Stress

Stress. A word everyone hates. I got to thinking this week....and I realized that we, as humans, like to stress over alot of really dumb things. And it irked me, because there are so many more important things in this world that should be our priority.

This past week....either at school, my house, church, or anywhere else I was, I heard people say they were stressed over the following things:

• homework


• all the leaves that needed raked


• work/job


• all the meetings they had


• all the things they had to get done while they're at work


• cleaning the house/room


• their commute to work/school


• not exercising - but needing to


• health issues


• registering for classes/finishing school on time


• finances


• getting a Halloween costume (either for themself or their kids)


• how tired they are


• how they just couldn't find time to go to Walmart but needed to

And while this list is not the full list...it does give an idea of the things people are worried about these days. Take a look at the list -- ultimately, when it comes down to it -- who is the main "character" in each of those? The speaker. The speaker is the one who is receiving - it's all about "me" -- "I am exhausted", "I need to finsh school in 4 years!", "I have so much work to do to get a good grade", "I don't have enough money." Can we be any more "me"-centered?

Have you ever thought about the children in this world who sleep in the streets each night because they don't have a mom or dad who love them, or the scared little 12 year old girl who was sold into prostitution, or the teenage mother who is trying to keep her baby alive by digging through garbage dumps? Or what about the soldier in the Middle East, working 12 hour days, who has to live constantly on his toes, waiting for the next bomb? Or the families of this soldier who live each day at home, waiting for the phone to ring...hoping that it's their soldier and not someone bearing bad news? Or what about that family who has a loved one in the hospital who is in grave condition-who sits in the waiting room days on end, tensing up anytime the doctor comes to the waiting room? What do you think these people stress about?

What if we took our focus off ourselves for once and took some time to help these people. To reach out. To go beyond ourselves. What if the sentences I heard were "I'm stressed that I can't help more orphans."? No - I don't think we should stress about it -- I believe God has called to live a life free of stress....to not give in to anxiety. But, I think the things we stress about show where we place our priorities. I think it's time for a shift. I'm tired of hearing people stress about the stupid things in life-there are things that we do have to get through and may cause stress, but really....is that why we're here?

Are we here for ourselves? Did God put you on this Earth to worry about how much stuff you have to do this week?

Take a breather.

Be still and Know.

God's got it all under control; leave it in His hands.

Just serve Him.

(and by the way -- I'm talking to myself here too; I have just as much learning to do!)