Praying About Stress and Anger
If you’ve been following the blog long enough then you know I work from home. Being your own boss is something I appreciate and thank Christ for every single day, but it certainly has its down-side. Sometimes I get slapped with all the cooking and cleaning at home (since I’m apparently always around), or sometimes I get all the day’s errands dropped into my lap. Most days, I don’t mind this; I work from home, I can always stay up late and get things done then sleep in the next day. But sometimes I feel frustrated with that. Sometimes I find myself in a very tense or stressed mood and even though no one has offended me or hurt me, I take things out on my family.
You can understand why I would be bothered by this behavior. No one enjoys being angry, frustrated or upset. But most of all, no one enjoys mistreating their own family. So, what do you do? How can you, as a Christian, keep yourself from getting uptight?
Sometimes, you can’t. You can’t always control every part of your day. You can’t always control how situations make you feel—but you can control what you do and how you respond and behave when you’re facing these stressful feelings.
Today, when I felt myself getting overwhelmed by the day’s chores, I sat down and opened a daily devotion to read. Immediately, I felt at peace and there was no question as to why or how.
I posted a recent article about viewing God as your father, if you haven’t read it, I urge you to click here and check it out. In that article, I talk about what it means to have a father and how God wholly and completely fulfills that role as our Father. Most times we see God as our father when we are in great need or deep sorrow. Our Father provides and comforts, right? But what does He do when we’re stressed and angry? Does God care about that too?
Of course He does!
Don’t you, as a parent, spouse, child, sibling, or a great friend, care about what stresses your loved one? Doesn’t it upset you to see your relative upset? It sure upsets me and I can personally testify that it also upsets God the Father.
As our Father, God cares about what we care about. He feels and understands what we feel; so when we’re full of joy so is God. When we’re down and beaten, God hurts for us and wants to comfort us; when we’re worried, God reaches out and tells us He’s handling things. When we’re angry or stressed, God is pained by our frustration and wants to give us peace.
I Peter 5:7 NLT says: Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
God cares about you! He wants you to be happy and joyful and at peace at all times—just like any parent would! So when you are stressed, stop and focus on God.; stop and submit yourself to Him, tell Him what’s making you so upset and surrender yourself and the situation over to Him. He will make it all right again—even better—He will change things in your favor so that you’re better off than before.
One of the things to remember in this article today is that God wants to comfort you and give you peace, but you must allow Him to do it. Invite God into your situation, cast your cares on Him. Talk to your father! Tell Him about your day just as you would your spouse or best friend. The great thing about talking to Christ is that He will ALWAYS want to hear from you.
Don’t walk around with unnecessary anger, stress, or frustration. How on earth do you expect to ever be blessed and used by God with a foul attitude? Let’s try to catch ourselves whenever we’re in a bad mood and meditate on these scriptures to help us through our struggles.
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 NIV
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Romans 1:20 NIV
Stand firm, and you will win life. Luke 21:19 NIV
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22 NIV
Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me delight. Psalm 119:143 NIV
No stress, God bless!