Write it down, pray over it and drink chai 🙂
That’s literally been my mantra these last few months. I am prone to anxiety and stress and I can worry myself until my head hurts. That’s one, of many, flaws that God is still working on in me. I must say that lately things that would normally stress me out or have me anxious I’ve taken on an “I don’t care anymore” attitude and that has helped me a lot. It’s not necessarily that I don’t care (because a lot of things we say we don’t care about we really do, just saying), it’s just that there comes a time when you’ve done all you can and you have to let go and let God handle the rest. Many situations are beyond our control and what I’ve come to learn and try to practice is the art of letting go. When you think about it, worrying does NOTHING! It doesn’t change the situation, it doesn’t make it go away or get better, it actually does the opposite. One of my verses that I like to read and reflect on when I’m feeling anxious or beginning to stress is,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:6-8
My favorite part is to make your requests known to God and you will find peace. This is the truth!! Let me share a quick testimony of how I experienced this.. So for those who don’t know my husband has had back problems for the last two years. It’s off and on, but anyway last year we were preparing for our cruise and I thought about his back problems and how I would hate for him to be in pain during our cruise. So for about two months prior to the cruise I wrote down my requests and made them known to God in prayer. I prayed over that thing daily and when I tell you Joe experienced no back pain whatsoever on that cruise! I’m still praising God for that because my man was zip-lining, snorkeling and sliding down water slides and not once did he experience any pain! That was an example right there of God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises. We didn’t worry about Joe’s back pain once while we were on that cruise. God did that! But it took me surrendering my worries over to Him and letting Him take control.
I have so many more instances of God showing up and showing out as a result of my faithfulness and I have those experiences to lean on when things get rough and I begin to worry. I remember what God has done and then I try not to care anymore – I said I’m learning lol. Even on my job certain things would stress me out like not meeting my own deadline or things not getting complete in a timely manner, now I’m like whatever! If I did all I was supposed to do and things still fall behind, it will work out somehow some way in the end, I just can’t care! If it’s that pressing where I feel like it’s constantly on my mind, then I will write it down and pray over it.
I want to encourage you to practice not caring, and when I say not caring I mean not caring so much that you get worried and anxious – that’s when it becomes too much. When you get to that point it’s time to let God take over. Try taking your worries to Him in prayer, whatever that may look like for you. You may feel better by writing, singing, or getting in your prayer closet, whatever surrendering your cares over to God looks like for you, then do it! Make it known to Him, and what’s funny is, He already knows, so it’s more so just giving it over to Him and relieving yourself of unnecessary stress. After you pray about it, treat yourself to something you love or enjoy that will further take your mind off of it – for me, chai is my treat 🙂
I’m curious to know what you do to relieve stress and anxiety, I’d love to hear from you!
Live well,
