Are You Stressed?

Bible Verse of the Day:
"Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up."

Proverbs 12:25

Are you stressed? Well, if you're not, I sure am! I mean, I'm so stressed out my hair is literally standing on end. I look like I just stuck my finger in an electrical socket. I'm tired, I'm not sleeping properly, I'm stuffing my face with Twinkies and frozen pizza, guzzling unhealthy amounts of Coke and coffee, and I look like I've aged ten years. Is that another gray hair I see on my head? Arghhh!!

Okay, so everybody gets stressed once in a while. Usually, as in my case, it's because we're trying to do too many things at the same time. I chose to homeschool both of my children this year -- and yes, there are moments (like now) when I ask myself: what the heck was I thinking? I'm also trying to sell my house, (without a realtor) purchase a piece of complicated property, interview realtors (just in case), pack up six years worth of stuff by myself, keep up with the yardwork, which in and of itself is a full-time job (we don't have snow down here, just tons of leaves that don't want to go away). I spend hours on the internet researching for my sons' curriculum, creating worksheets and coming up with activities for them (another full-time job), I make sure all our bills are paid on time, I'm the chauffer that does the grocery shopping and errands, I'm the chef that whips up 3 square meals everyday (I might eat pizza but they gotta eat healthy). I'm the maid that tries (somewhat unsuccessfully) to maintain a clean house (a Mission Impossible with two energetic boys) and keep up with the mounds of laundry that have taken on a life of their own (uh...mommy, I don't have any more socks is not what I want to hear as we're about to go to a doctor's appointment.) Somewhere in there I squeeze in prayer time, church and yes, this blog, which by the way, takes about 2-3 hours to complete.

My husband, God bless him, leaves every day at 6am and doesn't get home until almost 8 at night so whether I like it or not, most of this craziness is mine to deal with. Yippee. Some people might think they're Super-Mom or Super-Wife or Super-Whatever, but I am not. (If I was, I must have been blasted by some serious Kryptonite because my super powers are measuring way below zero right about now.) I am human, with human weaknesses and frailties and a need to get at least eight good hours of sleep.  

So yesterday night I was taking a shower and indulged myself in an extra three minutes (instead of the usual two) and started asking myself how I was going to find the energy and mental strength to get through the next month. Income taxes had to get done (again, I do this myself), Valentine's Day is around the corner, I have tons more packing to do, I just started a new unit with my son that is going to require more research, and this house has just got to get sold. Just as I was beginning to hyperventilate into my washcloth, I stopped. I told myself: "Wait a minute! What does the Bible say about stress? I turn to the Bible for everything else in my life. Is there anything in there that talks about stress? Oh, please God," I prayed, "let there be something in there for me!"  

So I went online and started digging around and sure enough! Bible verses started popping up that talked about stress and anxiety and worry -- my three bedfellows for the past few weeks. I took the liberty to jot a few down and tried to ask myself how they applied to my life.

Matthew 6:27-29
"...Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?"

Well, that's an easy one. No, it can't. Actually, it can make you age way before your time (and I don't know about you, ladies and gents, but I don't want to wrinkle before my time.) So why are we wasting so much time and energy on worrying?

Well, apparently it's because we are lacking trust. Trust in God. The One who controls everything. I mean, come on. He created the entire universe and keeps it functioning smoothly with no help from us. Why would we not trust that He can take care of our problems, our stresses? I found that my worries -- my son's education, my finances, selling my house on time -- were needless. If I trusted God more, I would know that He has everything under control. That if something is wrong, He will fix it. Do I still have to do my share of work? Of course. Although I'm sure He would make a great Real Estate Agent, I know He's not going to come to my house and sell it for me. But if I trust in Him and in His Word, then I should believe that my house will sell when it's supposed to. No sooner. No later. It will sell and it will happen just when I need it to.

Another major stress factor in my life (and yours, too, probably) is finances. Who doesn't worry about money? I think that even Donald Trump worries about whether he has enough to buy that 25 million dollar skyrise he's been eyeing. So what does the Bible say about that?

"Fig trees may not grow figs, and there may be no grapes on the vines, there may be no olives growing and no food growing in the fields. There may be no sheep in the pens and no cattle in the barns. But I will still be glad in the Lord. I will rejoice in God, my Savior, for the Lord God is my strength."

Habakuk 3:17-19

Wow. That was humbling. Basically this verse is saying that even if everything that could go wrong with my finances does, I will still be happy because God is with me. The guy who wrote that must have been like a saint or something. But I'm not a saint and that would be kind of hard to do. (I highly doubt I will be dancing in the streets if the bank takes my house.) But let's look at another verse...

"Do not be worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great that we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ."

Phillippians 4: 6-7

So I guess if things do go bad, the reason I will still be okay with it is because God will give me peace about it. Oh, man. That's what I need! Peace. I don't want to feel anxious and worried and stressed. I want to trust that God will take care of things, that He will make all things work out, and I want to feel peace about it. Peace will let me relax. Peace will let me sleep better at night. Peace means less bickering with my husband. Peace means my kids will have a much happier (and playful) mom.

So I got three things out of this (and I hope you do, too). First, stop stressing. Doing so will only add more gray hairs to your life. But in order to do this you have to do Number Two: Trust God. Trust that He will take care of the things that are stressing you out. Your taxes will get done and you won't have to take out a loan to pay back the IRS. You will study and pass that Algebra final and you won't have to take it again next year. Your financial aid will finally kick in and this year you won't have to collect cans in order to pay for your books. Your kids will not become idiots and they will not drop out of school. Your baby will be fine when you leave him to go to work and yes, he will still love you when you get back. (And for me, yes, my house will get sold.)

Lastly, you have to pray. Talk to Him about the things that are stressing you out, give Him thanks for all that He provides for you, and ask Him to give you a dose of his Holy Peace. It's better than a Red Bull. And if things don't exactly work out the way you had hoped, like you do end up owing the IRS money or that scholarship doesn't kick in, then His peace will calm you. It will heal you. It will allow you to continue to thank Him and praise Him and with that same peace and calm, He'll guide you towards Plan B -- without the aneurism.

So I'll wrap things up with this final verse. In the book of Psalms, chapter 127, Solomon, the wisest of all kings, says:

"If the Lord doesn't build the house, the builders are working for nothing. If the Lord doesn't guard the city, the guards are watching for nothing. It is no use for you to get up early and stay up late, working [anxiously] for a living. [For it is] the Lord who gives sleep to those He loves."

In other words, you can work all you want, worry all you want, stress all you want, but if God isn't involved, if He's not the center of everything you do, of everything you love, then it's all for nothing. Only God can give you the peace you need. Only God can give you the joy you're looking for. Only God can keep your stress under control. And only He can save.

So I promise to stop stressing out if you do. I will pray for God's peace today and you should do the same. I'm taking a "mental health" day today and baking cupcakes. Taking a day off for myself is not going to cause the world to come screeching to a halt (as if I were that important!). And even if it did, I have God's peace in my heart and I trust that He will make it all work out in the end.

To borrow from that famous reggae tune: I know that because I have God in my life, everything's gonna be alright!

Click onto this link  http://youtu.be/By-8BN316mM to watch a video that talks about how when things are crazy or stressful, prayer always helps. It's called On My Knees and its performed by Christian artist, Jaci Velasquez.