Peace and the Four P’s of Stress

In the second week of Advent, the traditional theme is peace (the four themes for the four weeks of Advent are hope, peace, joy, and love). As we reflect on the Prince of Peace and the peace that he offers us, I also can’t help but ponder what hinders and gets in the way of experiencing peace.

A while back, Rachel and I were meeting with a counselor, who is also a long-time friend. During our conversation we started talking about stress. He mentioned four types of stress that affect our lives. As I have been reflecting on what he said and my life over the last year, I paid attention to how these different types of stress rob us of the peace that God offers. They happen to be alliterated together and all start with “p,” like peace (and pandemic, ha!). The four different types of stress are: