11 DECEMBER 2017 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS and happiness. If you don't let go of the bitterness, it affects every part of your life. Even if you've had great losses in your life, don't let bitterness come in. Even if you've been greatly disappoint- ed in this life, don't let bitterness come in. I am telling you that God will make it up to you before it's over. You can hold on to the hurt, or you can let it go. You can hold on to your grudges, or you can let it go. You will either become bitter or you will become better. Let go of your bitterness and watch how your life gets better. How many know that bitterness never changes a thing? When you start complaining that life is unfair, you start getting resentful. Sometimes you have to accept the things in your life that you can't change, and move on. Anytime you're at a breaking point in your life, you must learn to put on a heart of gratitude. Gratitude is the antidote to bitterness. Maybe you have been greatly disappointed, but you need to find something that you can be grateful for. Anytime you put on a heart of gratitude, you push bit- terness out of your life. There is something about a voice of thanksgiving that causes God to show up. You know the story of Jonah in the belly of the fish. While he was in the pit, he gave God a voice of thanks- giving. Once he put on a heart of gratitude in the belly of the fish, the thing that had a hold of him had to let him go. There's something about a heart of gratitude that brings miracles and vic- tory into people's lives. Paul said, "Whatever you do, do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks unto God." No matter what you're going through today, put on a grateful heart and watch God show up. “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving…” Another thing to do when you feel stressed out is to reach out for help. The temptation that we all have when we reach a breaking point is to isolate ourselves. The tendency is to pull into a shell and isolate ourselves. But that is the biggest mistake that you could make. God designed the Body of Christ to bring healing to each other. God designed your healing to come through His Church. No man is an island, and we all need help from others. We all need the support and strength of others. One can put a thousand to flight… When you reach a breaking point in your life, the truth is that your per- spective is distorted. When you have experienced a lot of disappointment, you don't think straight and you don't see the whole picture. You need people around you when you are stressed out. So don't wait until the storms come into your life to get involved. Don't wait until you reach the breaking point before you get involved. Find a place to serve, and watch how God brings help to you. Make no mistake; one day you will hit the brick wall. One day you will face something that you cannot go through by yourself. One day you'll be hanging on by a thread, and you will need the strength of oth- ers around you. Get the focus off of yourself. Anytime you're at a breaking point, you'll be consumed with your own problems. You need to get your eyes off of yourself and begin to serve others. The quick- est way I know to get rid of depression is to get involved giving your life away to help others. Elijah was in the cave and was very depressed. He thought that God was through with him. He was so far down that he asked God if he could die. Have you ever been there? So God told him to come out of his cave and anoint Elisha for ministry. Anytime you come to a breaking point you become preoccupied with yourself. All you can see is your pain. All you can see is your hurt. You need to get your focus off your problems and get your focus back on the Lord. The root problem of burnout is that we are trying to be God ourselves. Some of you are about to lose hope in your life. You're about to lose hope in your marriage or career. You're about to lose hope of ever graduating. You're about to lose hope of ever getting mar- ried. That's why you need to refocus on the Lord. You need to get back in the Word. You need to get back in church. You need to strengthen your relationship with the Lord every single day. Surely goodness and mercy… Don’t snap under the pressure. What do you do when you feel like giving up? What do you do when you've lost so much that you don't know if you can go on? What do you do when you're at a breaking point? You have to refocus on Jesus Christ. Don't give up. God says. "I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope, and a future." God has great plans for your life. He's keep- ing track of everything you're going through, and He'll make it up to you before it's over. We all experience loss and disap- pointment. Just like an athlete has to play with pain, there will be times that we have to keep going even though we've been hurt. Maybe you are so exhausted that you feel like you can't go on. But if you will press through the pain, you'll get a second wind. When you hit a breaking point, it's nothing but a sign that something is about to change. When you hit a breaking point, you're on the verge of a breakthrough. Even if you feel like quitting today, you have to press on. Even if you feel like giving up, you can't quit because your pain is about to be turned into gain. Your mess is going to be turned into a message. Your tribu- lation is turning into triumph. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Stress ... continued from previous page