Stress

The Christmas season doesn't wait for December. It comes as early as September, at least in the commercial world. For many people this is not a signal of peace but rather a signal for stress. The pre season of Christmas let alone the actual celebration seems to become yet another stressor for many people.


When Jesus visited Martha and Mary, Martha was unsettled and stressed. She missed the point of the visit. She was more concerned with doing stuff and because things were 'apparently incomplete' she was stressed out. She was critical of her sister and even critical of Jesus. Anxiety has a way of distorting situations and robbing people of the joy of living in the present. It sees the worst case scenario and it allows fear to rule instead of trust.


When the twelve spies returned with a report about Canaan, ten of them gave a negative report to Israel. The most debilitating part of their report was not about the giants that were in the land but about the way that they saw themselves. They declared "we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight." (Numbers 13:33) Anxiety distorts perceptions. It cripples from the inside out because it so often rooted in fear. It affects others badly as well. Anxiety robbed a whole generation, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, from receiving what was promised them by God.


Anxiety has become normalised in our world and yet the Bible says "be anxious for nothing..." (Phil. 4:6) The Bible antidote to anxiety is to submit "everything by prayer and supplication..." The 'everything' includes the big things and the small things. Often it is the small things that upset us most. Martha was upset because 'the dishes weren't done'. Perhaps the bigger thing in her heart was that she wanted to look good because her value as a person was attached to both her performance and her need for approval from other people.


Whatever the nature of the situation or demand that is outside of us, the Bible commends that we allow God to work on our inner world by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving. Prayer listens and talks with God. Supplication asks for His help. Thanksgiving remembers Him and His love toward us. If we attend to our inner world, He will attend to the matters of the outside world. Anxiety always give priority to the things on the outside but peace comes when we attend to the things on the inside world first.








Adapted from a podcast message by Ross Smith www.thevine.org.au entitled STRESS on 26th Oct. 2014