If there was one chief thing I’ve learned that greatly impacted me during my high school years is to not stress. Stress…sucks. Maybe not the most polite way to describe it, but that’s pretty much how it is. It doesn’t just “suck” in that it stinks and is not fun, but it sucks in that it sucks your energy, your peace, and your joy. So…don’t stress. Simple, right? Well, it’s much easier said than done.
The other
day I found a quote from John Piper, and it sort of changed the way I look at
stress; stress is an act of selfishness.
I guess I always knew that, but I never really processed it. Here’s the quote:
“Whenever your heart starts
to be anxious about the future, preach to your heart and say, ‘Heart, who do
you think you are to be afraid of the future and nullify the promise of God? No, heart, I will not exalt myself with
anxiety. I will humble myself in peace and joy as I trust this precious and
great promise of God—He cares for me.’” –John Piper
When
we stress, we dwell on our failures. We dwell on the “what if’s”, which can be
very dangerous, if we let them be. What if I fail this test? What if I can’t
mend this relationship with my friend? What if I don’t get this done? What if I
don’t know what I’m going to do after college? What if this, what if that.
Folks, the “what if’s” don’t make things any better. They only make you drive yourself
crazy.
But
when we do not stress, it becomes an
act of humility. It’s us our knees before the King saying, “I don’t know how
today, tomorrow, or the next five years are going to turn out, but I’m trusting
in Your sovereignty and Your provision. You are in control, and I’m not. You
have promised me all these great things, and You never break Your promises.”
Basically if I could sum up
this post in one sentence it would be this. Stressing is us fretting about what we cannot do; not-stressing is trusting in all that God can do.
.JPG)
When
I think of passages on stress, these are the ones I think of. I highly
recommend writing these down and putting them somewhere that you see often so
that you can continually remind yourself to not stress (bold added by me).
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I
will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentle spirit
be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace
of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
Philippians
4:4-7
Matthew
6:19-21
26
“Therefore
do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or
hidden that will not be known. 27
What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered
in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to
kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell. 29 Are
not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to
the ground apart from your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. 32
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him
before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny
him before My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew
10:26-33
This passage
really struck me. Why? Because when we stress and complain to our
friends/coworkers/family members of how stressed we are, we are denying God’s
power to make the impossible possible. We’re saying, “Well, since God can’t
take of this, I have to figure this out all by myself, and it’s hard for me to
handle.” We don’t have to be in charge of our own lives! In fact, let’s not be!
Life is so much richer and more joyful to live when all its complexities are in
the hands of our Savior.
25
“For
this reason I say to you, do not be worried
about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor
for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air,
that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
worth much more than they? 27
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 And why are you worried
about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor
do they spin, 29 yet
I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of
these. 30 But
if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and
tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe
you? You of little faith!
31 Do not worry then, saying,
‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for
clothing?’ 32 For
the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow;
for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew
6:25-34
So
looking at these passages, here are some points to help us with stress. (Note:
This post is not just for you. As I’m writing this, I am preaching this all to
myself. It’s something I struggle with daily, and even right now as I’m
concerned about a project due on Monday that I have very limited time to
complete. I think stress is something that everyone will struggle with the rest
of our lives. Thankfully we get better at it the more and more we trust in the
Lord, but stress, I think, will always be hovering in this fallen world we live
in. But thank goodness for the truth proclaimed in Romans 8:37, “But in all
these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Stress may be
a strong force that’s hard to overcome, but our God is so much mightier than
all the stress and worry and anxiety in the world. Why worry when the God we
serve holds the entire universe in our hands, much less things like our grades
in school or our finances? We serve a great God folks. Remember that.)
·
Are you living for yourself or for the
Lord?
·
When you're looking at the big picture, is
what you're worried about really worth stressing over?
·
Do you know the great things God has
promised you?
·
Are you focusing on your weaknesses or on
God's strength?
·
Are you rejoicing in the Lord?
·
Are you constantly lifting up prayers of thanksgiving?
·
Are your treasures set for the temporary or
the eternal?
·
Do you have faith that God is in control of
your life?
·
Do you believe that life is more than
whatever you're stressed about?
9
And
He has said to me, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most
gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may dwell in me.
10 Therefore I am well
content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2
Corinthians 12:9-10
Even when we feel as though
we are at the end of our rope and we’re stressed to the max, God uses
everything we cannot do and does it. That’s
so powerful! Even in our weakness, God makes us strong.
Don’t fret
about what you cannot do, but trust
in all that God can do.
No comments:
Post a Comment