Do you ever find yourself "STRESSED" ? That's like asking do you ever find your Hungry Or Tired .. As hunger and tiredness comes naturally to the body it seems for generations "Stress" seems to be part of our lives too. It's almost or should I say for some become a natural part of our everyday living .
I can attest to feeling stress on a daily basis. Stressed to get orders out on time, stressed to provide each client we have with an order they will love, stressed that housework is not getting done, stressed to save money, STRESSED .. it seems over any little thing that I can possibly turn into stress. You see it comes naturally to me .. I was raised by two people that taught me how to stress .. A dad with an A type personality and a mom that worked against the world to provide us with a Donna Reed home .. thinking she had to be lovely and perfect and have a perfect home all the time.
Thankfully Mom recognized later in life that having a perfect home and life was a fairy tale and that the normal stress of a normal life without adding the perfection of a Donna Reed life was more than enough in an of itself.
Dad well he's changed ALOT over the years .. but I think his DNA just has a stress button that is always pressed no matter what. I must admit he tries not to stress but he still all these years later .. even retired without a job to call stress ..still stresses over the little things in life and even more over the big things. But he's much better than he was.
I think we all have stress in our life .. some less and some more and I think we all can agree we wish the stress would just be gone.
I think stress can be self induced many times .. we think about things and play scenarios in our heads that we "THINK" Could happen ... Or we enter situations with black or negative thinking ..
And then other times stress finds us. Rather it be through a loved one that is ill, a car that you need for commuting that just broke down and you don't have the finances to fix it, so it goes on the credit card with the list of other stresses adding up on it, The teenage child that has found the worlds ways more important than how they were raised and is rebelling, A friendship that is suffering and on an on.. STRESS just seems to creep in and in some instances RUN into our lives ... and starts Running our lives. There's probably a song out there titled " Livin' on Love" ..but it seems instead we are all "Livin' on Stress" when in fact we should be "Livin on the the Love of the Lord"
So what does the Bible say about "STRESS"
Do not worry about anything. But pray and ask God for everything you need. And when you pray, always give thanks. And God’s peace will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace that God gives is so great that we cannot understand it (Philippians 4:6-7,
I think the first line do not Worry about Anything is probably the biggest hurdle we all face. How do we not Worry about anything. Is that like saying .." have an oh well who cares attitude about life" .. just toss it all to the wind and where it all falls there it will be and who am I to care ?
I don't think so. I'm the first to admit I have not conquered Stress or Worry. But with all that's in me each day I do my best for that day .. to do what the next portion of the scripture shares .. " And when you Pray always give thanks" ... First I pray... and then I give thanks. Going to God in prayer over any stress or worry is the first thing we should always do .. He knows our hearts and our needs and all he wants us to do is come to him and ask. And he want us to be thankful for all things the good and the bad.
How easy is it to be thankful for all the good things in life when as we say "Things are going Right." But how much more does it take to be thankful for what we call the "Bad things in life " ???
I've been through some really rough patches in life .. One time in life that I will always remember that is etched in my mind and on my heart forever .. it was a dark time when I seriously felt nothing good would ever happen again and was God really there. I didn't give up on God ..and you know what he never gave up on me .. for 2 Years .. I prayed and Gave thanks for everything and I mean everything .. and I asked God to teach me whatever life lessons I needed to learn through this season of life .. And I can say without question I found a peace during that time and in the end .. Life came out much better than I could have ever imagined. His gifts that were awaiting me on the other side of that huge mountain I had to climb ... "Were so worth it all" I still thank him to this day for that 2 year period of what I call darkness in my life. So Praying and Constantly all the day Long finding everything you can to Thank the Lord for, something as simple as "lord thank you for the glass of water I'm drinking"..and just as the scripture says next " And God's Peace will keep your heart's and Minds" .. If not for prayer and thanksgiving I look back on that time and wonder if I would not have gone crazy .. his peace truly kept my heart and mind sane to endure the mountain I had t climb.
So yes we are going to experience stress in our lives ..but it's what we do to combat the stress and to diminish it, is what counts ..
Pray and Give Thanks
Lord You know my life inside out .. you know the stress that I create and the stress that creeps into my life.. Please help me to overcome these stresses and help me to not allow them to overtake my mind and my life. You are my Peace in times of trouble .. teach me the lessons you want me to learn and help me grow in wisdom. Give me the courage to be Thankful for all things .. in your Name Amen
I am ever so thankful .. for so many things in life.. the roof over my head, an indoor bathroom, running water, food in my refrigerator and pantry, money to pay bills, a car to get us where we need to go, my health, my family, my work, friends, my dog, and so much more ...
Can you make a list of things you are thankful for ..??? and Thank the Lord all the day long for those and any others that come to mind .. Thank him over and over and over ..never quit being thankful. And thank him for the stresses too .. we can learn from those.
If you are feeling STRESSED or STRESS has found you .. sit down and have some DESSERT ...
Some Prayer and Thankfulness are a like sweet honey to the soul and will fill you up with his peace of mind and heart
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And of course if you're like me I'll add a few cookies in right after ..
Wising you all a beautiful day and week ahead .
