Saturday, November 16, 2013

Stress 101

I've been majorly stressed lately, between having a job, going to school and trying to get into college and get it paid for.  The other day I was extremely overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.  I was asking God, "Why?  Why!  Why am I so stressed?  Why can't I get out of this depressed mindset that I'll never be able to do all the things I need to do, I'll never get into college, if by some miracle I get into college I'll never get it paid for, etc.  I was asking God all this stuff, and He just told me, "Talk to Me."  I remembered all those verses I've learned.  "Cast all your cares upon Him," "Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself."  So I poured my heart out.  I told Him that I couldn't do this.  I told Him that this was too much for me.  I asked Him to give me peace in the midst of all the anxiety I was feeling.  And He did.  Instantly I felt better.  I wasn't worried.  I wasn't stressed.  I no longer felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.  It felt like I could breath again.  A few days later, I again found a hidden gem on Pinterest.  It was a list of verses to read when you're stressed.  I found it incredibly enlightening, especially in light of my recent stress, and I hope you find it encouraging as well.


Jeremiah 29:11
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

I often have a hard time with this verse.  I feel like it's over-quoted a lot, and often taken out of context.  Many times I see this verse and I don't think too much about it, or sometimes care.  But I read this verse in the context of being stressed, and I saw it in a different light.  This verse means I don't have to stress.  God knows what He's doing with my life.  I don't have the slightest idea.  But God's got it all in His hands.  He has good plans for me, plans to make me grow, plans to give me a good future, plans to bring glory to Himself through me.  The bad things that happen, the disappointments and the failures, are all part of His plan.  If it didn't work out, it wasn't meant to be; He's got something better.  I don't have to worry about all my problems, because they're all in God's hands, and that's the only place where it's guaranteed that 100% of them will work out in a good way.


Psalm 29:11
"The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace."

He might take away my burden, but if He doesn't, He'll strengthen my back.  He will give me the strength to do my part, and the peace I need to wait on Him.  Everything happens according to His time, which is always right.  He will give me the strength I need to accomplish my tasks, and He will give me His perfect peace that I so need as I wait for Him.


Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

This is another verse that I feel has lost some of its power from being used for everything.  But still, when I looked at it and thought about my stress, it speaks specifically to that.  I am very stressed about the future, but listen to what He says:  Trust Me.  Don't listen to yourself.  Seek My face.  I will direct your paths if you let Me.  He knows the plans He has for me, I don't.  He knows what's best for me, I don't.  He knows what He's doing, I don't.  Seek His face.  He'll show you where to go.


Ephesians 4:26
"'In your anger do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your anger."

I will admit, I've never thought of anger as connected to stress.  But it makes sense.  It applies to my life.  Many times recently I have snapped at my family, ignored my friends and gave God the cold shoulder because I was so stressed.  I was angry with my circumstances, and I shut the world out.  Being angry is not the answer to stress.  Getting mad, inwardly or outwardly, won't make your stress go away.  Most times, it'll make it worse.  Don't blow the situation out of proportion.  I have big problems, but I have a bigger God.


Ephesians 4:31-32
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

I'll be honest, I cringed at this one.  When I'm angry, when I'm stressed, when everything is going wrong, the LAST thing I want to do is to be nice to people.  But that's exactly what God tells us to do.  As a matter of fact, the times that we really don't want to be loving and kind are the times that we really do need to be loving and kind, for our sake as much as others.  Going out of your way to help someone can turn your day around.  Even if it's just picking up a box of cereal that fell off the shelf, when you know that you've helped to make someone else's day a little easier, your day gets a little easier.


Matthew 6:19-21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

How many times have you been stressed over material things?  I know I have been; and WAY more than I can count, too.  I stress about what to wear to church, whether I have enough clothes, whether I have enough of the right clothes... and we haven't even gotten to my phone!  Material things can stress me out way more than I realize.  But that's not worth stressing over.  Later in Matthew 6, Jesus talks about this.  He mentions the birds, and how they always have food even though they don't work for it.  He talks about the flowers, and how they always have splendid garments even though they don't weave.  He says that God knows that we need these things.  God provides for the birds and for the flowers, He will surely provide for us too.  Instead of worrying about whether we have wealth here on earth, Jesus challenges us to make sure we have wealth in heaven.  He even tells us how to make sure that we do.  He says, "Seek first [God's] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Give of your time, your money, your talents.  Give of yourself.  God wants YOU.  When you give to Him, He gives back to you.  He will bless you for blessing His sons and daughters.


Hebrews 12:6
"Because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son."

This verse isn't really quoted much in church.  You don't hear it in every sermon.  It's not printed on greeting cards.  You probably can't find it cross-stitched on a pillow.  But it's there, right in the Bible, and it makes an important point.  A lot of the junk we go through is because of our own mistakes, and I am a living example of that.  But every difficult situation that we put ourselves in is for God's purpose.  He will teach us something in every single circumstance, whether or not it was of our own making.  He lets this stuff happen to us because He loves us.  It's hard to wrap my mind around, but it's true.  He loves us.  He wants us to be like Him, to be perfect.  A lot of times, the only way for that to happen is to go through junk.  So we go through junk.  Some of it is of our own making, some of it is people or circumstances God placed in our lives to help us grow.  It's not easy.  But God didn't promise easy.  He promised He would be with us, every single step of the way.  A friend of mine once put it this way.  Imagine the smallest possible step you can take.  Now take half of that.  It's only like, what, half a step away?  That's how close God is to you, all the time, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.


So here's what I took from this.  God gives us steps to deal with stress.  First, He says, "Don't worry, I got this.  I know what I'm doing.  I've got good stuff for you.  Trust me."  He tells us that He will give us the strength and peace we need to handle all the crazy stuff we're going through.  He reminds us again to trust Him, and that He will make a way for us.  But we have to remember not to go crazy through all of this.  It's hard, but He will help us.  He reminds us that the stress goes away when we reach out and help others and love them like He loves us.  Then He gives us comfort, reminding us that He is always here, loving us with His unfailing love.

He doesn't want us to be stressed.

He loves us.
He will never leave us hanging.
He is always there, always listening, waiting for us to call His name.

He is half a step away, waiting for you.

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