Spiritual Wellness
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives."
"Give your stress wings and let it fly away" we read in an inspiring quote from Terri Guillemets. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to give their stress wings. They look for relief in empty distractions and find their stress still waiting when it comes time to deal with life again. The modern world has been unable to find a solution for the stress that burdens so many, though it seems that we have looked for stress relief just about everywhere, in every nook and cranny we can think of.
Maybe it's time to consider a more spiritual approach to stress. Perhaps rediscovering faith in God by spending time with daily Bible verses and reawakening a life of prayer is exactly what some people need to put their hearts at ease.
Finding Peace
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
Turning to spirituality when life gets too stressful can help you find the peace that stress has stolen from you. Remembering that God loves you and wants to be there for you will give you the sense that you are never alone in tackling whatever life may throw at you. When life gets too hectic, practice quieting your heart and your mind and connecting, through sincere prayer, with the peace that Jesus freely gives to each and every single believer.
Relinquishing Control
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
Stress is often caused by the feeling that nothing is going your way, especially because the modern world tells us that we should always have our next move figured out. However, the truth is that we are never entirely in control, and so we are doomed to end up frustrated when we try to plan every aspect of our lives. Learning to see God at work behind your steps can help you become more comfortable with relinquishing some control, and a good deal of your stress along with it.
Gaining Perspective
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." (1 Peter 5:6)
Becoming more immersed in your spiritual life can provide immense stress relief by giving you a sense of perspective. Life will not suddenly become easy and your problems will not disappear overnight, but losing yourself in the immensity and majesty of God will make even the largest of problems seem small by comparison. If you genuinely commit to building a stronger relationship with Christ, then you will quickly come to know that there is nothing which cannot be overcome with Him by your side.
If you've tried everything else under the sun to deal with your stress and have found it all lacking, then maybe it is time to finally turn to God. In the end, only spirit can provide you with wings light enough to rise above the heavy challenges of this world.
Spiritual Prayer
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”