The Mind ConnectionSample

How to Think When Life Gets Difficult

Did you know you can stress yourself out by the way you think? So often, we believe our circumstances are to blame for our unhappiness; however it’s the way we think about our circumstances that usually causes stress. Thankfully, Proverbs 3:5 gives us God’s prescription for worry and stress: Trust.

Trusting God is the greatest stress reliever in the world and our minds play an important role in the process. We can “rely on our own insight and understanding”—endlessly thinking about our problems, trying to figure everything out ourselves. Or we can choose to adopt a trusting attitude that says, “God, I don’t know what to do about this situation, but I can’t fix it on my own. If You want me to do something, I ask You to show me. Meanwhile, I’m going to trust You and enjoy my life while You work on my problems.”

I used to be a professional worrier—I was good at it. Years ago, when my children were young, I would sit at our kitchen table and spend hours looking at our bills, worrying how we would pay them. My husband, Dave, on the other hand, would be sitting on the floor in the TV room, letting the kids put curlers in his hair.

I would say, “How can you have fun at a time like this?” And he would answer, “Joyce, we’ve prayed about it, and we’re doing everything we know to do. I refuse to be miserable with you.” It made me so mad! But Dave was right. I was allowing myself to get upset and waste time I could have been spending with my children.

The truth is God knew about your problem before you ever got it, and He already has a plan for your solution. In the meantime, you can choose to enjoy your life while you wait.

So, when life throws you a curve and you’re tempted to get stressed-out, I encourage you to choose positive, faith-filled thoughts from God’s Word. Think, The Lord is going to take care of this. It doesn’t matter what it looks like—I believe God is working!

Make the Mind Connection: To avoid stress and worry, choose to think positive, God-filled thoughts on purpose. Believe the best and trust God to take care of every situation.

Adapted from The Mind Connection by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2015 by Joyce Meyer. Reprinted with permission of FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.