Stress We Put Ourselves Under // Stress Busters, Part 2

A Different Perspective Official Podcast

Stress these days just seems to be a fact of life and yet … all too often, we put ourselves under more stress than we need to. Why is that and what can we do about it?

You and I have this habit of putting ourselves under pressure and stress needlessly. Don't believe me? Well today we're going to chat about how we do that exactly and what we can do about changing our habits because there are more than enough things out there that are going to cause you and me stress whether we like it or not.

There are going to be situations and circumstances completely out of our control that cause us stress. The loss of a loved one, a difficult boss at work, financial problems, health issues, there are plenty of things out there that are going to come our way whether we like it or not that are going to cause us stress.

So if that's the case why would we possibly want to needlessly put ourselves under stress? Today we're going to chat about the main three ways that we cause ourselves stress, I'd be surprised if you don't recognise at least one of these in your life.

The first one's physical. Sometimes we think of stress as being purely an emotional or even spiritual thing and of course it is those things although we Christians, especially preachers like me have this tendency to over spiritualise stuff whilst ignoring the physical realities. And the physical reality is that God has given you and me a body, it's an utterly amazing body.

Tens of thousands of miles of blood vessels, a brain that no computer can match, a series of chemical feedback and control systems that to this day defy scientific understanding. Now we know that when we don't treat our body properly it's not going to perform at it's best and we kind of know that how we treat our bodies is going to have an affect of our emotions yet so many people just abuse their bodies and then they wonder why do I feel stressed?

Last year on the program we went through a four-week series that I called Healthy Living To A Ripe Old Age. In nine years to date it is the single most popular series we've ever put to air, we had a massive response from around the globe and by the way the e-booklet that I wrote which was My Top Three Secrets To Losing Twenty Five Kilograms is still available in the resources section of www.christianityworks.com as a free download.

There are three things we do. We eat too much of the wrong stuff, we don't get enough sleep and we don't get enough exercise. How many times have you heard someone including me banging on about diet, exercise and sleep? And yet still the first and most obvious thing that we get wrong when it comes to managing our stress is how we treat our body.

So come on if the hat fits wear it. Are you sick of feeling tired? Are you sick of feeling bloated and stressed? Then do something about it, all of those messages in that series Healthy Living To A Ripe Old Age are available in the resources section of www.christianityworks.com under the Health subject area. Grab them, listen to them, read the transcript, grab the e-booklet, do something about your health.

Or don't you know that you body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you with whom you have from God (1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19). See God expects us to look after this amazing body that He's given us and when we do, let me tell you, our stress levels drop dramatically.

The second thing that we do to put ourselves under stress is constantly second guessing ourselves, constantly telling ourselves that we're not good enough, not fast enough, not smart enough. You know what that's called? Low self-esteem and it might surprise you to know that this is a trap I easily fall into. Are you shocked? Well here's how it works for me.

I'm a bit of an achiever, I drive things hard. I work hard, I try to deliver on time, it's who I am and when you're that kind of person you can see not only all the things that you have achieved but all the things you haven't yet achieved. So then you start to tell yourself, 'Come on, I'm not good enough, I'm not working hard enough for God, Berni you should be doing better, you should be getting up earlier, you should be working longer, you should be delivering sooner, you need to get more done, look at all the things you haven't done yet, you're failing God'.

It's easy to fall into or at the other end of the scale perhaps you only ever see your inadequacies because you're constantly comparing yourself to other people. Does anyone recognise that? It's like that song by Kasey Chambers, 'Am I Not Pretty Enough' or smart enough or liked enough or strong enough or articulate enough.

So we find all these ways to put ourselves under enormous pressure and cause ourselves huge stress by believing this nonsense that we're just not good enough. Have you been there? Then I have a Word from God for you today:

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same spirit and there are varieties of services but the same Lord and there are varieties of activities but it's the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given a manifestation of the spirit for the common good. (1 Cor 12:4-7)

Did you get that? Each one of us has been given a particular set of gifts and abilities, they're all different but they're all given by the one God and the gifts He's given you He's given you through His sovereign will and choice. You are who you are because He made you that way. He didn't make a mistake, you're no boo boo, you're exactly who God purposed you and made you to be.

Now get your heart around that and all of a sudden you're set free from this nonsense 'I'm not good enough, I'm not pretty enough, I'm not smart enough'. Hello, is anyone listening to this? I for one need constant reminding because I can end up getting stressed out by having a wrong view of who I am. It's about trading in your self image, pushing it over the counter and getting a faith image in return from God and this God says you're beautiful and you're just who you are meant to be.

Now get on with it, be that person. Sure grow and mature and learn and make mistakes and get up again and keep going, that's par for the course, that's what it's meant to be. You've been given gifts by God now be that person and use those gifts.

And finally the third thing we're going to chat about today which causes us needlessly to put ourselves under stress is not letting go of the past. How many people are still holding on to the failures and the hurts and the regrets of the past? How many people are living under the reproach of the past? Come on the past is the past, you and I can't change it and God is in the business of setting us free from it.

Mark this; before Israel was able to cross over the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land God had to deal with their past, Joshua chapter 5, verse 9:

The Lord said to Joshua, 'Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt and so that place is called Gilgal to this day.’

You've heard that saying 'Don't cry over spilt milk' right? Yes wipe it up and clean up the mess, yes learn from the mistake you made so you won't spill it again. But don't just stand there and wish you hadn't spilt the milk and spend the rest of your life looking down at this milk that's going rancid and putting a stench in your nose, don't stay in that moment of failure because you can't unspill the milk, it just doesn't make sense.

Jesus came to set you free from the past, to bind up your broken heart, to give you a vision for the future, a new set of eyes to see, a new set of ears to hear, a new life to live, Jesus came to lift the reproach of the past off your shoulders so that it won't cause you anymore stress.

Come on there are enough things out there to stress you out without your health, your false feelings of inadequacy and your past hurts doing it for you, do you think?