Stressed Out
A wise person once said that the human body is made up of 80% water, so we are basically just cucumbers with anxiety. (That’s funny right there. If you can’t laugh at that, this blog is for you.) Everywhere I go, it seems that people are stressed out and anxious about everything. The worst is when I’m by myself looking in the mirror...that guy drives me nuts! I find myself stressed out and anxious about things all the time.
You may be there today. Whether it is work or home life that the stress and anxiety have seemingly piled up on you, you may feel like it is insurmountable. I want to give you some hope today. As I have been studying for this topic, I have been so encouraged to read God’s word and what His promises are to us in the midst of life’s challenges.
Instead of you hearing from me today, I want you to hear from Him. I want to challenge you to read these, and choose one that really seems to stick out for you today. Print it off or write it down, but have it in front of you for the remainder of this week. When you feel those thoughts of stress or feelings of anxiety come upon you, go back to that quote and take a minutes to meditate on His Truth. Let it sink into you mind and heart. I hope these are encouraging to you this week.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” | James 1:2-4 (NLT)
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” | John 14:27 (NLT)
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” | Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
“When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” | Psalm 118:5-6 (NIV)
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” | Psalm 94:19 (NIV)
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth.” | Luke 21:34-35 (NIV)
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” | 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 (NIV)
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” | Psalm 55:22 (NIV)
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” | Isaiah 40:30-31 (NIV)
“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” | 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NLT)
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” | Psalm 56:3-4 (NIV)
Here are some other quotes on stress and anxiety that might be encouraging to you today.
“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” | Peter Marshall
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren't enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.” | Viggo Mortensen
“Getting stress out of your life takes more than prayer alone. You must take action to make changes and stop doing whatever is causing the stress. You can learn to calm down in the way you handle things.” | Joyce Meyer
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.” | Bruce Lee
“We all have those things that even in the midst of stress and disarray, they energize us and give us renewed strength and purpose. These are our passions.” | Adam Braun
“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.” | Seneca
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” | Unknown
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” | Chinese proverb
“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.” | Natalie Goldberg
“How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterward.” | Spanish proverb
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” | John Lubbock
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” | Mahatma Gandhi
“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.” | Lou Holtz
“Worrying is like a rocking chair. it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere.” | English proverb