Stress Free – how to be stress free in a stressed filled world
How to Have a Stress Free Life
You can live a stress free life in a stress filled world! Do you feel overwhelmed and stressed out? Do you find yourself worrying about everything – big and small? You’re not alone. Surveys show that stress levels in the United States are the highest they’ve been in seven decades.
Stress Free in a Stress Filled World
We live in a stress filled world. Studies show money and work top the list of things causing stress in peoples lives. The political landscape and unstable world affairs add to the cares that weigh people down. Then there is all the social media, e-mailing, and texting that fill every minute of every day. While social media can be helpful it also adds to our anxiety because it has made us compulsively available to everyone at all times. The demands of life can become overwhelming if you do not know how to properly deal with them. If stress is wearing you down it is time to become stress free. You can have a “stress free life in a stress filled world.”
Come to Jesus – the antidote to being stress free
The Bible tells us not to be anxious or worry many, many times. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” It is easy to say “Don‘t be anxious or don’t worry“, but doing it is altogether another matter. Thank God the Bible doesn’t just tell us WHAT to do; but also teaches us HOW TO do it. So, how do you release anxiety? How do you not worry? Paul gives us the answer in those verses. The antidote for anxiety and worry is prayer. He tells us to pray with thanksgiving and when we do the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds.
Prayer is the How to…
So, begin to pray by giving thanks to God. Hebrews 13:15 says, “let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” When you give thanks and praise to God it releases the power of God that will destroy the yoke of worry and anxiety off your life.
Cast ALL of Your Cares on the Lord
Peter gives us another instruction on getting rid of worry and anxiety. He says in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast your cares upon the Lord because He cares for you.” So, take all the things that are weighing you down and causing you to worry and cast them on the Lord. I want you to imagine having a fishing pole in your hand and start to put every care in your life on the hook at the end of that pole – finances, health, job, school, marriage, family, kids, career, friends, etc. Now take that fishing pole and cast that hook with all those cares into the “ocean of forgetfulness”. Don’t reel them back in, but in fact cut the line and leave those cares at the bottom of that ocean.
God Cares for You
The key to keeping those cares cast on the Lord, lies in the end of the verse, “because He cares for you.” If you don’t know how much He actually cares for you, you won’t trust in Him and let go.
So when you feel stressed; CAST YOUR CARES ON THE LORD AND HE WILL SUSTAIN YOU; HE WILL NEVER LET THE RIGHTEOUS FALL. PSALM 55:22 Remember, GOD IS YOUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, AN EVER-PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE. PSALM 46:1
I am casting my cares on the Lord every day – why don’t you join me.
Life is filled with many trials, tribulations, conflicts, and burdens that can become overwhelming if we allow them to. However when you follow Jesus, He will provide you with rest and make your burdens light. Remember He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. So, run to Jesus and enter His rest. You can be “stress free in a stress filled world”
