Coping with Stress

Stress is some factor that causes something in our body to be tense, to feel pressure. In some cases there are good stress factors and at other times there are negative stress factors we should avoid, diminish, and/or remove. Who hasn’t been stressed? You can’t totally eliminate negative stress from ever happening in your life, but you can learn to cope with stress in a God-honoring way so it doesn’t rule you, rob you of joy, or destroy you.

We actually benefit from some stress factors. For example, weight lifting can stress your body, mind and emotions. Proper regular weight lifting, for many people, can help burn calories, develop strength and muscle tone, but if you engage in ‘improper’ weight lifting (e.g lifting too much, too often, and in bad form) it will lead to problems like injuries. Another common example of good stress is reasonable academic requirements. For each college class the student is given due dates for graded assignments. This causes some pressure in the student’s life to be prepared and turn assignments in on time in order to achieve a desired grade. Such academic stress is good and can help motivate one to do well in a timely manner. The stress can become overwhelming though when the student overloads their personal schedule, becomes too busy, doesn’t get enough sleep, and/or procrastinates with assignments.

Most of the time when we think of stress it’s about the unpleasant stress issues in life. Over the years, I have been stressed about many things like my personal insecurities, bullies, financial debt, unemployment, illnesses, failure, relational conflict, being late, burning dinner, fast-paced/over-extended living, and on and on.

Such stress can lead to negative consequences.  Perhaps one’s health declines, there are feelings of panic, foolish decisions made, withdrawal, symptoms of depression surface, loss of self-control, anger issues, etc... In my twenties, a young adult co-worker of mine was so distraught and stressed over his girlfriend breaking up with him, he went to the hospital because his physical heart was in pain. Last summer, I worked lots of extra hours remodeling the home we were soon to move into. I was not sleeping much and was over-extending myself and stressing out about running out of time. When I became very irritable with my family, began losing my focus, and not making good decisions I realized (and my wife called me out about it) that I needed to slow down and rest more. I was doing too much and it caused lots of stress which negatively impacted my family as well.

We must realize that we are limited as created human beings. We are not God. We are not supreme beings. We are not unlimited in ability and capacity. We must be careful not to overextend ourselves too much or too regularly. Our bodies need down time. We need self-care time. We need slow times and restful times. We need recovery times. We can’t and shouldn’t take on too much.

Here are some biblical passages to help you cope with stress:

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! Ps. 4:1 ESV

Pray to God for help, for relief.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Ps. 46:10 ESV

Slow down and focus on God. So often in our culture we are overly active and busy and this leads to much stress. Let’s slow down regularly to commune and connect with the Lord God Almighty.

 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Mt. 11:28-30 ESV

We can experience holistic rest for our lives in Jesus Christ.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Rom. 12:2 ESV

Renew your thoughts time and time again with God-honoring thinking and living.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philip. 4:6-8 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 ESV

Don’t be anxious or worrying about things. Pray to God for help and be thankful to God; then comes God’s promise of peace and protection in Christ. Remember to live by and think with a Christian worldview. Be careful about what you see, watch, listen to, expose yourself to and fantasize about.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation. Ps. 42:5 ESV

Don’t allow stress to beat you down with discouragement. Trust God and put your hope in God.

Here are some biblical and some practical ways to cope with stress:

- Diagnose the situation; is the stress factor out of your control, not important, or is it something important that can and should be changed?

- Pray to God about what to do.

- Search God’s Word and apply relevant passages to your life.

- Seek out God-honoring wise counsel from others. You can receive help diagnosing your symptoms and causes and you can receive encouragement and accountability in coping with, enduring, and experiencing relief from various kinds of stress.

- If a Christ-follower, know that your identity is in Christ. What are the truth statements in Scripture about you (read this: http://mikesmorals.blogspot.com/2013/09/identity-in-christ.html)? 

If you are not trusting Christ as your Savior and Lord then consider the great news of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture (read this: http://mikesmorals.blogspot.com/2013/09/great-news-gods-plan-for-true-life.html).

- Engage in some regular exercise and physical activities.

- Evaluate your diet related to unhealthy eating and beverages and any allergies and digestive issues. Make good adjustments and stick to consistent healthy habits.

- Get a regular dose of sunshine and fresh outside air.

- Have your thoughts dwell on God-honoring things instead of unholy and negative things.

- Take some time off from work and your regular routine to have some down time, recreation time, some enjoyment time.

- Learn when to say ‘no’ to people and busyness.

- Evaluate the boundaries in your life so you are not engaged in too much activity too often or in wrongful things.

- Seek peace in relationships.

- Keep adrenaline to a minimum.

- Don’t rush into major decision making, especially when stressed.

- Simplify your lifestyle.

- Avoid alcohol, drugs, nicotine, and even caffeine (basically, avoid stimulants).

- Get some regular quality sleep. Learn techniques and tips to help you do this like sleeping at a similar time each day in a dark room and relaxing your thoughts and being careful what you eat and drink later in the day. 

- Consider how your own beliefs, thought patterns, and habits can cause stress. For example, being perfectionistic, thinking failure is always bad, and checking your body weight every day will cause stress.

- Count your blessings not your troubles! Have a God-centered attitude of gratitude. Try listing in a journal on a regular basis all the many things you are thankful for and give God the glory.

- Don’t fuss about ‘small potatoes.’

- Learn about the many possible stress factors in life; determine which ones are present in your life and address them.

Know the difference between a tension to balance verses an issue to remove. For example, working many hours a week for earned income compared to spending quality weekly time with my wife and children is a tension to balance and manage. This is not an issue to remove from my life. I am not going to only work long term or only spend time with my family long term. I plan to do both long term so I need to find a balance between them. If however, I stepped on a splinter piece of wood that drove into my foot I would want that splinter removed. I don’t want long term balance between keeping a splinter in my foot and walking with a limp. The splinter is a problem I want removed from my life soon and hopefully after some recovery time I can walk normal again and without the pain.

Stress is not inherently sinful. I believe Jesus Christ was feeling very stressed in His humanity the night before He went to the cross because of spiritual warfare and He knew that He would suffer greatly for our sins, especially being separate spiritually for a time from God the Father. He experienced great stress but He did not sin. In our lives, if we are stressed and tempted, for example, to try to control matters instead of giving control to God, or to not have faith in God, or to develop insecure fears, then the stress issue becomes a moral issue.

Recognize that there is a difference between feeling some stress over something and being ‘stressed out’ about something. The latter includes worry, anxiety, panic, and frantic emotions. Everyone feels negative stress from time to time but don’t allow the stress to control you, defeat you, and lead you to things that are not God-honoring. In this blog entry, my focus is coping with stress and in a separate blog entry I write about dealing with worry and anxiety (read that entry here: http://mikesmorals.blogspot.com/2014/07/dealing-with-worry-and-anxiety.html).

When you are stressed about something, consider and apply some of these biblical and practical ways to cope with stress. Ultimately, continue to give your concerns, cares, and your life over to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. ⁷ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Pt. 5:6-7 NLT

and he (Christ) died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Cor. 5:15 ESV

What are your thoughts about what I’ve written and included here about coping with stress? How do you cope with stress? 

Mike