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Why Are You So Fearful?

When the disciples were caught up in their stormy stressful situation, Jesus asked them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? (Mark 4:40)

It was in the evening and they were tired after having spent the day with Jesus as He was preaching. They got into a boat and a great windstorm arose.

The wind howled at them. The waves beat their boat and the waters rushed in to displace them.

They were stressed. “Why the sudden storm?” and “Why is Jesus still sleeping on the stern?” they may have wondered. They rushed to him and asked, “Jesus, do you not care that we are about to drown?” (Mark 4:38)

He awoke, stilled the storm with three simple words and answered their one question with two of His own. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

He asked them these questions because if they had faith that He was able to calm their stormy stressful situation, they would not have been afraid of it no matter how high the waves were rising, how strong the wind was blowing or how fast their boat was filling with water.

Therefore, are you fearful today because your enemies have risen up against you with the vehemence of a windstorm?

Or are you fearful because troubles from every direction are bombarding every facet of your life with the force of a gale wind?

Or are you fearful today because it looks that you are about to drown in the sea of life from the weight of the problems rapidly piling into your life boat?

If you can relate to these situations, understand that if Jesus is in your life boat with you, you can fight your fear by having faith and confidence in His ability to still your storm because faith is the antidote of fear.

If your faith begins to fail as your stressful situation changes from dire to devastatingly dangerous, pray “Lord Jesus, I believe, help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

Then wait fearlessly for Him to resolve your stressful situation as you meditate on Hebrews 13: 6 and declare that the Lord is your helper and therefore you will not fear.

Other Bible verses about fear that you can meditate on and confess to overcome fear include:
Even though I walk through the valley of death, I shall not fear because you are with me. (Psalm 23:4)

God has not given me a spirit of fear. (Adapted 2 Timothy 1:7)

I will not fear or dread them because it is the Lord my God who goes with me. He will not leave me or forsake me. (Adapted Deuteronomy 31:6)

I shall not be afraid of the terror that comes at night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand but it shall not come near me. (Adapted Psalm 91:5-7)

Do not be afraid because I am with you. Do not be dismayed because I am  your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you.I will uphold you with My right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

Adapted from Managing Stress with the Word of God by Dr. Miriam Kinai © 2006 For more info click here.

Christian Stress Management

HOW TO CURE FEAR

Fear is so detrimental to managing stress that you must never entertain fearful thoughts if you want to manage stress effectively.

Do not fear your stressors or the stressful situation because when you do, you are torturing yourself because fear involves torment. (1 John 4:18)

If fearful thoughts have been tormenting you, use the Word of God which is the sword of the spirit (Ephesians 6:17) to fight this spirit of fear because God has not given you a spirit of fear. He has given you a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. ( 2 Timothy 1:7).

Therefore, manage the stress of fear and cure fear by fighting frightful thoughts of how big, bad, dangerous, fatal, incurable or unconquerable your problems are with Scriptures such as Hebrews 13:6. Memorize it and repeatedly declare to yourself that God is your helper and therefore you will not fear. Believe it and you will be able to fearlessly set out to do what you can to manage your stressful situation.

If, as you work your way out of the stressful situation, people try to hold you back by frightening you, fight those fearful thoughts with Scriptures such as Joshua 1:9 and say to yourself:
(Insert your name) be strong and of good courage;
(Insert your name) do not be afraid or be dismayed because God with you wherever you go.

Believe that God is always with you because He has promised that He will never leave you or forsake you, confidently declare that He is your helper and so you will not be afraid (Hebrews 13:4-6) of the people or the problems or the terrors on your trip or the dangers at your destination and you will be able to continue working fearlessly despite their threats.

In conclusion, irrespective of your specific stressful situation, whenever you begin to fear anything, open your Bible and find Scriptures that speak of God’s ability to help you. Verbalize them and memorize them to dislodge the fearful thoughts from your mind. Then keep fear out of your mind by holding up your shield of faith in God because faith is the antidote of fear.


Adapted from Managing Stress with the Word of God by Dr. Miriam Kinai © 2006 For more info click here.

Christian Stress Management

HOW TO MANAGE STRESSFUL THOUGHTS

FACT 1: Your thinking patterns which include your thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and mental imagery are so powerful that they can trigger your body’s stress reaction just as effectively as a real event.

FACT 2: These thoughts do not even have to be true for them to trigger the stress reaction.

FACT 3: In situations where you are dealing with an actual stressful event, your thoughts about the situation -whether justified or not- contribute to how you feel and react to the actual stressful event.

Therefore, since negative thoughts negatively influence behavior, you have to monitor your thoughts.

When any thought enters your mind, before you let it take a seat and stay, ask yourself if it fulfills the Bible’s criteria of the type of thought we should allow to dwell in our minds.

As yourself, “Is this thought true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy?” (Philippians 4:8) If it is, let it stay and meditate on it.

