So many people run into challenges and problems in their lives that they become overwhelmed and downtrodden. A death of a loved one, a recent injury, loss of a job, or a multitude of even smaller problems all contribute to our stress level and our outlook on life. The magnitude of the situation usually does not matter. The loss of a pet can be just as devastating to some as the loss of a job or the loss of a husband or wife to others. We are also often influenced by the stress of others. By that I mean that we are empathetic to others problems and thereby take their stress upon ourselves in the form of worry.
Many times we end up reacting to stress by blaming others, ourselves or even God or the Devil. Pushing the blame off on someone or something else is often a producer of more stress instead of making us feel better. Sure, blaming someone make make us feel better temporarily, but once we realize that the blame is put out falsely then we often carry the burden of guilt of those false accusations.
So, how do we alleviate stress? There are many, tons even, of self-help gurus out there willing to tell you how to alleviate stress by taking long walks, reading a book, getting plenty of rest, the list goes on. And while these things can be helpful they don’t address a person’s inner core beliefs which affect how certain situations can bring on stress in the first place. You see, most of us are affected by challenges or problems by the way we view them. For instance, one person may look at the loss of a job as devastating and think there is no hope for their future which is a very stressful situation for them. On the other hand, a second person may look at losing a job as an opportunity to find a better job or change careers and this creates less stress for them than the first person.
This is where faithfulness comes in to play. Faithfulness or the degree of our faith can affect the way we perceive adverse situations. Different types of faithfulness have different types of effects on stress, however today I will be addressing Christian faith in the term faithfulness. In the Christian faith we believe not only that Christ died for our sins, and that we will have everlasting life through faith in Him, but we also believe that Christ is always with us. Knowing that Christ is with us everywhere we go, day in and day out, gives us the knowledge that we are not alone. We also know that Christ said that He will see us through the storms (problems), but please remember that He never said that he would prevent the storms.
Now if we understand that we are not alone, and that Christ will see us through the storm, then this in turn gives us hope that we will be alright. We can depend on Christ as our support group to help us deal with stress. We can talk to Him through prayer, we can even scream out our frustrations to Him. We can live with the knowledge that God will provide what we need. This is not to say that He will provide what we want. That is a big difference. In knowing that He will provide what we need it takes the edge off of the stress level we may be experiencing.
In order to reduce stress we must first and foremost listen to what God is trying to tell us. We must keep working to improve our current situation, but in a manner that we are being Christ-like. And we must have the type of faithfulness to know that no matter what we are experiencing that we will make it through. The sun will still rise in the morning. This type of faithfulness can reduce stress with the knowledge that Christ knows our pain, He knows what is best for us, and He is always there for us to turn to.
Reduce your stress through faithfulness today. Know that God loves you and even though you are experiencing what seems like too much to handle, you can handle it, you can make it through and there is always God’s silver-lining. Start counting all of the blessings you do have in your life and if you honestly count them, you will begin to see that God does take care of us.
I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Please share the knowledge by clicking on the links below. I pray that you (yes you!) experience a day of peace and blessings.
In His Service,
The Faithful Geek
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!