The best way to battle your emotions is to fix your eyes on Jesus. Early in December, I gave in to the stress and worries of everyday tasks that had to be handled. The enemy was also attacking me by using certain people to sway my emotions. When you are busy, the last thing you want to deal with is drama with people, but people aren’t perfect.

You will get hurt.

You will be blamed unnecessarily, and sometimes you have to deal with what you don’t want to deal with.

I had to learn to protect my rest and peace by fixing my eyes on Jesus. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

‭Perfect peace is possible, even in the midst of chaos.

As we hide ourselves in Jesus, the One who is the Prince of Peace, we will find ourselves at rest and with peace. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to pull you back to Jesus when your emotions and fears pull you away from Him. The Holy Spirit will help you to rest in the Lord.

The enemy wants us to worry because he is after our rest and peace. We as children of God, however, have no reason to worry. Why worry when you have God who is with you and for you? 

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8‬ ‭says, “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

God Himself tells us to not fear. This reason alone should comfort us to not be afraid of where He calls us to and what life may bring. 

Rest knowing that you have God Almighty by your side. When we accept Jesus into our lives, His Spirit also lives in us. This means God is constantly guiding our steps as we surrender to Him. His Spirit will empower us with strength and peace to sustain us.

What do you need to do to allow the peace of God to rule in your heart? Are there thoughts you need to cast down and replace with God’s truth? Are you doing more than what God is asking you to do?

The enemy is after our peace and rest because he knows we cannot effectively steward the assignments God has for us without them. Colossians 3:15 says, “And let the peace of God rule in your heart…”

We need to be purposeful about protecting our peace and not worrying every day.

Trouble will come, but as children of God, we do not have to fear when it comes. God Himself tells us in Proverbs 3:25-26 not to be afraid when troubles come. He says, “Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; For the Lord will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.”

When your circumstances cause you to worry, stand with confidence that God is with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). 

You can still have peace in the midst of trouble as you hide and rest in the Lord.

It’s hard not to worry when you have real reasons to worry. I’ve fallen many times into the trap of overthinking beyond what I should because I was worried about my circumstances.

Worry has led me to sleepless nights or taking forever to fall asleep. If you’re worrying about tomorrow, choose to trust God with the mess that tomorrow holds.

God tells us that He knows what we need — the clothes, food, and provisions we need. He then comforts us with this truth: 

“Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭31‬-‭34‬).

God promises that as we seek first His kingdom and righteousness, all our needs will be given to us. He assures us not to worry about tomorrow, even if tomorrow has its own troubles. God knows the troubles that are to come and He has a plan to provide all that we need amid our troubles. We can rest in the Lord no matter what we face. 

So remember, hand your worries to God and rest well.

Prayer: Jesus, You are my peace. In the midst of chaos, help me fix my eyes on You. Guard my heart from worry and my mind from fear. Teach me to rest in Your presence and trust that You are in control. 

Listen to our Podcast “How To Rest Well”

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Bible Verses about rest

• “The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” – Exodus 33:14
• “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” – Hebrews 4:9-11
• “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:28-29
• “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
• “Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; For the Lord will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.” – Proverbs 3:25-26
• So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

My weakness is worrying. I always have to remind myself to stop worrying when I catch myself falling into negative thinking. 

It seemed impossible for me to believe that I could find 24/7 rest until Jesus led me to Matthew 11:28 which says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

I realized that Jesus was inviting me to rest by taking upon His yoke and learning from Him. 

The key to finding 24/7 rest is to follow what Jesus is doing 24/7. He is inviting us to be yoked with Him. In the old days, 2 oxen would be attached together by a yoke to help carry heavy objects for farming.

We now are invited by Jesus to be yoked with Him so that we don’t have to bear the weight of life and our worries. Jesus makes it clear that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). 

As I started to look to Jesus in every moment of every day and seek what He was thinking and doing, I found His ways never led me to worry but rather to peace and stillness.

There have been times when I wanted to finish something for work or errands, but instead, I listened to Jesus and put it off for tomorrow and found that I had enough time the next day. This prevented me from stressing the day prior and allowed me to rest well.

This is just one example of how following Jesus has led me to peace and how He too can lead you to peace. 

