All about ME!

When I get stressed, the first thing I will notice is that my thoughts are all focused on myself.  

I had this thought yesterday at work during a really stressful time with the kids.  When things are not going my way, or things go a way I do not expect I start to feel my adrenaline kick in and my heart rate starts to rise....

But, I've noticed that when I am stressed, I am more easily angered (esp. with the kids in my class).  I think the reason behind this is that my thoughts are all centered around me, myself, and I.  It's all about me, what's happening to me, how it will affect ME, etc.  P-R-I-D-E.  My focus is off of God, of who He is, and how He is the One who has allowed these things to happen to me for my good,  and His glory.  

I guess I wouldn't have really thought about stress that way until I read Mark 10:45 and 1 Peter 5.  

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Even when I am stressed, I am still commanded to serve and love others.  Maybe to be stressed is sinful??  Hmm.  I'm not sure.  The idea of stress....I just think that for a person to be in a state of stress, they are not keeping God's promises in the front of their mind.  They are not trusting Him or believing God is who He says He is, and will do what He says He will do.  

1 Peter 5:6 says to "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exult you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  To him be the dominion forever and ever." 

So this passage mentions humility and anxiety in the same passage.  It makes sense.  We definitely need to be reminded to humble ourselves when we are stressed.