搬家被認為是生活中壓力最大的苦差事。我在舊家住了將近二十年才搬到了現在的家。結婚前，我在舊家獨自生活了八年。婚後，我的丈夫帶著他所有的家當搬了進來。再後來，我們的第一個孩子出生了，這意味著家裡的東西更多了。

我們搬家的那一天並非沒有突發狀況。搬家工人到達的前五分鐘，我還在趕著完成書稿。新家有好幾層樓梯，所以需要雙倍的搬家時間和搬運工人，這也是我們始料未及的。

但那天我並沒有因各種狀況而感到壓力重重。後來，我想到了原因，當時我正花很多時間在寫一本書，一本都是聖經經文和神學觀念的書。靠著上帝的恩典，我一直專注於讀經、禱告和寫作，以便在期限前完成書稿。因此，我相信那天我能毫無憂慮的關鍵，是在於我完全沉浸在聖經和禱告裡。

保羅寫道：「應當一無掛慮，只要凡事藉著禱告、祈求和感謝，將你們所要的告訴上帝」（腓立比書4章6節）。當我們禱告，並「靠主常常喜樂」（4節），我們的心思意念就不會聚焦於眼前的問題，而是能轉眼仰望上帝這位供應者。我們祈求上帝幫助我們應對某些壓力時，我們的禱告也與祂產生了連結，可以經歷祂所賜「出人意外」的平安（7節）。

Moving ranks as one of the biggest stressors in life. We moved to our current home after I’d lived in my previous one for nearly twenty years. I’d lived alone in that first home for eight years before I got married. Then my husband moved in, along with all his things. Later, we added a child, and that meant even more stuff.

Our moving day to the new house wasn’t without incident. Five minutes before the movers arrived, I was still finishing up a book manuscript. And the new home had several sets of stairs, so it took double the time and twice as many movers as planned.    

But I wasn’t feeling stressed out by the events of that day. Then it hit me: I’d spent many hours finishing writing a book—one chock-full with Scripture and biblical concepts. By God’s grace, I’d been poring over the Bible, praying, and writing to meet my deadline. So, I believe the key was my immersion in Scripture and in prayer.

Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). When we pray—and “rejoice in” God (v. 4)—we refocus our mind from the problem to our Provider. We may be asking God to help us deal with a stressor, but we’re also connecting with Him, which can provide a peace “which transcends all understanding” (v. 7).