Remember the faithfulness of God
Stress, anxiety, and worry accomplish and solve nothing. The Bible tells us, “An anxious heart weighs a man down...” (Proverbs 12:25, NIV). It’s like pushing the gas pedal on a car while it remains in park. It revs up the engine and makes a lot of noise but goes nowhere. Ongoing unhealthy stress produces negative effects in our lives such as:
• Physical issues like headaches, muscle tension and aches, restlessness, high blood pressure, upset stomach and nausea, tiredness, fatigue, and sleep disorders. Stress leading to anxiety has been linked to six of the leading causes of death.
• Physical health problems like heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, and cirrhosis of the liver.
• Emotional issues such as fear, anger, being constantly irritated, sadness, depression, and a general feeling of being overwhelmed resulting in panic attacks and sometimes prompting suicide.
Some of us need to take this stress thing in hand. The good news is that Jesus wants to restore our lives. He said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIV). God gives us rest from our stress as a gift.
There’s a distinct difference between what Jesus offers us and what the current modern thinking offers us. In this era much of what is offered for stress enables us to cope a little better with it. Exercise for example, will help us cope, and while we should exercise, it doesn’t offer a cure for the stress. Proper diet will also make life better but it’s not a cure. It’s like constantly taking medication but never being cured. Jesus said, “I will give you rest”; in Christ there is a place that we can find peace even when things are not going right. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” John 14:27 (NIV). He can give us a peace that the world cannot manufacture.
When feelings of overwhelm and stress come, regardless of the source, the first thing we need to do is to remember the faithfulness of God. We often underestimate the power of doing this. God has been faithful in unprecedented ways to all of us at one time or the other. There were situations in our past that were impossible and should have ended our lives, our futures, or our careers, but God stepped in. We’re so practiced at allowing our present circumstances to cast shade on the goodness of God in the past, that we need to deliberately remind ourselves. We are too practiced at forgetting, too practiced at looking at the glass as half empty instead of half full, and too practiced at forgetting the miracles God has done in our lives. Choose to remember the faithfulness of God.
King David, when under stress said: “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again — my Saviour and my God! … each day the LORD pours His unfailing love upon me…” Psalm 42:5 and 8a (NLT). David practised recounting God’s faithfulness. If He did it before, He will do it again. Praise and thanksgiving are keys to breakthrough. God is enthroned on the praises of His people. When we start to praise, it invites His presence into our situation and brings us peace.
Recognise that the God who saved you before will save you again. The Lord is enthroned in our praises and the answer to the thing causing us stress is in Him.
LINK: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20230312/remember-faithfulness-god
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