Get More Done With Less Stress
by Hannah Keeley
It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. The temperature was perfect and there was a soft breeze blowing outside. The kids had finished their schoolwork, but now I was hustling around the house trying to get everything ready for my son’s first football game of the season.
Uniform? Check!
Cleats? Check!
Mouthguard? Mouthguard? Mouthguard?
Korben and I were searching all over the house for his mouth guard, but it was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t play without one, so I was beginning to stress out. Then I realized that stress has no place in a believer’s life, so I went to God in prayer: “God, you know where this mouth guard is. Could you please help me find it? Thank you, Father!”
As soon as I said, “Amen,”…
…my youngest daughter popped her head inside, “Mama,” she said, “Could you come outside with me and sit in the hammock?”
Without hesitating, I answered, “I’d love to, honey. But I need to find Korben’s mouthguard.”
I started going through all the toy baskets in the living room, searching for the elusive mouthguard.
But Kenna was determined. “Mama, it’s so pretty outside. I would just love to sit in the hammock with you.”
I was about to put her off again, but then I heard the Holy Spirit talk to me. “Hannah, your child is your first priority, not the mouthguard. And anyway,” He added, “I thought you had already given the situation over to Me.”
Immediately, I put the toy basket back on the shelf and said, “You know what, Kenna? I would love nothing more than to just sit in the hammock with you.”
She grabbed my hand and we walked outside in the beautiful late summer day that carried a hint of the coming autumn in its soft breeze. We curled up together in the hammock and talked about everything from the trees to campfires, to why glitter is so very important in a girl’s life.
Then, I looked down from where we were lounging together and caught a glimpse of something that took my breath away.
There it was, in a plastic sandwich bag, right underneath the hammock–Korben’s mouthguard!
If I had not been obedient to the Holy Spirit, I would still be searching for that mouthguard, and growing increasingly more frustrated by the minute. But when I rolled it over on God, and then rested in faith, He came through like always!
People don’t believe it, but the one trick to getting more done with less stress is to give it over to God and then QUIT COMING BACK TO IT!
So many times, we’ll pray for a miracle and then keep on bumping our heads up against the wall trying to get it accomplished. God doesn’t want to share the burden. He wants to take every bit of it! Christ didn’t die so we could suffer less. He died to put an end to our suffering. When He said, “It is finished,” He meant it!
First, I want you to understand that God wants us to enjoy life. It actually gives Him pleasure to see us enjoy ourselves. I Timothy 6:17 tells us that God “richly gives us all things to enjoy.” It does NOT say that God gives us things so we can stress out over them. So many times we take on responsibilities and pressures that God never intended for us to have. And Christians are especially guilty of believing that the good, Christian life means we have to suffer daily. Yes, we have to daily pick up our cross and follow Him. But Christ drained all the suffering out of the cross. The only suffering happens when we try to carry the cross and our flesh. Quit living with one foot in the world and the other foot in heaven. That’s anguish!
Second, when we give something over to God, let it go! I’ve known people to roll an illness over to God in prayer and then open their eyes and start mumbling about how sick they feel. No! When you’re letting it go, let it go! Don’t keep coming back to it, trying your own human solutions to a problem you’ve already given over to your heavenly Father. He can’t work on it until you take your hands off!
Let it go, and then go enjoy your life! Let God get to work doing what He does best.
When you allow God to get to work, He comes through with miraculous solutions, supernatural creativity, and extreme favor. You don’t have to stress over it. It just happens. That’s the kind of God we serve. Just try it and find out for yourself!
Hannah Keeley was once in overwhelmed mom living in a cluttered house, deep in debt, out of shape, and barely hanging on. But one day, after finding herself sobbing uncontrollably into a pile of clean laundry, she realized God has bigger and better plans for her (just like He does for each one of His children). Beginning that day, she began making changes in her life that took her from overwhelmed to overjoyed. Today, she’s helping moms do the same. Hannah, her husband, Blair, and their seven children live in Richmond, Virginia, and are having the time of their lives!
Check out Hannah’s Website Here!
