If you think about it our thoughts are connected to every single area of our lives. They affect or moods, or words our attitudes and even the choices we make. They also affect our emotional and physical health.
Research shows that 75% to 98% of mental, physical, and behavioral illness comes from one’s thoughts. The mind and the body are definitely connected.
We can stress ourselves out by the way we think. If you’re like me, you believe your circumstances are to blame for our unhappiness. But in all actuality it’s the way we think about our circumstances that that usually causes worry and stress.
Stress has been proven to cause issues like muscle tension, headaches, increased heart rate gastrointestinal problems, constipation and diarrhea, it can even cause artery inflammation. And that’s only a few of the side effects. It’s a modern-day epidemic.
But God has given us the answer for worry and stress. In Proverbs 3:5 the amplified Bible the answer is to simply trust. “Lean on, trust in and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.”
Trusting God is the greatest stress reliever in the world, and our minds play an important role in the process. We have a choice. We can rely on our own understanding, insight and endless thinking about our problems, trying to figure out everything on our problems. Or we can chose to adopt a trusting attitude and say “God, I don’t know what I’m going to do about this situation, but, I can’t fix this on my own. If you want me to do something then show me.” Meanwhile choose to trust Him and enjoy your life and let God work on your problems.
Believe you me, I used to be a professional worrier. I was good a worrying about my children, my finances. While my husband would be put working on our vehicle, and laughing with the neighbors. I would say to him, “How can you be outside laughing with the neighbors, while we’re struggling to keep the bills paid.” He he would tell me “we’ve done everything we know to do. I refuse to worry and be miserable.”
It would make me so made, but He was right. I was allowing myself to get upset and waste time I could have been spending with my children. The problem was even though I knew this and would give it to God, my thoughts would go directly back to worrying. I caused myself to have a nervous break down, by just worrying about every little thing. I wasn’t until then, I actually realized that I had to leave it go God to work on.
Yes, I still worry and stress sometimes, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. But now I stop and pray. I may not understand why my situation is happening but, I know God has a plan to fix it.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27
From Pity to Praise 