How do I handle stress?

Tough Questions Wk5

Undoubtedly as we have entered into the room tonight all of us have stress
in our lives. Some of us have stress from school, others have stress from
our family, and some have stress from a relationship, and various other
causes across the board. The truth is we all have stress, but how do we
handle it? That is; how do we as Christians handle it?
For some you may eat your stress away, for others you may starve your
stress away, others may add more to their life to ignore the stress, all of
these are normal reactions to stress but as believers are they the best way
for us to handle the stress that comes into our lives? Now the churchy thing
to say is “well just take it to Jesus brother/sister!” However true that
statement may be, I bet it doesn’t really comfort you or I all that much.
There are several verses in the bible that deal with the issue of stress,
mostly they speak of you and I never being alone –and I believe the reason
for that is because when we are stressed we often isolate ourselves and seek
shelter in ourselves. Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength,
and ever-present help in trouble. John 14:27 says Peace I leave
with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world
gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
It would appear based upon just these 2 verses that God truly is with us.
These verses would much easier on all of us though if we could see Him with
us or hear His voice right? The truth is though we probably would have both
of those things if we refocused our attention from ourselves to Him. How
can I see what I am not looking for? How can I hear what I am not
prepared to hear? Example: have you ever been in the car with someone
and they are driving and they say hey look at that and you look up only to
see nothing and then you ask what and they are like “that right there!” and
you’re like “yeah I got nothing” then you hear it “you missed it” ahh busted!
–You weren’t prepared to see it.
Example: what about when you are in your room texting or doing homework
and your mom or dad yells something to you and you totally miss it and
they freak out cause they have to repeat themselves. –You weren’t
prepared to hear it.
When God shows us something are we prepared for it? When God speaks
are we prepared to hear it? If you and I will take our eyes and ears off of
ourselves and focus on God both of those things will be available to us. Now
let me say this; I do not believe that you can ask God to take away your
stress and you not take steps to help. One of the biggest stresses right now
is school right; exams, end of year tests, sporting events, all of those things
make the end of the year not so much fun. So lets say you bring this to God
and say “God I need your help with this school work, it’s too much” and then
you go to sleep. Have you prayed to God or simply made a wish?
What if you stopped and made a plan and said, from this time to this time I
will study for this, from this time to this time I will write this paper, etc…
then you stopped and said God help me to focus my thoughts and use my
time wisely to know this information. I think that is a prayer God will
answer, because I think once you have taken the step to line things out and
then asked God to help you stick with it, I think that’s where conviction
comes in –you start looking at Facebook and you know you shouldn’t, you
start texting and something is telling you to stop, that is God speaking and
being present. 1 Peter 1:13 says prepare your minds for action; be
self-controlled. The truth is that we simply have to use a little self-control
and focus on the task before us, but so often we let the stresses in our lives
take over and rob us of the fullness that Christ has for our lives. Over in
Proverbs 25:28 it says that a lack of self control brings misery -28 Like a
city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
I think most of us would agree that stress has the ability to make us
miserable as well as miserable to be around. I went to Jamaica a few years
back with some of you and we had to work on a wall that had crumbled due
to a recent storm (Hurricane Ike). The cinderblock wall had fallen and
needed to be broken and moved to a dumpsite and it was only about 97
degrees at 9am when we started breaking it apart and moving it. Listen,
long story short, that wall was miserable to work on and to be around and
we (you and I) can be much the same way when we let stress take over our
lives and do not get ourselves under control. Isaiah 43:1-3 says 1 But
now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, O Jacob, he
who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I
have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass
through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through
the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through
the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
There is nothing that can overtake you, nothing that the Lord cannot bring
you through. Another verse from Isaiah in Isaiah 40:28-31 -28 Do you
not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or
weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives
strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even
youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
Tonight that is what I want to give you time to do, time to renew your
strength, time to renew your trust in the Lord. Some of you may have no
trust in the Lord tonight, some of you may not know much about Jesus,
tonight we are here for you and would love to show you what the Bible says
about your relationship with God. For yet others of you this may be a time
of rededication, when you acknowledge that you haven’t been faithful to God
but you are ready to turn from that and move toward faithfulness and trust
and not simply because you want better grades or for all your wishes to be
answered but because you want something better from your life. You were
created for so much more than to let the stress in your life rob you of the
fullness of life Christ offers. Whatever your need tonight, the time is now to
act; the time is now to get up and do something!
5/13/11 10:22 AM
5/13/11 10:22 AM