Jesus offers the invitation of peace and rest to all who come to Him in faith. Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

The Message says it like this: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

 

Today, I would like to talk about two types of stress; one is chronic stress and the other acute stress. We are all born with a certain stress tolerance level. If we think of it as a cup, some of us are born with a Big Gulp size stress tolerance level and some with a shot glass size. But whatever size of cup you have, you control what it is in that cup. Often times for those of us who struggle with anxiety and stress on a regular basis, our cups are nearly full with chronic stress. Chronic stressors are all those unresolved issues from your past that you have not dealt with. That could be things like verbal, emotional, physical, sexual abuse, emotional or physical neglect, unrealistic expectations and family rules, unresolved relational conflicts, alcoholic family member, death in the family, never good enough for caretakers, etc. Acute stressors are those things that happen in the present, in the here-and-now such as getting a flat tire when late to work, losing a job, a disobedient child, etc. When your cup is full of chronic stress, you do not have much room for any acute stress in your life so you may find yourself quickly overwhelmed. So to create more room for stress in your life and to have more tolerance for it, try dealing with all that chronic stress. You may find it helpful to talk to a friend, pastor, deacon, mentor, join a support group, or seek professional counseling in order to deal with those past struggles and "skeletons" in your closet. Once your stress tolerance "cup" is emptied of chronic stress, you will be able to cope better with current situations and proclaim as King David did in Psalm 129:1-2 "they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory."

I will continue talking about stress management - part II in the next blog entry. I hope you spend time getting away with Jesus and learn how to recover your life through Him.