Friday, May 23, 2008 - Biblical Stress Reducers
I believe as Christians we have unique ways of dealing with stress because the Bible gives us practical advice and the Holy Spirit provides the power to apply them to our lives. So, I'm concluding my thoughts on how we can use biblical principles to help reduce stress in our lives.
Idea number nine: Ask yourself, "Is this a worry or a concern?" If you can't do anything about a situation, it's a worry. If you can do something, it's a concern. If it's a worry, then you and I know right away what God's Word tells us about worrying.
Jesus said, Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. Worry is probably the greatest stress factor we deal with. And it does nothing but harm. Jesus said don't worry. Paul wrote we should not be anxious about anything. When the situation is beyond your control and you cannot do anything, instead of worrying, trust. Just keep turning it over to Jesus and refuse to worry.
If you're dealing with a concern, do what you can and then let go of it. Maybe you need to take some action in a stressful situation. The more you procrastinate, the more stress you'll feel. Do what you can do, and then turn it over to the Lord. Once you've done all you can do, don't let it turn into a worry.
If we all just practiced that one stress reducing principle from the Bible, I believe we'd probably reduce our stress levels by fifty to seventy percent.
And my last idea, number ten: Take one day at a time and live in the moment. Jesus told us not to borrow trouble from yesterday or tomorrow. Just take what today brings you. Many times our stress is due to our tendency to live in the past and worry about what's happened, or to live in fear of what's going to happen in the future. Learn to live just today; it's all you've got. If you won't borrow trouble from yesterday or tomorrow, you will be a much more relaxed, less stressful person.
I sure hope you'll put some of these biblical stress reducers to work in your life regularly.
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