Do we wake up stressed, uncertain, and anxious about the day? Maybe part of that could be that we are living for ourselves and our own agenda. We are looking for our own desires, needs, and wants to be fulfilled. We are often stressed as we don’t know how to get those fulfilled in our own power.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The source of our stress is the recognition that something, someone, or a need we have that we care about is out of our control. We want to control it. And since we can’t control it externally, we try to deal with it internally through worry, over-analyzing, fear, etc…
The truth is, we cannot control many things, including some things that are deeply important to us. Here’s another fact that is a bit more uncomfortable, and that is we are not sure we can trust God to do things our way, the way we want, the way that we feel would make us happy. That increases our anxiety as we feel alone.
God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want, The outcome doesn’t always go the way we think it should.
Do we trust, though, that God is still in control?
That He hears our prayers?
That He cares for us?
That even though really bad things are allowed, He is the redeemer of them all? And that He will get justice ultimately?