New Reminders: Stress

Stress can manifest itself in the form of pressure, tension, worry, anxiety, trouble, trauma suffering, pain, grief or any number of other negative feelings. Long-term stress can lead to deep depression and to helpless, hopeless feelings of despair. 

The antidote to stress, or rather, the way to counteract its effects, is the relaxation response. This is our body's natural way to calm down and restore balance after experiencing stress. This can sometimes be achieved through various techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, meditation, spending time in nature, or connecting with loved ones or friends. For some people, medication may be required to mitigate sever stress. For others, none of the usual symptoms of stress can be relieved by any of the usual treatment methods. For them, nothing seems to bring them to a place of calm with feelings of peace and contentment. For them, there might be unresolved issues.

When life seems overwhelming, just think of Wendy Hansen. In just one day, the Iowa woman lost her home to fire, wrecked her motorcycle, and was diagnosed with cancer. She got a text that her house was on fire and crashed her cycle while racing home. The hospital CT scan revealed broken bones and a tumor on her left kidney, which was caught early enough to treat. The doctor said, “That motorcycle crash just saved your life.” Hansen said she’s had many “stressful” days before, but now says, “I didn’t know the meaning of the word until now.” The Week, 8/4/23, p.12

All of us hope we will never have a day like Wendy’s, in which so many stressful events happen, all in one day, but we will all experience stress, of one kind or another, throughout our lives.  How we respond to stress is especially important in order to keep it from getting us down. Unlike Wendy, we don’t always expect that, along with the bad news, there is a hopeful outcome to soften the blow. Yet as Christians, even an event causing our death can have a happy ending because we have the assurance that there is life after the life we have known on earth. There is a better life to come where negative stress no longer exists.

Several Bible verses can offer comfort and strength during stressful times.  Verses like Philippians 4:6-7 encourages prayer and thanksgiving to alleviate anxiety.  Isaiah 41:10 reassures us that God will strengthen and uphold us.  Matthew 11:28-30 invites those burdened to find rest in Jesus.  1 Peter 5:7 says: "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."  This is the assurance we need in times of stress: that we don’t have to face hard times alone. Our Father in heaven can take burdens away if we put ourselves in His loving hands. Not that He will always intervene, to change the situation we find ourselves in, but He can turn the bad things that happen into blessings we did not expect. 

As I have written previously: “We need to stop focusing on how stressed we are and start stressing how blessed we are.”  When we turn our troubles over to God, and trust that He knows best, even our suffering can turn to joy, for we know that our heavenly Father has a plan for each of us, and He will make sure that even sorrow, pain and hardships lead to blessings.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10-14