Stressed! How much can you bear? I would tend to believe that if you were honest – most would state that their lives are more stressful these days. We are stressed with our finances; trying to stretch every dollar to make ends meet. We are stressed with our jobs; for it seems that our work requires more and more hours to complete all of our tasks each day. We are stressed with our children; trying to get them to all their events and to find time for them to do their homework. And our marriages are stressed; for husbands and wives are so busy with everything else already mentioned that they can’t find any time to escape for a couple of hours of quality time together.
And to top all this, our daily “stress” has caused us to grow apart from the Lord; to disavow our need for prayer; to become indifferent to God’s Word; to reject the stirring of the Holy Spirit to praise, worship, and fellowship unto and with the Lord. And where does all this “stress” lead? Stress can lead to anxiety, ill will, consternation [meaning, astonishment; amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates a person for consultation and execution; excessive terror], and even “distress” – if it is not brought under control. But now you might ask, “How can I bring stress under control?”
We must each understand that stress can be managed [if] it is brought under the subjection [control] of the Lord. But we must first recognize that “stress” is a “by-product” and not a “cause”. In other words, if we are going to bring our stress under control, we must begin by placing our lives under the subjection of the Lord. For you see, lives that are not under the subjection of the Lord will bring anxiety and even distress upon them. This must include our personal lives, our marriages, our families, our homes, our jobs, our finances – everything.
In 1 Peter 5:6-7 we are instructed,
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
If you were to study the life of David, you would find that there were many things that brought stress – even to the point of distress – upon his life. Yet, he always knew [Whom] to turn to.
David penned the following in Psalms 18:1-6,
“I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.”
Though David knew [Whom] to turn to, do you know that [He is the Lord]? But let us be reminded here that if we choose not to place our lives under the subjection of the Lord – whereby our stress [distress] may be relieved – the Lord states that we will be left to our own peril.
Proverbs 1:24-30 states,
“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation [a storm], and your destruction [calamity] cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early [diligently], but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.”
How can you bear the “stress” in your life? You can begin by placing your life in the Lord’s hand. Then, you will truly see that the Lord will lift the stress / distress off of your life.
