When we read the Bible, we get a glimpse into the incredible mind of God. The Bible tells us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. If God calls you blessed, is it possible to still feel stressed? You do your best to be obedient to the word of God. You read the Bible, you pray, you go to church, you tithe, and you give to the poor. But you still can’t make ends meet at the end of the month. It makes you wonder if you can be stressed when God says you are blessed.
Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places
The word of God says, “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Because of your faith in the Son of God, you are in Christ. Therefore, you abide in the kingdom of heaven with Christ. Had God not come to live among us we would have no clue of the grandeur and glory of heaven. Our finite minds cannot conceive the splendor and magnificence of the kingdom of heaven. Rather than show us His domain in all its splendor, God only gives us glimpses of His domain. Through these glimpses, we learn how to live our lives on earth as though we were in the literal heavens.
The Kingdom of Heaven
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So, the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this…’” (Matthew 13:24-28).
Sowing seed
This parable is an example of how the kingdom of heaven functions in your life. You sow good seed in the field of your mind when you believe and meditate on the word of God. For example, you are preparing for your mid-term exam and although you’ve studied for the exam, you still feel a certain uneasiness about taking the test so you begin to meditate on the word of God which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Meditating on God’s word places you in heaven’s domain. It ensures that the kingdom of God is operating in your life.
But while men slept…
Keeping up with the everyday chores of life can cause your focus to shift. It causes your focus from meditating on God to thinking about the anxiety of life. While resting, the enemy enters your field and mixes seeds of doubt with your good seeds of faith.
The seed of doubt was sown into the field of your mind while you were sleeping that causing you to feel the effects of stress. Although blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, stress can still accumulate in the physical realm of everyday living.
Definition of “an enemy”
When you plant the good seed of faith in the field of your mind, how is it possible for something other than the seeds that you planted to grow? How is it possible for you to have thoughts other than the thoughts you first conceived? The answer is: An enemy has done this.
An enemy is anyone who opposes your willful thoughts and intentions for your life. An enemy is someone who plants seeds of doubt in your mind that will ultimately cause you to fail at whatever you have purposed to do or accomplish in your life. For example, your last mammogram results returned positive for breast cancer. You begin to meditate on Isaiah 53:5. “But He was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities; the chastisement for my peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, I am healed.” You start speaking to your circumstances with faith, and all the while you continue to meditate. “…Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).
No sooner than you finish meditating on the word of God, the telephone rings; it’s your friend Betty. “Girl, I heard the doctor diagnosed you with breast cancer! Didn’t your mother die from breast cancer?” Now in this instance, Betty is an enemy. Betty allowed Satan to use her to sow a seed of doubt in her mind. The truth is Satan is saying, “You can meditate all you want on the word of God. That cancer is hereditary; it killed your mother, and it will kill you too!”
How to Prevent Stress
It is so much easier to maintain preventive stress maintenance than it is to attack stress once it has begun to grow. Remember, you planted good seed in the field of your mind when you began to read, study, believe, and meditate on the word of God.
Stress is a bad seed, a weed that an enemy has planted in the field of your mind. Anyone who influences your life can plant bad seeds in your mind, including your spouse, your co-worker, a sister, or a brother. However, if the seed of doubt finds its way into your field, stand firm and wait for the harvest. Do not waste time pulling up weeds. Let the weeds grow with the good seed. Whatever you do, do not stop feeding your good seed with words of faith. See yourself as blessed with all spiritual blessings operating in the kingdom of heaven, where the blessed can never remain stressed.