Slowly But Surely....

Eight weeks ago I started on a journey........

A journey to a LESS STRESSED ME.........

The road has been brightly lit, but a bit bumpy and full of many caution and stop signs.

When I started on the Stressed-Less Living Bible study I really expected to learn ways to eliminate or wipe out the many stresses in my life, but I have discovered something much greater than that. I have discovered that involving God more in my daily life, my daily thought processes, and my decision making will not necessarily ELIMINATE my stresses, but it will better enable me to deal with them.

On Sunday, my minister delivered a sermon based on Romans 5, verses 1 through 11. What he had to say spoke directly to my heart. I have no doubt that God had delivered the message to him at just the right time for me. It meshed very well with what I had been studying in this Bible study.

Any doubts that I might have had flew fleetly away when I opened the daily Bible reading on Proverbs 31 today and discovered that it was the EXACT SAME TEXT. When I sat down in front of the computer this morning, I had asked the Lord, "Please help me know what to discuss in my blog this week." In that one moment, as I looked at the screen, I knew that God had sent me the text for my weekly post.

You see, this passage deals with patience, experience, and hope.

Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I had been suffering through my stress...... through my life for a very long time. There were points during the last year especially when I just wanted to say, "Let this crazy bus STOP! I want to get off!" I had cried out to my friends, my family, and my colleagues, but it took a lot of suffering before I finally discovered this Bible study and learned that what I really needed to do was cry out to GOD! Within the last 8 weeks, I have learned that only God can provide me with the inner peace that I so badly craved.

At the same time, I also learned, as Romans 5 verse 3 says, that my suffering produces perseverance. All this time I think I wanted God to eliminate my stress, when what I really needed to do was use that stress to develop my stamina- my ability to deal with stress. Because that is what will ultimately produce my character and therefore- my hope.

That is where I now stand. I stand in hope-

Hope that with God's help, I can better make choices about where to delegate my time and energy-

Hope that I can continue to be helpful and a hard worker..... a provider for my family.... but that with God's help I can face my stress more calmly simply because I have involved him in the process.

I am still on my journey.

It is going to be a long one, but if I continue to take one day at a time. I WILL slowly, but surely, reach my destination- a TRULY Stressed-Less ME!