Day 5: Today

Theme: Releasing Your Roles & Relationships

Key Verse: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” - 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)

Reflection:
“Stress is the trash of modern life—we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.”
— Danzae Pace

Alarm clocks, dead batteries, traffic jams, ringing phones, long lines, crying babies, deadlines, bills piling up…how do you spell stress?

If we tried to identify one worldwide, unifying human characteristic, I suspect it would be living in anxiety or, as we call it today, “stress.” People seem to be stressed out over so many things these days.

For some, stress comes on occasionally when prompted by extraordinary circumstances. Many others, however, are chronic worriers. They spend their days stewing and fretting over all the things they want to control or fix, but cannot. After a while, the constant weight of carrying our own burdens drags us down and distances us from God.

Give God Your Roles
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

So you want to be you, but you’re confused by all the roles you play. Five days a week you are your job and the rest of the time (what little there is) you’re a mom, or a dad, or a soccer game chauffeur, or a volunteer traffic director at church. You feel like screaming, “Who am I, anyway?”

Phil Vischer dreamed of becoming the next Walt Disney. He began his company, Big Idea, with a longing to send a godly message to children through films. What could be more pure? And it worked! His Veggie Tales animated films were wildly successful. But because he’d pushed so hard to make his dream come true, ultimately his life began falling apart.

“It was affecting my health, my marriage, my kids, my employees. I was increasingly miserable, run down, burned out … pushing a rock uphill.”

And then, Phil’s dream died. “In hindsight,” he said, “it was a divine mercy killing. [God] stood back and let my dream fall apart. I saw that it wasn't what I needed, and that my fulfillment comes not from anything I dream up or pull off with my own power.”

By releasing his role to God, Phil is rebuilding his life under God’s direction. He’s learning he can only be who God made him to be. That’s the message God wants you to get too: only you can be you.

Give God Your Relationships
The other day, I received an e-mail that began, “God determines who walks into your life...it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.” That is so true. Relationships are not like loaves of bread in a supermarket. We don’t get to walk in, look over a choice of people, and decide, “I’ll take that one.”

Some relationships are determined in advance, like the family we are born into, while others are determined as we grow through life. Friends come our way largely as a matter of geography—where we live, where we work, where we go to school. And often it’s in those places we also meet the one who may become our life mate. No matter how or where those connections develop, we need to recognize that God brings them into our lives.

The Bible says:
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
— 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

Recognizing that God has a divine purpose for connecting us with each person in our lives can literally change how we view each relationship.

Action Step:
Write down the roles and relationships causing you stress. In prayer, release each one to God, asking Him for wisdom and peace.