Since my weekend at Women of Joy in Louisville with my sister-in-law, God has been gently reminding me through my daily life and interaction with others, that absolute surrender always ends up with God’s loving hand and grace written all over it. God asks us to let go and let Him be in charge. I don’t categorize myself as a controlling person but intimate reflection time has enlightened me of specific circumstances where ” it is my way or the highway”. As I drove home from an amazing weekend in Louisville, God spoke volumes into my heart about surrendering my top three daily stressors to Him. This process continually unfolds as I struggle to give it all to God. I find that my strength in God comes from His word, those around me, daily devotionals and God-inspired books that I surround myself with as a reminder of how I want to live my life. Centering myself on God and His truths truly sets me free and provides all I need when I let go and let God!
Understanding stress and the triggers of stress that flare up in me are important to being able to manage my reactions, relationships and ability to overcome stress in a healthy manner. Being able to wrap my brain around what stress is allows me to work on that area of life appropriately with God’s guidance. Tracie Miles has written the perfect definition of stress in her book “Sressed-Less Living”. She defines stress as “a vicious cycle. The more we worry, the more anxious we feel, the more anxious we feel, the more frustrated we become, the more frustrated we become, the more we want to find someone or something to blame. As frustration builds we get more and more frazzled. The more frazzled we become, the more overwhelmed we begin to feel; the more overwhelmed we feel, the more stressed we become.” The path of stress should lead to God every time because “God’s normal is always serenity, and his normal can be our normal,too” says Tracie Miles. Her message is that we can overcome stress in our lives by turning to God. Understanding that we should turn our stress into peace will happen by understanding how we define peace and where we look for peace in our lives. Tracie Miles’ simple definition of peace “the ability to rise above our circumstances, overcome our innate tendency to stress out over problems, and learn to remain calm and confident despite what is going on around us” is a peace based on Christ and not people or our circumstances. It is a peace that asks us to relinquish our control to God who will then teach us in a way that we are never the same again. I am actively seeking God’s peace because God has promised each of us that we will find this peace when we seek Him and trust Him with our lives. Perfect peace = a perfect stress reliever which is found in our perfect God.
Lord-
I yearn for your peace in all areas of my life. Embrace me with your peace daily as I learn to let go of stress and cling to you always.
Allow me to understand your words and plans for me and provide the strength needed to say “yes” in trust knowing that you are the Great Provider.
As I release my stress-filled days to you Lord, replace them with your peace and let it infuse all of me!
In love and thankfulness, I lift this prayer to you Lord. AMEN!
