Doctors agree that a lack of deep sleep as well as excessive stress will ruin our health. Stress comes from rampant busyness, relational discord, overload of details at home and at work, concerns about various aspects of our current and future life, etc. Any matter that causes negative thoughts and emotions to crowd our consciousness or subconsciousness is a potential stressor.
Anything on our to-do list that causes our soul – our thoughts, emotions, and choices – to shrink inside of us with fear and trepidation needs elimination or down-sizing. The only way to rid our life of these illness-inducing symptoms is to remove them from our choices.
We start with the most stressful and annoying aspect. We either change the circumstances causing the stress, or we change our focus about whatever our soul points out to us is a “burr under our saddle.” Anything that threatens to rob us of our sanity is suspect.
The hustle and bustle of holiday preparations is another potential stressor and often instigates breathlessness and non-stop activity that robs us of a chance to relax, to quietly sip a hot beverage of our choice, or to rest. Our enjoyment of this season is etched away because we rarely have time to appreciate the excitement of the holidays, the beauty of the decorations, the array of holiday movies on TV, and hanging out with our family and friends.
The key to living in continual peace and joy is to put Jesus first in our lifestyle and options. We make Him the focus of each day, including the holiday season. We consult our Daddy God for each decision we make during each moment of our day, and His peace and joy constantly flood our soul (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit to abide within us. His presence convicts us when we stray from Your plans for us, and He safely navigates our path through the stress of life on this earth (Romans 14). Especially during the holidays, we rely on Him to guide us through the Advent process to prepare us for Jesus coming to live His life through us all year long.
We long for Christ’s return to earth to set up His eternal Kingdom and to reign over all creation, people, and nations. We look forward to the government resting on His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6). Remind us that as we consult You in our decisions, You will renew our strength and we can function in Your desires for us each moment of every day without feeling stressed, faint, or weary (Isaiah 40:31).
Thoughts for the Day:
We gladly rejoice in the salvation of our God, and we wait on Him to instruct us in the plans that we inscribe on the days of our calendar. He will save us from stress and insomnia that ruin our health when we wait on Him, and joy and rejoicing shall fill our spirit and soul all the days of our life.
- Isaiah 25:9; Zechariah 9:9; Micah 5:2
