Post by Rob W. Case on Nov 19, 2010 3:47:22 GMT -6
Today, I want to discuss stress. We live in a time and age where stress is common, rampant, and so intense that it has become a tremendous challenge sometimes to simply maintain composure. Stress is a draining mechanism that can easily take our focus off of the Lord and dwell on our own troubles. Now, to us Christians, there are three major types of stress we should examine.
Work Related Stress
Social Stress
Spiritual Stress
I am going to focus on work-related stress.
Work-Related Stress:
Back in June, a friend of mine and I went to a restaurant we both like. When the waitress came to our table, she had a “brain freeze” for a moment. She just stopped completely and started staring at our food for a while, and tried to think which plate belonged to which person, and which side went with each dish. Never having seen that happen before, I politely reminded her which dish went to each person. For a moment, she totally lost her focus. After she served our food, She told both of us that she had been working longer hours (8, 10, and even sometimes 12 hour shifts), and that one day a waitress who was concerned for her, followed our waitress home because she was so out of it, that she felt that the stress for the day impaired her motor skills. She was so stressed out because the restaurant was not doing as good of business with the current economy that they ended up stretching the help they already have to the bare bones to help prevent hiring new people and consequentially give the waiters and waitresses that are already there more hours. She told me that even though she likes to make extra money sometimes, her body is not responding well to the stress. Our waitress was burned out.
And it doesn’t stop at only restaurants either. Stress works at the corporate level, the industry level, and immensely at the retail level. Individuals who work within cubicles are also stressed because they are working on assembling the right pieces that are needed to build a case, or a series of things to assemble a particular order or structure. In that, there are deadlines to meet, and assignments that are demanding, and strenuous to the mind, soul, and body, with less and less time and help to do it all in. Pressure increases, and is not easy to deal with.
Stress, judging from my experience, works like this. You are allotted a certain amount of time. Within that time, there are a number of tasks that must be completed before that time runs out. Within that time, many obstacles are thrown your way, some of which are expected, but many which are unexpected. As you strive to reach completion of your normal/assigned duties, many more demands arise, and demand your attention; halt your progress in moving towards reaching that point of completion, call for your skill and judgment, while everything else is placed on hold. Then it is up to you whether or not to view each demand on your time as a either a legitimate problem that needs solving, or a distraction that needs to be eliminated. And yet, stress is not going to go away any time soon. It goes with the territory. So your best bet would be to identify it, define it, and figure out ways to combat it, or at least learn to soften its blow to the body, mind, and soul.
In order to effectively learn how to overcome stress, or keep it under control, it is vital that you begin the process by learning how to apply these things.
1. Assess the situation for what it really is. Recognize how and what you’re feeling.
2. Examine your attitude
3. Don’t “blow up”, or you will make a mess
4. Depend on the Lord for Refuge and Strength
Assess the Situation for what it really is:
Many times, depending on how strenuous the stress we’re feeling might be, we have a growing tendency to get over-emotional and because of this, our imaginations, mixed with our insecurities are likelier to get the best of us. In that, we are at risk of becoming deluded into thinking that something may be happening that isn’t really happening. And so to prevent this from happening, it is important to properly assess what is going through your mind, and call it out for what it really is.
In fact, Isaiah 44:20 talks about a deluded heart when it comes to idol worship. Now, you might be wondering what idol worship has to do with stress, or finding ways to try and combat stress, but watch this; a person who worships an idol does not see it for what it truly is, a block of wood, stone, or other man-made object. Instead he is deluded into thinking that that idol is a god that has a life and actually lives to bless and/or serve the individual(s) worshipping it. The deluded mind creates its own “reality” that isn’t a true reality. The idol worshipper then places his hope and faith in what he thinks is a “god,” and that it will deliver and somehow bring a blessing or fortune on the individual(s) who worships it. And since true reality shows that wood, stone, iron, or what have you cannot talk, see, or hear, it is obvious that the one who thinks it can talk, see, or hear possesses a deluded frame of mind pent up on an activated imagination. And yet in, Isaiah we read….
20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
"Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"
In calling out something for what it truly is, the “power” of that object is downgraded and put in its proper place. Throughout the Bible, when idol worship was mentioned, it was truthfully described for what it really was, meaning, that God, Moses, Paul, and other men of God made no bones about defining an idol as really nothing more than a lifeless object made out of wood, stone, gold, silver, bronze, etc (see Deuteronomy 29:17, Revelation 9:20) . Many times when we are under a lot of stress, we need to take a moment to step back, and call out our problems, feelings, insecurities, or what have you, for what they truly are, so that when we are under intense pressure, we may not be as likely to delude ourselves into thinking that there is more to the situation than what is really there. And from this example, we need to downgrade the power of the thoughts that may come rushing through our minds when stress is at its height, and put those feelings in their proper place.
