Stress, and poor handling of it...

So, over the last few months my stress level has been a bit higher than usual. A few months (9 so far) of unemployment, striking out at every job search attempt, all the bills showing up in that pretty pink color each month, a pending foreclosure and the daily calls from a collection agency. They are constant reminders of my situation thrown all up in my grill. These are just a few of the things that surround me, enveloping me in a constant barrage of emotional attacks on my manhood, telling me I'm not man enough to provide for my family, not man enough to get a job, not man enough to be the leader of my family. It is easy to get caught up in the lonely downward mental spiral and stigma of unemployment, allowing the negative voices to get louder and more influential. I imagine that being unemployed for a long period of time is kinda like hitting a big lottery win, ones group of friends changes drastically due to circumstances and the places one can afford to hang out in.
So far, over this season of life, I've learned a few things and am struggling to actually implement them in my life. One important thing I've learned is that I do not handle stress well, and I need to. After a prolonged period of stress, I tend to get very grumpy. Unfortunately I also have a tendency to allow that grumpiness to come out in frustration and impatience with my family. But why? Why do I allow myself to treat my loved ones and biggest supporters in such a disrespectful and selfish way? Is it because I do not know the promises of God? Is it because I do not believe the promises of God? Is it because I am letting the ever increasing voices convince me of their lies?

May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!
May he grant you your heart's desire
and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
(Psalm 20 ESV)

If you have those nagging & annoying voices in your life, and they are gaining volume and influence in your life, like I do, then I hope that the above Psalm will give you encouragement in confidence in the Lord. Our daily struggles, no matter what they are (unemployment, drug/alcohol addiction, porn addiction, obesity, gluttony, or whatever you fight daily), are important to God. He desires that we live a life of freedom in Him. Free from being mastered by addictions, indulgences or any type of sin. Free to live in a way that blesses us because we follow Him. Do not trust in the things of the world, but only in the faithfulness and unswerving love of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.