If the thought is false, indecent, unjust, impure, immoral, distasteful or despicable, then evict it and replace it with a Scripture.

For example, when thoughts of defeat or of your incapability in managing your stressful situation enter your mind, replace them by pondering on "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

Replacing all negative thoughts with positive Scriptures will ensure that you do not conform to the negativity of your stressful situation and help you break the vicious cycle in which negative thoughts contribute to increasing the stress in your already stressful situation and the resultant increased stress in turn generates more negative thoughts.Therefore, manage stressful thoughts by replacing them with positive Scriptures.


Adapted from Managing Stress with the Word of God by Dr. Miriam Kinai © 2006 For more info click here.

Christian, stress management

WHY YOU SHOULD TRUST GOD DESPITE FACING RECURRING PROBLEMS

Have you been facing one mind-boggling, nerve-wracking stressful event after another? If so, learn from David’s experiences and continue trusting God.

When David was a shepherd, he experienced recurring stressful situations when lions and bears would attack his flock and steal his lamb. (1 Samuel 17: 34-35) But, having to repeatedly fight for his flock and fight for his life, David’s faith in God was strengthened for he learned that he could depend on God to help him overcome any type of challenge no matter how big or dangerous it was.

His recurrent stressful situations generated such gigantic faith in God that neither Goliath’s massive size or menacing appearance or metallic armor or King Saul’s dispiriting words that he could not triumph over Goliath due to his inexperience (1 Samuel 17: 33) deterred him from fighting Goliath. His unshakable faith in God enabled him to declare to King Saul that God, who delivered him from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear would also deliver him from the hand of Goliath. (1 Samuel 17: 37)

Therefore, we can see that God had been preparing David out in the pastureland away from the “real” battlefield to fight the big battle with Goliath by letting him singlehandedly fight the marauding lions and bears.

Likewise, if deadly problems keep attacking you or your family or your ministry or your business, trust in God even if you do not understand why your life has to unfold in that manner.

Trust God and understand that He may have placed you in the shepherd position that you are in right now not so much to take care of sheep, but primarily to learn how to deal with the lions and bears, trials and tribulations that are attacking you by learning to depend on Him. He may also be using these challenges that you are facing right now to strengthen your faith and increase your skills as He prepares you for the big task that He has in store for you in the future.

Therefore, keep trusting God no matter how many bears repeatedly attack you for He will never let more bears attack you than you can bear. (I Corinthians 10:13)


Adapted from Managing Stress with the Word of God by Dr Miriam Kinai © 2006. For more info click here.

TRUSTING GOD THROUGH DYING TIMES

Have you been waiting on God as you watch someone dear to you die? Or is it your marriage or your ministry or your business that is dying as you wait on God to intervene? Whatever your situation, do not give up on God. Learn from Martha and Mary.

When Lazarus became sick, his sisters Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus informing Him of his illness. On receiving the message, Jesus said that Lazarus’ sickness would not just end in death, but rather, it would be for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)

Martha and Mary could not have known that their brother's sickness was for a larger purpose as they watched his condition deteriorate until he died. They could not have understood why Jesus delayed in coming to see His dear friend and arrived four days after his burial.

They also could not have foreseen that the people who had come to mourn and bury their brother would see him being raised from the dead and they would believe that Jesus really was the Son of God.

Therefore, if you do not understand why you are going through such agonizing losses, continue trusting Jesus because He may be setting you up to receive a larger miracle the way Martha and Mary and Lazarus received a resurrection in their family when they had been hoping for a healing.

Continue trusting Him because you cannot see the entire picture of how this loss of your fits into His divine purposes for there may be people who do not believe in Jesus but when they witness the miraculous revival of what had died in your life, they will believe, get saved and glorify God for it.

You may not even be aware that these people are watching you as grief entombs you, but keep trusting God because His Word assures us that all things (positive and negative) work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)


Excerpt from Managing Stress with the Word of God. © 2006 Dr Miriam Kinai. For more info click here.

TRUST JESUS EVEN WHEN YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND

Some stressful situations are very perplexing. You were rowing your boat minding your own business. The sun was shining and the sea was calm. You knew where you were going, you had ample supplies and everything was just fine.

Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, you are in the middle of a raging storm, clutching to the edge of your capsizing boat.

You don’t know what hit you. You didn’t even see it coming and you can't understand why it would hit a nonviolent person like you so hard.

In your situation, you may be stressed right now because even though you had annual physical checkups, ate healthily and exercised religiously, you have been diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer at the age of 35.

Or, you may be stressed because you are the Youth Pastor, you’ve brought up your children in the church and monitored them closely while keeping the lines of communication open yet your 16 year old is pregnant and has HIV!

Or, you were the picture perfect couple whom the married people at church looked up to and came to seek advice from. You thought your relationship with your spouse was perfect yet you are separating!

Whatever your actual situation, when you find yourself in an incomprehensible stressful situation that you wish was a nightmare, yet it is your reality, do not try to understand why it is happening just yet.