All throughout the Bible we are given the plain truth. In fact, it takes a humble heart on our part to be able to call our feelings out for what they truly and plainly are, so that we can go to the word, and have our properly defined problem in our hand, so that we can see what God has to say about the problem and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, depend on him to give us the wisdom needed to effectively handle identifies problems, or reverse the problem(s) entirely. And if you truly belong to Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is in your heart, and you seek his counsel, you will know through experience the power behind the reality within John 16:13a where it says…
John 16:13a (NIV)
13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
All too many times, when problems arise, we have a tendency to blow them all out of proportion and make them way bigger than they really are. It’s easy to do. And yet truth is truth. When we are under an incredible amount of stress, and we see someone else who we perceive may not be going through the same amount of stress, we might be truthfully jealous of that person because he is not in our current position, but in our stress-filled, deluded mindset, we may perceive that other person as being lazy, or wonder why he is not as stressed out as we might be and/or show hostility towards him because he is not in your position at the moment the perceived deluded thought is held. In this sense, if we are humble enough to identify the fact that we may be jealous of that person because he is not in the same stressful position that we may want him to be, or maybe his life in general appears easier than ours, then it is easier for us to go to the word with the identified root problem, study all that can be studied about, in this case, jealousy, and ask God to give us wisdom to be able to properly assemble the nature of the problem and build a deterrent to that problem.
Stress has a tendency to activate emotions and actively establishes certain moods….
Pride
Fear
Anxiety
Doubt
Discouragement
A sense of hopelessness
Worry
Exhaustion/Lack of energy or will to go on effectively and faithfully follow through with the task, or tasks you are trying to accomplish within the time constraints allotted for you to do so.
And so, out of honestly identifying your feelings when they occur and you detect them, you now have a starting point from which to find, study, and ask God to lead you to the solution that will bring to you the knowledge and understanding needed to reverse those feelings, and give you the peace of mind you need to endure these problems when they come up again.
Now, what happens if you are not in a deluded frame of mind, and let’s say, within the workplace, or what have you, someone else is in fact working maliciously in the dark against you? This is a stress that does occur within the workplace, and it is even more challenging to effectively work when you are aware of what is going on, yet the malicious person hasn’t a clue that you are aware of their “prowling” nature. Knowing that someone is lurking around you, hoping that you slip, or purposely trying to find fault in you, or the way you do your work (in order to get rid of you), or maliciously try to derail your motivation to ensure failure for whatever reason(s), adds much more stress in your attempt to try and get your work done for the day. Now King David was no doubt under a lot of stress. He had malicious enemies who were out to destroy him, and one of them was his very own son. But what did he do? He.....
1. Prayed to the Lord
2. Confessed his sins
3. Stated his problems and concerns, and the Lord gave him the strength and wisdom needed to endure the next challenge that came across his path.
And so, these are time-tested and proven strategies that work well to this day, once they are applied.
Examine Your Attitude:
Attitudes come in one of two choices. Positive and negative. Stress can both be agitated and out of control or it can be subdued by your attitude. Some people I know go to work with a negative, pre-destined outlook on the day ahead, before the day even starts. Already that person’s attitude is forecasting the rest of their day, and so as they expect their day to be, so it becomes. This method of thinking is mostly common in the unsaved world. All they have is their own perception and understanding of things, which prevents them from going outside of their own limited intellectual box, so there’s not much hope in them since they are not really leaving from the boundaries of the world the way they see it.
We Christians sometimes fall trap to this as well. But guess what? If we are truly saved, then we have a personal relationship with the Lord, and with that personal relationship, He will, through the Holy Spirit, help us transform our attitudes if we cleanse our hearts, and prayerfully ask him to intercede for us.
Consider this….
