When Stress Squeezes

One thing I’ve learned the hard way – when stress squeezes me, what’s inside me is what comes out.

If I have been cultivating or allowing negativity or criticism in my life, then when stress squeezes me, that’s what comes out.

If I have been cultivating God-awareness and have been “seeking first his kingdom” then God is what comes out. It’s just that simple.

Graham Cooke teaches that when we say “Mr. So-and-so irritates me so much!”, what is actually happening is Mr. So-and-so is simply revealing what is already in us. Irritation lives in us. Others simply bring it out. If irritation does not have a foothold in us, then no one and no thing can irritate us. This is precisely what Jesus teaches us when he says “the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders” (Matthew 15:18-19).

If you find yourself getting easily irritated, angry or upset, then search what’s already in your heart and mind. Reconsider the things you allow yourself to dwell on, the things that you allow into your heart. The Holy Spirit can help you clean house so that when stress or irritation come calling, there is nothing in you that can respond to it. You will not actually be capable of any response other than grace and peace.