to remain “clear minded and self-controlled”. I’m pretty sure I would be more like “AHHHHH….AHHHH….AHHHHHH!” Yeah, something like that.
What I really like about this piece of scripture is that it all ends with “so that you can pray”. I think that’s really cool. It doesn’t say “so that you will know what to do”, or “so you can calmly asses the situation”. No. It tells us to pray. God knows what’s best for us. 1. That means that he wouldn’t tell us to do something that wouldn’t work. That would just be silly. 2. HE ALONE knows how to handle the situation best, no matter what that situation might be. He actually, surprise surprise, made everyone who might be involved in said situation, so He kind of knows there inner workings a little bit better then you do.
As I read this over and over again, I keep getting this visual of a really upset kid, like when we were little. The kid is so upset about whatever just happened that he can’t stop screaming and crying. He’s trying to tell his parents what’s wrong, but he’s too upset and just keeps crying and spewing words that don’t really make much sense once they leave his mouth. If he were to calm down, and explain things, the parents could fix it, but he can’t calm down, and so the parents cannot help. Of course, the one difference is that God knows what’s upsetting us. He just us to cool it down so that He can take control.
Basically: When you are getting stressed or upset, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! Just pray, and then leave the rest to God.