Stress and Rest + a New Devotional

Hello, lovely readers!

Today I’m going to talk a little bit about stress and rest + devotionals. 😉 Life can get stressful, right? And overwhelming. And wearying.  And sometimes it just threatens to squeeze the breath from our lungs.

I had a little bit of a rough week. First I was dealing with a flare up of some health issues, then I came down with a cold/flu. I had to cancel my young adult Bible study and also wasn’t able to film my Monday Booktube video. 😦 I wasn’t writing as much as I’d hoped to. Missed church. And didn’t want to bring in a job application as I’d planned because I felt yucky and sounded quite hoarse. Ha.

So I was just feeling down emotionally too. And then, this morning, my laptop decided to go crazy and I was terrified it had a virus or was going to crash on me. After working on it all morning and afternoon – reinstalling my antivirus protection, restarting it a *hundred* times, etc. – it is faring much better. Thankfully! I hope it will continue working fine.

Anyway, I was feeling stressed and run down. And very discouraged about life in general.

Sometimes we have those days, you know?

So I want to talk about some ways we can fight that stress. By resting. Resting physically, or resting emotionally. Or something in between.

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Today, what helped me to calm down and ease my anxiety was listening to kid’s praise music with my little brother. 🙂 Something about the peppy music and worshipful words reminded me that God is on the throne and He sees my life, and I really don’t have to panic about my laptop potentially crashing (and everything else in my life).

It reminded me that I have so much to be thankful for.

It reminded me to just be.

Sometimes I think people want to make life too busy. And, in my case, my mind wants to grab onto every little thing possible that it can stress about and just pull me down into despair.

Psalm 55:6-8

⁶ So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷ Indeed, I would wander far off,
And remain in the wilderness. Selah
⁸ I would hasten my escape
From the windy storm and tempest.”

That’s not good. I don’t think that that’s what God wants for us. I don’t think that’s the kind of life He meant when He said life more abundantly.

Psalm 23:1-3

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
³ He restores my soul;

What are some things we can incorporate into our days to promote restfulness in your heart and soul?

• Listen to invigorating praise music
• Listen to heartfelt worship songs
• Play a lighthearted game with family or friends
• Take a nap (sometimes you just really need to catch up on sleep!)
• Go a long, quiet walk (and pray aloud! 🙂 )
• Bake your favorite recipe
• Read for awhile (even just reading for like six minutes is supposed to reduce stress)
• Go out to coffee with a good friend, just the two of you
• Snuggle with someone for awhile 😉 I always find it calming to hold tiny babies or get on the floor & play with my three-year-old brother
• Sit down with some tea and your Bible
• Call a good friend who you know will speak truth and encouragement to you
• Go to bed early
• Read your Bible and pray + read a little bit from a fun, lighthearted novel before sleep
• Do a devotional

Have any ideas to add?

Speaking of devotionals, I want to let you all know about a new devotional on YouVersion, the Bible app. It’s a 7-day devotional called Love Defined, and is a part of Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird’s coming book release. They’re talking about God’s design for love and romance. I just started this devotional today! There’s Scripture and a devotional (an excerpt from the book, Love Defined, I’m guessing?) to read. I hope you’ll join me in this! ❤

Be sure to check out Kristen and Bethany’s first book, Girl Defined, as well as their Youtube channel and website!

I’m part of the launch team for Love Defined, so look for more news on that from me in the coming days. I’m so excited to read this book!

That’s all I have for now. Rest in the Lord, dear friends!

Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”