Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.…
—John 14:27

Nothing harms us emotionally the way stress does. We might say that anxiety is emotions out of control. When someone experiences anxiety, most of the time it's because their emotions have been stressed to the point that they are no longer functioning healthily. There are many situations that cause anxiety. The death of a spouse or child, divorce, and job loss are major events; however, not all the reasons are that serious. A lot of anxiety is caused simply by taking on more than we can handle.

I used to feel constantly overwhelmed due to stress, but it was because my schedule was unreasonable. And—even worse—I thought I was doing it for God. It is amazing to me now when I look back at how deceived I was. Always remember that if Satan cannot get you to not work for God, then he will try to get you to overwork for God. He really doesn't care which end of being out of balance we are on, because either one causes trouble.

The simple answer to living a life you can enjoy is to learn God's ways and follow them. Jesus said, "I am the Way" (see John 14:6), and that means He will show us how to live properly. The answers we need are in God's Word, and we should make a decision that we will not only read the Bible, but we will obey it. If we refuse to make that decision and follow through, we will keep feeling stressed until we break.

Start asking God what you can eliminate from your life that is not producing good fruit. It may even be some good things that are just not the best things for you. Something can be right for us in one season of our lives and not right at all in another season. Follow your heart, and you will accomplish a lot of fruitful things and still have energy left over to enjoy the fruit of your labor.

Trust in Him: What seemingly good things are crowding your life and keeping you from God's best? Decide that you will simplify your life and live with peace, not stress. Trust that God wants you to have the time to enjoy your life.

by Joyce Meyer - posted March 16, 2017
URL: http://www.joycemeyer.org/Articles/Devotional.aspx