Big Bad Stress

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-8

A friend of mine recently told me about a doctor visit she had. She had gone in for something and the doctor told her she had high blood pressure. She'd had a very, very busy couple of weeks, and honestly wasn't surprised by the high pressure. But then the doctor told her that she shouldn't still be stressing about something from several days gone past, and it was like a light bulb moment. The doctor was absolutely right, why do we dwell on things so? It's as if we're asking to keep the stress around just a little bit longer. Thankfully, we have the Bible to turn to for answers to this particular predicament.

We find the answers here in Philippians. When we're feeling anxious and stressed and at the end of our ropes, we can turn to Jesus. When we find that anxiety creeping up from the bottom of our toes we can halt it in its tracks and pray for the peace of God to fill us and give us strength to finish the task before us. God will help us through, I swear to you. All you need to do is take a moment, take a few minutes in the morning and simply ask God to give you the strength and the motivation you need to get through the day. He will never fail you.

You will notice that this verse doesn't say anything like " do not be anxious, pray, and God will take your troubles away." We need those troubles. We need those times that cause a wee bit of stress to help make us a stronger person. God will help us through...he will give us the strength and energy we need to make it through, because then we will be a much stronger person because of it.

There is one other thing I feel worth noting, although not entirely related to this verse, and that is to take the stress one stressor at a time. It does you no good to deal with the stress today head on, and at the same time worry about tomorrow's stress. Set tomorrows stress aside and focus on the one in front of you. Stress and anxiety are tools of the enemy, sent in to try and drag us down, to try and break us and give him a crack to squeeze into our lives. Don't let him! Recognize the stress head on and claim the strength that God is offering you. You can do all things, through Christ who strengthens you!

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34