It’s me! Oh no. It’s me! All at once my heart rate is speeding up and my coronary arteries are dilating. I don’t know what to do. "Quick grab that bag of chips!"
Oh no! My bronchial tubes seem to be closing, my metabolism is racing and I feel an increase of heart contractions. "Hey you, behind the counter, I want that, too. You have to give me that huge candy bar!"
Oh my! My anxiety is off the charts, my gastrointestinal system is working overtime and the rate of my respiration is increasing and deepening. "I have to go NOW and quickly because this isn't enough. I need the largest order of cheeseburgers and fries that I can get my hands on. I have to go. Get out of my way! Now!"
I hear them! They are saying, "Get out of her way. Her pupils are dilated and she’s a crazy woman!” They don’t know how dry my mouth is and I just want the largest Dr. Pepper on ice I can get (to go with those cheeseburgers).
I hope you laughed a little at this scenario. But the truth is the symptoms that happen in the body above happen to all of us at one time or another.
What on earth has come over me? (or you?) What is it?
It’s stress, and not just any stress. It’s chronic! Paul tells us that our bodies are to be used as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. How can we be used as instruments of righteousness when our bodies are acting like they don’t even belong to us?
Let’s look at that scripture again from Romans 6, and change just one word. Are you ready? Wow! What a revelation this was for me!
Do not let stress control the way you live; do not give in to stressful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve stress. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Did that speak to you like it did to me?
It’s actually pretty amazing!
God made our bodies in an amazing way in order that we might live in this world. We have a mechanism built within us that we’ve come to know as the fight or flight response. That’s exactly what I described earlier. Who knows the reason God first made Adam and Eve with a fight or flight response? Perhaps it was in order to fight or flee from satan. Whatever the reason, we have this mechanism built in and it helps us to maneuver our day-to-day living. The problem is that the move advanced mankind has become the more this mechanism is kicked into high gear. Our bodies don’t have a chance to be relaxed because we are always in a state of physiological alertness. Most of us don’t have any place to run and we certainly don’t know how to fight something we can’t see. What do we do? We compensate by eating or by falling into the trap of an addiction to cope when the body cries the high alert. It has become a major health problem and we know this as chronic stress.
What does chronic stress do to you? If you want a full description, Joyce Meyer gives explicit details and examples of what stress is and what it does to you in the “De-Stress” chapter of Look Great, Feel Great. I went a step further and found a more condensed list at http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/hints/stress1.htm In a nutshell, chronic stress sucks the physical life out of you in every way it can. It can show up as diarrhea, nausea, indigestion, sphincter of Oddi spasms (gallbladder problems), spastic colon, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, colds and sinus infections, vaginal yeast infections, bladder infections, fiber myalgia, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, hyperventilation, asthma, headaches, migraines and more. Do you suffer from any of these symptoms?
Generally, even our doctors don’t talk about chronic stress to us. We are given prescriptions and live off of drugs to cope. The entire time our body is still crying. We may have eased the symptoms but the underlying factors are never addressed. It shows that you eat too much so your doctor says, “Lose it.” You can’t sleep so you’re doctor prescribes a sleep test and then you’re hooked up to CPAP machine. You might be given numerous meds to ease your discomfort so you can finally get to sleep. Your lab work shows high this and high that or this one is too low and the little pink, yellow, green, and white parade of pills are all clumped together in your daily pill box. Oh, and lest we forget there are the vitamins that you must take in order to survive your life in this world. Come on; let’s think about it! Did God ever make a pill tree?
Now, I’m not saying that doctors and medicine is wrong. Many of us have come to a place where we must take a regiment of certain pills to help us. But I am saying that if we do what we should in order to repair our bodies then it will only stand to reason that many, if not all, of the pills we rely on daily can be eliminated or at least reduced. I have witnessed that meds can be reduced and some even stopped. I know people who have decided that their bodies, God’s temples, needed repair. They began the process and asked for God’s assistance. They believed in His healing power and He was able to deliver them even from stress.
