Although deeply distressed, Hannah, David, and a psalmist all relied on Jehovah for help. They shared their anxiety with him through fervent prayer. They spoke freely to him about the reasons why they were so stressed. And they continued to go to Jehovah’s place of worship. (1 Sam. 1:9, 10; Ps. 55:22; 73:17; 122:1) Jehovah compassionately responded to each one of them. Hannah gained peace of mind. (1 Sam. 1:18) David wrote: “Many are the hardships of the righteous one, but Jehovah rescues him from them all.” (Ps. 34:19) And the psalmist later felt that Jehovah had “taken hold of [his] right hand,” guiding him with loving advice. (Ps. 73:23, 24) What do we learn from these examples? At times, we will be burdened with problems that cause us stress. But we can cope if we meditate on how Jehovah has helped others, rely on him in prayer, and obey him by doing what he asks us to do.​—Ps. 143:1, 4-8. w19.06 17 ¶14-15

Never allow anything that mere humans say or do to make you feel ashamed of being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Mic. 4:5) Consider the example set by the apostles in Jerusalem just after Jesus was put to death. They knew how much the Jewish religious leaders hated them. (Acts 5:17, 18, 27, 28) Yet, every day they continued to go to the temple and publicly identify themselves as disciples of Jesus. (Acts 5:42) They refused to cower in fear. We too can defeat our own fear of man by regularly and publicly identifying ourselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses​—at work, at school, and in our neighborhood. (Acts 4:29; Rom. 1:16) Why were the apostles happy? They knew why they were hated, and they considered it an honor to be mistreated for doing Jehovah’s will. (Luke 6:23; Acts 5:41; 1 Pet. 2:19-21) When we understand that we are hated for doing what is right, we will never allow the hatred of men to paralyze us with fear. w19.07 7 ¶19-20

Jesus and his Jewish followers observed the Sabbath because they were under the Mosaic Law. But Jesus showed by word and deed that keeping the Sabbath was to be reasonable and that kind and helpful actions were allowable. (Matt. 12:9-11) He did not view performing kind and helpful actions as a violation of the Sabbath. Jesus’ actions highlighted a key feature of the Sabbath. Because God’s people rested from their daily labor, they were able to focus on spiritual things. Jesus grew up in a family that must have used the Sabbath for spiritual benefit. That is reflected in what we read about Jesus when he was in his hometown of Nazareth: “According to [Jesus’] custom on the Sabbath day, he entered the synagogue and stood up to read.” (Luke 4:15-19) Also, his disciples had so much respect for the Sabbath law that they stopped preparations for Jesus’ burial until the Sabbath day was over.​—Luke 23:55, 56. w19.12 4 ¶10