We often think of stress as solely a bad thing, but the truth is, in its intended design stress serves a good purpose similar to pain. It tells us that something is wrong and warns our brain that we are in danger. However, in the modern world we find ourselves experiencing stress when there is no present danger. Our minds react with warnings to our day to day lives. This is not how God intended us to live. The problem goes even further, because many of us don’t even realize that we’re stressed. Our culture values productivity more than almost anything else, so we have been conditioned to believe that if we are not pushing ourselves to the limit and feeling exhausted at the end of the day that we haven’t done enough. Warning signs of stress are accepted as part of normal life.

That is why we are promoting National Stress Awareness Day. We not only want you to take care of your physical health, but also your emotional and spiritual health, so that you can live the life God intended and experience his love and peace. The first step is identifying how stress is revealing itself in your life. It can take many forms- tense muscles, sore jaws, little sleep, extra sleep, headaches… It varies from person to person. Today on the show we shared a list of various signs of stress. Check it out HERE and see if stress has snuck up on you without you realizing it.

Maybe you are already aware of your stress though. Those signs may be perfectly clear and you just don’t know how to reduce it, which in turn creates more stress. It’s a vicious cycle. There is hope though. God in His mercy and love equips us with ways to reduce stress and feel His peace. We shared advice from Pastor Chip Ingram on Biblical ways to reduce the stress in our lives. You can find his great advice HERE.

Remember what Casting Crowns sings: We are made to do more than just survive. We were made to thrive. We cannot do that when shackled to the burden of stress. I pray that you will experience God’s peace today and that we will provide you with relief from life’s stressors so that you can live life abundantly once again.

To learn more about National Stress Awareness Day, click HERE.