How to Deal with Stress
By Rev Adam Fox
Greetings my bloggers! Forgive the delay, but time may help improve my writing.
Today I would like to talk about stress.
In my first year at Olivet, I was attempting to go to school full time, work full time, study, run my churches youth department and have a social life. I thought there could never be a more taxing and stress filled life. Then Dr. Quanstrum told us something. He said that you will never have it as easy as you do now. As soon as you graduate, life gets harder. We all laughed.
But he was right. Bills. Food. Marriage. Children. Promotions.... each one of these things takes the stress up to new levels.
And here I am trying to ride the waves and stay ahead, to cope.
In my first year at Olivet, I was attempting to go to school full time, work full time, study, run my churches youth department and have a social life. I thought there could never be a more taxing and stress filled life. Then Dr. Quanstrum told us something. He said that you will never have it as easy as you do now. As soon as you graduate, life gets harder. We all laughed.
But he was right. Bills. Food. Marriage. Children. Promotions.... each one of these things takes the stress up to new levels.
And here I am trying to ride the waves and stay ahead, to cope.
What causes you to stress out? Work? Family? Bills? Sickness? World politics? Taxes? Wedding planning? (Bingo!)
Stress is one of those things that we all deal with, some more poorly than others. It is like having a cold. We all get a cold, but not all of us take care of it.
Stress or anxiety eats away at us. I remember when I was 17, working at your neighborhood pizza joint, on some busier nights all I wanted to do was go home and play video games. Video games were my way to deal with the pressures that came with the job.
Was that the healthiest way? No. But we all need something to let the pressure go. WE SHOULD do something productive, exercise or journaling for example. But instead we lean on the quick and the easy options.
Smoking.
Over-eating.
loose women/men.
How should we deal with things that stress us?
Hiding from family will not be a long term option. Putting off taxes will not either. Nor will not going to work. Sadly that is how we deal with stressful issues. We pretend not to have them.
If I do not go to work, I will not have stress.
When I was bouncing between colleges and girlfriends and jobs, stress and I were old friends. But I did not deal with it properly. Instead of dealing with my bad job, the wrong girls I was seeing, and figuring out what I wanted to be (ps- it was a Pastor)
I rested on overeating as my release valve. Eating pizza - whenever I wanted, eating the entire, THE ENTIRE Taco Bell menu. Even when I was not hungry. But food never cured my problems. It just added to them. Like 150 extra pounds and a lot less money.
We will always have stressful things in our lives. Will they be the same stresses as when we are 17 as when we are 71? Hopefully not. Hopefully we have grown and matured in life.
We are not worrying over exams and pimples and fitting in.
As we get older, the things that stress us change.
Job stability. Health of our family. Retirement. Our Health. Finances. To name a few.
The things in life that stress us may be personal, and our pride may have us believing we are the only one with the struggle, or its just a few years. You can tread water with your student loans till then.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4
We ALL face stress. We all have doubt and struggle. It is not an individual thing. Stressful situations will always be there, and by going through them and it produces patience.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:19
Your comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:19
Doesn't it give you a feeling of reassuredness that David, KING David, got stressed out. But David knew that even though he was filled with Anxieties and stress, God comforts him.
The God cares for us the same amount. He loves us. While we will have difficult times in our lives, it does not mean God has forgotten you and hates you. It is an opportunity to trust him more.
Stress will come.
But we need to not lean on chain smoking, over eating, shopping, and other harmful release valves.
Instead we should lean on God. Trust him for everything. Work hard and find healthy releases. And remember what God told us in Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all you 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.”
Cheers and Excelsior!
Pastor Adam
