The third principle that can help us have less stress in our lives is: Know what you want to accomplish. Jesus said, ‘I know where I came from and where I am going.’ Can we say that too? Unless we plan our lives and establish priorities, we’ll be pressured by other people to do what they think is important. Every day we either live by priorities or we live by pressures. Either we decide what’s important in our lives or we let other people decide for us. It’s easy to operate from pressure and to come to the end of our day and wonder, ‘Have I accomplished anything at all? I used up a lot of energy and did a lot of things, but did I achieve anything important?’ Busyness is not necessarily productivity. We may be doing lots of things but not accomplishing anything of real value. Preparation causes us to be at ease. Preparation prevents pressure, whereas procrastination produces pressure. The Bible says: ‘Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is’ (Ephesians 5:15-17 NIV). Good organisation and good preparation reduce stress because we know who we are, who we’re trying to please, and what we want to accomplish. We need to spend a few minutes at the beginning of every day talking with God in prayer, then look at what we have planned for the day and decide: ‘Is this really the way I want to spend a day of my life?’ The right answer to this question will lower our stress levels by helping us prioritise.

What Now?

Start your day in prayer. Ask God to help you prioritise the right things today.