Progressive Baptist Church's Website
The Bible talks about how God provides rest for the weary. But the Bible isn't talking about the kind where you want to go to sleep. It is talking about when people have so many problems they feel down all the time. The Bible promises that when you come to God, He will provide rest for you. Sometimes our burdens are so heavy they feel like heavy yokes around our necks. These yokes can begin to press so deeply into our spirits that we are soon unable to hold our heads up. But God has given us an invitation to come to Him in Matthew 11:28. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Stress can have a negative effect on us emotionally and physically. It can have a psychological effect on life. Stress can also harm us spiritually because many times when we are stressed out, we run from God instead of running to Him. Remaining in stress for an extended period can cause tremendous problems. Stress can become distress to us.
The Bible contains valuable lessons on dealing with stress. Let's look at some in the life of the Prophet Elijah. I Kings Chapter 18 recounts one of Elijah's great victories. We read how he called fire down from Heaven and slew the prophets of Baal. But in the next Chapter, things are a little different; Elijah is running for his life. Elijah was in a stressful situation. Jezebel, the evil queen of Israel had sworn to kill him. He was dealing with intense pressure; a type of pressure that can lead to emotional burnout. Many people experience burnout in the day in which we live, but they don't have to if they will learn to understand the signs of stress and how to change their situation.
One of the first signs of stress is to depreciate our worth. That's exactly what Elijah did. Verse 4 says, he requested for himself that he might die; and said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life. I'm better off dead. I'm no good to you or anyone else. Just take my life and let me get out of here." When we start depreciating our self-worth, we are in an extreme condition. Elijah really didn't want to die or he would have stayed where he was. Jezebel would have accommodated him. But when we are stressed, we can begin to depreciate ourselves. We start talking about how bad things are and how we'd rather be dead than alive. You may have heard others say that. They don't really mean it. They're stressed and sometimes don't even realize what's happening.
A second sign of stress is to underrate our work. In verse 10, Elijah said, "All my work is in vain. These people reject everything I say. Why should I continue trying to help them?" Under severe stress, we can start thinking it doesn't matter anyway, so why try? The devil likes to push us until we start underrating what we do. If he get us into that position, he can cause us to miss the success God wants us to experience.
A third sign that we are stressed is that we overemphasize our problems. We read in verse 10 that Elijah said, "And I even I only am left." Elijah told the Lord he was the only one still serving Him. He was overemphasizing. We read in verse 18 that God told him, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." The Lord was saying in so many words, "Stop overemphasizing, you're not the only one left." If we are not careful, we will let the devil convince us we're the only one who can get the job done. God has many other people. We each need to get in the flow and do our part and let others do theirs. Overemphasizing can isolate us as it did Elijah.
In I Kings Chapter 18 we see Elijah giving, focusing outward. But when he became stressed, he started focusing inward. Problems are real, and if we're breathing, we're going to face them. But we must not let the devil convince us that we're the only one who has ever experienced a problem. If he can keep us from coming together with those of like faith, he can isolate us. He can keep us away from others that have gone through similar circumstances. Sometimes hearing others can help us out with our own problems.
A fourth sign of stress Elijah showed was to give up on his dreams. In verse 4, he tells the Lord he's had enough and asks Him to take his life. In other words, he says to God, "I can't do any good anymore. I can't be your prophet." God had called and anointed Elijah to be His prophet. The Bible says that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Elijah knew he was called and anointed and that he still had more to do for God; but he wanted to give up. The enemy wants us all to give up our dreams both naturally and spiritually. If he can convince us to do that, he has conquered us.
We've looked at signs of stress in Elijah's life. Now lets see how he overcame that stress. First the Bible says he lay and slept under a juniper tree. Then the Bible says an angel touched him and he ate and drank. As we have seen, stress is nothing new. Elijah had to deal with stress and the Lord helped him overcome it. If we find ourselves stressed, let us do as Elijah did. He rested naturally and spiritually. He released his frustrations. He refocused on God's grace, love, and power; and he stopped looking at his own problems and resumed helping others. We will face difficult circumstances in this life, but they do not have to conquer us. We can be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.
