Scientists and medical professionals warn us that if we ignore the signs of stress, we end up with:
·cognitive problems such as lapses in memory and concentration, worry or poor judgment;
·emotional indications such as moodiness, agitation, isolation and depression;
·physical issues such as aches, pains, bowel issues, chest pain, frequent colds and sexual dysfunction;
·behavioral symptoms such as loss of appetite, sleeplessness, procrastination, addictions, fluctuating moods, and nervous habits.
When I was 40 years old, my former husband divorced me. I thank God for using a potentially crippling event in my life to teach me valuable spiritual lessons that improved every area of my life. I turned to God for comfort, direction, provision, and protection. This helped me to grow deeper in my intimate union with Him alone, and He prepared me for my future.
Initially, I worked four jobs at one time in order to pay my bills and to start a savings for those unexpected issues in life that demand payment. After keeping up this schedule for over a year, I almost killed myself. I got sicker than I have ever been in my whole life before or since that time. I was trusting in myself to provide for my needs, rather than to trust God to continue to meet them.
Past and current circumstances not only affect our health, but also our current emotional, mental, behavioral, and spiritual equilibrium. The unexpected situations in our life expose our deepest fears. When our workplace, home life, or community involvement start developing into a pressure-packed existence, and the demands on our life prove unrealistic, this calls for prayer to submit them to the Lord and to discover His will for us in them.
Prayer:
Father God, You call us to live a life totally surrendered to You as Your Spirit leads us through each moment of our day. Help us not to attempt to hold everything together by the sheer power of our will. The opposite of surrender is control. Rather than existing as a person driven by the expectations of people or events in our life, we totally surrender to You. Your Spirit will lead us through our day at work, home, community, church and at play, as long as we take the time to seek Your will.
You want us to let go of trying to control everything, and to admit that we are powerless, and we need Your power in our life (John 15:5). This is the first step toward healing, entering Your rest, and finding true and lasting fulfillment in this life and throughout eternity. You plead with us to let You be God, our Supreme King of glory in our life. When we surrender to You, You always work out everything, even the negative things, for our good (Romans 8:28). We cannot change people or our circumstances, but You can.
Overcoming Stress
Scientists and medical professionals warn us that if we ignore the signs of stress, we end up with:
·cognitive problems such as lapses in memory and concentration, worry or poor judgment;
·emotional indications such as moodiness, agitation, isolation and depression;
·physical issues such as aches, pains, bowel issues, chest pain, frequent colds and sexual dysfunction;
·behavioral symptoms such as loss of appetite, sleeplessness, procrastination, addictions, fluctuating moods, and nervous habits.
When I was 40 years old, my former husband divorced me. I thank God for using a potentially crippling event in my life to teach me valuable spiritual lessons that improved every area of my life. I turned to God for comfort, direction, provision, and protection. This helped me to grow deeper in my intimate union with Him alone, and He prepared me for my future.
Initially, I worked four jobs at one time in order to pay my bills and to start a savings for those unexpected issues in life that demand payment. After keeping up this schedule for over a year, I almost killed myself. I got sicker than I have ever been in my whole life before or since that time. I was trusting in myself to provide for my needs, rather than to trust God to continue to meet them.
Past and current circumstances not only affect our health, but also our current emotional, mental, behavioral, and spiritual equilibrium. The unexpected situations in our life expose our deepest fears. When our workplace, home life, or community involvement start developing into a pressure-packed existence, and the demands on our life prove unrealistic, this calls for prayer to submit them to the Lord and to discover His will for us in them.
Prayer:
Father God, You call us to live a life totally surrendered to You as Your Spirit leads us through each moment of our day. Help us not to attempt to hold everything together by the sheer power of our will. The opposite of surrender is control. Rather than existing as a person driven by the expectations of people or events in our life, we totally surrender to You. Your Spirit will lead us through our day at work, home, community, church and at play, as long as we take the time to seek Your will.
You want us to let go of trying to control everything, and to admit that we are powerless, and we need Your power in our life (John 15:5). This is the first step toward healing, entering Your rest, and finding true and lasting fulfillment in this life and throughout eternity. You plead with us to let You be God, our Supreme King of glory in our life. When we surrender to You, You always work out everything, even the negative things, for our good (Romans 8:28). We cannot change people or our circumstances, but You can.
Thoughts for the Day:
If we try with all our might to hang on, to fix it, to change it, to manage it, or to try to make it better, we discover that attempting to maintain control of life is impossible, frustrating, and ineffective. We think we have to handle our problems on our own. Controlling usually produces the opposite effect of what we want. Our dependency on anything other than God: on addictions, people, places, jobs, things, animals, etc. will put us into bondage to them. Only God’s love and Spirit produce true liberty.
