We are not meant to carry all our stress, anxiety, worry, questioning, frustration, and all the other emotions we struggle with. God is not asking you to carry these emotions alone. God actually says the complete opposite and wants you to come to Him with them.

As humans, we can range in our reactions to these emotions from: Why me? I can do this on my own; I don’t need anyone. No one can understand what I’m going through. I don’t know how I’m going to go on or move forward from this; the pain is too much. I’ll just push these feelings down; everyone has their own stress, I’m not special, and I just need to suck it up. The list of inner dialogue goes on.

When I experience this, I turn to scripture. I have not always been this way, honestly. I would sit in those inner dialogues mentioned above and try to figure it all out on my own. It was not until I made a point to be in scripture more that I began to see the power of God’s Word in my life. When I’m feeling anxious, stressed, or worried, I flip to the familiar verses in Philippians 4:6-9.

These verses come directly and hard from Paul, ‘don’t worry about anything!’ Easier said than done, right? The further I read on, the more my shoulders start to relax, my breathing slows down, and my hands unclench. The problem does not go away instantly, of course, but knowing that I can talk to and pray to our God releases something inside me. 

Paul goes on to say to ‘thank Him for all He has done.’ Once I start to think of all the blessings I have from God, I cannot help but start to realise that the thing I’m currently stressed or anxious about will become a blessing somehow, too. It is not easy at first, but like any muscle you work, if you work your prayer muscle to praise God, it will come more easily and, more importantly, be more impactful within you.

Paul wraps up these verses, telling us to ‘think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” When I focus on God, His Kingdom, His Plan for us, and His deep love for us, I start to ease back into a positive frame of mind. The more I come to know God through the almighty acts of power He has done in the bible (Old AND New Testaments), the more I recognise the miracles He continues to make today in my life and in the lives around me. When I recognise these miracles, it becomes easier to focus on God because I am excited about the anticipation of discovering the next amazing move He has for me. 

Friends, God is waiting for you to bring all your emotions to Him. No emotion or thought scares Him or makes Him not want to draw near to you. It is absolutely the opposite. I believe the stronger the emotion and the more difficult it is for us to go to God with it, the more God rejoices in our growth, faith, and love for Him, and the more He trusts Him with it all. Do not wait, do not hold on to that emotion or question; go to God right now. He is waiting. 

With faith,
Melanie Drews
Paws on God’s Path