Responding to Stress by Dr. Abraham Twerski

How do we look at stress? How do we respond to stress?

Throughout out lives we will go through stress. The ups and downs of life will come. I listened to this article and wanted to share some of it with you. You can find the full article here: http://www.improvisedlife.com/2015/12/23/what-lobsters-teach-us-about-stress-change/

It talks about lobsters and that they are soft and mushy. They live inside a rigid shell. The shell never expands. So how does a lobster grow? As the lobster grows the shell becomes very confining. So naturally the lobster feels under pressure and uncomfortable. The lobster then goes underneath a rock to protect itself from predators, casts off the shell and produced a new shell. Eventually that shell becomes uncomfortable and the same process happens again. The lobster goes under a rock for protection, off comes the shell and another one is formed. This is repeated many times.

Dr. Twerski says, "The stimulus for the lobster to be able to grow is that it feels uncomfortable. Now, if lobsters had doctors, they would never grow. Because once the lobster feels uncomfortable they would go to the doctor, gets a valium, gets percocet, feels fine...Never casts off its shell.  So what we have to realize that times of stress are also times that signals growth. If we use adversity properly we can grow through adversity".

I think this has truth to it. There will be days that we don't feel like doing anything and days that we feel like giving up. But God is giving us this stress to grow us into who he wants us to be for him. He is giving us trials so we may help others. He is allowing us to go through this so we can give all glory to him that we kept our eyes on him. I feel that God tests us to see where we will go. Who will we give our problems too?

I can't do life without my Heavenly Father ladies. I'm going through the ups and downs as I type this but it makes me feel so much better praying and talking to God about it. It is easy to try and work it out alone. We just want "whatever it is" to be fixed, to go away and to be handled. But WE CAN'T be the ones to do that. It's easier said than done but I have faith and as hard as things can be, I know my King will help me. He is helping us grow. I like to think of the lobster and that right now, I'm under the rock and taking off my shell...OR I'm protected by my Lord and Savior,  Jesus Christ. He is the ROCK. I'm taking off my shell...OR giving Him my problems. The new shell is being formed as I type this. God is always watching, always with us and will never leave us.

So if you are going through something, I'm praying for you. Trust in God and allow yourself to breathe. Ask God for the help you need. Just take a minute to be silent. Pray what is on your heart and mind. He will deliver you!

Dear Father, thank you for the ladies who are reading this now. I pray for each and every one of them. I ask you to help them give you their problems, worries and concerns in their life. I pray and ask that you help them and bless them. I know how hard it is to let go of things. But please continue to help me and these ladies have full trust in you. You are the God Almighty and you will never leave us nor forsake us. Thank you Father for that and for your precious son, Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 

God is not my Personal Genie!

The Problem with God

On August 17, 2015 

 By Phuong K. Schuetz   In Faith

 

I used to like watching a TV series called Bewitched because Sam, the witch and main character of the show, could twitch her nose and use her magical powers to make things go her way and get the people around her to do what she wanted.  To be honest, there are times when I wish God would be like Sam and use his powers to give me what I want.

The problem with God is, he is not my personal genie!  He can’t be controlled or manipulated to do things my way.  Being a control nut, I like to have everything figured out and of course I want to figure God out too.  The problem with God is, he isn’t who my mind imagines him to be because he doesn’t do what I think he should do when I think he should do it!

This inability to figure God out has been a source of frustration for me through various trials.  I tend to ask God the “why” question a lot!  The problem with God is, he usually doesn’t answer my questions and prayers the way I wish he would but, he does answer!  Most of the time, I don’t like his answers or agree with them so I assume God is not real and powerful enough to work in my problems.  When God doesn’t answer specifically, I presumed he is not concerned about me.

The problem with God is, his ways are not easy or comfortable to accept.  In every life situation, I have a choice to either push into God or pull away from him.  My human instinct is to pull away from God when I can’t understand his answers.  The unnatural way or the path God wants me to choose is to always push into him especially when the answer doesn’t make sense and I can’t figure out what he is doing.  As I push into God with a heart that wants to know him more, he begins to show me how real he is by doing unexpected and unexplainable things in my life.

Funny thing is, the better I know God, the more I trust he will answer my prayers in ways  that will grow my faith.  When his answer is different than what I had hope for, I’ve learned to handle the disappointment like the apostle Paul.  I boast about my suffering because I’ve seen how it has produced in me endurance for a life of faith in the real God.  He gives me his strength to endure difficulties with the purpose of shaping my character.  He continues to flush out impurities in me such as selfishness, pride, fear and controlling tendencies so I might learn how to hope and anticipate his goodness (Romans 5:3-4).  Without trials, my faith would not have been awaken to how real God is because I would have missed out on experiencing his healing power, his protection, and his provision.

Friends, whatever you are struggling with right now, the problem is not with God.  Your predicament may seem daunting but God wants you to know he is real and he cares deeply for you.  Don’t pull away from him to go with your own ideas and efforts or you will forfeit God’s real power and goodness in your life.  Being overwhelmed is your cue to push further into God for help. Then, be on the lookout for God to move in supernatural ways on your behalf!  Your faith in God will be awakened as you witness his amazing works in your life!