Philippians 2:5
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Let’s look at Jesus’s life from a stress-centered standpoint. There is no doubt that Jesus had a lot of stress on his hands. For one, he knew the Father’s intent on writing the Law because… he was there. He then had to deal with the arrogant hearts of the ones responsible in teaching that law to the inhabitants of the land of Israel. He then had to deal with these teachers’ ignorance and lack of wisdom in identifying him as the Messiah. And then he had to deal with the backlash of showing these teachers the nature of their own hearts. And then he had to deal with the political ramifications for doing these things and more because the teachers of the law had the know-how to blackmail the leadership of the governor of Judea. Of course, Jesus knew what was going to happen, and he came for this purpose, but he had to let the condition of the hearts of those involved in his fate to play out the strategy that would accomplish the sacrifice before God. And yet, Jesus had undergone a lot of stress dealing with the mock trials, the crucifixion, public scrutiny, the anticipation of excruciating pain, living through the excruciating pain, dealing with the departure of the Father from Him, and dying. And so, when Jesus came, he walked in to a disaster. Due to the corrupt and hopeless state of the leadership, the only hope for humanity was, through God’s mercy and grace, change the strategy. And yet, through all that had happened, Jesus remained obedient and had the wisdom and patience to endure all of the hell he put up with. Jesus’ focus was to be obedient, and yet, Jesus also had the wisdom to endure through everything that came at him. In fact, while Christ was on the cross, and the Roman Guards were casting lots for his clothing, mocking him, he said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing (Luke 23:34).” I think that many times, it takes a superior form of understanding to be able to place things in its proper perspective and Jesus always had the proper perspective in dealing with everything that came his way. The soldiers who mocked, ridiculed, and physically abused him were so immersed by the world, its surroundings, and its system that they really couldn’t grasp the significance of what they were really doing. All they saw, within the confines of their own limited mindset was just another “crazy man” who thought he was king, and thus was another “nut” punished for trying to overthrow the government in declaring that he was King and attracting a massive group of people to his cause. And through all of these events, what was Jesus’ attitude? It was, “father forgive them,” which would be both unheard of and impossible to apply from a strictly human standpoint.
So how was Jesus able to maintain a positive attitude through all of what he had to deal with? His mind, His energy, His perseverance was totally above the limited minds filled with limited understandings, energy, and lack of the will to persevere through the toughest of obstacles. That is one of the reasons why he is the ultimate example as to how we should live as Christians. Now the common response to what I just said would be, “well that’s easier said than done.” Not so. When you study and meditate on the root cause of your problems, and then pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you guidance, then he will, if you are receptive to his voice, piece it together for you supernaturally.
As it states in Philippians 4:19
19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
The apostle Paul explains what these riches are in Colossians 2:2-3.
2My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
So in order to grasp these treasures, it takes wisdom and knowledge to build understanding. Once you possess this understanding gained from the wisdom and knowledge of things once you properly identify and know exactly what they are and their nature, then it will be easier for you to keep your focus above so that you may have the peace of mind, energy, and perseverance to endure through all of your stressful situations. Once this works, and you become familiar with the power of this truth, it is easier to attain a more positive attitude on life, and it truly helps keep the things that would otherwise bother you marginal and not as important. This is but a power of the Lord that he gives those who have a relationship with him.
Don’t “blow up”, or you will make a mess:
Within many stressful situations, there is a point where something or a series of somethings will require your undivided attention, to a point where all of your energy will be needed to solve it. This is where I think it is most easy to let go of the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding part and return to the limited mindset of human nature. As Christians, we obviously live life in two-tracks, a spiritual track and a physical, worldly track. When the situation arises where we lose our focus on the spiritual, we tend to feel confined to the worldly track, without really realizing that we are doing so. When we are introduced to a new problem, we don’t always think of it as a spiritual problem, because it not always is, so it is easy to get off track.
For example…
Let’s say you go to work, and you find out that the person who worked before you didn’t get all of his work done. So, it’s up to you to finish their work (which requires you to attend to more problems that need your undivided attention) and do your work within the same scheduled time frame that you would otherwise have to only do your own work. Or let’s say you are working on a job, and your boss asks you, while you’re working on that job to do another job, and then another, and then another, and somebody else needs your undivided attention for them at the same time. And so, in your mind, you have to build a list of everything that is assigned to you, so that you can attend to each and every problem, and still try to make time to do the work assigned to you. And so, as your undivided attention works to take items off of your “list,” it is easy to not even think about spiritual things. Then, you strive to accomplish your goal, anything more added to that list of things to do becomes a distraction, and it gradually begins eating away at your patience, as the overall goal to finish within the allotted time frame feels as though it is getting farther and farther away from you. Then, as more tasks and more demands keep piling up, then a feeling of resentment towards the individual(s) now has room to grow as it is easier to perceive and enter the deluded mindset of thinking that these people are deliberately causing you not finish your work. This feeling works in correlation with what I mentioned in the last segment in which when problems arise, we have a tendency to blow them all out of proportion and make them way bigger than they really are. Now, if we are in a state of mind where we harbor resentment towards anyone whom we may feel adds to our stress, and as this resentment continues to grow, then your tolerance level begins to diminish. Eventually, you end up in a situation where you need to make a choice; Either step back, and honestly think about the down to earth truth of your feelings. Be understanding, and Keep your cool, or just get mad and “blow up.”
