My sister-in-law, Christine Schmidt, sent this email message the other day, and I thought it had some interesting insights. Hope is speaks to some of my stressed-out friends. 🙂
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Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well (3 John 1:2).
The KJV reads it this way: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
There is a correlation between good health and having things go well for you on the one hand, and your “soul” being well or prospering on the other. The “soul” is the mind, will, and emotions of our everyday life. The things we meditate on, the decisions we make either good or bad — these lead our emotions to either rise or fall. Dr Colbert, who has a monthly column in Joyce Meyer’s magazine, has talked much about how stress releases bad chemicals into our bodies which cause so many diseases. When we think of stress we often think of busy schedules, things at work, traffic jams, or tiring domestic chores. But greater stress comes from our own emotions, and we’ve all had a lot of hurt and wrong thrown our way in this life.
Relationships are the key to God’s blessings in our lives. Unfortunately, they can also be the key to the enemy’s plan of destruction for our lives. Wherever you go in life you will have to deal with people — there is no escape. 🙂 But let’s not forget that God has formed us and knit us together and declared His plans over our lives to be GOOD! He has also empowered us to keep our emotions healthy by depositing into us his goodness, patience, love, joy, peace, meekness, kindness, faithfulness, and let’s not forget self-control.
He has promised to never leave us and never forsake us. How He accomplishes this is not only by his presence within us but by providing us with every weapon of our warfare to come against any situation we find ourselves in. “Our weapons are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). We often think of these weapons referring to prayer. But they are not exclusive to just prayer. When dealing with stressful emotions our weapons are the fruit of the spirit –- which lead us to peace.
He has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1). Godliness is the way to peace, and peace is the greatest conqueror of stress in our lives!
Have a great day!
Pastor Christine
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Christine Schmidt is co-pastor of Jubilee Family Worship Center in Rochester, NY.
This message, used by permission, is from her “Word for the Day – 12/16/2008”.