Five Ways to Overcome Stress: A Daily DevotionalParaugs

"I WANT SOME OF THAT!"

The world thinks we can wave a magic wand and make stress disappear. Please! Stress is so much deeper and more profound than that. But as big and intimidating as it is, it can be beaten. The key? It’s all to do with the attitude of your heart.

An anxious heart weighs you down but a kind word cheers you up (Proverbs 12:25).

A happy heart makes the face cheerful but heartache crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:13).

That’s why God is intimately concerned with protecting your heart. Yesterday, we looked at a game-changing “how-to” based on Philippians:

In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

As we saw, when you pray instead of worrying, God replaces your fear and stress with His peace.

But what the Apostle Paul goes on to say straight after that is equally instructive in terms of how to foster that peace and how to keep cheerfulness and joy strong in your heart … 

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just or pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there’s anything excellent, if there’s anything worthy of praise, think about those things. Keep on doing the things that you’ve learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8-9).

Instead of mulling over the bad stuff and all the things that are wrong, think about the good stuff. Now you might say to me, “I can’t control what I think about”. Sure you can. When you find yourself thinking about something that’s negative, you can choose to think about something positive instead. Try it! And if you’re struggling, go back to prayer like we talked about yesterday.

The best part is that, with practice, your quiet confidence in God grows, and joy and peace overflows from your heart into your life. People around you look at you and go, “Wow, I want some of that!”

The cheerful look on your face brings joy to their hearts and health to their bones. Your joy touches their lives. All because you took the time to take hold of the peace and the joy that God has for you.

Talk about a stress buster!

LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

QUESTION 1

Take a moment to ponder the state of your heart. Do you generally have a positive outlook and quiet confidence in God? Or do you need to start guarding your heart against negativity more? 

QUESTION 2

Spend some time writing out the things that are affecting your heart and causing you the most stress and worry on a day-to-day basis. 

QUESTION 3

Today, we’ve looked at how Paul encourages us to dwell on things that are true, noble, pure, excellent and worthy of praise. What are some of these things that God has put in your life? Write them down.

QUESTION 4

Take a moment to pray. Spend some time with the Holy Spirit now, and ask Him to show you how to look through your first list of worries to see more of the second list of good things He has given you.