Stress Can Save Your Life
Psalm 55
Have you heard the Jamaican song: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” Can you picture a Jamaican man who is enjoying a stress free life? He lives a life always on vacation. There’s no stress, no concerns, no bills to pay, no children to shuttle from place to place, no sickness, no problems to solve. Don’t worry, be happy!
The Psalmist in Psalm 55 gives us a realistic picture of life. What the Psalmist describes in Psalm 55 many of us have experienced.
Psalm 55:1-5 describes a life in crisis. Psalm 55:6-8 describes one way to face problems and challenges in life.
Psalm 55:16-22 describes how the Psalmist found the answer by turning to the Lord.
I. A Life in Crisis (1-5)
The Psalmist describes his life in crisis: “I’m overwhelmed by my troubles.” (2) “Enemies surround me and are hunting me down.” (3) “My heart is in anguish – the terror of death overpowers me.” (4) “Fear and trembling overwhelm me. I can’t stop shaking.” (New Living Translation)
At different stages of our lives we all have faced minor and major challenges and change that caused stress, anxiety and worry.
When I was a teenager my parents separated and I experienced stress and anxiety.
When my mother, sister and I moved to another town and I attended a new school as a 9th grader I experienced fear and anxiety.
During College years I as seeking God’s and during my senior year I asked Carollyn to marry me and that summer anticipating marriage I lost 20 lbs – 180 to 160 lbs. I was stressed out about my new responsibilities, starting seminary, finances and finding part-time work. It was not an easy time.
How many of you can identify with the following statements: fill in the blank.
“I’m ready to throw in the ……….
I’m at the end of my …………
I’m just a bundle of …………
My life is falling …………..
I’m at my wits ……………
I fell like resigning from the human …………
If someone tells you that he is free from all stress or anxiety, he is either a fool or a liar. We all have to learn to live with a certain amount of stress and tension.
The Christian life is not a panacea that frees us from all the difficult times of life. We are not put on a golden pedestal to remain untouched by heartache, sorrow, tragedy and the anxiety of daily living.
In Christ we are given strength to face our challenges and work through them and keep going forward. Jesus says, “Come to me and I will give you ……… Matthew 11:28
When we experience crisis and traumas in life: death in the family, divorce, loss of a job, or when life tumbles in, we can turn to Jesus.
In Mark 4 Jesus told a parable about the challenges of life. Jesus told about the farmer sowing seed to four kinds of soil. “Some seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop?” (Mark 4:7)
When the disciples asked Jesus the meaning of the parable Jesus explained: “And the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-19)
Undue worry and anxieties act like strangulation and chokes the very life out of a person. One medical study stated that almost half of all people who seek medical attention are suffering ailments brought about or made worse by prolonged emotional stress, worry, anxiety or fear.
The results of experiencing long term stress worry and anxiety can lead to insomnia, digestive complaints, obesity and depression.
Rev. John Haggai, in his book, “How to Win Over Worry” says there is nothing sadder than the Christian caught in the vice-grips of worry. The person’s personality and facial expressions reflect tension and despair. Not having grasped the redemptive resources of Christ the worrier walks around with a face long enough to eat ice cream out of a pipe. He or she may shuffle into the church service dragging his/her lower lip behind. The person slides into the pew and hangs his lower lip over the back of the pew chair and looks as happy as the skeleton and cross-bones on an iodine bottle From the person’s appearance you would think he was born in crabapple time, bottled on vinegar and weaned on a dill pickle.”
II. One Possible Solution to Life’s Problems – Escape from Reality.
Psalm 55:1-5 the Psalmist describes a life in crisis. Psalm 55:6-8, the Psalmist tells what his plan of action might be to find a solution to his crisis.
“If I had wings I’d fly away to a quiet restful place.” (6-7)
“I would get away from people who threaten me.” (8)
When faced with life’s challenges and problems have you ever felt like the Psalmist? “If I had wings I’d fly away to a restful place. I would get away from people with problems.”
Some people will do almost anything to get relief from emotional or physical pain. Many deny they have a problem and let you know they don’t have a problem.
There are some people who live a care-free life and find it easy to add problems to others.
# Several men were in the locker room of a fitness club. A cell phone on a bench rings and a man next to it had a shampoo bottle, and brush in his hands. He hit the hands free speaker feature and said, "Hello." And a feminine voice says, "Honey, it’s me. Are you at the club?" And he says, "Yes."
She says, "I’m at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It’s only $1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?"
The guy thought for a second and said, "Sure, go ahead and get it." She said, "And I stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2007 models. I saw one I really liked." He said, "How much?" His wife said, "It’s only $60,000."
Everybody in the room was staring at the guy and awkwardly he said, "OK, but for that price it better have all the options."
