It was a deep royal purple. As I stared at this little stress dot—clinically called a “Bio-dot”—I marveled. This tiny invention actually changes colors with fluctuations of tension levels. It is black when you are stress, and then it changes to gradations of brown, mustard, green, and blue, until the dot reaches purple, the most “relaxed” color.

I had been given such a dot one other time, years ago, and I vividly recall how horrified I was to learn that I functioned at “black”—stressed—all the time! The dot was black when I drove, when I lectured, when I ate, when I exercised, when I flitted around the house trying to get everything done that needed to be done. It only changed to green when I was asleep.

But yesterday, when I had received the little dot on my hand, it had immediately turned green. I was surprised, but I figured it would change as soon as I started lecturing. Imagine my astonishment at the end of the workday when my dot was still green! Then I got in the car and drove home. Green. It stayed green when I was assaulted at the door by the dog, my husband, and the two wild men who live there—my sons. It even stayed that deep emerald color while they all told me about all their problems of the day, while I made lunches for the next day, while I put the boys to bed, did my email, and even while I exercised. But the next day, as I was having my morning quiet time with the Lord, the color changed—into a deep purple, the most relaxed of the colors.

But my quiet time was cut short this morning by the fact that I had to send a difficult email. As I pressed the “send” button, I checked the dot, fully expecting it to no longer be purple. Sure enough, it had changed, but to my surprise, it wasn’t “black” as I had anticipated; it was green! And when my oldest son came downstairs for his morning prayer, the dot returned to its deep purple color!

Curious!

Why did I function at black all those years ago, when I now function at green? The stressors haven’t decreased. On the contrary, these are some of the most stressful times of my life.

There is only one difference that I can pinpoint—only one thing that has happened in my life between when I used that first stress dot and now. I came to know God as a personal friend and Savior. And over the past six years, God has been helping me to rely more and more on Him, to cast all of my worries upon Him and to let HIM handle my problems. Is this what made the difference? Is this what has caused my core body tension to reduce significantly, despite the presence of excessive outside stressors that I can’t remove? Is this the reason why the dot is a rich purple, the most relaxed of the colors, during Bible study and prayer?

You figure it out!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

Lyn Chaffart