Stress (Part 2) Series

Opening: A woman took her husband to the doctor's office. After his checkup, the doctor said, "Your husband is suffering from a very serious infection brought on by stress." The husband, who had a hearing problem, asked her, "What did he say?" His wife answered, "He says you're sick." The doctor went on. "But there is hope. You just need to reduce his stress. Each morning, give him a healthy breakfast. Be pleasant, nice, and kind. For lunch and dinner make him his favorite meal. Don't discuss your problems with him, it will only make his stress worse. Don't yell at him or argue with him. And most importantly, make him happy. If you can do this for your husband for the next 6 months to a year, your husband will have a complete recovery." The husband asked again, "What did he say?" His wife said, "He said, 'You're going to die!'"

According to statistics, over 70 percent of Americans regularly experience physical or psychological symptoms caused by stress. Forty-eight percent say stress negatively affects their professional and personal lives. Are you stressed? How do you know if you're stressed?

Here are some signs:

1. Feeling fatigue

2. Becoming very sensitive, irritable, or angry

3. Having difficulty in making decisions.

4. Having excessive daydreaming or fantasizing about "getting away from it all."

5. Experiencing excessive worrying.

6. Having paranoid ideas and mistrust of friends and family.

7. Being forgetful of appointments, deadlines, and dates.

8. Having sleep and eating problems

Last week we learned about eustress and distress and how distress or bad stress causes many problems physically and mentally. Stress affects all people. Having a relationship with Jesus does not mean avoiding all stressful situations, circumstances, and people. It also doesn't mean we will automatically overcome stress or be unaffected by it. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus tells us that we will not be free from stress in our lives, but He shows us how to deal with our stress. Today we will learn how to handle distress rightly. Since many factors can cause stress, we first need to know or find out those factors or stressors to manage our stress. Many times, stress is simply the combination of many minor stressors. But, like this 2.5-pound dumbbell, if I carry it for one month, this light dumbbell can cause a severe problem on my arm. Let's find out the stressors and what we need to do with them.

1. Work - Overwork. According to "Workplace Stress Statistics," 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress. Work-related stress causes 120,000 deaths and results in $190 billion in healthcare costs yearly. In 2019, 94% of American workers reported experiencing stress at their workplace. So, work is the number one cause of stress or the most significant stressor in the US today. Sadly, our society considers it a good thing. Therefore, some people like to talk about their long work hours or having two or three jobs. I am not talking about some people who need a second job to fulfill because of financial difficulties. That is a particular case. But those who overwork unnecessarily. These are counterproductive because overwork or busyness can cause stress. God created us as humans who need to rest to restore our strengths.

The Bible says God' rested on the seventh day after He created the universe. In Genesis 2:2, we read, "And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done." Does God need to rest? The Bible doesn't say God "needed" to rest; it simply states that He did rest. God did not rest because He was tired. The Bible says He is the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1), He is might in power (Psalm 147:5), and as Isaiah 40:28 says, "The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary." So, God resting on the seventh day means He stopped creating after six days. By 'resting' on the seventh day, God wants humans to do the same.

In Exodus 34:21, God says, "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest." God wants us to have the proper perspective on work. We have to work to meet our needs, but we do not live to work! There are many other things in our lives that we need to do: to take care of our family, serve the Lord, help others, fulfill our mission on earth, and take care of ourselves. When we are too busy with work, we ignore other important things in our lives. As a result, we are stressed. God teaches us a beautiful lesson of the importance of rest through King David in Psalm 23:2 - "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters." I like how David puts it, saying that God "makes" us lie down. Someone says," if we don't stop to smell the roses now, God might make us lie down and smell them from a hospital bed."