Becoming HIS Tapestry

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STRESS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!

Good morning dear friends, how are you today? It is snowing AGAIN in my neck of the woods.  Last week’s snow was still on the ground. Will this be the pattern for the rest of the year, Lord? I’m not sure I can do it.  Pray for me, I’m already a bit discouraged.   Right now, our temperature stands at 22°, but actually feels like 15° and we are talking Fahrenheit, people!   Send prayers!!   

What about you? How are you doing really? Did you wake up like me? A little bit stressed and a tad bit overwhelmed? Why do I do this to myself, every time? I am a list person, have I told you that before? If not, here it is; I am a list person.  The problem is that I am also a control freak (I am really, really working on this).  But here is my dilemma. If I write it down, it WILL be done, whatever the cost.  So lately, I’ve decided not to write anything down, to help with this issue.  Do you see the problem though? Not yet? Okay, let me explain… the fact that I’m not writing the tasks down, does not mean that I’ve forgotten about it.  It’s in my head and because it’s there, it’s very disorganized.

Chaos reigns because everything that needs to be done is all in my head and it becomes a bit overwhelming.  And because I can’t function without order, I just throw my hands up in the air and do nothing; absolutely nothing.  And now everything suffers which causes even more chaos, which therefore becomes overwhelming which causes the stress levels to be elevated! Do you understand the true problem, here? If you find that you are suffering from a similar problem; I have come to the perfect solution.  I just need to remind myself hourly (or minute by minute) of these:

Perhaps you have already arrived at the solution, but first let me share the true problem here.  I have been attempting to go about life in my own strength! I know!!! Can’t be done, right?  Truthfully, I don’t even know when I made the switch from God to me.  Suddenly (or what seems like suddenly to me) I found myself becoming more stressed and the more stressed I became, the less I did, which caused more stress.  Do you see the cycle? 

Although daily I said, “let THY will be done’, I really had not GIVEN the Lord the control reigns; they were still in my hands.  Thank the Lord for His faithfulness. Here’s what I’ve decided to do, if you are in a similar position, especially as the year races to a close, join me on this releasing journey.

Write the list, if you’re like me, we just can’t function without it anyway.  Write it down, it will also become our testimony in the future.  We will be able to see the Hand of God and tell others of our victories.  Let’s write!

Now comes the hard part: with hands open, let’s surrender it all to the Lord.  We will say the words out- loud and bold (this may come with some fear and trepidation, but I promise you, this is the key to success).  Let’s commit to completing the tasks with the Lord’s help.  

Let’s not forget to ask for a good helping of wisdom and grace to complete the tasks, which we’ve either committed ourselves to, or to which we’ve been called.  We will need them both on this journey.  

Let’s actually get started with the responsibilities, especially those we don’t want to do.  Perhaps like me, you don’t like performing tasks that bring discomfort. Sometimes, the Lord allows it, so that we can rely on Him and not ourselves. We need not shy away from such tasks, even though we would like to do just that.  

Let’s also leave time in the day, to enjoy the things and people that bring us pleasure.  Let’s make time to laugh (in spite of the snow and cold).  Let’s enjoy this life which is so fleeting.  Let’s remember that Jesus’ plan was always to bring us life more abundantly.  

Have you started this journey of surrender? What brings you stress? How do you handle it?

Let’s continue the conversation over on Instagram. Follow my Instagram and I will follow back, just let me know in the comment section. I would love to meet you 🙂

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74 responses to “STRESS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!”

  1. Hi Brenda! 15 is way too cold!!

    In October, I began asking my questions differently. I started asking God, “What am I not doing that you want me to do.” It took my focus on me and forced me to see myself through His eyes. What a change since then! When I tell you that not much has changed and yet everything has changed, I’m being honest and saying as much as I can. It’s totally mind blowing how He changed my MIND and HEART with that one question and then in the last week of the year, after having changed it all without a single thing changing, it ALL came together in this beautiful tapestry of love and awe and blessing that had me on my face before God!

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  4. Very captivating post Brenda! I’ve been very mindful of stress lately and honestly probably more aware of the fact that I was struggling with a bad attitude. I realized recently that when I stress I react with anger or irritation with my words at the risk of hurting my loved ones feelings….now that I’ve identified that stress causes me to react negatively I’m reminding myself I’ve been “equipped” to not behave this way by the power of the Holy Spirit, I can choose to make good kind choices…it’s very in depth what I’ve discovered and I hope to share it through a future post soon. Thanks for your wonderful encouraging post!!

