Jesus or Oreos?
Follows the message Too Blessed to Be Stressed from the Kingdom series
When stress hits late at night, what do you reach for? For Pastor Marty, by his own admission, it can be a blue bag of Double Stuf Oreos and a glass of milk. What you run to when you're anxious shows where your trust really is. The better move is to lift your eyes to Jesus and remember what God has already done. Then rest in a Father who is both in control and good.
Key takeaways
- What you reach for when you are stressed shows where you look for comfort, provision, and control.
- You lose your peace when your focus shifts from Jesus to the storm, as Peter did on the water.
- Steady spiritual disciplines like Scripture, worship, prayer, and fasting anchor your focus before the storm arrives.
- Biblical peace, or shalom, is rest that comes from trusting that your provision, protection, and purpose come from God.
What does your stress habit say about your faith?
Your stress habit shows where you look for comfort, provision, and control. Saying you have faith is one thing. Walking through a hard situation with hope and peace is another.
Everyone has a go-to. For some it's food. For others it's shopping, gambling, an addiction, or endless distraction. Some people bury themselves in work and try to fix everything on their own, spending all their energy to make a way. None of these meet the real need underneath the stress.
On Beyond Sunday, host Pastor Sean Sloan put it this way: kingdom living is evidenced in what we go to in order to relieve stress. When you live with God as the authority over your life, you have somewhere better to turn. Faith becomes visible in those moments, often to the point where people around you start asking how you can be so calm.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
1 Peter 3:15
Your answer can be simple: I have a God who already knows my need, who is already present, who is good, and who provides. So fear and anxiety don't get the final word.
How do you look up when life feels heavy?
You look up by putting your problem in its place next to God's greatness and care. That doesn't make what you're facing small. It sets it in the right scale.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matthew 6:26
Notice something small in Jesus' words. Birds are usually up. When Jesus tells you to look at them, He's lifting your eyes. Pastor Sean and his guest, Karen Carter, summed it up: my moment is a moment, but God is the master of all moments.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:16
If God already knows every one of your days, you can have peace even when you don't understand what you're going through. Your eternity is secure, and the One who secures it can be trusted with today. You don't go through it alone.
Why do we lose our peace so quickly?
We lose our peace when our focus shifts from Jesus to the storm. What you're focused on while you go through a hard season shapes your peace more than the season itself.
Peter stepped out of the boat because he saw Jesus. He walked on the water until the wind and waves took his attention, and then he began to sink. The same thing happens to you and me, one wave after another. A diagnosis, a bill, a tense conversation, a flood of bad news: each can pull your eyes off Christ.
It often happens in seasons of waiting. Karen shared a prayer she prays in those seasons: "Lord, help me to wait well." Waiting well is a choice you make again and again.
How do you keep your focus on Jesus?
You keep your focus through steady habits that anchor you before the storm arrives. Stay in the Word, stay in worship, stay in prayer, and fast when the Lord calls you to it. These spiritual disciplines are regular practices that put you in God's presence and train your attention on Him.
Memorized Scripture matters here. Verses you've stored up tend to rise up in you in the waiting, right when you need them.
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31
Anxiety drains you. Emotional energy is still energy, and worry can leave you more tired than a day of physical work. Waiting on the Lord does the opposite. It renews your strength.
What does biblical peace actually mean?
Biblical peace is rest that comes from trusting that your provision, protection, and purpose come from God. It's much more than calm circumstances.
Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, and it carries a sense of wholeness and well-being. Pastor Sean and Karen pointed out that in Hebrew thought, the opposite of peace isn't only fear; it's anxiety. In every situation you have two options. You can carry the worry yourself and look to outside things for provision and protection. Or you can rest, because you know all of it comes from a Father who is good, loving, and faithful.
Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God. Rest is a posture of the heart, and it can go with you anywhere. It sees past what you're going through to the One who is sovereign over it. He's not only in control; He's trustworthy.
How can remembering help you rest?
Remembering God's faithfulness gives you confidence for what's in front of you. Read what He did in the Bible. Recall what He has done in your own life. Then bring that history into your present situation.
He did it before, and He can do it again.
What should you do when worry keeps you up at night?
Bring the worry to God instead of feeding it. Scripture is honest about how useless it is to stay up worrying.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat, for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:2
You have to choose where your eyes go. Take the anxious thoughts captive and make them obedient to the Christ who is with you, instead of letting them run the night.
We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
Rather than waking up to an "Oreo crime scene," you can wake up confident in God's presence. And once your trust is in the right place, you might even enjoy a cookie without the stress.
Try this week
- Notice what you reach for when you feel stressed, and name it honestly.
- Next time, pause and pray before you reach. Tell God exactly what's worrying you.
- Write down two or three times God came through for you, and read the list when you feel anxious.
- Memorize one verse from this post so it's ready in your next season of waiting.
- When an anxious thought shows up at night, take it captive and hand it to Christ instead of feeding it.
Pray
Father, You know my needs before I ask. Lift my eyes from the waves to You. Help me wait well, remember Your faithfulness, and rest in Your care tonight. Amen.
Common questions
Is stress eating a spiritual problem?
Not every snack is a crisis. But what you run to when you're anxious often shows where you're placing your trust. Bring the stress to God first, so food, shopping, or distraction stop being where you look for comfort.
How do I keep my eyes on Jesus when life feels overwhelming?
Peter began to sink when he looked at the waves instead of Jesus. Regular habits like reading Scripture, worship, prayer, and fasting when God leads keep your focus anchored, especially in seasons of waiting.
How can I sleep when I'm worried?
Psalm 127:2 says it's useless to stay up late toiling, because God grants sleep to those He loves. Hand your worries to Him in prayer before bed and remember what He has already done for you.
What is the biblical meaning of peace?
The Hebrew word shalom means wholeness and well-being, not just calm circumstances. It's the rest that comes from trusting that your provision, protection, and purpose come from a good and faithful God.
Your next step
Read the recap of Pastor Marty's message, Too Blessed to Be Stressed. If anxiety feels too heavy to carry alone, our care team would love to pray with you.