So what can we do about it?
Joyce Meyer is so cool, she gives us several ways to de-stress. I have even thought of a few different ones, as I’m sure you can, too. She shares that we need to reach out to others for support. Let your intercessors know that you need to be lifted up in prayer. Seek out others who have some of the same issues that you have and help one another. Even in our sickness, we can be a minister and blessing to someone else. Maybe we can’t run around and do all kinds of physical things just yet. We can still obey God, pray and love others.
Joyce says we need to adopt an attitude of shrugging things off that trigger our stress. We are supposed to cast our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). We also need to get out of the habit of always having to be in control. When we are like that, we create our own stress. This “bad habit” needs to go. After all aren’t we supposed to give it all to the Lord? He should be the one in control. Why are we trying to do His job? Is it because we think we don’t need Him? (Man, I need Him every moment of my life!)
Finally, she says we need to get the right nutrition into our diets and learn to relax. Do some research and find something that you can do for yourself to relax. Maybe it’s a walk with your praise and worship music or favorite sermon being piped in your ear. Perhaps you need the touch of a massage or the company of a friend. Maybe you like to write and off you go pursuing the way words comes together for you. Whatever your stress buster is, believe in the Lord Jesus to help you overcome the tentacles that have wound themselves so tightly around you. Rebuke that stronghold that is weighing you down in the name of Jesus and by His blood. He has already paid the price! You might realize that you are coping with lots of stress but not be able to identify the stronghold. If you need more specifics, take a look at this partial list and compare it to your life. See what's stressing you out...
**Being bullied or exposed to violence or injury. YOU MUST GET OUT OF THIS SITUATION PHYSICALLY IF HARM IS COMING YOUR WAY. DON'T MAKE EXCUSES FOR SOMEONE ABUSING YOU. SEEK HELP, QUICKLY & QUIETLY IF YOU ARE IN DANGER. (My mother was a victim of spousal abuse and she finally got out but only have much physical and psychological
damage had been done.)
**Relationship stress, family conflicts, heavy emotions from a broken heart due to death or separation of a loved one.
**Ongoing problems at work or school related.
**Crammed schedules and not having enough time to manage everything that has been demanded of you.
**Always being on the go and never a chance to rest and relax.
**No time for God. (This one is the most crucial!)
It’s not easy to de-stress our lives, but it must be done if we expect to live a better life.
Some better eating and exercise changes have taken the place of bad habits for me and this has helped me to feel less stressed. I have more energy and feel better than I did six months ago. Another thing is that I’ve noticed if I take time during the week for myself then I feel better for it. Normally, my time is Saturday morning. No, I don’t do laundry or anything if I can get away with it. I usually sleep in and wake up when I’m good and ready. Then I begin with prayer as I dress and get ready for the day. After breakfast, I read devotional blogs or books and listen to soothing music. There are times I’m compelled to worship in song and dance and this is triggered by so many wonderful anointed selections from youtube (Believe it or not!) I often write my blog on Saturday. The point is I try not to do anything that smells of work and I actually like “alone” time. My DH is at work on Saturday and His "alone" time is Monday. Anyway, Saturday is my day of rest and I have found that I need it in order to face the week. So it's interesting to me that when the Lord said to ‘Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy’ and I began resting in Him on the Sabbath, my life began to transform for the better. Sunday is a day for others in my life (church and family) and Monday through Friday are my days of work out in the world. Sorry, I got off track here a little…
To sum it up...
Let’s remember why we are to de-stress. Romans 6:13 … give yourselves completely to God That’s reason enough but the explanation is more than that, here it is… for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body (a de-stressed body) as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
I pray that these words might help you to learn what you need to do in order to de-stress your life. God has reminded me just what blessings He has already granted me on my journey! May you be blessed by His presence this week and hear His voice and feel His touch on your life. Amen.
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