Many times we spend time with Jesus to find rest then leave our time with Jesus and ignore His voice and leading. This leads us to be back in distress rather than rest. 

If we want 24/7 peace, we need to practice learning from Jesus throughout the day and follow His leadership.

The only way to find peace and be filled with faith is to look to Jesus. He is the one who established our faith and is the only one who can perfect it. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith.”

When you find yourself starting to stress and worry, that is your cue to look to Jesus and align your heart with His heart. We can only persevere with peace during hardships by fixing our eyes on Jesus. Only He was made to strengthen our souls.

Our job is to look to Jesus and listen to His Words that bring us life. Jesus says in John 6:63, “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”

Will you make time throughout the day to look at Jesus and listen to Him? Perfect peace is possible as we keep our minds stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3). 

It’s not our responsibility to worry. Many of us have normalized worrying, thinking it is our duty to worry about our lives and the things we are called to steward. 

It’s God’s job to ultimately take care of us because He is our Shepherd and therefore we lack nothing (Psalm 23:1). 

God reminds us in Matthew 6:33-34, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Worrying pulls us away from God. Rest comes as we constantly abide in His presence. As long as you are abiding in Him, He will take care of you and you will find peace. 

How many times do we worry about tomorrow? God commands us to not worry because worrying doesn’t add a single hour to our life (Matthew 6:27) nor does it help our circumstances.

As children of God, we don’t have to live in worry because God knows what we need and He is a faithful Father to meet every need we have. God will give us everything we need as long as we seek first His kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

What are you worrying about? Is it your future? Your family? The assignment you are called to do? Whatever your worries may be, it is time to lay them aside and trust God to take care of you. 

Peace and rest come as we remember that Jesus is in charge of our lives and our well-being here on earth and for eternity. So remember, find 24/7 rest in Jesus. 

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for the peace that comes from trusting You. We hand over all our worries and burdens to you in confidence because we know that you hold all things together for us. 

Listen more in our podcast “Find 24/7 Rest In Jesus”

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I had finished a busy week filled with work and back to back calls. It was finally Friday and though I wasn’t finished with all I had to do, I was ready to just relax.

I hadn’t spent time with Jesus that day because I had a side job to do in the morning. By the time work was done I was just ready to spend time with my husband. At the time my husband reminded me to spend time with Jesus, but I kept running away from it.

I thought to myself, “Jesus can wait. I don’t need Him right now.”

But even after spending time with my husband, I still felt exhausted and anxious. What I failed to realize was that as I pushed Jesus further away, I became filled with more anxiousness.

I finally went into my alone time with Jesus and within 15 minutes Jesus changed my attitude completely. An hour passed by and all my anxiety and burdens were lifted.

He had asked me, “Why are you worried about many things? There’s only one important thing and that is me.” When He said that it reminded me of what He said to Martha in ‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:41-42‬, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

God reminded me that there’s only one important thing in life and that is sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him.

We can do a million other things, but if we neglect to sit at the feet of Jesus and spend time with Him, we have missed the mark. We will be oppressed by the worries of the world and the things we put above Him.

I realized that I was putting many things above Jesus. I was putting work above Jesus, hence why I was feeling oppressed by work.

Anything put above Jesus oppresses us, but everything put below Jesus’s feet frees us.

If we put worry above Jesus, we will be oppressed by worry. If we put money or our families above Jesus, they too will oppress us. Only Jesus sets us free. John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

My husband is amazing, but even he couldn’t give me the peace that only Jesus can give. Jesus will give us peace like no other. He says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

How many times have we said to ourselves, “Jesus can wait?” The truth is we can’t afford to make Jesus wait. We need Him.

Let us focus our attention back to Him and not our to-do lists or goals that need to happen. Our peace gets robbed when our eyes are off Jesus. The enemy will try to distract us by depositing worrying thoughts or making us focus on what needs to get done. In such moments, look to Jesus and His beauty. Trust that He is in control and will guide us and bring favor to get what needs to be done.

Have you been worrying about many things? Has Jesus been the first person you go to when you are in distress? 