I have seen people blow up, and they made a mess. For example, years ago, I remember when working at a Grocery store, the checkout lines were getting bigger and bigger, and this one cashier was really stressed. The boss of that department was adding to this cashier’s stress by being nitpicky about how she was doing things. Eventually, the cashier was so fed up that she just up and left her checkstand, grabbed her things, walked out of the store, and went home while she had a line full of people waiting to be checked out. And so, the boss had to work her register, and work that cashier’s line down. Even though she walked out, she did not yell, scream, or charge against somebody. But by her leaving her post, she generated distrust in that her boss now had added to her stress, the possibility that the cashier might do that again, and to prepare just in case that cashier does do it again. In this case, when you blow up, you generate distrust, and when you generate distrust, someone else has to both watch your every move and construct a plan of action so that they are not stuck in that situation once again.
On another occasion, when I was a cashier, I had a stressful situation in which a lady changed her mind over a package of hot dogs. She wanted me to take off the ones that she chose and wanted us to get her another brand. With my line piling up, I had to find somebody to make the switch, and I had to find somebody to key out the voided items. The service desk clerk at that time was very busy doing her own thing, and it took her time to get to me. And yet I couldn’t proceed without the service desk clerk clearing out my void. And so a few of my customers were getting restless. I kept hearing sighs, moans, and groans of frustration. And then one guy grew so impatient that he began to make comments out loud. As I was waiting for the service desk clerk to come to my register, his comments were becoming more and more tormenting to me. I then used the phone to call the service desk girl again to key out my order, and then the guy said out loud, “Gee, this guy really loves his phone!” I then turned to the man and said, “Excuse me sir, but you need to shut up!” I couldn’t take it anymore. And do you know what happened after that? That man complained about me to the service desk, and to the assistant store director at the time, but The Lord gave me the strength to maintain the rest of my patience, and let that man say what he wanted about me without me interrupting, and I did not go further from there. And do you want to know something? Most of the people who were in my line came to my aide and stayed after (when they had no obligation to do so), to speak in my defense. Talk about the Lord’s hand at work. And it’s interesting. When I went to explain my case, they not only heard my side of the story, but they thanked me for not going any further than what I did, especially since throughout their careers, they experienced workers who were so angry that they acted irrationally and the irrational way that they handled the situation got them into serious trouble.
Now, am I saying that it’s alright to tell someone who is bothering you to shut up? No. But my point in sharing this story with you leads to this next point.
Depend on the Lord for Refuge and Strength:
There are two people I want to talk about who not only took this concept to heart, but got results from doing it, and they expressed it in their writings. Those people are King David, and Jeremiah the prophet.
King David
Psalm 18:2
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 46:1
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 91: 1-2
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
That says a lot when you are familiar with the life of King David, the context of the events that occurred when he wrote them, and the many numerously stressful situations that he had to endure. When you have had someone that you were close to try and kill you, when you confront Goliath of Gath from the Philistine Army, when you are King of Israel and have to endure the stress of governing over a people who are not always doing what they should, while having enemies lurking around, working to try and overthrow your Kingdom, and then you are willing to say things like the Lord is my Refuge and my strength, then the hardships that we encounter seem to pale by comparison, doesn’t it? So why not study that truth for ourselves, and with prayer and supplication, apply it to our lives?
Jeremiah was under a lot of stress as well. He knew what God loved and what He detested. And yet, knowing what pleased God and what provoked Him to anger, and then seeing how the people did the very things that provoked God to anger that inflicted tremendous stress on Jeremiah’s soul. And so, God would use Jeremiah to warn the people of what was going to come if they did not turn from their sins and continued to provoke God to anger. And so, Jeremiah saw how, while so immersed in sin, the people weren’t receptive, nor did they care about what God had to say. And so, God allowed Israel’s enemies to take over, and Jeremiah had to suffer from the consequences of the conduct of the very people that ignored him. And yet, Jeremiah still said…..
Jeremiah 16:19
19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
"Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
And the hardships didn’t stop there for Jeremiah. He was in exile, saw everything that Israel once had go the Babylonians, got arrested, had stones thrown at him, and was in awe over the fact that everything that Israel once had was now gone.
And so, how does your life compare/contrast to that of Jeremiah? It seems that the hardships we encounter today seem to pale by comparison, doesn’t it?
I think that in many instances we tend to recite certain verses, but we fail to look very far into the meaning, and as a result, fail to lock in and activate the true power behind the words. Now, tonight, ask the Lord to cleanse your sins. And then before you go to work tomorrow remember what was said here today. When you encounter a stressful situation, step back, and assess your feelings honestly, examine your attitude, make sure that you do not lose your cool, and then depend on the Lord for wisdom, strength, and understanding. It truly works when it is tried and God is depended on for results.
