Burdens, Grief and Worry

Burdens, we all have them. Some we share with our friends and family, others, we keep to ourselves.  We hold them deep inside and they weigh us down emotionally, physically and mentally.  I love to know the definitions of words.  Sometimes we use words so frequently that we forget how impacting that word really is. 
Burden: that which is carried, that which is borne with difficulty, to load oppressively. 

We all go through different seasons of life but yet, we all still carry many of the same burdens.  Worry and grief are such heavy burdens for me.  After losing so many babies through miscarriage, and then my Gramps 1 year ago, these emotions can weigh me down, heavily at times.  My husband and I are smack dab in the middle of an international adoption and I become stressed out and panicked frequently.  There are days where I am frustrated at how long this current stage is taking, then I begin to worry for our 'Little Man' and if he is being taken care of.  Is he hungry, is someone rocking him to sleep when he is scared or if he is sick, is he getting the medicine he needs.  So many what if's!  How are we supposed to work through these emotions and live with the weight these emotions place on us.  I have been searching God's Word for those answers.  Thankfully, He has so much to say about burdens, worry and grief. 

Psalm 55:22
nlt-  Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
amp- Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall or fail.)

1 Peter 5:7
niv- Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
nlt- Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
amp- Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

When I am overwhelmed and stressed out, these are the verses I go to time and time again.  I have to read these verses and then pray them back to God. 
"Please God, take this overwhelming burden from me, I don't want it anymore.  Please give me your Peace that passes all understanding.  I want your best, I want your peace.  Help me to trust you even when I do not understand what is happening or why this is happening.  I just need your Peace."

After praying and spending time with God it does not mean my problems are immediately gone.  That would be awesome but not very realistic.  Spending time with God in the midst of a crisis turns my focus from myself and puts it on Him.  If I am stressed out and overwhelmed, there is a really good chance I am being distant from God and a smidge self absorbed.  When I am in-tune with the heart of God, I am not stressed or overwhelmed.  There is so much peace when I am close to God.  The second a situation arises, I can instantly take it to God and be reminded that everything happens in His time, not mine.  I just need to do my part and leave the rest to God.   Do what I can do and then give it to God.

Stress and worry are the easy way out.  It takes discipline to train myself to not get all emotional and worked up but rather, calm down and get on my knees before our Holy God where I can pour my heart out to Him.  Before Him, take the burden off of me and lay it at His feet.  Not always easy to do but with practice, it does get easier.  I keep a prayer journal and in it, I write out my requests to God.  I surround those requests with Scripture and then pray over those items.  This is a simple example of how I lay my burdens out to God.   I love writing my burdens out and then when my requests have been answered, I can go back and journal how God had answered my requests and removed that burden from me, yet again!

I seriously encourage people to keep a prayer journal.  Write out your requests to God.  He cares so much about YOU!  He cares about your hurts and burdens.  God wants you to talk to Him, have an open dialogue with Him throughout the day!  Take 10 minutes and read the Bible.  Find a reading plan on the Bible App if you do not know where to start.  Download the Bible App so you can read no matter where you are.  It is free and in hundreds of different languages!  NO excuses for not spending time with God.  
I do not want a life of worry and stress.  I want the peace only God can bring.  Don't you want that too??