I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but I'm a pretty competitive person. I don’t like failure and it affects me deeply and personally. Proverbs 24:10 (NIV) says “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!” This verse is like a new motto for me. I don’t like giving up or backing down when things get hard. However, that also means it takes a lot to get me down, and when it gets me down, it gets me down hard. Stress is something that I think a lot of students have trouble dealing with, but today I want to look into this universal issue from a Biblical lens.
The Word reminds us constantly and on many different occasions, to be at peace, and to not be anxious. After all, one of the fruits of the Spirit is peace! A great verse that highlights how at peace and strong we should be is Psalm 55:22 (NIV) which says “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” We can’t be shaken because the LORD won’t allow us to be, but is our mindset aligning with God’s will? Are we self sabotaging? I would say a big reason that it’s taken me a while to even learn how to cope with stress is because I thought it was something that I just had to deal with, kind of like a rite of passage. But this verse shows us that this mindset does not at all align with God’s will for His righteous sons and daughters.
So we know that we shouldn’t be stressed, but that’s not enough to fend it off. It’s like knowing it’s bad to be under attack, but not knowing how to defend yourself. So how do we defend ourselves against the attack of the enemy when stress starts to sneak its way into our minds? Never before has a verse been so explicit in its meaning. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV). Reading this verse again and again has given me a new perspective, I don’t have to be stressed anymore, the remedy is prayer! As always, the answer leads back to prayer. Honest conversations with God lead to transcending peace.
Practically implementing this isn’t hard at all. I’ve learnt from my friends that if you set a time to pray and work your schedule around it, it makes it easier and more intentional to pray. Whenever I feel stressed I repeat little prayers that have immense effects on my attitude. “God is with me.” “For God does not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”
Proverbs 16:32 (NIV) “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”
Thank you Nkunzi for addressing this and I especially feel touched by this amazing Word, because I know that we all deal with stress through the world's different mechanisms such as therapy, etc. (which is only required if really necessary). We forget that the best mechanism is to heed's God's word by having peace 💖…But also when you mention being competitive, I can definitely relate because failing really brings me down..
Extremely grateful for this word ❤🧡💞💞