Stressed-Less Week 4

 

Just when I think I'm making progress with this whole stressed-less thing, it seems like I get slapped upside the head with something that I cannot help but be anxious about. 

This week it was a futon. Yes, a futon. I found one on Craigslist that perfectly fit the idea I had in mind of what I wanted to put in my dining room. There is extra space for seating (however currently occupied by the contents of storage unit #2), and I found the perfect one for it, even if it's not quite ready for it yet. 

I was anxious about it all week long. First I had trouble coming up with a time to meet up with the person selling it, and I just knew it would be gone before we could get there. Then I worried and worried about how we were going to get it carried out and loaded since the hubby is out for the count when it comes to lifting. NOT the greatest time to be shopping for futons.

Regardless, I was finally able to set up a time. We got there and it was in an apartment building 2 floors up. Maybe my worrying was justified after all. 

After talking with the lady for a few minutes, she all but offered to give it to us if we would just take it off her hands. 

We ended up paying $25 for it. 

Then we mentioned needing help since the hubby couldn't lift, and she was more than happy to help carry it out. 

I say all this to say not only did God work out all the details, but there was absolutely no reason to get myself all in a tizzy. 

None. 

Not one. 

And there never is. 

Needless to say, I need to learn to trust my loving Father. I know he loves me and he's got my back.When I stress though, I live like I don't really believe it. 

There was another thing I got anxious and stressed about this week, but it's so incredibly ridiculous that I'm not even going to mention it. 

The point of course is that all this worrying and anxiety is totally unnecessary. In fact it's not only unnecessary--it's totally exhausting. 

Our chapter this week was about change. After months of change, the idea of more change makes me want to run screaming. What I realized this week though was that God isn't asking for me to undergo another big change in circumstances. What he wants to change is my heart. 

Part of what I need to change is accepting that I cannot dictate circumstances or people's reactions. I think I can, and that's what causes me to worry. There are just some things that are out of my control, and that's okay, because I know that God IS in control and I can totally trust him to take care of things when I am living in obedience to his will. God's got it so I can let go of it. 

One of the reflection questions at the end of the chapter asked, "What can I do to start trusting God with your whole heart and life and start accepting how valuable you are to him?"

I really wasn't sure how to answer that question, but, after skimming the chapter again, this is what I came up with: 

-work in obedience to his will instead of my own

-focus on what God has called you to do instead of what you have set out to do within the restrictions of your own agenda and skill set

-listen and surrender to his ways

My will vs His will. Isn't that what this is all about? I think I cannot trust his will, or I choose not to, so I go about trying to work out my own, much to my dismay. I worry and plot and strive and do my best to keep it all under control. 

News Flash: It doesn't work. 

I get frustrated and resentful. I worry and fret. I get discouraged. Exhausted. Fed up. Joyless. 

I look at my proposed changes and I see more attempts to plan & control, when what I should really see is:

Prayer.

Time in God's Word. 

Margins.

Boundaries. 

Truth spoken in love. 

As Tracie put it so aptly, "...if you are in God's unique and destined will for your life and are making your relationship with him a priority, you can keep stress at bay because real peace will take up residence in your heart."

~

Since I've already rambled on I'll just list a few blessings this week:

21. Getting a new-to-me futon for $25!

22. Snuggles and movies on a rainy day with my little boy. 

23. The greenery and flowers springing up. It's exciting to see what plants come up since we didn't move here until the fall. 

24. New baby calves. We have two so far and they are so cute!

25. This study! It really helped me to spend some time in God's Word this week that I wouldn't have otherwise.

Chapter 4 Take-Aways 

-"It had been so long since I had been less stressed, I had forgotten how it felt to be happy and at peace. And trust me, friends, it was a good, good feeling that came solely because of the powerful presence of God in my life and the fact that I was now walking in obedience to his will, instead of my own."

-"The real peace comes when you make God the center of your life, instead of the last resort, and when you begin focusing on what God has called you to do, instead of what you have set out to do within the restrictions of your own agenda or skill set."

-"I chose a life of stress instead of the sweet life God had designed for me for two reasons. The first reason was that I had failed to ever build a strong relationship with Christ...The second reason was that I was just too afraid to trust God with my life...I was unsure if he was really capable of providing and protecting or if he really had a plan for a broken woman like me. My feelings of unworthiness compounded my fears, and, as a result, I did not know how to trust God..."

-"My stress resulted from not knowing God, not trusting him with my whole heart, seeking peace and purpose from the world instead of from him, and from being so afraid of change that I would rather suffer than obey."

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