Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
Finding Rest and Peace in the Lord
Sometimes life is stressful. During these times, we might long for a break from the pressures of life. We might wish we could take a vacation, relax on a tropical beach, close our eyes, and turn off the world. Even if it was only for one day. However, that is not always possible. Life goes on. We have responsibilities that require our attention.
I was thinking about all of this last weekend as I took a stroll around the yard with one of my dogs. (Sometimes getting outside helps to clear our minds.) It occurred to me that rest can be a frame of mind. Even if we cannot eliminate the stress in our lives, we can choose to find rest in our souls.
The day after I had this thought, my friend Judy posted Inspiration from 2017. What Judy shared in this post resonated with what I had been thinking about:
Peace isn’t about what’s going on outside; it’s about what’s happening on the inside. Anxiety and worry won’t solve anything only sap needed energy for what needs to be done. The difficulty comes when what needs to be done is to wait. Give the battle to God and praise Him in the storm. ~ Laurel Hawkes
How can we find rest and peace, even in the midst of stressful times? The words of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-30 bring comfort:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV)
Dr. Charles Stanley wrote, “All of us need rest, and Jesus promises to give it to us when we find our rest in him. He is our burden-bearer. When we surrender the circumstances of our lives to him, he lifts us up and infuses our hearts with fresh hope and wisdom. Some situations are just too difficult for us to handle, but nothing is too great for him. He promises to refresh our weary souls when we cry out to him.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) reminds us to, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
I love the latter part of this verse in the Amplified translation of the Bible: “Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” (emphasis added)
What comfort that brings to know God cares about us with deepest affection and He watches over us very carefully.
All of this sounds wonderful. Yet, we might wonder how to actually grab hold of this rest and peace. Below I have some strategies that have helped me. If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments.
Amplify Your Prayer Time
There is power in prayer, even our silent prayers. However, I have found that when I write out my prayers, this act seems to turn my heart around. I will start off feeling stressed and walk away feeling peaceful. There’s something special and concrete about putting pen to paper.
I also find it helpful to include Bible verses in my prayers. The Bible is full of truth and promises that we can cling to during stressful times.
And I have found comfort in speaking my prayers out loud. Peace ushers in, especially if I am walking outdoors while praying. I think this is in part because I feel closer to God when I’m outside. But praying aloud also has a unique way of connecting us to God. Pastor Jentezen Franklin believes in praying out loud because “when we were instructed to pray the Lord’s Prayer [Jesus] said ‘say,’” and “we are to ‘speak’ to that mountain.”
Put it in the box
Picture all of your worries. One by one, go through them in your mind. They can add up. And if you picture them all in one big pile, that pile would be very heavy. Our human strength can’t hold it all. Now picture Jesus holding a box. We can place all of our worries in that box. For Jesus, the weight of the box never seems to grow. He can carry all of it. The next time you are overwhelmed with the weight of your troubles, say to Jesus, “I am putting this in the box. I can’t carry all of this, but You can.”
Of course our human nature will be tempted to take things back out of the box. We will start to worry and fret all over again. Once we realize what we’ve done, we can put it back in the box.
This doesn’t mean we run the other way and avoid our own lives. As I said earlier, we still have responsibilities. However, when we remember that our Shepherd is with us, this helps us to face our difficulties. We hold tightly to the Lord and His strength.
“My job is to take care of the possible and trust God with the impossible.” – Ruth Bell Graham
Scripture Yourself to Sleep
At night when I am in bed, I like to go over some of my favorite Bible verses in my mind. Some nights I might go over different passages. Other times I might stick with the same one. This helps me to settle down and find peace, as I drift off to sleep.
Take Things Off Your Plate
During stressful seasons, there is only so much we can put our time and energy towards. Therefore, if there is anything you can remove from your plate during this season, then I encourage you to do that as well. This will allow you to clear away some of the chaos and have more time to sit at the Lord’s feet.
I’m so thankful we can rely on the Lord and His strength, especially during stressful seasons of life. I don’t know how anyone lives without God. But I’m thankful we don’t have to. And I believe our relationship with Him is a big part of how we can find rest and peace during difficult times.
If you are in a stressful season, please let me know how I can pray for you. If you don’t mind, please say a prayer for my family. And please pray for Israel. As Christians, we are called to stand with Israel. Also pray for our world, as many protests are scheduled today.
Thank you for reading and being here. Your friendship means a lot to me.
© 2018-2023 Bridget A. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Bridget A. Thomas 
Bridget, this post really spoke to me. It is so easy to get caught up in worry. We know that we can give our burdens to God but taking hold of that rest is not always easy. The practical tips you give are really good. I find writing prayers and praying verses very powerful. I really like the idea of picturing placing our worries in a box that is in our Lord’s hand. All of this is definitely a constant practice as it is so easy to pick that worry back up again.
