Beating Stress!

Recently I've gone through a lot of stress, from church related stuff, to moving back to Arizona from Kansas, to family issues to health issues, and more. I'm happy to report that I am feeling much better these days. I appreciate the many prayers and encouraging words people have given me.

Now that I'm feeling better, let me share with you four things that helped me and can help you when you're stressed to a breaking point and it does not involve punching people.

Free Your Frustrations

Stress creates all kinds of negative emotions – like anxiety, worry, fear, guilt, shame, and depression. And it can create frustration as well. What do we typically do with that frustration? We usually push it down deeper inside of us. Then we just pretend everything is OK. We can’t let anyone see that we’re vulnerable. But is that really what God wants? Does he want you to be a phony? No, God wants you to be real. God understands your emotions. He created you and gave you the ability to feel what you do. So he wants you to express those emotions.

The Bible says in Psalms 62:8, “Pour out your heart to God, for he is our refuge.” He wants us to just lay it all out to him. Whatever it is that you’re feeling, just tell him. Don’t repress your feelings of frustration, let them out.

Back Off From Bitterness

Bitterness is often a by-product of finding yourself stressed to the breaking point. Although you can’t control your circumstances, you can control your response to circumstances. At some point in your life, you have to decide whether you’re going to be bitter or happy. The sooner you make that choice the better. You can’t have both. After many years of ministry, I’ve learned something about contentment. There’s no connection between circumstances and happiness. Most people want you to believe that there is. They want you to believe that if you were serving at a bigger church, had more money, or a nicer home, you’d be happy. But it’s a lie. We all know people who have it all and are unhappy. Obviously, it’s not a matter of circumstances. Hebrews 12:15 says, “Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you. It causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.” Bitterness never changes anything. But gratitude does. It’s the antidote to bitterness. Studies have shown that gratitude is the healthiest emotion that you can possibly have. When you feel like bitterness is taking over, you need to find something that you can be thankful for. You can’t be grateful and bitter at the same time.

Reach Out and Receive

I'm an introvert by nature and it’s tempting to isolate myself when I'm stressed out. But when you are at your breaking point, you need people in your life. You need people who will give you support, strength, and perspective. You may find that kind of support within your church family. You may need to find some others in your community who can support you through stressful times. And you need to set up a support system beforea crisis hits. If you wait until a crisis hits to try to find people to walk through it with you, it’ll probably be too late. One day you’ll hit the wall. And when that happens, you need to have people you can count on. I'm so grateful for my wife and son who love me unconditionally. There have also been many others who have supported me recently. Thank you!

Refocus On Our Creator

When we get stressed, our life gets out of focus. You start looking at your problem and stop looking at the answer. All we can see is our pain. That’s when you need to get your focus off of yourself and on to the Lord, but how do you do it? Read, Remember and Rely!

Read Scripture. The Bible is a great stress reliever. Go through your Bible and underline verses that mean a lot to you.

Remember God is Good. Usually when we’re stressed, we’re focused on what’s wrong and we usually we exaggerate them. That’s exactly when we need to focus on the goodness of God. God really is good. We need to remember that when we’re stressed out.

Rely on God. 2 Corinthians 1:9, “In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” If God can raise a dead person, he can raise a dead marriage; he can raise a dead career; he can raise anything. He can turn things around that we think are hopeless.

In times of stress, remember God cares and there are people who do too!