Why Believers Must Exchange Stress for His Rest by Teresa Shields Parker
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By Teresa Shields Parker
We all have issues. It's just a fact of life. And when the issues we are concerned about are beyond our control, we tend to worry and stress over them. Then, we do irrational things, such as eating everything unhealthy in our homes or running to the nearest fast-food restaurant to get something even more unhealthy. In addition to whatever mental and emotional stress we feel regarding the "mini-crisis" in our world, we now have just added physical stress to our bodies in terms of additional pounds.
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We all have issues. It's just a fact of life.
And when the issues we are concerned about are beyond our control, we tend to worry and stress over them. Then, we do irrational things, such as eating everything unhealthy in our homes or running to the nearest fast-food restaurant to get something even more unhealthy.
In addition to whatever mental and emotional stress we feel regarding the "mini-crisis" in our world, we now have just added physical stress to our bodies in terms of additional pounds.
Why don't we just give ourselves a break?
Why do we keep obsessing over things we can't fix?
What if we just made it our goal to put stress to rest?
We can do this by intentionally handing the issues causing us to stress to God and trusting Him enough to take care of them in His time and His way.
What's Your Problem?
Many times, though, we don't even realize the root of our stress. We just automatically turn to food to try to soothe us whenever the feeling of overwhelm hits. We use food to mask our stress. And though it may numb us for a while, we need more and more to forget about our problems again. We have a learned behavior, and we've taught it to ourselves way too well.
For many years, I thought my weight caused me most of my stress. However, I learned that my weight was simply the byproduct of my stress—not the other way around. I would stress over some problem, and then I would eat to try to make the stress go away. Excessive and emotional eating caused weight gain, but the real issue wasn't the eating. The real issue was that I was trying to fix every problem that came into my line of sight.
This makes us feel like we are going crazy because we weren't created to handle every single problem that we see in the world, in our friends' lives, in our family's lives and even in our own life. We have to stop the insanity of trying to control everything.
If we can just stop and clear our minds, we can see that everything happening to us right now is attributing to our stress because we are living in a state of chronic stress. As a result, everything looks and feels stressful, even good things. I know I've been there.
Teresa Shields Parker
http://65583.stablerack.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=Hello-God-on-the-Line-by-Teresa-Shields-Parker--&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
One of the biggest excuses we have is that we somehow feel God doesn't speak to us. This excuse shuts down our ability to hear from Him, trust Him and surrender to Him. All three things are integral when we are trying to change our habits, lose weight, get healthy and follow God's plan for our lives. When we don't think we have any clear direction from God, we are relying on our own intellect. We may know what to do, but our minds are overridden by our emotions.
http://65583.stablerack.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=Holy-Spirit-I-Trust-You-by-Teresa-Shields-Parker-&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
As children, if we think we don't matter to the people who matter the most to us, it can set up a stronghold in us of "I don't matter to God," which can make us not trust the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us. I felt that way about my mother. She had an emotional illness, and I never really knew where I stood with her. Because Mom wasn't feeling well, as the oldest I had a lot of responsibilities. I was needed and felt it. Dad regularly told me this, as did my grandparents. I heard it from every place except the one place which really mattered. I didn't it from my mother.
http://65583.stablerack.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=God-Wants-the-Best-for-Us-by-Teresa-Shields-Parker-&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
God always wants the best for us and that is why He hates our excuses. Excuses are what keep us from following God and may even keep us from heaven. I am not saying this to scare you. I am saying it to make sure you are following what He wants you to do. 1 John 2:28 in the Message tells us, "And now, Children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we'll be ready for Him when He appears, ready to receive Him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when He arrives."
