Stressed?

I think the most common feeling that everyone shares is stress. I would like to think that we feel love more, but the truth is, there is always so much going on in life and the lives of the ones that we love, that we worry and stress over everything that takes place in our life and the life of our loved ones.

I've been reading this amazing book, off and on for the past month. It's so good that I could read it all in one day, but I'm learning to live differently because of this book and I want to take my time reading it. It's called, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. Last night I came to this chapter in the book that was about how Jesus came to save us from our sin and has Heaven prepared for us, but HEAVEN is where our rewards are. We've heard this all our lives, but we continue to look for God to fix all of our problems here on earth and give us this perfect life with all the answers... but that isn't going to happen. The minute we realize that life is never going to be perfect, a little bit of that "stress" will go away.

Now I'm not saying that God isn't going to help us through difficult times, but what I am saying is once we are out of one situation, there is going to be another one. It may not happen RIGHT after another, there could be some long term amazing times in your life and THEN another stressful time, but eventually, there is is going to be more trying times.

Why do we have to go through these trials? Well... the story of life isn't about OUR life, "we are just a tree, in a story about a forest" (A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, D. Miller). If we stop focusing on why everything is happening to US, we can start to remember to take care of others and be a part of the big picture. This is why we are to lead others to Christ. We go through our own trials so that we can have testimonies to lead others through similar trials of their lives. These trials also make us learn to depend more on God for our needs.

So try to not stress so much. It is all a learning experience and God will always bring you through it. Yes, something else is going to come along and test you again, but just know that your God is bigger than your problems and at the end of your life, you made it to the prize, HEAVEN!