…Third, praise God. Think of all the things God has done for you. Counting our many blessings will give you the faith and reassurance that God is there for you. Praising Him for what He has already done will develop inside of us, a heart of thankfulness. When we begin thinking like this, it is almost impossible to praise God and still be stressed. Praise God for who He is, praising Him for the sacrifice of His Son. Praise God that we are not of this world. For as Jesus said, “ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” ( John 17:16). God does not want us to deal with the same pressures and worries that everyone else in the world faces. Consider Matthew 6:31–‐32 , “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Instead of being consumed by the world, God ask you to not be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2), but to seek after the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). These are great words of wisdom! But, do you spend the majority of your times seeking God’s kingdom?
You know, Jesus went even farther into this explanation of seeking God and stress and asked, “ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27). When we begin to praise God, when we truly focus on God, suddenly, our problems do not seem to be so big compared next to the greatness of God. Praise God. You know, the world is unable to cast all their cares upon God (1 Peter 5:7). The world does not care that God told us to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and good report (Philippians 4:8). But know this, throughout the day, God wants us to be happy. Even when we look at being persecuted or put under the stress of opposition for being a Christian (Matthew 5:10–‐12), Jesus tells us to rejoice and be exceedingly glad! Controlling our thoughts are often difficult, taking on the battles of life are even a greater challenge, but we must control our stress by giving to the one who can help us with it–God. It is only when we turn things over to God that we begin to relieve ourselves of stress and to walk in peace.