Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more.
Life is busy for just about everybody. You are busy with school and homework. You are busy with sports or band. You are busy with stuff you have to do with your family. You are busy with your job. You are busy with youth group and church stuff. When life gets really busy, you might feel like you are going to explode. Life can feel like it is getting out of control.
So what do you do when life feels out of control? To find the answer, let’s look back at Philippians 4. Last week we saw how focusing on God can get rid of anxiety. Let’s see what the next verse says:
Philippians 4:7 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
When you bring your problems to God, he will bring peace into your life. It doesn’t matter how busy life gets, if you are focused on God, then you will experience peace. Let’s see what God’s peace will do for you in life.
God’s peace will help you focus on what’s important
There is a lot of stuff that keeps you busy and distracts you in life, but a lot of it doesn’t matter. When you focus on growing closer to God, then you will realize that a lot of the things that make you stressed do not matter. What matters is loving God and loving other people. You can be a great student and the captain of the football team, but if you don’t love God and love other people, none of it really matters.
God’s peace will help you think the right way
Part of having God’s peace means that God will fix your thinking. So often we think that our worth is connected to what kind of student we are or how many friends we have. However, God tells us that our worth is based on the fact that he loves us and takes care of us. When you are busy, your thinking can get all messed up. But when you put your focus on God and bring your concerns to him, he will remind you of what is true.
God’s peace will lower your stress
The verse in Philippians says that God will guard your heart. This means that if you focus on God, your stress level will go down. When you focus on all the problems and distractions in life, your stress goes up. Remember, God is here to show you what’s important. You don’t have to lose your peace to a life of stress. Instead, focus on God and he will help you see what really matters.
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- Make a list of all the activities you are involved in. Include school, sports, or a job if you have one. How does looking at that list make you feel?
- Read Philippians 4:7. What do you think God’s peace is? How do you know if you have it?
- What do you spend most of your time thinking about? What do you think Jesus spent most of his time thinking about when he was on earth?
- What are some bad thoughts about yourself that you have struggled with? How can God’s peace help you deal with those bad thoughts?
- How will staying close to God guard your thinking and your emotions? Why does focusing on God lower your stress level?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
