Are you stressed? Are you stressed about being stressed out? You’re not alone.
Everyone experiences stress many times throughout their lives. However, it is how we manage our stress that makes the biggest impact on us and those around us.
Not all stress is bad.
There is such a thing as “good stress,” such as getting married, having a baby, family coming to visit, the nerves right before a big performance, etc.
Yet, if we don’t go to God with our stress, we lose out. We fail to find peace, live fulfilling lives, and lose out on the joy God intends for us to have, every single day.
Joy
Joy is a choice, peaceful is a way of being, and both contribute to a life worth enjoying.
Joy is a choice. No matter what is happening around you, you have a choice to see it in a positive light or negative.
There is always good and bad in everything, except God. God is always good, whether or not we see Him that way all the time.
Another way of saying it, “Do you look at the glass as half empty or as half full?”
Impact of Stress
If we don’t go to God with stressful situations, or the stressful people causing them (including ourselves), we can cause unmeasurable damage to our relationships, to our productivity, and even to our own bodies.
Migraines, stomach aches, tight and sore muscles…the list goes on.
Stress Management
So how can we destress or successfully achieve stress management?
Go to God. Stop trying to fix it on your own.
No man-made stress technique can out pacify or calm His eternal, perfect peace.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 5:6-11 NIV
Stressful People Cause Stress
Some of you may be thinking, how can I live stress free and peaceful, when I have people in my life who purposely and frequently cause chaos?
Simple, but not easy. Choose joy, and if necessary, distance yourself from them, for a time.
Pray for wisdom how to handle the situation and what to say. Remember God is with you, and only He can fix it.
“Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.”
Proverbs 12:20 ESV
Jesus Carries Our Burdens
Lastly, we have to lay down our burdens at Jesus’ feet. Only He can carry them.
We were never meant to carry the world on our shoulders. If that were so, we’d have much larger shoulders, haha.
On a more serious note, if we don’t humble ourselves, meaning actually admit we need God’s help and ask for it, we never reach our full potential. We never get to enjoy the “peace that surpasses all understanding” or the everlasting joy of the Lord.
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:1-8 ESV
Don’t miss out on all God has to offer you this side of Heaven. Let go and let God. Amen.
#stress #trustGod #peace
Tweet