Forty three percent, almost half of all American adults, suffer adverse health affects due to stress: migraines, high blood pressure, acne, fatigue, depression... One million workers here in the United States are absent on an average workday due to stress related complaints. Stress is real and it affects just about all of us at one time or another.
The question is: what do we do about it? The solutions to stress depend on the source of that stress. We talked about one of those sources last week: unresolved guilt. The stress that comes from within us. God gives us a solution for that stress by taking away the guilt, by punishing Jesus for our sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God justifies us, he declares us innocent of all sins and gives us heaven as a free gift. God has freed us from the stress of guilt.
Much of the stress that we feel in our lives, however, is caused by outward stimuli. In fact, the University of California made a list a few years ago of the things that cause the most stress in adults. Number one on the list was the death of your spouse, followed by divorce, menopause, separation from your spouse, jail, economic problems, change of schedule or conditions at the workplace, and change of residence. For this kind of stress, doctors offer various solutions, many which are good and wise that help to diminish the stress. Exercise more. Eat healthier. Cut down on the caffeine and grease. Take vacations at Club Med. Give yourself personal time to forget your problems, like that old bubble bath commercial on television…Calgon, take me away.
The only problem is that although a good diet and exercise can help you relax, they don’t take away the stress completely. A vacation, personal time, helps you to escape the stress for a while, but you always have to go back to work. You have to get out of the tub or you’ll end up looking like a prune. And so you walk back into your stress filled world of children screaming, husbands who can’t find their keys and deadlines at work.
Well, today we are going to talk about the stress that is caused by outward stimuli and we are going to see that God has lasting solutions for the stress we feel. But really, we need to divide this stress into two categories: stress caused by things we can change and the stress caused by things, which we cannot change.
I. That which we can change
God tells us in the very first Psalm: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. This is a theme that is very prevalent in the Bible. Basically if we live our lives as God would have us, as he directs us in the Bible, he promises to bless us and we will have a more peaceful life.
How does this apply to stress? Well, how could a man cheating on his wife get rid of the stress of trying to cover up his affair and balance his time? That’s pretty obvious, right? Stop having the affair, and the stress will go away. Here’s one that is not so obvious. How do we get rid of the stress that comes from the debts that we build up and the endless hours of work trying to have the "dream life"? Well, God teaches us in his Word priorities. By organizing our priorities, we see what is most important and can better organize our finances, our schedules, our life . And God can help you do that. The more that we are in God’s Word, the more we understand his will for our lives. Because he wants to bless us. He wants us to have peaceful and happy lives.
II. The things we cannot change.
But, there are many things that cause us stress that we can’t do much about. The death of a loved one. Your baby getting sick. An unfair boss. Yet God can still give us a lasting peace of mind and heart even in the middle of all these problems. Let me tell you a little story.
There were once two painters who made a wager, a competition to see who could represent best the concept of peace. The first painter painted a beautiful mountain scene with a lake. A very tranquil scene with no movement. Everything was calm. And for the first painter that represented peace.
The second painter, however, painted a powerful waterfall. Above that waterfall the sky was dark and threatening with rain clouds. Alongside the waterfall stood a tree. And sitting on a dead branch that hung out in front of the waterfall was a little bird, happy and content. In the middle of the storm, in front of that powerful waterfall…the bird was at peace.
The peace that God gives us is more like the second of the paintings. God doesn’t promise us that once we believe in him all our problems will go away. That work will be easy. That there won’t be arguments or money problems. No, in fact Paul tells us in Romans that for God’s sake, we face death all day long; we are considered like sheep to the slaughter. In other words, suffering is a part of the life of a Christian. Look at the life of the Apostle Paul. He was stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, mocked, and thrown into jail. Yet he had an inner peace that many to this day don’t understand. But, why? Because he understood that all problems and sufferings are really God’s way of blessing us. He tells us here in Romans chapter eight.
“And we know that in all things, God works for the God of those who love him, who have been called according to his good purpose.” And, who are they that love God? Well, we are, right? Having seen how he loved us so much as to send his only Son to die for our sins, our response is to love him right back. And so for those of us who believe, who love God, “all things work for our good.” All things. Not only the good things. All things including even the problems and sufferings of this world. If the problems did not occur in our lives, we would be worse off. Let me give you an example:
My mother had breast cancer a few years ago. It was scary. We didn’t know what was going to happen to her. We didn’t understand why God was letting this happen. But then God in his grace allowed her to recover. Now there were other ladies in town that contracted cancer and my mom went with them to help them through the process, explaining about the wigs, the chemo, all that sort of stuff. She also shared with them her faith in Jesus. Well, one of the ladies, Shirley, didn’t believe in Jesus before she met my mom. After talking often with my mom, however, Shirley came to trust that Jesus was her Savior from sins. Shirley passed away a couple of years ago from her cancer. Yet, because my mom had cancer, Shirley is now in heaven. God allowed us to see how my mom’s cancer served his good purpose.
One thing, though, God, doesn’t always promise to show us why, like he did in the situation with my mom. When Job suffered his great trials in the Old Testament, he never found out that it was because the devil had gone to God to ask permission. God never told him, “I did this to strengthen your faith.” During his life Job never found out why. So it is with many things that happen to us, we’ll have to wait until heaven to find out why. But really we know. God tells us. It’s for our good. “If God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to die on the cross for our sins, how will he not also with him give us all things.”
For example, if I am willing to lend ____________ a hundred bucks, I’d probably be willing to lend you ten bucks when you need it, right? How much more God? If he was willing to suffer and to die to take care of our big problem of sin, he surely will always help us in our little problems here on earth.
Paul even goes on to assure us that nothing can separate us from God’s love, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation can separate us from the love of God.” Absolutely nothing! You know, this is really a fill in the blank. We can put anything into this verse. Neither work nor the bills, neither cancer nor divorce can separate me from the love of God. And how can I be so sure? Because that love is based upon and demonstrated in Jesus Christ.
God showed his love for us in that he humbled himself to become a man, to be our substitute, to die on the cross for our sins. Even though we are weak. Even though we falter and doubt, God never changes. His love for us never changes. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are his beloved and perfect children. We have a home waiting for us in heaven where there is no more stress, no more sadness, no more death and no more tears.
And you know what? You can see that peace of heart and mind in the lives of Christians. In the calm of a man that is slowly and painfully dying of cancer. To the world it doesn’t make sense. How can you be so calm in the middle of the storm? Well, if somebody asks you that someday, I’d hope that you’d point him or her to Romans chapter eight. And when the stress of work, marriage and the kids starts to get you down again, and it will, go back to it yourselves. The best way to have this peace is by constantly being in God’s Word. Paul tells us, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” And how does God strengthen me? Through his Word, with his promises. That’s our spiritual food. Without it we are weak and susceptible to the spiritual sicknesses of stress and temptation. But with it we are strong and at peace.
And so now I ask you. After two weeks of talking about stress, do you now know what God’s simple remedy for it is? Hearing and believing the promises of forgiveness and protection that are found in his Word. That’s it. So keep coming to Church. Attend the Bible Classes that we are soon going to offer. Read your Bibles at home. And through that Word, God will give you the peace of mind and heart that the world just doesn’t understand. And so as Paul wrote to the Philippians: May that peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