Work Related Stress
Social Stress
Spiritual Stress
I am going to focus on work-related stress.
Work-Related Stress:
Back in June, a friend of mine and I went to a restaurant we both like. When the waitress came to our table, she had a “brain freeze” for a moment. She just stopped completely and started staring at our food for a while, and tried to think which plate belonged to which person, and which side went with each dish. Never having seen that happen before, I politely reminded her which dish went to each person. For a moment, she totally lost her focus. After she served our food, She told both of us that she had been working longer hours (8, 10, and even sometimes 12 hour shifts), and that one day a waitress who was concerned for her, followed our waitress home because she was so out of it, that she felt that the stress for the day impaired her motor skills. She was so stressed out because the restaurant was not doing as good of business with the current economy that they ended up stretching the help they already have to the bare bones to help prevent hiring new people and consequentially give the waiters and waitresses that are already there more hours. She told me that even though she likes to make extra money sometimes, her body is not responding well to the stress. Our waitress was burned out.
And it doesn’t stop at only restaurants either. Stress works at the corporate level, the industry level, and immensely at the retail level. Individuals who work within cubicles are also stressed because they are working on assembling the right pieces that are needed to build a case, or a series of things to assemble a particular order or structure. In that, there are deadlines to meet, and assignments that are demanding, and strenuous to the mind, soul, and body, with less and less time and help to do it all in. Pressure increases, and is not easy to deal with.
Stress, judging from my experience, works like this. You are allotted a certain amount of time. Within that time, there are a number of tasks that must be completed before that time runs out. Within that time, many obstacles are thrown your way, some of which are expected, but many which are unexpected. As you strive to reach completion of your normal/assigned duties, many more demands arise, and demand your attention; halt your progress in moving towards reaching that point of completion, call for your skill and judgment, while everything else is placed on hold. Then it is up to you whether or not to view each demand on your time as a either a legitimate problem that needs solving, or a distraction that needs to be eliminated. And yet, stress is not going to go away any time soon. It goes with the territory. So your best bet would be to identify it, define it, and figure out ways to combat it, or at least learn to soften its blow to the body, mind, and soul.
In order to effectively learn how to overcome stress, or keep it under control, it is vital that you begin the process by learning how to apply these things.
1. Assess the situation for what it really is. Recognize how and what you’re feeling.
2. Examine your attitude
3. Don’t “blow up”, or you will make a mess
4. Depend on the Lord for Refuge and Strength
Assess the Situation for what it really is:
Many times, depending on how strenuous the stress we’re feeling might be, we have a growing tendency to get over-emotional and because of this, our imaginations, mixed with our insecurities are likelier to get the best of us. In that, we are at risk of becoming deluded into thinking that something may be happening that isn’t really happening. And so to prevent this from happening, it is important to properly assess what is going through your mind, and call it out for what it really is.
In fact, Isaiah 44:20 talks about a deluded heart when it comes to idol worship. Now, you might be wondering what idol worship has to do with stress, or finding ways to try and combat stress, but watch this; a person who worships an idol does not see it for what it truly is, a block of wood, stone, or other man-made object. Instead he is deluded into thinking that that idol is a god that has a life and actually lives to bless and/or serve the individual(s) worshipping it. The deluded mind creates its own “reality” that isn’t a true reality. The idol worshipper then places his hope and faith in what he thinks is a “god,” and that it will deliver and somehow bring a blessing or fortune on the individual(s) who worships it. And since true reality shows that wood, stone, iron, or what have you cannot talk, see, or hear, it is obvious that the one who thinks it can talk, see, or hear possesses a deluded frame of mind pent up on an activated imagination. And yet in, Isaiah we read….
20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
"Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"
In calling out something for what it truly is, the “power” of that object is downgraded and put in its proper place. Throughout the Bible, when idol worship was mentioned, it was truthfully described for what it really was, meaning, that God, Moses, Paul, and other men of God made no bones about defining an idol as really nothing more than a lifeless object made out of wood, stone, gold, silver, bronze, etc (see Deuteronomy 29:17, Revelation 9:20) . Many times when we are under a lot of stress, we need to take a moment to step back, and call out our problems, feelings, insecurities, or what have you, for what they truly are, so that when we are under intense pressure, we may not be as likely to delude ourselves into thinking that there is more to the situation than what is really there. And from this example, we need to downgrade the power of the thoughts that may come rushing through our minds when stress is at its height, and put those feelings in their proper place.
