Have you ever felt stressed? You aren’t alone. Sometimes our stress is brief. Other times, it’s longer.
It’s not a sin to feel stress, but in order to experience God’s rest, we need to understand the what, the why, the when, and the who.
Here are a few real-life examples of WHAT happens. Lack of money. Death. Failure. Bad health. Danger. Rejection in relationships. Loneliness. Joblessness. Change. Emotional instability. Demonic attacks.
In most of these and many other things, fear is often the WHY we feel stressed or get stuck feeling stressed.
WHEN we feel stress, our thoughts can be torturous, and our body goes into a fight-or-flight mode. If this persists for a prolonged period, we end up with elevated cortisol levels, leading to unwanted health issues.
Our family endured a two-year excruciating period of stress when our daughter developed a disease that fourteen doctors could not diagnose. She eventually became catatonic, physically combative, and stopped eating and talking, as her life was slipping away. A neurologist at Duke University Hospital finally diagnosed her with a brain-attacking autoimmune disease. She is much better but has to have infusions three times per year.
The Apostle Paul describes his own time of terrible stress in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NLT. We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.
The who we often rely on during stressful times is ourselves. Our internal dialogue is about how we are going to fix this. The WHO we can choose to rely on instead is our Loving God, Who raises the dead. He lives in us and is available to us 24/7.
Are you feeling stressed today? Often, God can help us learn to rest during stressful times when we talk to a compassionate, wise, and confidant counselor. At Grace Life International Counseling Center, our counseling staff are just like this, no matter where you live. Please text or call us at 704-522-9026 for more information. We are here for you. Para información sobre Consejería en español envíe un mensaje de texto al 704-522-9026.
