The Beauty in Stress

{play me}

You learn a lot about yourself when your plate is full.

Our lives are full lately. We felt God's calling for us to obey him. We are neck deep in it now.

God never tells us that his way for our lives will be easy. In fact, he says just the opposite. He tells us that when we follow him, it will be difficult.

Luke 9:57-62As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

This passage has always bugged me. He seems so harsh! But from what I have heard it's that Jesus knew these men were making excuses on why "now wasn't a good time" to follow him. He knew that their hearts were not in it fully. And that's exactly what he has called us to do. Put all of our hearts into following him.

No, it isn't supposed to be easy, but it's supposed to be rewarding.
The journey that God has called our family is causing us stress right now.

And I won't lie…I'm not handling it well.
I'm snarky, moody, and eating way too much. Of course I have to be a stress eater, right? Not that I'm already in a bad mood…I have to gain weight while I'm at it.
Apparently this is my motto ; )

via

But God is revealing to me some of these hard character flaws to me.
I need to treat those I love better, despite my circumstances. I need to rely that God's plan is supreme and that my attitude is lame.

I know the reward will be great. He has a pretty amazing way of blessing us.
That is the beauty of stress. The reward of obedience is great.
I just need a new motto...

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Pray more. Stress less. 

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