FIGHTING WORDS: WEEK 2
Stressed?: The Secret To Finding Strength
Written by Cheryl Boyce
Note To Parents:
Welcome to Week 2! We hope last week was beneficial, and you were able to commit your fighting words to memory with your family. We’re hoping that it helped inspire some good conversation about how important it is to trust God. Our prayer is that this week’s Fighting Words will speak to you and help you remember where our strength comes from regardless of what’s happening in our day-to-day life.
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DEVOTIONAL
Have you ever felt super overwhelmed or tired? Perhaps something at school was overwhelming, you had a misunderstanding with your friends, or there was some tough stuff happening at home. Sometimes it can feel like we don’t have the strength to deal with everything life throws us. Even when good things are happening, it can feel like a lot to manage.
This week we’re memorizing a scripture that will help us with that. We all know that there is so much in life that is out of our control. That can make it hard to figure out how to react when we’re feeling weak.
In Philippians, where we find this week’s Fighting Words, the Apostle Paul was writing to his friends to let them in on a secret to life that he’d discovered.
The secret he had found to manage all the struggles in life was to stop trying to handle them all on his own. If we do that, we will wear out. He had learned that the never-ending source to strength was not something he had within himself. The strength that he needed for all of life’s challenges was found in Christ.
When Paul leaned on the strength of Christ, he was able to face whatever came his way.
The Apostle Paul even said that he had learned to be satisfied regardless of his circumstances.
How awesome would it be always to be content in life, even if things aren’t working out the way we had hoped?
We learned last week that King David handled his fear by putting his trust in God. This week we’re learning that the Apostle Paul endured his hardships and victories in life by letting Christ strengthen him. The Apostle Paul was able to do this by having a close relationship with Christ and putting his faith and trust in Him and who He is.
We Can Do That Too!
Question 1: Do you ever feel stressed out or frustrated?
Question 2: How do you handle feelings like that?
Question 3: After learning that we can do all things with Christ’s strength, how does that make you feel about things that might frustrate you or stress you out this week?
Challenge: This week, take some time to recognize when you’re feeling stressed out or frustrated and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to respond as Jesus would. When you feel overwhelmed, you can face the situation by saying, “Is that all you got?” Then, remind yourself that you CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you. See how the situation changes when you have that type of confidence!
***Don’t forget to talk about how it is working out with your family over the week!
Here’s a prayer that you and your family can pray together this week as you memorize this week’s “Fighting Words.”
Prayer
“Heavenly Father,
Thank you so much for your son. We thank you so much that we don’t have to do life all our own and in our own strength. Lord, we pray that you would teach us to tap into the strength that we can access through Christ Jesus. Help us not to wear out or get weary but to know that you always have our back.
In Jesus Name We Pray,
Amen!”