Sunday Stress-Busters

Are you sitting there today trying to figure it all out?

Is your jaw clenched, your shoulders tight, your brow furled over some situation or circumstance that you don't understand?

If you just worry over it a little longer, will that help?

If you honestly don't know the answer, it's no. No, worry doesn't help. Worry creates stress, not relief. 

Yes, this is the voice of experience speaking. Worry. Will. Not. Help.

But what do you do to beat the stress? How do you defeat the worry and find peace?

First, unclench your jaw. Then drop your shoulders. Raise your eyebrows to release the frown.

That's a good start.

Now open a new note on your phone and title it: Stress Busters. Yes, I'm going to help you combat your stress by looking at your phone. Ironic, huh?

As the first entry of your new Stress Buster note, type in Psalm 107:29 - He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

What better way to start de-stressing than with Scripture? And the psalmist here gets to the root of the matter. You don't calm yourself - you let the Lord calm you and still you from the inside out. You'll never find peace without Him, and armed with that knowledge, you can work from the outside in while He's working from the inside out.

The second entry on your list is gratitude journal. It's time to fight worry and confusion with laser-sharp focus on what God has done in your life. It may be an actual journal with paper pages, or it could be another note on your phone. Wherever it is and however you use it, this is the place for you to make a conscious effort to praise God for His blessings. Today it may only be a couple of things: you woke up and there was food in the kitchen. But actively looking for blessings turns into noticing them more easily. You had traveling mercies this week, a longtime prayer was answered, a friend said something that changed your outlook. The blessings are there, and you won't find them wrapped up in stress and worry.

My next entry is mini albums. For me, creativity is a huge worry-fighter. Even if it's just setting up a mini book, without actually filling its pages, the thought it requires diverts my attention from whatever I'm overly concerned about to something completely different. This will look different for you, but what do you make or create that sends pleasure messages to your brain? Make this a go-to stress buster.

My third thing is sushi. Yours may be different. Sushi makes me happy and that clears my brain for a bit. What's that one next thing for you?

From here, fill out this list on a daily basis. What helped you combat stress today? Was it a new Bible study book? Reading your favorite blog? Writing a note to someone going through worse things than you are? Sitting down to watch one episode of your favorite show? 

Now, on the days when it's difficult to beat the stress, you'll have a running list of busters that have worked in the past. And it's personal to you. This is how you'll see the calming, stilling things that God uses in your life to help you crush stress under your boot. Or sandal. Or tennis shoe. Whatever you're wearing today.

What are the first three things you're going to add to your Stress Busters list?

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