Pressure, it’s everywhere. It sneaks into every part of our lives. We have pressure in marriage, pressure to keep up and have more, and pressure to give our kids the latest gadgets. We even experience pressure for our time. No doubt about it, life today is stressful! And with stress comes fear. We fear losing it. We fear we won’t be enough for our families. We fear failure. So, we work longer and do more, all in the name of fear. Even though adding more is not the way to handle pressure, we do it anyway. Before we know it our lives can resemble a three ring circus as we try to juggle it all on top of a high wire. One of our greatest fears is having someone discover the truth: We can’t really juggle it all.

Think about your own life for a moment. What stressful circumstances are you facing that seem hopeless? Do you often feel like everything depends on you? Perhaps, you fear that you won’t measure up or you fear what others think of you. Maybe you fear missing out on opportunities so you stretch yourself thin dipping your controlling fingers into every pot. Could it be that discontentment with life is adding undue stress and pressure?

Sometimes peace is a matter of changing our priorities. Balance comes when I lay my to-do list before God and allow Him to prioritize my life. As a Christian, my life doesn’t belong to me. I shouldn’t be the one ordering my days. When I do, my life becomes unstable. When this happens, I’ve learned to do a quick review of my life by using this acrostic on priorities given to me by a friend:

P – Pray. Ask God for wisdom. Ask Him to show you His priorities for this season of your life.

R – Review God’s priorities for your life. Study God’s Word to determine His priorities for you as His child and as a woman.

I – Take Inventory Examine the activities that consume your time. Keep a time log for a week. Then ask hard questions. What are my true priorities? Are they the right ones?

O – Order your schedule. Ask, “What is important?” Make the hard choices based on God’s priorities for your life.

R – Resist the “tyranny of the urgent.” Don’t let the urgent keep you from focusing on the truly important.

I – Input from others. Seek input, counsel, and accountability from authorities, your husband, godly friends, and mentors.

T – Take advantage of the time God gives you. Don’t waste time. Do all to the glory of God.

I – Identify time robbers. What saps your energy and robs your time? Activities, attitudes, distractions, interruptions?

E – Experience this season fully. Be all there in this season of life. Weep, rejoice, work hard, and celebrate with all your heart. Don’t waste time living in the past or future.

S – Sabbaths. Take regular time outs to refresh, regain perspective, reflect and evaluate, and reprioritize. Make adjustments accordingly.

Balancing our priorities isn’t enough unless we’re willing to cast our worries on God and trust in Him to care for us. Are you willing to do that today?

If so, leave a comment and enter to WIN a pair of Faith Earrings. Whenever you feel pressure, wear your earrings as a reminder not to worry but to place your faith in God who is able and willing to carry your load.

I admit it. I use to be a Soap fan when I was a teenager. Lured by the romance and drama, I assumed real life as an adult would play out in the same fashion. Boy was I wrong!

Real life isn’t like what we see on TV or read about in romance novels. In fact, these things can be dangerous to both single and married people alike. When our idea’s about life leave us dissatisfied, we can easily be temped to look at other options. Soap Operas, pornography and romances novels encouraged this kind of risky behavior that can lead to sin.

Often we convince ourselves that just looking or dreaming about being with someone other than our spouse is okay as long as we don’t actually do anything about it. Likewise, some single people feel that they can lust after another too as long as they remain physically pure. The truth of the matter is neither has remained pure. Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (NIV) That goes for us gals, too.

I imagine that Potiphar’s wife could be described as the “first” desperate housewife. She didn’t have TV or a romance novel to read. She had something better. Joseph. He was the head workman in charge who conveniently lived in her home and was pleasing to her sight. Unknown to Joseph, he was about to become the prey of a desperate housewife.

This Egyptian woman didn’t happen to notice Joseph one day and then, on the spur of the moment, ask Joseph to lie with her. No. Our key verse tells us she “cast her eyes upon Joseph” and spoke with him day after day. In other words, she watched him, she flirted with him, and she dreamed about him until her sinful thoughts led to action. Her husband ought to have been to her a “covering of the eyes” from all others. Instead, with the lust in her heart, she was daring and shameless in her sin.

How do we keep from falling into such sin? We should follow Job’s example. “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl [or boy].” (Job 31:1) We each have a great need and responsibility to make a covenant with our eyes. Remember that children’s song you sung in Sunday school?

“Be careful little eyes what you see? Oh, be careful little eyes what you see. For the Father up above is looking down in love. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.”

We can protect our eyes is by choosing not to watch movies, pornography or TV shows that glamorize sexuality and can lead us into temptation. Our own husbands should be the covering of our eyes that protect us from looking at others. Besides, the grass is not always greener on the other side. I guarantee that guy doesn’t clip his toe nails either.

I also realize that we are human and we make mistakes. No one is perfect this side of heaven. That’s why it’s so important to be on guard. Another way to safe guard ourselves is to commit to taking hold of any lustful thoughts and quickly put them out of our minds. Temptation is not a sin. It’s when we dwell on the temptation that leads us to sinful actions. Don’t be like Potiphar’s wife. Ask God to give you “eyes” for the man or woman you already have.