The Cause of Your STRESS

I used to be married to my “to do” list. I was “Mr. Accomplishment”. And worry and fretting was just part of my daily menu. But then I really got a hold of this verse “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mat 11:28-30).

And since then, I totally changed my mode of operation. I committed myself never to worry anymore. Instead, when fear, worry or fretting come my way, I bust out in praise and thank Jesus for taking my burdens and leading me to the right decisions. And I totally forget about the concerns, and trust that when they come back, they’ll reappear with the solution tagged onto it.

The major cause of stress in your life is worry. You worry because you wonder if you will have what you need when you need it. But any time you expect people or things to meet your needs instead of God, you’re going to be frustrated and disappointed, because nobody on earth can meet all your needs. Only God can do that.

Some people find their security in their job, and when they lose their job, they lose their peace of mind. Others put their security in their marriage. Then their spouse dies or they go through a divorce, and they ask, “Who am I? What is my identity?” Or maybe you put your security in your money. But there are a lot of ways to lose your money

I recommend that you never put your security in anything that can be taken away from you. You can lose your job, your health, your reputation, your spouse, and so many other things. But you cannot lose your relationship with Christ.

When you put your security in that promise, you can trust God to meet all your needs. “Since He did not spare even His own Son for us but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also surely give us everything else?” (Rom 8:32)

If God loved you enough to send Jesus Christ to die on the cross, don’t you think he loves you enough to take care of every other need in your life? Yes! Of course he does. Every time you start to get stressed, pause and say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps 23:1 ESV). And “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you”; (Ps 55:22)

God’s going to provide. He’s going to take care of you. Don’t waste your energy on stress,  praise Him and look to him to meet all your needs.

From notes on one of Rick Warren’s sermons