Too blessed to be stressed?
I used to see cards that read "Too blessed to be stressed!". I would always smile, but I would be thinking,'Sure that's true in theory, but even Christians get stressed.' I still don't deny that "even Christians get stressed" because one of satans favorite ways to attack Christians is to heap stress on us to stray our focus. Somehow, God has changed my perception of things while facing the most stress I've encountered in my life! After a year and a half of ups and downs, I have arrived at the mountain top and I understand that inspirational quote. It could even be the slogan of my life! "Too blessed to be stressed" doesn't mean that you arrive at a point in your life where nothing stressful ever occurs. It means you arrive at a place in your faith to where you can give up the stress and keep the blessings. I have come to that. point. Trust me with 4 small children ranging from 8 to 2 I encounter stressful situations on a daily basis! That has not changed, I have changed. Before it would feel like each stressful moment snow-balled throughout the day and sometimes into the next until I just couldn't breathe. Then I would be an emotional mess and I would pray and pray for God to fix it all...to give me some peace. As He always does, He answered, but in a different way than I expected. God did not fix everyone and every bad thing that caused me stress. He did not change the way the world spins or suddenly remove evil from this world. Instead, God in His awesome wisdom, saw the real problem was in me. The problem was in my perception of my life. The problem was in what I focused on and what I allowed to control me. So over a period of these last few months God began to work a change in me. Some of that changed I eagerly welcomed while some of it I fought until there was no fight left in me. But through it all God never gave up on me and He never left me alone, even when I was being stubborn. He never forced me to change, but like a good parent he nurtured me to change. Honestly, I wanted to change. It was almost like I knew the problem was me, but it seemed easier to ask God to fix everyone else.
When I began to change, I began to notice, really notice, the blessing I have been given over the years. God's Word began to have meaning in my life and my faith began to grow. As I grew in faith, I grew to trust Him more and more. The more I trusted, the less I worried. The less I occupied my time with worry, the more I saw blessings around me every single day. Then one day I realized that I am truly happy and I have peace. I woke up to the reality that my blessings far, far out weigh the bad in my life. I am on that mountaintop now where I can see the blessings no matter how many dark clouds there are. In fact, I can now see the blessings in the dark clouds. No matter what struggle I face or what problems may arise, I can talk to God and let it go. No sleepless nights, no ball of stress. I can finally give it up. Then in the blink of an eye there comes along a blessing. I am absolutely amazed each and every day at the blessings God rains down on me and my family. I have so many blessings that I find no time and no reason to be all stressed out about anything. Again, the world hasn't changed, it is me that has changed and I am so, so incredibly thankful for that.
God gives so many blessings each and every day that we could each write a novel if we even attempted to list them all. It's when we start to take notice of all those blessings that we see our complaints are nothing compared to the good. When you begin to focus on all the wonderful things that are and who has given them so generously, you stop paying all of your attention to the little, stressful things. They will always be there and satan will try to use all of them to bring is down and immobilize us. It's one of the great silent killers of Christian joy. I know I will still have things and people and situations on a daily basis that could "ruin my day" if I let them. But I also know that whatever those stresses are, I can take them to God and exchange them for peace. For months it was a conscious choice I had to work at. I had to remind myself daily that God loves me enough that I can completely trust Him with everything. Now, I don't even realize I made the choice until someone else makes a comment about my great attitude. It is now a habit for me to talk to God immediately about whatever is trying to steal my joy. I have my moments still where I react to stress before I have a chance to pray about it, but those moments have decreased sharply over the months. I see the change in me and I love it. Before recently, I had no idea what it was like to go through a day without worry or anxiety over something or someone. Now that I know, I don't ever want to go back.
I know exactly why that one little saying is used so often. It's a reminder to take another look at our lives and remember there is nothing we have to waste time or energy over in being stressed. God has always been faithful. God loves us more than we can imagine. God is a Father who loves to love us. God will bless us more than we deserve and so we have nothing to complain about. There are so many blessings in our life that if we will acknowledge them, we will see, truly seen, that God has always taken care of us and He always will. Too blessed to be stressed. That's my life in a nutshell.
Kristy!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
When I began to change, I began to notice, really notice, the blessing I have been given over the years. God's Word began to have meaning in my life and my faith began to grow. As I grew in faith, I grew to trust Him more and more. The more I trusted, the less I worried. The less I occupied my time with worry, the more I saw blessings around me every single day. Then one day I realized that I am truly happy and I have peace. I woke up to the reality that my blessings far, far out weigh the bad in my life. I am on that mountaintop now where I can see the blessings no matter how many dark clouds there are. In fact, I can now see the blessings in the dark clouds. No matter what struggle I face or what problems may arise, I can talk to God and let it go. No sleepless nights, no ball of stress. I can finally give it up. Then in the blink of an eye there comes along a blessing. I am absolutely amazed each and every day at the blessings God rains down on me and my family. I have so many blessings that I find no time and no reason to be all stressed out about anything. Again, the world hasn't changed, it is me that has changed and I am so, so incredibly thankful for that.
God gives so many blessings each and every day that we could each write a novel if we even attempted to list them all. It's when we start to take notice of all those blessings that we see our complaints are nothing compared to the good. When you begin to focus on all the wonderful things that are and who has given them so generously, you stop paying all of your attention to the little, stressful things. They will always be there and satan will try to use all of them to bring is down and immobilize us. It's one of the great silent killers of Christian joy. I know I will still have things and people and situations on a daily basis that could "ruin my day" if I let them. But I also know that whatever those stresses are, I can take them to God and exchange them for peace. For months it was a conscious choice I had to work at. I had to remind myself daily that God loves me enough that I can completely trust Him with everything. Now, I don't even realize I made the choice until someone else makes a comment about my great attitude. It is now a habit for me to talk to God immediately about whatever is trying to steal my joy. I have my moments still where I react to stress before I have a chance to pray about it, but those moments have decreased sharply over the months. I see the change in me and I love it. Before recently, I had no idea what it was like to go through a day without worry or anxiety over something or someone. Now that I know, I don't ever want to go back.
I know exactly why that one little saying is used so often. It's a reminder to take another look at our lives and remember there is nothing we have to waste time or energy over in being stressed. God has always been faithful. God loves us more than we can imagine. God is a Father who loves to love us. God will bless us more than we deserve and so we have nothing to complain about. There are so many blessings in our life that if we will acknowledge them, we will see, truly seen, that God has always taken care of us and He always will. Too blessed to be stressed. That's my life in a nutshell.
Kristy!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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