All throughout the Bible we are given the plain truth. In fact, it takes a humble heart on our part to be able to call our feelings out for what they truly and plainly are, so that we can go to the word, and have our properly defined problem in our hand, so that we can see what God has to say about the problem and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, depend on him to give us the wisdom needed to effectively handle identifies problems, or reverse the problem(s) entirely. And if you truly belong to Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is in your heart, and you seek his counsel, you will know through experience the power behind the reality within John 16:13a where it says…
John 16:13a (NIV)
13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
All too many times, when problems arise, we have a tendency to blow them all out of proportion and make them way bigger than they really are. It’s easy to do. And yet truth is truth. When we are under an incredible amount of stress, and we see someone else who we perceive may not be going through the same amount of stress, we might be truthfully jealous of that person because he is not in our current position, but in our stress-filled, deluded mindset, we may perceive that other person as being lazy, or wonder why he is not as stressed out as we might be and/or show hostility towards him because he is not in your position at the moment the perceived deluded thought is held. In this sense, if we are humble enough to identify the fact that we may be jealous of that person because he is not in the same stressful position that we may want him to be, or maybe his life in general appears easier than ours, then it is easier for us to go to the word with the identified root problem, study all that can be studied about, in this case, jealousy, and ask God to give us wisdom to be able to properly assemble the nature of the problem and build a deterrent to that problem.
Stress has a tendency to activate emotions and actively establishes certain moods….
Pride
Fear
Anxiety
Doubt
Discouragement
A sense of hopelessness
Worry
Exhaustion/Lack of energy or will to go on effectively and faithfully follow through with the task, or tasks you are trying to accomplish within the time constraints allotted for you to do so.
And so, out of honestly identifying your feelings when they occur and you detect them, you now have a starting point from which to find, study, and ask God to lead you to the solution that will bring to you the knowledge and understanding needed to reverse those feelings, and give you the peace of mind you need to endure these problems when they come up again.
Now, what happens if you are not in a deluded frame of mind, and let’s say, within the workplace, or what have you, someone else is in fact working maliciously in the dark against you? This is a stress that does occur within the workplace, and it is even more challenging to effectively work when you are aware of what is going on, yet the malicious person hasn’t a clue that you are aware of their “prowling” nature. Knowing that someone is lurking around you, hoping that you slip, or purposely trying to find fault in you, or the way you do your work (in order to get rid of you), or maliciously try to derail your motivation to ensure failure for whatever reason(s), adds much more stress in your attempt to try and get your work done for the day. Now King David was no doubt under a lot of stress. He had malicious enemies who were out to destroy him, and one of them was his very own son. But what did he do? He.....
1. Prayed to the Lord
2. Confessed his sins
3. Stated his problems and concerns, and the Lord gave him the strength and wisdom needed to endure the next challenge that came across his path.
And so, these are time-tested and proven strategies that work well to this day, once they are applied.
Examine Your Attitude:
Attitudes come in one of two choices. Positive and negative. Stress can both be agitated and out of control or it can be subdued by your attitude. Some people I know go to work with a negative, pre-destined outlook on the day ahead, before the day even starts. Already that person’s attitude is forecasting the rest of their day, and so as they expect their day to be, so it becomes. This method of thinking is mostly common in the unsaved world. All they have is their own perception and understanding of things, which prevents them from going outside of their own limited intellectual box, so there’s not much hope in them since they are not really leaving from the boundaries of the world the way they see it.
We Christians sometimes fall trap to this as well. But guess what? If we are truly saved, then we have a personal relationship with the Lord, and with that personal relationship, He will, through the Holy Spirit, help us transform our attitudes if we cleanse our hearts, and prayerfully ask him to intercede for us.
Consider this….
