7 Ways to Reduce Stress Now

 

Is it possible to be continually joyful and live stress-free? Most people really don’t enjoy life – they endure it and long to reduce the pressure of living. Their lives are filled with anxiety, stress, and constant pressure. To be honest, there’s very little joy at all.

Jesus said that He came so that we might live the abundant life and so we would have full joy living it. Yet, somehow most believers only live in joy when things seem to be going good for them, but then another trial or bout of stress come along and their joy is gone. This is not how God intended for his children to exist! He knew stress would be a part of the human race and in Philippians 4:4-8, He give us 7 strategies to handle the pressures we face.

7 Ways to Reduce Stress Now

1.  Find the joy in every day.

There are so many blessings we have to enjoy. We have loving families, friends, churches, home, food, clothing…the list goes on and on. Satan longs to steal your joy, so he makes sure to accentuate the negative in your life and downplay the positive. God tells us to do just the opposite. Dwell on the joy in your life continually.

2.  Keep the proper perspective & remember God is with you.

The word moderation is something that we typically use when talking about self-control over food or the stuff of this world. However, the word moderation also applies to our mental consumption and means restraint or reasonability in our thoughts. Have you every started to worry about something stressful and what starts as a small problem grows out of control in your mind? I know I have! The doctor will find something off in a medical test and wants to do an additional test and before I’ve even taken it, I start planning my own funeral! This happened when I don’t have moderation in my thought life. My fears and worry grow out of control and cause me to panic and think the worst, most stressful outcome is headed my way. But when I keep the proper perspective I am reminded that my God is in control and that He is with me and that it will all work out for good!

3.  Worry about nothing.

You might read this and think I’m crazy! I know, I know, there are all kinds of upsetting and troublesome things happening in the world today. That’s true, but God wants us to remember that He is in control of everything. Allowing anxiety to run wild in my life will kill me. To keep this the damaging emotion of stress from ruining my life, God tells me to…

4.  Pray in every situation and about everything.

No matter what you are facing, absolutely, positively everything should be prayed about! If it matters to you, it matters to God. He cares about you! He tells us to come boldly to His throne of grace to find help in time of need. Don’t allow Satan to convince you otherwise! Just talk to the Lord about every thing in every situation.

5.  Thank God for everything.

Yep, everything – including the stress and trials you are facing. That sounds crazy to me, but when I read in the Bible I learn that the hard times are what grows my faith and strengthens my life in the Lord. So even though I might not want whatever is happening in my life, I can thank God that it can be redeemed through His grace for good.

6.  Allow God’s peace to guard your heart and mind.

I Peter 5:7 tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord. Have you ever heard the old hymn that says, “Bring your burden to the Lord and leave it there?” I’m sure that songwriter was thinking of this verse when it was written. However, I think many of us have confused that. We think it says, “Take your burden to the Lord and bring it back.” We pray and give God our stressful situations, but then instead of leaving them in His strong and capable hands, we still try to work things out and fix our problems for ourselves. We have to give God our stress and burdens and allow His supernatural peace fill our minds and calm our emotions.   This will all happen in our thoughts. So, we must…

7.  Choose to think the right thoughts.

Philippians 4:8 is God’s filter system for our thought life. The human brain is an amazing creation. It is holds within its memory over 100 trillion thoughts. It has an unbelievable capacity and power. Yet, God gave us the choice of our thoughts. You alone control how you think. You can only think one thought at a time, and you decide where your thoughts will focus.

When we run our thought life through the filter of Philippians 4:8, and follow the pattern given to us, many stressful, anxiety-producing thoughts will be eliminated. For example, ask yourself, are these thoughts true? Now let me remind you worrisome thoughts about the future are not true. The “what if” or “if only” thoughts are not true. So, I have to obey God and not allow myself to dwell on these thoughts. They must be replaced. It’s kind of like changing the channel in your brain. Keep running your thoughts through the levels of this Scripture and you’ll find that the thoughts that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, positive, virtuous and praise-worthy are the thoughts God wants you thinking. Negative, stress-producing thoughts will be eliminated when you choose to think the right thoughts!

What’s got you stressed out?

Finances? The future? Your health? Your marriage relationship? Your kids? Your career?
What makes you anxious and raises the stress level in your life? Whatever it is that brings stress in your life,
God can handle and carry that stress for you – if you let Him!