Responding Properly Under Pressure

         www.insideoutwithcourtnaye.org

If you clicked onto this post, you’re probably shouting, “Yes! How do you do it?” Trust me. If you feel this way, I totally get it, because I’ve been where you are before, too. Actually, I wish I could’ve read a post like this one years ago! But here it is, my sister. Tried and true. So let’s talk about how to respond properly under pressure.

First of all, let me ask this quick question. What’s got you under pressure? Or maybe I should also pose this question, “Who’s stressing you out?” Either one of those should work for this particular post. Yet, in either case, the first step to responding well under any form of pressure is finding out where the pressure point lies. Once you know, breathe in. And then breathe out.

And the reason why I’m saying this is because taking a deep pause before you respond or react to the current situation, problem, or person will allow you to think and consider what your next action steps will be. It will also allow you the time to pray and quickly ask the Lord to help you to respond the way He would want you to respond, as His daughter.

The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6, “…pray about everything.” And Philippians 2:13-14 says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”

There is nothing that our great enemy Satan wants more than to accuse us (the brethren/saints) of some wrongdoing against God’s truth (See Job 2:1-6). He wants us to respond improperly, and he knows that we’re especially vulnerable or more likely to do that when we’re under pressure. That’s why we have to be sensitive to our own feelings, emotions, pressure points, and the enemy before we do or say something that we will later regret.

Think about it for a moment. How many people have lost jobs over “losing it” because they just couldn’t take anymore from a boss or another employee? Or what about blowing up over something or making a fuss over something that didn’t require that much fussing over. And then realizing afterwards that it really didn’t have to be all of that. Emotions are powerful, and that’s why we have to keep them in check.

Personally, I just had a situation happen to me this past week where I was emotionally high and super overwhelmed with work, kids, home stuff, and ministry work. I was really reaching a boiling point. The spiritual warfare was full on! And just as I felt this immense pressure building even more, I got an email alert on my phone about something dealing with one of my kid’s assignments at school. The teacher gave my son a 0 for homework that according to her records wasn’t completed.

Well, as an already stressed out woman and mother, my initial thought was to call the teacher to let her know that the grade was wrong, because I personally worked on the assignment with him, and yadda, yadda, yadda. But I didn’t call. Instead, I took a deep breath, paused, talked to my husband and told him that I just needed to take a ride. And I did. I also prayed along the way. But do you know what really helped me more than anything else as I poured out my heart to God? His Word.

You see, on my emotional journey, my husband in-boxed me a video on Facebook to watch about how “not” to allow your feelings to control you and to be more disciplined in getting what needs to get done in the season you’re currently in, done. Not to mention, my devotion that morning was also talking about not letting your feelings control your actions. So God was definitely speaking to me. With that being said, I heeded the messages. And I’ll tell you, the heaviness began to lift almost immediately. I experienced true freedom and joy through the Word of God. Hallelujah!

So I’m saying all of this to say, breathe, pray, and allow God’s Word to help you respond well when you’re under pressure. Don’t let your emotions take over and mess things up. Because guess what? When I got back home (after my long and awesome emotional breakthrough ride), I noticed that my son’s schoolwork (that was supposed to be turned in) was on my office desk. WHOA!!!!

Now imagine if I would’ve called the school to gripe about his grade. My son forgot it at home! So the teacher was absolutely right. And as I sat there alone in my office, I asked, “Now God, what was that about?” And He showed me through that real life experience how important it is for us to control our emotions and to be mindful of the enemy when we’re under pressure (because he is an accuser of the brethren…he wants us to displease God or sin against Him in some way to point the finger at us to our Father). God allowed it, just as He did with Job.

But this experience also reminded me to walk in the Spirit by responding with godly character (the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, or self-control-See Galatians 5:22-23). Because before I took that long ride, I prayed and asked, “Okay Lord, which fruit of the Spirit do I need right now?” And the Holy Spirit’s response to me was self-control and meekness (humility). So that’s what I did. I put my flesh under subjection to operate in self-control as I humbled myself under God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s direction. And it all worked out! I grew from it.

Listen, sis. If you’re super busy right now, be on guard. If you’re stressed out by anything or anyone, bring it to God in prayer, open up to Him, and listen to His Word. Because ultimately He knows how to help you through it. Also, be open to what He may want to teach you in the process. In addition, keep in mind that the enemy loves it when you’re busy or under a lot of stress or pressure. So stay sober and alert.

One more thing...Don’t explode! Don’t blow the roof off. Don’t go crazy! Because the Holy Spirit is right there to help you respond properly under pressure. Just let the Word of God minister to you to help lift your weary or frustrated spirit and to bring your joy back. And don’t forget to ask, “Lord, which fruit of the Spirit do I need to operate in right now?” And flow in it. Trust me. It works!

Remember, Jesus is coming back soon! And those who endure unto the end shall be saved. So let’s be ready from the Inside Out!

~Courtnaye

QUESTION: Are you under a lot of pressure right now in the season? Are you busy and overwhelmed? Need prayer or want to talk about it? If so, you can email me directly @ insideoutwithcourtnaye@gmail.com and we can talk and stand together in prayer about it.

ALSO, my new book is OUT!!! YAY!!! It’s entitled, “IDENTIFIED: Knowing Who You Are in Christ & Moving Forward in Your Purpose!” GRAB IT TODAY!!! You can order it from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or download it on your Kindle. Here’s the link and I would also LOVE it if you can give me a REVIEW on Amazon.com about it after you’ve read it. That would help not only more women to take notice of the book, but also bump me to becoming a Best Seller in my industry! So I would greatly appreciate if you would consider doing that for me. Thanks for reading my blog today! Here’s the link to order your copy of IDENTIFIED…https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=identified+courtnaye+richard

I hope this blog post has ministered to you in some way and I pray that you’ve been enlightened from this post. Feel absolutely free to leave a comment or for questions you can email me directly at insideoutwithcourtnaye@gmail.com, and I will respond promptly. Also, if this post and ministry has blessed your life, please consider making a donation of any amount today to help further the gospel here @ http://www.insideoutwithcourtnaye.org/.

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