No circumstance is too great for Jesus. We may feel that people can make us feel better, but the only person who can truly help us is Jesus. Run to Him first. He knows exactly what you need and His presence brings joy like no other. Focus your gaze on Him and you will not be shaken no matter what happens around you. Let your heart be set on one thing which is to be in the presence of God and to fix your eyes on His beauty.

David writes in Psalm 27:3-4, “…though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

When your confidence is in God, you will always stay confident. You will always have peace when your eyes are fixed on Him. So remember, refocus on Jesus.

Please consider donating to the ministry if you have been blessed. You can do so by clicking here: GIVE Every dollar counts towards spreading God’s truth. Help us reach more lives with the gospel of Christ.

I never knew that stress could cause body aches until I experienced it myself. At first, I thought I was getting hit with sickness or an attack from the enemy. But I remember in the moment of prayer, I heard God say, “release all tension to me.” I realized that I had been pondering many things that had to be done for the week and carrying the burden of the results that had to be made.   

So much was on my mind, from finances that had to be built, strategies that had to be created, and other things that had to be done. I was carrying the burden of the things that had to be done in my own strength.  I was led to Isaiah 26:3 which says, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.” The word steadfast means to rest upon. As I read this verse, I was reminded that I needed to rest upon Jesus.  

Perfect peace comes when we trust our works and plans in the hands of Jesus. The only way to truly come to a place of rest is when we trust Jesus. We must trust that His intentions for us are good. We must trust in His ability to do for us what needs to be done. It’s easy to say that we trust Jesus, but do we really believe that He is for our good and will lead us to success?  

Although I professed that I trusted in Jesus, my stressing told me otherwise. I had to remind myself that I have an almighty God on my side. I am co-laboring with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the maker of heaven and earth. What do I have to fear? Psalm 121:2 reminds us, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.“

God gave me an analogy that just as we find relief when we have partnered with the smartest kid in class for a project, we can also rest knowing that we have an almighty God on our side.  

It wasn’t bad that I was thinking of the things that had to be done. It was when I started putting the burden of the results on my own shoulders that caused me to stress. I had to remember that Jesus is responsible for the results. 

We have our part to do, but we must trust the results in God’s hands. As we focus on being faithful with what God has given us, He will take care of the rest. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

We can give God our worries and fears because He cares for us. Why do we need to spend another minute worrying about our lives if God cares for us? 

Stress is caused by the worry of failure. We don’t need to worry about failure when we leave our situations in God’s hand. God cares for us and always has the best in store for us. Our lives won’t always look the way we want it to, but we can always trust that the end result will always be for our good.  

God is looking for those who are willing to walk faithfully with Him. Psalm 101:6 says, “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.” If we are walking rightly with God, we don’t have to stress about our lives. Psalm 91:1 says, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Those who dwell and walk with God will rest in His safety and care. 

God desires for us to walk with peace, joy, rest, and love. Stress only pulls us away from who God is. Philippians 4:7 reminds us that God is a God of peace. If we don’t have peace in our hearts, then it is clear that we have given in to stress. Don’t give in to stress, but give in to Jesus. 

Have you allowed stress to rest in your heart? Will you give your burdens to Jesus and move forward in peace and rest? 

Jesus is inviting you to come to Him. He promises to give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Spend time in His word and presence and invite Him to speak into your situation. You will find His words of assurance to guard your heart. God sees and knows all that you need. Trust in His ability to help you. So remember, rest upon Jesus. 

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Anxiety starts with fear and worry. Negative thoughts start speaking loudly in our minds that bring unease. We then start losing hope and that’s when anxiety comes in.

We become desperate to do anything to get ourselves from this anxious state and turn to anything that we believe will fix our anxiety.

I’ve been there before and maybe you have too.

I’ve tried to do many things that I thought would fix my fears but at the end, I was left where I started. Hopeless and horrible. 

There’s only one solution I found that could wipe away my anxiety and that is to run to Jesus.

Jesus has the power to quiet our souls. 

If voices of fear and doubt torment your soul, run to Jesus. Jesus has the power to quiet your soul and fill you with his peace.

Anxiety happens when our trust is no longer on God but on the things of this world. This world is unreliable, and when we try to rely on an unreliable world, we invite anxiety into our lives. It’s no wonder that many of us struggle with anxiety. But if we put our hope in a mighty God who is always for our good, we will find rest.