His wife said, "Great! Oh, one more thing. The house we wanted last year is back on the market. They’re only asking $950,000."
It got real quiet in the room and the man said, "Well, go ahead and give them an offer, but just offer $900,000."
She squealed and said, "Thanks, you’re the best husband in the world! I love you!"
He mumbled, "Bye, I love you, too," and he hangs up.
The other guys in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment.
The man then asks, "Anyone know whose phone this is?"
When people feel trapped they may fantasize about moving to the peaceful country, or to a tropical island. They may think about a less stressful life if they weren’t married, if they had no children, if they were only independently wealthy, and had no stress at work. For some the final escape from pain is suicide.
When some people are under pressure they overreact with anger. Columnist Art Buchwald began an article with this news bit: “In Concord, California, a customer became enraged at an automated teller and kept punching it because the machine refused to dispense $80.00 from the man’s account. The customer was arrested and charged with “malicious mischief.” According to Buchwald many people have been seen beating up on automated machines.
People trapped in anxiety and worry, lose the joy of living and become judgmental and negative rather than accepting of others. The thorns and thistles of worry act like bad cholesterol, hardening the arteries of a person’s spiritual heart and clog’s the flow of love and grace toward others. This person is constantly on the look out for what is wrong with people and life rather than what is good.
When a person chooses to escape from reality the person takes God out of the picture. We need to remind ourselves that God is still in control. Jesus said He would never leave us or forsake us.
The secular answer to stress and worry is seen in the September 07 issues of “Ladies Home Journal.” The article gives six feel good ways to stop stress.
1. Watch a scary movie- if you can cope with a scary movie you can learn to cope with stress.
2. Become a queen of denial. Delay facing your problem until another day.
3. Go to the extremes. Rather than walk choose high density exercise.
4. Sweat the small stuff – break the problem down into small bite sizes.
5. Promise yourself a laugh. Good humor is connected to good health.
6. Rock on. Choose the kind of music you like and listen to it.
Secular answers are helpful but the greatest solutions to stress, worry and anxiety are found in God’s Word.
III. A Better Solution to Crisis in Life -Turn to the Lord - Psalm 55:16,21-22
Psalm 55:16 - “I will call upon the Lord and God will rescue me.”
“Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” (22)
The Gospel song echoes the thought or the Psalmist: “Where Could I go but to the Lord.”
Stress can save your life because stress, worry and anxiety lead you to God. Stress and anxiety leads you to prayer and in prayer you think God’s thoughts and through prayer you trust in Jesus and His Word.
Jesus understands the causes and solution to stress, worry and anxiety. Luke 13:10-13 – “One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable go stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God.”
In additional to physical problems the woman may have been bent over with the worries, anxieties and stress of life. Jesus didn’t tell her to go find a cave and escape from the stresses of life. Jesus touched her and she stood straight up and for the first time in 18 years had a panoramic view of life.
Jesus gave a clear command to his followers in Matthew 6:25, “So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food, drink and clothes.” Jesus gives this invitation to all: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
The Apostle Paul made a similar statement in Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything instead pray about everything.”
As Christ followers we don’t run from reality, we face reality fortified by faith and trust in the Lord. When problems come our way we take them to the Lord. The Apostle Peter gives this advice, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” I Peter 5:7
As Christians we have the promise that no matter what challenges come our way or what happens to us, Jesus is our source of strength. Jesus said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself.” Matthew 6:34
One thing I do when under the pressure of stress and challenging situations, I think, “What difference will this make in 50 years?”
Most of the things we worry about do not come to pass. # A doctor was talking to a new patient. In great alarm the patient mentioned a rare and deadly disease of the liver and claimed to be suffering from it. The doctor examined the patient and told the person they were not suffering from that disease, because the person couldn’t know whether he had it or not. It is a disease which gives no discomfort at all.
The patient cried out. “That’s just it. My last doctor told me that and that’s why I know I have it. I feel perfectly well.”
The prophet Isaiah tells us how to trust the Lord when under stress and pressure: “He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31
If stress, worry and anxiety lead us to trust God then it is worth going through the traumas.
All of us face different crisis in life – we can deny the crisis and withdraw from life, or we turn to the Lord and trust God to see us through the challenging times in our life.
For us to continue to allow stress to cause us to experience constant worry and anxiety is not healthy. Worry accomplishes nothing. To continue to worry reveals our lack of faith. Failure to deal with stress, worry and anxiety can be dangerous to our health and can hinder our witness.
Let’s do as the Psalmist and call upon the Lord. Let’s apply God’s promises to our daily life. Write out the promises and use them as a reminder to “Cast all your cares, anxieties and worries upon the Lord because He cares for you.”
