Too Blessed to be Stressed
Kyle Stutzman
Have you ever heard that phrase used before? “Too blessed to be stressed!” Usually on some motivational picture from Pinterest. It’s also not how any of us feel ever right? It comes across as a false proclamation of gratitude.
I know for me, the last year was a difficult one. And I found myself stressed, anxious, and worried about so many things. My family, my daily tasks, my goals, a pandemic, it all felt like a huge weight at times. I felt anything but “too blessed to be stressed.” And I even started to worry that if I stopped worrying about things, then bad things would start to happen. You ever do that? Worry about worrying? Or maybe you get to a point where there isn’t anything to worry about, but THAT worries you. There is so many opportunities to be stressed and to worry.
But I came back to a passage recently, and God really threw it in my face. Instant conviction. But also extremely freeing. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus speaks to the worry we face in life.
“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:25-27
Okay do not worry about my life. There is nothing I can change just by worrying about it. And about anything! And later in this passage Jesus says this:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:33-34
And this is what really hit me. “Don’t worry, Seek the Kingdom first.” Each and every day is going to have trouble. But God is telling us to Seek Him first. Seek the Kingdom first. Put all our focus on Jesus, and let everything else be subservient to it. There is an amazing power in your powerlessness. When we let go and lay everything at the feet of Jesus, that’s when we begin to see the reality of Jesus and the ease and peace he brings to our lives. Not that hard things go away, but the peace of God that will transcend all understanding becomes real when we give up our worry.
So, this was what God spoke to me that I want to share with you. Do your part and seek the Kingdom first. Love God, love others. Everything else after that is not as important. Everything else falls into place when we put things in their proper place. When we live with the proper perspective that you are not in control, but you serve a good God who loves you and will take care of you. So let go of your worry, and grab onto the Kingdom of God!