"I'm So Stressed Out"

I'll be the first to admit I've spoken these four deadly words on occasion (okay more than occasionally, but I'm working on it!).  Especially considering this was my first year as a full time teacher, you can bet I told people I was stressed, busy, tired or just surviving when they asked "How are you really doing?".  However, what if saying these four little words actually increases the stress in our lives?  Would we still say them?

 Proverbs 18:21 "The tongue has the power of life and death". 

Spoken word is a powerful tool.  Just look at the story of creation.  How did God create?  He spoke the world into being! "And God said, 'let their be light', and there was light." (Gen 1:1)

Even Jesus is referred to as the WORD of God in the book of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning." (John 1:1)

All of these verses demonstrate the power of the spoken word.  If the power of life and death is in our words, then what are we speaking over our lives on a regular basis?

When someone asks you how you are, are you speaking life of death over yourself?  You may be thinking, "Well Heather, I'm just being HONEST with people!"  I hear you.  That's been my excuse for years too.  I want to be honest...but if I'm being honest, that means I should be speaking truth right?  And the truth isn't how I'm feeling now...the truth is who God says I am and the promises he has spoken over my life.  So maybe a more HONEST answer if you're feeling overwhelmed would be "I'm in need of some rest or peace."  Or maybe, "I'm depending on God for some strength, energy, motivation, inspiration".

The truth I want to be speaking over myself is that I am blessed and highly favored!  I am more than a conqueror!  If Christ is for me, who can be against me?  God's strength is being made perfect in my weakness!  Nothing is impossible with God!  It may sound cheesy or cliche as it comes out of your mouth but ITS SPEAKING LIFE rather than death over your circumstances!  If God spoke it into being and it was, and we carry the Spirit of God, then we too can speak life or death into being.  So the next time you say "I'm stressed" think about what you are speaking into being.