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  7. Brenda,
    Yes, I’ve been feeling anxious and stressed too. I think part of it is I pay too much attention to the weather forecasts. One solution I found is to take “One day at a time”. I have to be intentional about it, though. Another solution is to pray and to praise the Lord, as the verses you give remind us to do.
    I’m a list-maker too, but I think about it differently than I used to. Instead of writing down 12 or 13 things and expecting to get them all done in one day, I figure it may take me 3 or 4 days or even two weeks before some of the items get done, and now, that’s OK. Too many things can mess up my timeline–some are out of my control–and now, rather than stress about it, I wait to see how things play out. I’ve been a perfectionist over the years, and now that takes too much energy, and takes too much possible joy out of my life.

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      • I am thankful God is allowing me to see the danger of some mindsets I’ve adopted or “taken in” without really thinking about. Now I see they don’t contribute to being able to love myself or others or God the way He wants me to. I have to keep going back to God for help–but before, I wouldn’t have even done that. It is, as you said, a process. Thank God He loves and values us so!

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  9. Thank you so much for this post! I constantly need that reminder. 😊 I’ve been following your blog for a while and appreciate how you add in so many Bible verses to daily life! Thank you for sharing! I followed you on Instagram; my account is @aeiwrites and I blog at http://www.aeiwrites.com. Anyway, thank you again for sharing! Your posts always make me smile!

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  11. I love this! I, too, am a list person and a control freak. Also, a little bit of a perfectionist. If it doesn’t turn out the way I envisioned it in my head or if a wrench got thrown at me and I had to modify said vision, I get really stressed and anxious. Thanks for encouraging me to surrender.

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  13. We had sleet first yesterday, then snow on top of that. Then temps dropped to 10 degrees F plus wind chill factor. Schools had a snow day! First time I can remember having one in November. It did snow on Nov. 12 last year, but I don’t think it stayed on the ground long.
    I think the list thing is more personality driven. I made lists until my 2nd child was born. Shortly after, there were too many frustrating unexpected occurrences, and I quit making lists for a l-o-n-g time. I eventually started again for holiday madness. More recently I started making shopping lists again. I have learned in the last couple of years to use Google calendar, as I don’t remember things as well as I used to, or maybe I’m just way busier than I used to be doing a larger variety of different things.

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  14. You do have to trust in God but you can do your part. Prioritize the things on your list and be aware the list may not be finished in one day. Next day prioritize again. This has worked for me and I am not worried if I have to move things over for days. Whatever works. AND God is in charge.

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  15. I never saw myself as a control freak, but I may have begun to developer into one. Give it to God…give it to God. <— That's for me. I should post this somewhere so I can see it daily!

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  17. My gosh! This is me! The key word that you wrote is SURRENDER. That’s it plain and simple, surrender daily to Him so that He can be Lord over my life at every moment. So I’ll pray for you and please pray for me ❤️

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  18. Elfriede here: Speaking from my heart. I have been struggling with “stress” this week too, just felt overwhelmed with my “list”. Also come to the conclusion that I have been trying to DO without the Lord’s help which obviously didn’t succeed. Yesterday I started spending time with Him in the mornings – involving Him in my day before going about my tasks and guess what? Things work out and get done!!! Brenda, thank you for pointing out that HE is there/here to help and guide and carry us through it all. With His help we can keep crossing off our list! Blessings to you, Elfriede

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    • whenever I am stressed, I realize exactly what I’ve done. I have taken back the tasks into my own hands, I am living life in my strength. It never works out; never!! May the Lord reminds us both of this quickly, when we begin living life on our own again. God bless you, Elfriede

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  20. Today is cleaning day. We don’t make many messes, just the two of us, and we keep things tidy. But somehow dust and grime “just happen,” and today’s the day to get it out. Not looking forward to it, but it’s like laundry or showering: once its done, it feels so much better.

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    • 🙂 🙂 🙂 Oh I love how you added showering in there with cleaning day 🙂 🙂 That’s a question I will have to add to list I have for the Lord, when I get to Heaven, How is it that messes are formed, when it’s just the two of us? Where does the guest come from, especially now that its ‘winter’ here? God bless you, my friend

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  22. So relatable. If it wasn’t on my list I’ll add just so I can cross it off🤣🤣
    Commit our ways to the Lord and let Him direct our steps…..and even better allow those God inspired interruptions. God bless you sweetie, big hugs 💗

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