Philippians 2:5
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Let’s look at Jesus’s life from a stress-centered standpoint. There is no doubt that Jesus had a lot of stress on his hands. For one, he knew the Father’s intent on writing the Law because… he was there. He then had to deal with the arrogant hearts of the ones responsible in teaching that law to the inhabitants of the land of Israel. He then had to deal with these teachers’ ignorance and lack of wisdom in identifying him as the Messiah. And then he had to deal with the backlash of showing these teachers the nature of their own hearts. And then he had to deal with the political ramifications for doing these things and more because the teachers of the law had the know-how to blackmail the leadership of the governor of Judea. Of course, Jesus knew what was going to happen, and he came for this purpose, but he had to let the condition of the hearts of those involved in his fate to play out the strategy that would accomplish the sacrifice before God. And yet, Jesus had undergone a lot of stress dealing with the mock trials, the crucifixion, public scrutiny, the anticipation of excruciating pain, living through the excruciating pain, dealing with the departure of the Father from Him, and dying. And so, when Jesus came, he walked in to a disaster. Due to the corrupt and hopeless state of the leadership, the only hope for humanity was, through God’s mercy and grace, change the strategy. And yet, through all that had happened, Jesus remained obedient and had the wisdom and patience to endure all of the hell he put up with. Jesus’ focus was to be obedient, and yet, Jesus also had the wisdom to endure through everything that came at him. In fact, while Christ was on the cross, and the Roman Guards were casting lots for his clothing, mocking him, he said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing (Luke 23:34).” I think that many times, it takes a superior form of understanding to be able to place things in its proper perspective and Jesus always had the proper perspective in dealing with everything that came his way. The soldiers who mocked, ridiculed, and physically abused him were so immersed by the world, its surroundings, and its system that they really couldn’t grasp the significance of what they were really doing. All they saw, within the confines of their own limited mindset was just another “crazy man” who thought he was king, and thus was another “nut” punished for trying to overthrow the government in declaring that he was King and attracting a massive group of people to his cause. And through all of these events, what was Jesus’ attitude? It was, “father forgive them,” which would be both unheard of and impossible to apply from a strictly human standpoint.
So how was Jesus able to maintain a positive attitude through all of what he had to deal with? His mind, His energy, His perseverance was totally above the limited minds filled with limited understandings, energy, and lack of the will to persevere through the toughest of obstacles. That is one of the reasons why he is the ultimate example as to how we should live as Christians. Now the common response to what I just said would be, “well that’s easier said than done.” Not so. When you study and meditate on the root cause of your problems, and then pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you guidance, then he will, if you are receptive to his voice, piece it together for you supernaturally.
As it states in Philippians 4:19
19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
The apostle Paul explains what these riches are in Colossians 2:2-3.
2My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
So in order to grasp these treasures, it takes wisdom and knowledge to build understanding. Once you possess this understanding gained from the wisdom and knowledge of things once you properly identify and know exactly what they are and their nature, then it will be easier for you to keep your focus above so that you may have the peace of mind, energy, and perseverance to endure through all of your stressful situations. Once this works, and you become familiar with the power of this truth, it is easier to attain a more positive attitude on life, and it truly helps keep the things that would otherwise bother you marginal and not as important. This is but a power of the Lord that he gives those who have a relationship with him.
Don’t “blow up”, or you will make a mess:
Within many stressful situations, there is a point where something or a series of somethings will require your undivided attention, to a point where all of your energy will be needed to solve it. This is where I think it is most easy to let go of the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding part and return to the limited mindset of human nature. As Christians, we obviously live life in two-tracks, a spiritual track and a physical, worldly track. When the situation arises where we lose our focus on the spiritual, we tend to feel confined to the worldly track, without really realizing that we are doing so. When we are introduced to a new problem, we don’t always think of it as a spiritual problem, because it not always is, so it is easy to get off track.
For example…
Let’s say you go to work, and you find out that the person who worked before you didn’t get all of his work done. So, it’s up to you to finish their work (which requires you to attend to more problems that need your undivided attention) and do your work within the same scheduled time frame that you would otherwise have to only do your own work. Or let’s say you are working on a job, and your boss asks you, while you’re working on that job to do another job, and then another, and then another, and somebody else needs your undivided attention for them at the same time. And so, in your mind, you have to build a list of everything that is assigned to you, so that you can attend to each and every problem, and still try to make time to do the work assigned to you. And so, as your undivided attention works to take items off of your “list,” it is easy to not even think about spiritual things. Then, you strive to accomplish your goal, anything more added to that list of things to do becomes a distraction, and it gradually begins eating away at your patience, as the overall goal to finish within the allotted time frame feels as though it is getting farther and farther away from you. Then, as more tasks and more demands keep piling up, then a feeling of resentment towards the individual(s) now has room to grow as it is easier to perceive and enter the deluded mindset of thinking that these people are deliberately causing you not finish your work. This feeling works in correlation with what I mentioned in the last segment in which when problems arise, we have a tendency to blow them all out of proportion and make them way bigger than they really are. Now, if we are in a state of mind where we harbor resentment towards anyone whom we may feel adds to our stress, and as this resentment continues to grow, then your tolerance level begins to diminish. Eventually, you end up in a situation where you need to make a choice; Either step back, and honestly think about the down to earth truth of your feelings. Be understanding, and Keep your cool, or just get mad and “blow up.”
