Who Owns You

Stress is a fact of life.  It's an immeasurable force that will impact us in a negative way, even if it may appear to have a positive benefit, all the time.  Stress causes chemical changes in the brain, physiological changes in the body, both of which degrade the quality and quantity of life.  Most of the stress that we deal with is self-induced.  When I step back and look at the stress I see and feel in my life, every last bit of it is a result of the choices and decisions that I've made. And those choices and decisions were based on where my focus in life was at the time.  In no way can I point the finger or put the blame on someone else for the stress in my life.

For most, including myself, stress commonly shows up in our life as anxiety.  I believe that our society has become one ruled by fear and worry. And I also believe that is the result of the world turning away from dependence on God, and relying more on us.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Matt 6:25-26

Living spiritually inclined means having dependence on God and the Holy Spirit to meet my needs.  Remember, God is the source of all things, therefore, I can rely on Him to provide for me. So the stress and anxiety related to the pursuit of "things" we need is unnecessary if we have complete dependence on the Lord.  I would hasten to say that the majority of our self induced stress, worry, fear and anxiety is a direct result of our relentless pursuit of the material world and money.  As we get caught up in "the world" and all of it's material things, it is very easy to lose focus on what is and should be primary in our life.

No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.  Matt 6:24

God wants us to serve Him and seek Him so that in doing so He might reveal to us all of His glory and power!

But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you as well.  Matt 6:33

What things?  ALL things!  Jesus tells us the way to get rid of our stress, anxiety, fear and worry in that verse.  Seek Him and His righteousness!  He is the truth, the light and the way.  When we move our focus from this world and the pursuit of the things of this world to Jesus and the treasures we have in Heaven, our life changes.  The world changes.  But you cannot serve two masters.  So I ask you, who owns you?

Living with the Holy Spirit will provide the leadership necessary to change your focus, to "sell" yourself to a new master, to the one who cares about your eternal life and wants to provide for your current life.  The challenge is having enough faith to believe that this is true.  Nothing is more powerful than a made up mind.  Make up your mind about serving God, seeing His purpose for your life being fulfilled and watch the stress in your life be reduced.  Not until we go to be with Jesus will our stress be gone for good, but in the mean time, we should make sure that He is the one we serve everyday.