Too Blessed To Be Stressed

"Too Blessed To Be Stressed".... I use to say this sometimes and think it too.  I think I even had a t-shirt with that written on it.  I've sort of lost that train of thought over the last few years, because there's been a lot of stress; but also because of the misconception of the word "blessed".  Something came in my inbox today with that as the title, and I almost didn't read it; because I realized I had not been as faithful in believing it.  I pondered it for a bit and wondered why I wasn't as faithful in believing it, so I read it to see if it would give me some insight.  I'll be honest in saying that I didn't expect a lot of answers, but I got some in this poem:

I'm too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed.
I refuse to be discouraged, to be sad or to cry.
I refuse to be downhearted and here's the reason why:
I have a God who is almighty; who is sovereign and supreme.
I have a God who loves me - and I am on His team.
He is all wise and powerful; Jesus is His name.
Though everything else is changeable, My God remains the same.
I refuse to be beaten or defeated.
My eyes are on my God.
He has promised to be with me, as through this life I trod.
I am looking past my circumstances, to heaven's throne above.
My prayers have reached the heart of God, and I am resting in His love.
I give thanks to Him in everything.
My eyes are on His face.
The battle is His; the victory is mine; He will help me win the race.
I repeat!
I'm too blessed to be stressed!"

(Author unknown)

I read that poem over a few times, and although I thought it was a little cheesy at first; the more I read it the more I related to it....the more I remembered. I am "Too Blessed To Be Stressed", but I've lost site of that recently. Most of the stress in my life is the stress of others....some close to me, some not close to me, some I don't even know personally....the world is a hard place right now.  When I see that they are having a hard time facing discouragement, sadness and feeling downhearted; I have a hard time on their behalf.  This is not their fault, but it's mine.  And really it's not mine, it's just part of being an empath and being in the world.  Over the last few weeks, I've thought a lot about being in the world but not of the world.  One of my daughters has shared some things with me that have opened my eyes a lot and reminded me to keep fighting to not be "of the world".  Young people have a lot to deal with....I remember this.  Older people do too....I also know this.  But one thing I think is very different from young to older is lack of years.  When you're younger, you seem to live your life in the now; and it's hard to see a future.  I remember this well from when I was a teen and young adult....thinking that that moment was it, because I didn't know anything else.  As I've gotten older, I've seen that there are a lot of moments to come....not all are good, but a lot of them are.  I believe living in the present is how life is designed to be, but I also believe once you've got some hard and some easy under your belt; it might be less challenging to know that there may be something good ahead.  God didn't create us to live in fear or sadness or discouragement or be downhearted.  He created us to live for Him, and in clinging to Him we are blessed.  It took me a lot of years to realize this and to act upon it, and I obviously don't get it right all the time.  But I'm thankful for cheesy poems, teenagers and other reminders to nudge me to remember exactly why I am "Too Blessed To Be Stressed".  So keep your eyes on His face and remember the battle is His, the victory is yours...He will help you win the race!