Journey to Faith

Journey to Faith
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Tuesday, November 27, 2018

How to Stay in Peace During Stressful Times

November is a beautiful month. The bushes and trees are all dressed in their fall finery. I love seeing the vibrant hues of red, gold, and green from my windows. When the rays of the morning sun fall on the earth, I am thankful for the glory and beauty God has created. Have you noticed lately?

This is also a very busy season of the year. The stores are gearing up extra early it seems for Christmas. The local transit buses are displaying the "Happy Holidays" sign before Thanksgiving had even arrived.

All this extra activity overloads our senses and lowers our immune systems. Many people come down with colds, allergies, and unexplainable illnesses. On top of it all, most of us have to deal with end-of-year work, medical, and tax-related demands. So what to do?


Start the day on a positive note. 
Despite our to do lists and the pressures of life, if we keep our thoughts on the positives and on God,  we will ward off much stress.  I make a conscious effort to focus on the positives and give thanks each and every morning when I first wake up. My favorite verse is "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." (Ps. 118:24) Notice the focus on personal choice - I will. Maintaining an attitude of gratitude is a choice we make which sets the tone for our day. It helps us handle the inconveniences and difficulties of the day and to have compassion for the rudeness of people.

Focus on the presence and power of God instead of your problems.
It's easy enough to let our thoughts drift onto our problems. If we're not careful we'll get ourselves into a funk about this or that relationship or issue. I have been making more of an effort to catch myself thinking. I know I have a tendency to ruminate and that is unhealthy. Isaiah 26:3 says " You will keep him/her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." In other words, keep your thoughts on God and on his grace and mercy. Some problems are unsolvable in our own strength. If we want to stay in peace, we have to keep our thoughts on the right things. Phil 4:8 says "Think on these things: things that are true, honest, just, pure, noble, lovely and of good report."

Pray about daily needs.
Take today for example. I was walking up the hill carrying, as usual, too many heavy grocery bags. I could have started complaining and whining about the steep hill and the heavy bags -blah blah blah. Do you like listening to complainers? Well God doesn't either.  Look what happened to the Israelites. 

Instead, I prayed for someone to give me a ride up the hill and before I was a third of the way up, a neighbor on the opposite side of the road slowed to ask if I wanted a ride. She made a U turn and pulled up beside me. You can imagine how thankful I was for her! That was God!

"Which entrance would you like to be dropped at?" she asked. Wow, talk about service. She was an angel. The Lord certainly heard and answered my prayer. Now the reason I am sharing this story is to show you how God does hear and answer our prayers. He sees everything we are going through and He hears our cries and petitions but we have to do our part and ask for what we need. We also must  maintain an attitude of gratitude which shows that we trust God to work things out, help us in our times of need, and to make the path clear.

Make time to rest. 
The tendency during busy times is to move quicker, do more, and skip eating right and exercising. This is a setup for the flu bug to attack us come the new year. When we feel the tug of busyness, it is especially important to take good care of ourselves physically and emotionally. It may seem counter-intuitive, but resting frequently will help us not only get through the busy season but do so in
good health and in peace.

Not only do we need physical rest, but mental rest is even more important.  I am implementing daily meditation breaks. I set my phone alarm for 20 minutes and sit myself down on my yoga mat. Close my eyes and just let my mind rest. See my blog posts on how to meditate. I relax my body and let the stress melt away.  Neither our bodies nor our minds were built to run on fast forward.

So, friends, this season, amidst all the hustle and bustle, the irritations and the misfortunes, remember that peace, prayer, and rest are crucial to enjoying this special time.  And remember to be a blessing to someone else!

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Until next time, stay tuned for more practical and positive wisdom on igniting the power within and discovering YOUR destiny!

Keep looking up!


Ariel Paz


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