Gotta Go-Gotta Do!

Oh my! How I needed to read this!
A dear friend sent this email, perfect for any time of the year.

“ According to a report this year by NPR and the Harvard School of Public Health, more than 63 percent of Americans are battling stress, and a significant number describe their stress as “great.” The report suggested that some of us have become addicted to stress. We’ve become so conditioned to stress we don’t know what to do with ourselves if we’re not insanely busy. The study suggested our busyness may be a way of distracting ourselves from how unsatisfied we inwardly feel with life. ( *This is truth friends*)
That’s not how God wants us to live. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). Paul talked about “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Romans 8:6 says, “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
Peace with God is obtainable through faith in Jesus, and He wants to give you peace like a river (Isaiah 66:12). Don’t wait until the New Year to give your life to Jesus. Do so today. Claim His peace and let Him bestow the inward satisfaction you seek. He isn’t the author of confusion, but of peace. God is more anxious to bestow His blessings on us than we are to receive them.” (Author unknown)

My thoughts on stress? Well, is stress the tension and heaviness that comes from overload and taking on too much in our lives? Realize first where this overload is coming from. How? Its LIST TIME!! Put all of your agenda, you daily chores, habits under two catorgories ------ “things I gotta do” and “things I love to do.”

When we start doing too many things because we gotta do--- even if it is for church or God related—then we become victims of stress, anxiety and robots who are functioning out of guilt and fear. `If there is no love behind what you are doing then it is time to sort out/prioritize and decontaminate your life of all that stresses you and kills your spirit of joy.

We are called to love as Jesus loved and sometimes, not all, our focus in life is more on doing for selfish reasons or motivations. We want to be nice—or ‘look good to others’ and gaining others approval and acceptance.’ Don’t be that “Annie” who just can’t say NO.

So let us look at WHY we do what we do and make sure it is for love of God and others. Check your attitude behind the functions of your life. Pray about your choices before you say yes to yet another gotta do. Sometimes I just ask God “what do You want me to be doing right now.”

BUT, here is a suggestion for all—one day a month for sure, maybe one day a week---give yourself a day to that is a selfish ME DAY—eat what you want, do or not do what you want and REST as God Himself did after thinking of others and creating all that He did for Love of us. Give yourself a day of freedom of ‘gotta do’ and just enjoy being FREE to be at Peace! Love to all and a very blessed not gotta do day!