Stress-Free LivingSample

Peace in the Storms

Jesus’s life demonstrates one of the greatest expressions of faith we can manifest: no matter what is happening to us or around us, nothing and no one can cause us anxiety, and we are continually able to rest in God. For example, one time, after Jesus had preached to a multitude and healed their diseases, He and His disciples got into a boat and began to cross the Sea of Galilee. On the way, a great storm broke out, and they were about to be shipwrecked. During the commotion of the storm, Jesus was sleeping peacefully in the stern. The disciples were full of fear, so they woke Jesus up. He stood and firmly rebuked the winds and the sea, and the storm immediately ceased. 

When we face problems, most of us would like to rest in the way Jesus did on that boat, without anything disturbing us. We would also like to be able to overcome our storms in the power of God. And this is possible! However, it requires applying the finished work of the cross, remaining in God’s presence, and receiving His supernatural grace.

Apply the Finished Work of the Cross

Jesus died on the cross to pay for all the sins, diseases, and misery of the human race. He delivered us from anxiety, fear, depression, and every other yoke of the enemy. Rest comes to us when we understand and have total confidence in the finished work of the cross for our life.

Everything we need—now and in the future—was provided for us on the cross two thousand years ago. By faith, we can receive salvation, healing, miracles, transformation, provision, deliverance, and much more. Jesus paid for everything completely. 

Therefore, speak to your circumstances—your financial problems, your marital conflict, your sickness, your depression, your children’s rebellion, or anything else that is tormenting you—and say, “Jesus paid for this on the cross. Right now, I rest in His finished work and God’s promises. I’m not going to become stressful. Jesus has already given me the victory; He has paid for the debt of sin I owed, and He has completely defeated the enemy.”

Remain in God’s Presence

Jesus’s sacrifice opened the way so that all who believe in Him and confess Him as Lord and Savior of their lives can enter into His presence. When we are in the presence of the Lord, nothing that might happen around us or in the world can cause us to enter into a cycle of worry or fear, because we know that God is in control. 

There have been times when I have become worried and stressed due to the many burdens and responsibilities I carry, not only locally but also globally. Yet whenever I enter God’s presence, everything changes. When I finish praying, worshipping, and communing with God, I feel rested. Why does this happen? Because daily, in His presence, I recognize anew that God is my Father, and He loves me. With these assurances, I simply give Him all my burdens. They are no longer under my control; I leave them in His hands. 

I want to emphasize again that if you are facing situations that cause you stress, you urgently need to enter God’s presence. When you go to your Source, He will remove every burden, because in His presence, there is total provision.

Receive God’s Supernatural Grace

“Grace” refers to being granted a favor, talent, or gift from God that we do not deserve. It includes the bestowal of His heavenly power, which enables us to be and do what we cannot achieve in our human capacity. In other words, grace is the ability God gives us to walk in the supernatural.

We must understand that living in God’s grace doesn’t mean we aren’t to give anything back to Him. On the contrary, we are to serve Him and His purposes with love, devotion, and faithfulness—all by His grace. In this regard, the apostle Paul writes, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Paul worked hard, not to earn grace from God, but by taking hold of the grace he had been given in order to do the will of the Father. The only way to serve God free of stress is to do so as He planned for us—in the strength of His grace.

I urge you to stop trying to work for God in your own strength. Understand that everything He commands us to do is impossible to accomplish with human strength; we can achieve it only by His grace. If you believe this, then from now on, seek to continually rest in God, and your life will begin to flow better. By the grace of God, we can overcome the temptations of the enemy, do the work of the ministry, and fulfill the will of God. If you work in this way, you will not become exhausted, because you will depend on divine grace, not on your limited strength. As long as you try to work according to your own power, you will feel burdened and tired. But if you hold on to God’s supernatural grace, He will renew your strength, and you will live in an atmosphere of rest.

Thought: In God’s presence, there is total provision.