God bless you my friend 💙💐
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I’m so glad this post was helpful. I totally agree. It is a constant practice. When a difficulty is present, our nature is to worry. I’m so thankful the Lord offers us peace, as we place our trust in Him! Gob Bless you too, my friend! 🤍🤗
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You’ve provided several good strategies for dealing with worry, Bridget. I like writing down scriptures on small notecards and reading through them as needed. Also, there are times when the weight and the wait are too much to bear. It is at these points that I ask the Holy Spirit to pray, as Paul says “with groanings too deep for words.” I hope this doesn’t sound to mystical, but I’ve woken up before with a burden and God prayed through me. I don’t recall forming words myself—the prayer just flowed.
Thank for your blog ministry. You truly put the Lord, and others first. It’s clear in your writing.
🙏The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace.” Amen
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Thank you so much for the kind words, brother! You brightened my morning. And I feel the same way about you and your blog ministry!
And I definitely know what you mean about the verse in Romans 8. Recently with all that had been going on with my family, when it’s too difficult to come up with the right words, I’m so thankful the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. What an amazing gift our God has given us! 🙌
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Love this!!!!!!!! I am going to use the box method!!!
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I’m so glad this was helpful! Putting things in the box has really helped me too. Especially when I picture Jesus standing right there beside me. Blessings, my friend ♥️
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Funnily enough, taking a moment to help someone else helps me rest from my own cares, at least for that moment. Sometimes, a breather makes a huge difference.
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Such a good point! It helps take our focus off of our own worries and also brings us joy to help someone else. Thank you for sharing that, Judy 🤗
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You’re welcome, Bridget. 🤗
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Great tips Bridget. I will listen to YouTube sleep videos sometimes. They quote scriptures and play soft music. They help me to fall asleep faster. I also like your suggestion to remove things from our plates. Sometimes we overload our schedules and need to cut back.
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That’s a wonderful idea about the YouTube sleep videos, especially those with Scripture. There is so much power in Scripture. What a great way to fall asleep. I love it. And I agree with you on removing things from our plate. I have found when I hold my to-do list loosely, it helps me to deal with the roller coasters that come along a little better. And then I can also spend more time with the Lord. I hope you have a great weekend, Dawn! ♥️
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Hi Bridget, how are you? I like your post. Do past happy memories flit in and out of your mind? I’ve had so many lately, like little 5 second movies on a projector, whirring thru my thoughts. Maybe it’s my mind’s way of coping with Israel atrocities? 🇮🇱 Take care. God bless you.
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Hello! It’s great to hear from you. I’m glad I saw your post yesterday because sometimes when I look for you in my reader, I can’t find you for some reason. Gosh the memories sound overwhelming, to be honest. But everything on the news has been overwhelming lately. And my family has been going through some struggles too. So life has been overwhelming in general. But I am so glad we have a God we can turn to, no matter how scary things get. He is always with us and He is always trustworthy. 🙌 God bless you too! 🤍
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Awh I’m sorry your family is going through trials. As soon as I hit the send button, I’ll pray. I haven’t been blogging regularly with other priorities in life and am trying my best to follow where God wants me. It’s good to hear from you too!
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Thank you for your prayers. 🙏 And I understand completely about not blogging as often. ♥️
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This is so full of helpful stress relievers. I love the idea of Jesus holding a box and us placing our worries/stresses inside. I can actually envision myself doing so which is peace-filling in itself.
We are blessed people that no matter where we are or what we’re going through we can give our concerns and cares over to God. We’re not limited in any way when it comes to that. What a relief!!
Great post my friend!!
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I’m so glad this was helpful. I agree – what a blessing to know that the Lord is always with us and ready to help us with whatever we face. What a loving God we have! 🙌♥️🙏
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It is comforting to know that Jesus invites us to come to him when we are weary
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I agree! What a loving Savior we have! 🙌♥️
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It’s so true Bridget. Peace happens on the inside first. Ironically the peaceful picture you posted was taken on a very turbulent day. It was taken as the wind paused to draw another breath to blast the autumn leaves and rain some more. Kind of like life I think.
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Ah, that made me laugh – your story behind the picture. You’re right, though. Life is like that. Thank you for that reminder. I’m so glad we have a loving God who is there with us through it all. The peaceful pauses and the turbulent winds. 🙏
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I read this just when I need it. 🥹 Thank you for sharing! So many good ways to not only lessen stress and anxiety, but draw us directly to God. ❤️ We can trust Him with all we’re going through.
Continuing to keep your family in prayer, friend. 🙏🏻🙌🏻
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God is awesome to bring us what we need, right when we need it! 🙌 It’s easy to get distracted by our worries, so we do need these reminders at times. What comfort it brings to know God is always there! 🤍 Thank you for your prayers! 🙏
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