I have seen people blow up, and they made a mess. For example, years ago, I remember when working at a Grocery store, the checkout lines were getting bigger and bigger, and this one cashier was really stressed. The boss of that department was adding to this cashier’s stress by being nitpicky about how she was doing things. Eventually, the cashier was so fed up that she just up and left her checkstand, grabbed her things, walked out of the store, and went home while she had a line full of people waiting to be checked out. And so, the boss had to work her register, and work that cashier’s line down. Even though she walked out, she did not yell, scream, or charge against somebody. But by her leaving her post, she generated distrust in that her boss now had added to her stress, the possibility that the cashier might do that again, and to prepare just in case that cashier does do it again. In this case, when you blow up, you generate distrust, and when you generate distrust, someone else has to both watch your every move and construct a plan of action so that they are not stuck in that situation once again.
On another occasion, when I was a cashier, I had a stressful situation in which a lady changed her mind over a package of hot dogs. She wanted me to take off the ones that she chose and wanted us to get her another brand. With my line piling up, I had to find somebody to make the switch, and I had to find somebody to key out the voided items. The service desk clerk at that time was very busy doing her own thing, and it took her time to get to me. And yet I couldn’t proceed without the service desk clerk clearing out my void. And so a few of my customers were getting restless. I kept hearing sighs, moans, and groans of frustration. And then one guy grew so impatient that he began to make comments out loud. As I was waiting for the service desk clerk to come to my register, his comments were becoming more and more tormenting to me. I then used the phone to call the service desk girl again to key out my order, and then the guy said out loud, “Gee, this guy really loves his phone!” I then turned to the man and said, “Excuse me sir, but you need to shut up!” I couldn’t take it anymore. And do you know what happened after that? That man complained about me to the service desk, and to the assistant store director at the time, but The Lord gave me the strength to maintain the rest of my patience, and let that man say what he wanted about me without me interrupting, and I did not go further from there. And do you want to know something? Most of the people who were in my line came to my aide and stayed after (when they had no obligation to do so), to speak in my defense. Talk about the Lord’s hand at work. And it’s interesting. When I went to explain my case, they not only heard my side of the story, but they thanked me for not going any further than what I did, especially since throughout their careers, they experienced workers who were so angry that they acted irrationally and the irrational way that they handled the situation got them into serious trouble.
Now, am I saying that it’s alright to tell someone who is bothering you to shut up? No. But my point in sharing this story with you leads to this next point.
Depend on the Lord for Refuge and Strength:
There are two people I want to talk about who not only took this concept to heart, but got results from doing it, and they expressed it in their writings. Those people are King David, and Jeremiah the prophet.
King David
Psalm 18:2
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 46:1
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 91: 1-2
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
That says a lot when you are familiar with the life of King David, the context of the events that occurred when he wrote them, and the many numerously stressful situations that he had to endure. When you have had someone that you were close to try and kill you, when you confront Goliath of Gath from the Philistine Army, when you are King of Israel and have to endure the stress of governing over a people who are not always doing what they should, while having enemies lurking around, working to try and overthrow your Kingdom, and then you are willing to say things like the Lord is my Refuge and my strength, then the hardships that we encounter seem to pale by comparison, doesn’t it? So why not study that truth for ourselves, and with prayer and supplication, apply it to our lives?
Jeremiah was under a lot of stress as well. He knew what God loved and what He detested. And yet, knowing what pleased God and what provoked Him to anger, and then seeing how the people did the very things that provoked God to anger that inflicted tremendous stress on Jeremiah’s soul. And so, God would use Jeremiah to warn the people of what was going to come if they did not turn from their sins and continued to provoke God to anger. And so, Jeremiah saw how, while so immersed in sin, the people weren’t receptive, nor did they care about what God had to say. And so, God allowed Israel’s enemies to take over, and Jeremiah had to suffer from the consequences of the conduct of the very people that ignored him. And yet, Jeremiah still said…..
Jeremiah 16:19
19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
"Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
And the hardships didn’t stop there for Jeremiah. He was in exile, saw everything that Israel once had go the Babylonians, got arrested, had stones thrown at him, and was in awe over the fact that everything that Israel once had was now gone.
And so, how does your life compare/contrast to that of Jeremiah? It seems that the hardships we encounter today seem to pale by comparison, doesn’t it?
I think that in many instances we tend to recite certain verses, but we fail to look very far into the meaning, and as a result, fail to lock in and activate the true power behind the words. Now, tonight, ask the Lord to cleanse your sins. And then before you go to work tomorrow remember what was said here today. When you encounter a stressful situation, step back, and assess your feelings honestly, examine your attitude, make sure that you do not lose your cool, and then depend on the Lord for wisdom, strength, and understanding. It truly works when it is tried and God is depended on for results.