Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things…. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8–9
“I’m so stressed.” It’s difficult to go through a day without hearing this phrase at least once, especially at this time of year. But is stress supposed to be so commonplace in our lives? Is stress normal?
Actually, stress isn’t always a bad thing. When you’re in danger or are facing a challenge, your heart rate increases and adrenaline is pumped into your muscles so you’re ready for action. This physical response may be exactly what you need when you’re being chased by a Doberman, but the chronic, low-grade anxiety type of stress doesn’t benefit you at all.
You may assume you just have to accept that anxious feeling about your holiday to-do list, but you don’t. And you may think it’s normal to feel worried about your job or finances, but it doesn’t have to be. You can experience peace.
We tend to fall for the lie that stress is out of our control. The truth is, often a bit of better planning, time management or a change in focus could save us a lot of stress. But even when the source of our stress is completely out of our hands, we have more control than we think. We can always choose our reaction. We can choose peace!
Over the next few days, we’re going to talk about how to walk in the peace Jesus makes available to us. Today, choose your focus carefully. Our verse says you can focus on good things and walk in peace.