Nothing harms us emotionally the way stress does. We might say that anxiety is emotions out of control. When someone experiences anxiety most of the time, it’s because their emotions have been pressured to the point that they are no longer functioning healthily. There are many situations causing anxiety. The death of a spouse or child, divorce, and job loss are major events; however, not all the reasons are that serious. A lot of anxiety is caused simply by taking on more than we can handle.
There is no answer for emotional distress unless we learn to follow God’s principles of wisdom. I used to feel like I was going crazy due to stress, but it was because my schedule was insame. And—even worse— I thought I was doing it for God. It is amazing to me now when I look back how deceived I was. Always remember that if Satan cannot get you to not work for God, then he will try to get you to overwork for God. He really doesn’t care which end of being out of balance we are on, because either one causes trouble.
The simple answer to living a life you can enjoy is to learn God’s ways and follow them. Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6), and that means He will show us how to live properly. The answers we need are in the Bible, and we should make a decision that we will not only read it, but we will obey it. If we refuse to make that decision and follow through, we will keep feeling stressed until we break. I am sure that some of you have decided while reading this book that there are many changes you need to make in order to get your emotions under control. Don’t put those changes off until you’ve forgotten about them, because procrastination is one of the devil’s best weapons. Take action. You don’t even have to finish the book before you get started. You can start while you are still reading. As a matter of fact, I am challenging you to make one decision today and put it into action. Do it as a seed of your commitment to get your emotions under control.
Perhaps you were hoping I would give you three easy steps to removing excess stress and enjoying emotional stability. I am sorry to disappoint you, but anything worth having is worth making an effort to obtain. I can say with all honesty that at one time I was extremely out of balance and very stressed. I also let my emotions control me; but I have changed, and so can you. Start asking God what you can eliminate from your life that is nor producing good fruit. It may even be some good things that are just not the best things for you. Something can be right for us in one season of our lives and not right at all in another season. Don’t be afraid to tell people that you have to stop doing something. Follow God!
Follow peace! Follow your heart, and you will accomplish a lot of fruitful things and still have energy left over to enjoy the fruit of your labor.
It’s obvious from Jesus’s words that He desires for us to have wonderful peace, but please notice that He is also giving us a responsibility. We must control the negative emotions that would steal our peace. We cannot always control all our circumstances, but we can control ourselves with God’s help.
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