Do not try to understand it right now because your perception of the predicament may be tinted red by anger or your judgment may be blunted by the shock. Understand and accept that the more you just can’t see the reason why it has happened, the more you should blindly trust in God to show you your way through it all.

Entrust the whole situation to Him in prayer as you acknowledge Him so that He can direct your path. (Proverbs 3:6) Let go of your need to understand the why and just say to Him, "Lord Jesus, let me to know the way in which I should walk for I lift up my soul to You." (Psalm 143: 8)

Even if you have a rough idea of why the situation had to happen, you must still trust in God with all your heart and lean not on your own limited understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

Focus on finding out what He wants you to do at that particular time and then do it as you continue trusting Him. After you have done it, ask Him what you should do next then focus on doing it. In this way you will be able to move forward through your stressful situation even though you are blinded by pain and tears.


Excerpt from Managing Stress with the Word of God (C)2006 Dr. Miriam Kinai. For more info click here.

The Liberation of Trusting God

Trusting God is a very liberating step when managing stress since it frees you from the distress of stress.



This is because whether you have diseases that have no cure or conditions that you cannot change or problems that you cannot terminate and you trustingly forward them to God in prayer, you release yourself from the oppression of worrying and fearing the potentially terrible outcomes of your stressful situations.

This mental release of your problems to God combined with trustingly focusing your mind on His ability to help you floods your mind with peace for His Word promises us that He will keep the person whose mind is stayed on Him in perfect peace because He trusts in Him. (Isaiah 26:3)

Therefore put your trust in God and remain focused on His ability to help you instead of your inability to help yourself and you will have peace of mind. You will be at peace even if the disease is still in your body or even if you are still in debt or even if your children are still on drugs because you trust that God is taking care of the problem.

This perfect peace from God will thus enable you to relax in the middle of problems. You will be so peaceful that you be able to sleep in the middle of your stormy stressful situation because you trust the Master at the helm completely even if you don’t understand why the storm is taking so long to calm down.

So get in the habit of trusting God to solve your problems and you will liberate your mind from the distress of stress.

How to Cure Worry

Jesus asked His disciples if any of them could increase their stature by worrying about it. (Luke 12:22-25) The answer then and now is that worrying does not cure any condition or correct any situation.

If you are stressed because your health is failing, worrying will not cure you or improve your well-being. If you are stressed because your finances are dwindling, worrying will not keep them in check or keep the checks coming in. If you are stressed because your children are rebelling, worrying will not control them or stop their insurrection.

Therefore, regardless of your specific stressful situation, worrying will not help you because worry achieves nothing productive.

Worrying is actually counterproductive because it warps your thinking by winding a trail of what ifs around your mind. Mentally running through this maze wastes your time and energy because it takes you nowhere for your problems are still as they were (if not worse) than when you set out to worry and yet you are mentally exhausted.

Therefore instead of wasting your time worrying, use that time to pray and find solutions for your worrisome challenges.

To do this, write down your challenges in order of priority then pray asking God to help you as you brainstorm and write down all the possible solutions to each of them.

When you get a viable solution, decide when you will act on it and commit yourself to its execution.

If you do not get a solution at that point in time, leave the worrisome challenge with God and do not think about it during the day until the next day when you are praying.

By doing this, you will not let worrisome thoughts run aimlessly around your mind when you are supposed to be working or relaxing. 

For those worrisome challenges that you cannot think of any solution, forward them to the Lord in prayer and permanently delete them from your mind because they are now in His inbox and trust that He will address them.

If you deal with all your challenges in this way you will never worry about anything because trusting God is the antidote to worrying.

Therefore, do not be anxious or worry about anything. But, through prayer and with thanksgiving, let God know your requests and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4: 6-7)

Why You Should Trust God When You are Stressed

Trusting God is very important if you are going through a stressful situation because of the following reasons:

You Will Be At Peace

Trusting God all the time ensures that you have peace of mind all the time because it is written  You will keep in perfect peace the person whose mind is stayed on you because they trust in You. (Isaiah 26:3)

Trusting God, therefore, enables you to be on an even keel and not happy and hopeful one day and hapless and hopeless the next. 

It Is The Better Option

Trusting God is better than trusting people because It is better to trust in the Lord God than to put your confidence in a person. (Psalm 118:8)  

Trusting God is actually the best option because He sees all your problems and He is able to solve them all by either calming the storm of your stressful situation or enabling you to walk on the hostile waves.

Therefore do not let past painful experiences make you transfer your mistrust of humans to God. Do not also trust Him half-heartedly because of the heartache you may have experienced after you trusted people who turned out to be untrustworthy for God is not a human being that He should lie. (Numbers 23:19) 

God is Always with You

Trust God because no matter how desperate, degrading or humiliating your stressful situation may get, He will be with you in it all. He will not bail out on you when you are hardest hit by the problems because He promises you that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)