Psalm 62:5 says, “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.”

If you have any bit fear in your mind, run to Jesus before it gets worse. And if it’s already worse, know that Jesus can heal anyone no matter the condition.

In Luke 4 we see Jesus encounter a man who was demon possessed with an impure spirit. Jesus told the impure spirit to be quiet and go away and instantly the demon left the man. Luke 4:35 says, “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.”

Just as Jesus was able to silence the demonic spirit in that man, he too can silence our anxious thoughts.

When we turn to the things of this world to cure our anxiety, we will find ourselves temporarily cured but even more hurt down the road. But when we turn to Jesus, we will find ourselves healed with no injuries –  just as it happened with the demon-possessed man in Luke 4.

Jesus has the power to drive out the spirit of fear within us and leave us unharmed.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

We were made to enjoy life with power, love, and a sound mind, but the enemy tries to take this away from us by tempting us to run to temporary solutions that were never made to fix our anxiety.  It’s tempting to run to relationships, people, or entertainment to get our mind off things, but these things were never made to bring us a sound soul.

Jesus is the key to a sound soul.

Where have you been running to for help? Will you run to Jesus and place your hope in him? Will you surrender your life to Jesus and believe that only he knows what is best for you? 

When we are feeling anxious, we must learn to run to Jesus. When our hope is placed on a loving and faithful God, nothing can shake us. Accepting Jesus allows us to step into a life where anxiety is wiped away. So remember, only Jesus can wipe anxiety away.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that I can always go to you to find rest for my soul.

My definition of “resting” is working. From college until now, I have always chosen work over rest. I work almost 247 and could say that my hobby is working. But there are days when my work finally catches up to me, and God tells me it’s time to push pause.

But I can’t.

Resting from my work causes me to stress and feel guilty that I could have used this time to be more productive. The times when I do relax, my mind always planning and scheduling how I will take on my upcoming tasks. Whether it’s for my work, blog, or ministry, I just couldn’t seem to find a way to truly rest.

I finally reached a point when weariness started to creep in and it was in that moment when God reminded me that resting was a part of his plan and a gift for all of us.

We were never made to be in bondage to work, but to walk in the freedom that comes only through Christ. 

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” We were never made to carry all the burdens of this world – that’s God’s job. More work is never the solution. Take your burdens to God and trust that he knows what we need and how to get it done.

God is most capable of establishing our plans. Even when we are resting, God is still working. Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

I somehow ran into a book written by a Christian author called “Doing Busy Better”. In that book, I was challenged to ask God what really drove my desire to always work. I’ve always thought I was a workaholic because I was just an ambitious person. But after asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to me what truly drove my restless working days, I realized that my motives to work myself so hard were my need to prove myself.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past and choices that made people look down on me. Without me realizing, I relied on my work and accomplishments to prove to others that I wasn’t a mess up, but that I was worthy and good enough.

But God reminded me that my identity wasn’t in the things I do, but who I am through Christ. I am chosen, loved, and a child of God. Maybe you also need that reminder today.

You are chosen, loved, and a child of God.

No matter what you’ve done or what you will do, God loves you just the same. God chose to sacrifice his son Jesus even when we were a sinner and not worthy of him. God doesn’t need us to prove ourselves worthy because his love for us is greater than anything we could ever offer.  Romans 5:6-8 says “..when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We don’t need our work or accomplishments to define who we are. God has already called us worthy and loved. We can’t rely on our work to be the source of who we are because once we lose our work or fail, we lose ourselves. But when our foundation for our identity and value is in Christ, we will never be shaken. When our identity is in Christ, we have firm ground to stand upon.

Whatever season you are in today, know that God loves you. He does not love you more or less for what you have done but simply loves you for who you are because he created you. God is your maker, your father, your lover. Will you choose to surrender your life to him? Will you choose to rest in his love and who you are in Christ?

God has given us the gift of work and rest – to enjoy working and to enjoy resting. All of that can only come when we know who we are in Christ and when we give our burdens to him. God is always in control and he doesn’t need us constantly working. So remember, work and rest.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that I can rest knowing you’re always working in my life.