Consider this:
It is Monday. You still have the rest of the week to somehow get through. Your paper is due Wednesday and you have not even started. Your group project is due Friday and you're the only "real worker" in the group. You and your best friend just got into a big fight on Saturday and it is consuming your brain.
The person you thought liked you back actually found someone newer and better to like. Your parents aren't doing so great, and neither is your grandmother as she battles cancer. It is Monday and you have a battlefield to cross with only a knife in your hand and fast-fading optimism. You have so many priorities that need your attention, right? Those things listed above should be our number one priorities, right? Wrong.
I am not discounting the importance of our long list of worries. I am not saying they are not real and that they do not need attention. Of course, the class projects are important, as well as the final exams and tests that seem to always pile up. Of course, the arguments we walk into need gentle, delicate attention so that relationships can mend. Without a doubt, the sicknesses and health battles that shove their way into our lives are nothing to ignore.
Reality is, we will always have trials. It is when we make our trials our priorities, instead of making our God the priority, that we fall hard. It is so important to recognize the difference between attention and priority. We can give situations attention; we can mend and study and pray over situations. What we cannot do, however, is make our battles our priority. When something or someone steals the Lord's place as number one in our hearts and minds, we lose control, comfort, and our clear mind.
Luke 12:22-24 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
Our God tells us not to worry about the things of this world. "Do not be anxious about your life," He says! It is so, so simple to let fearful situations steal all of the housing in our mind. Think about that, when you allow fear and stress into your mind, what more are you going to feel other than those two emotions? Obviously, you will strongly feel overcome with fear and stress. In return, however, imagine how we would feel if we allowed the Lord to steal all of the housing in our brain and heart. With God being a permanent resident there, with Him being a priority, we will be overcome with peace. 
Making God a priority is the best way to diminish any sort of fear. It does not mean that we will not come across some pretty nasty situations. It definitely does not mean that those situations will be battled easily. Thankfully, though, it does mean that we can overcome. It means that we can step into the battlefield with someone far stronger than us defending our hearts and our lives. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Seeking God on a daily basis fills our soul in the very best way. It is truly the golden fuel that pushes us when nothing else would have the power to do so. Our God is a faithful God; He is good and righteous and so incredibly loving. Choose Him first, above all other things, and then, those battles finally seem like they can be conquered.
Colossians 3:15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
