Part 4
Now here we go with the remaining points in overcoming stress (its antidote)
E- ENJOY WHAT I ALREADY HAVE
Eccl. 3:13 "All of us should... enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift." Can you be so preoccupied in getting more that you don't enjoy what you've got? Sure. Can you so busy trying, with the desire to acquire more and more that you don't enjoy what's already in your garage? We have these beautiful homes but nobody enjoys them because nobody is at home. We're all staying late at the office.
We get into a syndrome: The desire to acquire. They've got that so we've got to get that. They've moved up so we've got to move up. We're trying to keep up with the Jones's not realizing they just refinanced or filed for bankruptcy. We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have to impress people we don't even like. We try to get more and more and we get overextended financially. Then both Mom and Dad have to work because we have to hustle to make ends meet. We spend all of our time making payments on these things we've bought and inevitably relationships begin to deteriorate. That's not the way God wants us to live.
"It's better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than be busy all the time..." The greatest things in life aren't things. As a pastor I've been at a lot of death beds. I have never had one person say at their final breath "I wish I had spent more time at the office." Many have said "I wish I had spent more time with my kids (wife, husband, building relationships, with God)". We get all of these things but you're not going to take them with you. You don't ever see a hearse pulling a U-haul. You're not taking it with you.
In American culture it's considered a tragedy if you "die penniless". What a better time to go! When you write your last check and you're totally empty -- you die! That's timing!
Enjoy what you have while you've got it and don't be worrying about getting more all of the time.
So therefore, the keyword here is CONTENTMENT.
