<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Mark Finley

Three Biblical Principles for Dealing with Stress

Stress impacts our bodies, plays havoc with our minds, and damages our emotions.

The Bible presents principles that will enable you to cope with the stress of your life.

And in this presentation we're going to share principles that can be life-changing.

When you think of the word stress, what's the first thought that comes to your mind?

Some people it's headaches or nervousness, anxiety, worry, fear.

I asked that question to a stress management class that I was teaching on 1 occasion.

What's the first word that comes to your mind when you think of the word stress?

1 lady said, a burning sensation in my stomach.

Another person said, tightness in my neck.

Another person said, that throbbing headache.

When I was an administrator in a school in Chicago, I had a secretary there who I could always tell when she was under stress, she would get this red rash, pretty severe on her arms.

People react to stress in different ways.

I call those stress vulnerability points.

It's like when you are blowing up a balloon and you get too much air in the balloon.

The balloon is going to pop at the place at which it is most vulnerable to pop or its weakest point.

So when we have stress that builds up in our bodies, we tend to have symptoms at the place where we are most vulnerable.

For some people it's a headache, for some people it is tension in the shoulders, for some people it's a stomach problem.

Knowing those stress vulnerability points helps you to know that you are under stress, you can take 3 deep breaths and back up.

When I ask the question, what do you think of when you think of stress, many people give me negative responses.

For example, the athlete under stress may perform better.

The student under stress may study harder.

The businessman under stress may put in more effort.

Let's suppose you're hiking on the Appalachian Trail, not far from where we are here in Haymarket, Virginia.

And as you're hiking that day, you're alone and you hear some rustles in the bushes and you look up and there is a bear.

Your muscles are tense like spring steel and you begin to run.

Now maybe that's not the thing to do if you're facing a bear, but It's just an illustration.

And as you're running, every bodily function has been speeded up.

So if a bear is chasing you and you're under stress and you run faster, I think that's a pretty good thing, isn't it?

When some people get up in the morning, it's like the bear is chasing them all day.

Some people always have an increased heart rate, increased respiration.

So stress is not bad if it's short term in spurts.

Stress becomes bad when it's prolonged and it's a constant state that you're under.

What are 3 biblical principles that will help us to deal with this matter of stress?

The first is concentrate on improving your overall health.

The healthier you are, the more you're going to be capable of handling the stresses of your life.

The Bible passage that helps us understand that is Romans chapter 12 verse 1.

I beseech you therefore, brothers and sisters, I beseech, Paul says, I urge you, I exhort you, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.

The only way we can bring our bodies in harmony with God's will is through His grace or through His mercy or by His power.

That you present, notice you present, nobody else can do it for you, your bodies.

Now the word for bodies there is a very fascinating word, it's the word sumata, we get the word sum from that.

Sumata is a Greek word, the New Testament was written in Greek, that you present your bodies, your sumata, the sum of everything you are, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." That expression, reasonable service, is translated by a modern translation of the Bible, Philip's translation, as an act of worship.

So Paul is saying, I'm encouraging you, I'm urging you, my brothers and sisters, through God's grace or power, that you present, that you make a conscious choice to place every aspect of your being, the sum of your essence, as a living sacrifice, in other words, dedicated wholly to God, which is an act of intelligent worship.

When we think of stress, the stronger our physical bodies are, the stronger our minds are, the greater strength we have emotionally, the more we're going to deal with it.

How can I have a body that is strong enough to resist the external stresses of life?

And every time you say to your wife, why dear I love you, or dear that's a wonderful meal, I want you to think of this acronym DEAR.

DEAR are 4 ways that we can improve our physical health to reduce the stresses.

If you have a diet that is high in whole grains, particularly the B-complex vitamins, a diet that is high in whole plant foods, It builds the immune system where if you have a diet that's high in sugar, what many people don't realize is, for example, most bottles of pop will have anywhere from 24 to 28 grams of sugar in it.

Even something as simply as chewing gum has a teaspoon or a teaspoon and a half of sugar in it.

So when you look at the soft drinks, when you look at candies, when you look at highly processed foods that are so high in sugar, how does that impact the immune system?

Vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin D, adequate amounts help us to reduce the stresses of our life.

But when we eat high amounts of sugar, it neutralizes the impact of those vitamins.

High amounts of sugar produce something called free radicals.

The free radicals neutralize what's known as antioxidants.

The antioxidants help us to reduce the oxidation in our system and the higher the oxidation and inflammation the more stress we feel.

1 of the great vitamins that really reduce stress is this vitamin of vitamin B complex.

Now you're not going to get that stress reduction impact through the pill, but if you're eating whole grains that are high in vitamin B, whole grain breads rather than the refined breads, whole grain cereals, but watch your whole grain cereals because many of them will be very high in sugar.

When I look at the box of cereal, if it has more than 7 to 8 grams of sugar per serving, we don't buy it.

But look at taking natural whole grain products, natural plant-based products.

It will increase your vitamin B complex, increase your vitamin C, increase your D, and you will be able much better to handle stress, avoid sugar laden foods.

When we get out and exercise, we breathe in fresh air, we place our muscles under some tense strain that that tension later relaxes the muscles.

I remember reading the story of a man really depressed under heavy stress, came to his counselor.

His counselor was a Christian counselor who knew a lot about the benefits of exercise.

And the man came wanting an antidepressant.

Now I'm not suggesting that nobody ever needs an antidepressant, but the physician was a very wise 1.

His office was not far from a trail and not far from a short mountain, hills.

And so he said to the man, I want to tell you what I want you to do.

I want you to go out and walk for the next hour to hour and a half and think about your life and offer up a silent prayer and take some deep breaths and then come back and see me.

Well, the man walked out there, spent an hour and a half in nature looking at the beauty of the trees, listening to the songs of the birds, looking to the blue sky, came back and he said, Doc, I'm feeling better.

I know people that are highly professional in the medical profession, for example, that jog every single day, 345 miles.

They say 1 of the reasons they do that is because it helps reduce their stress.

When I was a college student, which was many years ago, the organist was 1 of our students.

When we came to chapel, the organist who played that chapel period was 1 of the students.

Back to Menu

Three Biblical Principles for Dealing with Stress

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Mental Health

02 The Stress Equation

49m

Stress Relief & the 3rd Angel

34m

From Stressed to Blessed

34m

Plenary

Three Secrets of Lasting Peace

1h

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing

38m

Gabriel Arruda Weekend

Eastern Meditation the Counterfeit Rest

48m

Scriptural Solutions: Coping With Stress

28m

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2024: Psalms

04 The Lord Hears and Delivers

24m

Kickstarter Series '15-'16

Enhancing Emotional Intelligence

37m

The United States of Anxiety

55m

Hebrews 11- Faith

21 The Faith of David

45m

ASI 2010 Plenary Meetings

Expounding the Faith

1h 30m

Sound Doctrine