A Heart Untroubled

As we think about those things that bring stress in our lives, it would be dumb to mention this one!  I've had a difficult week this week.  A very challenging situation came to an end in a meeting and it was stressful.  However, it came and went, but what was the biggest battle for me?  It was practicing the wrong things afterwards!   What do I mean?  Well I am quite sure I am not the only one who practices or rehearses things in my head over and over after something like that, am I?.  "I could have done this... I should have said that..." But all that is simply stressful!  What is past is done, and today I have a choice about what how I practice.  I can practice (rehearse) the negative 'shoulda, woulda, coulda's' or I can practice ( do) the presence of God.  I can sit there and think about all the ways I could have behaved or worded something differently, but in the end, it's a much more peace-filled path when we look to Jesus instead and remind ourselves

In continuing my thoughts on stress, or rather how to deal with stress,  I want to think about the promises God has given us through his word - two verses in particular. Nehemiah 8:10  For the joy of the Lord is my strength and Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. The word 'strength' in the first verse there means: a fortified place; figuratively, a defence: — force, fort fortress, rock, strengthen, strong (hold).  It refers to a place or means of safety, protection, refuge,  fastness, harbour. When we focus on the joy of the Lord we find that we are fortified, strengthened and we find refuge, a safe harbour for our souls.  When we contemplate the fact that God is talking all the factors around us and weaving them together for good.  We can rest in that safe place.   The bible and the gospel message were not intended to be complex and only understandable by the learned or super

So as we continue thinking about stress and how to avoid it as a Christian,  we need to remind ourselves that what we water/feed is what grows in our life.  As a believer, we have a choice every day what we allow to take root in our hearts, and what we root out.   When fear and insecurity take root in your heart, they will always result in stress, torment, and discouragement. The bible tells us we are to take our thoughts captive, and it's easy to pull up a plant when it has no root at all.  Once something develops a root system, it get's harder to remove. Colossians 2:7 (TPT) Your spiritual roots go deeply into his life as you are continually infused with strength, encouraged in every way. For you are established in the faith you have absorbed and enriched by your devotion to him! We need to be rooted in Christ. The dictionary definition of 'rooted' is: established deeply & firmly; and Strong's Concordance says: cause to strike root, to strengthen with roots, t

One of the biggest causes of stress in our lives can actually be our own inability to take responsibility for our actions, emotions and responses.  For example, have you ever got cross with someone and (either out loud or in your heart) you've said 'It's their fault I lost my temper. They wound me up!" Our human nature wants to blame others, blame circumstances or even blame God, but when we ascribe blame to external people or things, what we do is remove the possibility of being able to do anything spiritually productive about it.  This will always bring about stress.   I remember days when I blamed my husband for my own failings, it was stressful, because I couldn't change his behaviour.   This was a cycle in my life and very time I did it, I felt worse.  One day the Lord spoke to me and told me to stop, that I was the one responsible for my emotions and I could chose to walk after the Spirit and not the flesh!  This wasn't at all what I wanted to hear!   But