Hey y’all its Avery! I wanted to hop on and encourage y’all with some scripture and to let you know you are not alone in this season of stress and anxiety.
Recently in my life, I have been under a lot of pressure, mostly put on by myself, but also from life in general. I graduate in the spring and I am trying to work out my last semester and what my next steps may look like. With all that being said, over the last few months my “baseline” for anxiety has been defined as a busy mind and lots of thoughts. My normal should not be an anxious mind. It is not good to have to battle a mind of racing thoughts. By adjusting my normal, I assumed all was fine because I was able to handle it and my life wasn’t getting worse because of it. I was in the word consistently so I probably was able to prevent more stress and anxiety than what I did have in my life, but I still had anxious seasons and stressful situations.
As a follower of Christ, we are called to have a fruitful life. When I began to think of this in my own life, I realized I had a harder time producing fruits of the spirit my life (Galatians 5:22-23). When a tree is under stress, it is more susceptible to diseases, insects eating it, and is less likely to produce any fruit. The same applies to us. We cannot produce fruit when we are under stress. When the devil cannot distract you, he will stress you out. When we are stressed we have to fight off more “bugs” and rebuild what has been torn down. We have to focus on our self, how we are spending our energy, and what we are doing to manage these things. It takes the focus off of producing fruit and puts it on trying to control what is going on. When we try to take the control out go God’s hands, we become overwhelmed and exhausted because it is impossible for us to have control over everything (Matthew 6:25-31).
During this time of finals and exams we can become easily overwhelmed and feel like we are drowning in all the work we have to get done. We tend to lose sight of true peace in these moments. I know when I get really overwhelmed I tend to have tunnel vision and focus on completing the tasks at hand. It’s kinda like autopilot in a sense.
I don’t want to live a life on autopilot. I want to live in the freedom of who God has made me to be and that is the last thing the devil wants so he will do anything in his power to make my progress slow down and for my mind to be busy. When he can’t distract us, he will stress us out. I want to encourage you to run to Christ who is the ultimate source of peace. God is the very essence of tranquility and when we are in His presence we have the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). It may seem like a small thing, but when we spend time with the Lord when we are stressed He is able to provide a still place that allows for us to breathe and lay our burdens at His feet. 1 Peter 5:7 says to “cast your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” As children of God, we are loved and cared for. God wants to be with us when we are struggling and hurting. It is in those moments where we can experience the unexplainable peace and love of God. Take those thoughts captive and don’t be a stressed tree.
Beloved, you are fiercely loved by God.
-avery v
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