By Neil Earle
“I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked...”
It goes on, folks…
“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have constantly been on the move” (2 Corinthians 11:26-27, 23-25).
Who was better than the apostle Paul at turning his trials into forceful literature? He scratches out a surging rhythm with his quill even as he sings the blues. His simple insistent repetition drives home the message. We are drawn in. We can’t help but react: “This man has been there! This man knows something about stress!” (Do I hear an “Amen”?)
That same apostle Paul who went at life like gangbusters also showed us the way through the Valley of Stress. Paul knew that sometimes the only way through trials is right through them. That’s why his words sprout wings and soar as he explains how repeatedly the grace of God allowed him to turn seeming extinction into glorious victory. “We do not want you to be uniformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).
“The sentence of death.” Ugh. What an apt phrase for us as we line up for that report from the doctor’s office. We hear it in the siren from the ambulance tearing down the block, our daily allotment of doom and gloom pouring off the almost inescapable TV monitors (in High Definition yet!). Pastors tense when their telephone rings. With that annoying beeper hung to our belts we get to take our stress home with us. Isn’t modern technology marvelous?
Song, song blue,
everybody knows one,
Song, song blue, every
garden grows one.
Here’s Paul again. “But this happened (pick any peril of Paul you like) that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). By now we know that this writer from way back in what some might be tempted to call the simpler times of the First Century is eminently qualified to speak to us about today’s stressors. Simpler times? Not many of us have been flogged to an inch of our lives or stoned with sharp spiky rocks and left for dead (Acts 14:19).
This First Century stress fighter could not be stopped. “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us” (verse 10). This line reflects hope and hope is essential in fighting stress. Paul says elsewhere we are “saved in hope.” But Paul is not finished yet. “On him we have set out hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers” (verse 11).
What did Paul know that we often forget?
Purpose. That’s part of the answer. Once we see a purpose in our sufferings and stresses then that often transforms the situation. Take the patriarch Job. If he had known God was betting on his rugged endurance it would not have been half as much a trial (Job 2:3). It’s that “not knowing the outcome” that makes trials so stressful. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out and the stomach-churning, nail-biting uncertainty is one of life’s profound tortures. But remember, it is explained in this issue that total absence of stress is death. The human organism needs a certain amount of stress to survive just as weight-lifters need weights, but…in moderation.
To struggling groups of Christians Paul brought the good news of what he had learned – he knew how to win, he knew how to lose, how to have lots, how to have little (Philippians 4:10-13). His mission in life was formidable, nothing less than challenging the cruel and corrupt Roman Empire with the good news of another King and Kingdom. He was a living embodiment of the principle that the stresses which do not kill us can actually make us stronger. In Paul’s case, even with a weakened physical constitution and frequent illness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), he was able to claim eventual victory. This was because of one simple, glorious trait: In his mind’s eye, the power and purpose of God in his life was always greater than the stress he was facing.
This is why he could state confidently: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Later he added this: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Not content with that he pushed on to the commanding heights turning adversity and stresses on their head: “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 11:9). He then delivers the ultimate “victory roll” in the face of stress and danger, now almost “walking on air” with calm serene faith: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (verse 10).
These are indeed the commanding heights, aren’t they? How do we get there? Paul, First Century Stress Fighter was the ultimate God-intoxicated man. For Paul, Christ was his life and his life was Christ. No more dedicated Christian has ever lived. And few have suffered more setbacks and distresses. Paul well knew and effectively taught that trouble is not an option but a required course. He was so personally well-acquainted with stress that he often referenced the remedies for winning the fight. Here are few such strategies.
Paul, like Jesus before him, like William Wordsworth and Mahatma Gandhi, was one of history’s famous walkers. “In journeyings often,” he says. The geography of the Galatian interior was rough enough for motivating someone to stay in shape, as was the Arabian Desert (Galatians 1:17). In the 21st century we see the link between bodily exercise and stress reduction as almost absolute. “Physical training is of some value” Paul write (1 Timothy 4:6). It is. It is indeed. Your doctor knows that sustained walking and aerobic exercise lowers blood pressure, smoothes out the irregularities in the nervous system and has a general calming effect.
When troubles assail us it’s sometimes advisable to call a halt, quit what we are doing and take a walk, breathing deeply as we go. This helps clear the mind to sort out the negative barrage of stressors that are coming at us. In stress the body is under siege. We feel like we are coming apart. But Jesus said in Matthew 6:25 to not worry (merismos in the Greek). The force of the expression is “don’t even think about worrying” because worry can get us so worked up that we feel we are “coming apart” (merismos = “divide the mind”). Instead let our bodies begin to program the mind to SETTLE DOWN. Clear minds are necessary for sorting out alternatives. When we walk and pray as we go – and give God thanks for being able to walk and pray – then things begin to take on more perspective and perspective can slowly restore our peace of mind.
Another principle relating easy to underestimate when under stress or grief-filled situations. Acts 27 is a vivid narrative of Paul facing certain shipwreck and the divine assurance that they’d have to swim for their lives. Paul the prisoner, the little Jewish tentmaker, takes over. He tells the crew of the doomed vessel and his Roman guard: “For the last fourteen days you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food – you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive” (Acts 27:33). The mind affects the body but the body also teaches the mind. Under high stress we sometimes abandon normal patterns. This is a huge subject but much good advice is available today.
Experienced Christians have victories to recount. They know the sweet sensation of Someone walking through the fire with them.
“Therefore…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Note the hope-filled words – peace, access, and stand. “And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappointment us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:1-5).
Experienced Christians know the drill. The Holy Spirit is a Friend sent to us in our adversities. This Friend has got us through some tight spots in the past. He will help us in the future, for He lives forever. Thus Christians draw strength from looking back at those “mountain top” moments when faced with new stresses. In fact it is exercising the “thanksgiving muscle” to do so. Think: Why should God deliver us this time if we haven’t thanked him for the last time (in a way of speaking). Thanksgiving and praise are entry portals to the heavenly places (Psalm 100:4). They are healthy attitudes that eat up stress like a spiritual poultice.
Consider: It is almost impossible to be singing God’s praises, mind off self, focused on what God has done and is doing in our lives and…to be simultaneously panicked! Acts 16:16-28 records Paul and Silas being thrown in jail after being publicly whipped and humiliated. Their reaction? Singing hymns at midnight. How unnatural. Unnatural, because supernatural. When God is in the picture the unbelievable is believable.
No wonder Paul reminded the Philippians of battles they had been through together (Philippians 1:3-6).
There is usually always something to learn from hard testing even if the original trigger was not our fault. My mother used to say, “It’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow somebody good.” Sometimes the lessons take years to learn but they can be the most valuable experiences in life. There was a wife terribly upset and embittered at God at the fact that NASA had rejected her husband’s qualifications to be the first teacher in space. They chose a woman instead, a decision she felt was rooted only in “political correctness.” Perhaps she was right but this lady fumed and fretted and stressed herself out as she watched via television with increasing anger and envy as the space shuttle took off. Within minutes her anger and fury turned to repentant awe and thanksgiving as the Challenger exploded before her eyes.
Life isn’t always so dramatic but never fail to recall God’s mighty deliverances. Let that remembrance buoy you up. David wrote, “Thy loving kindness is better than life” (KJV). The Psalms of David are excellent stress fighters.
Sometimes one just has to hang in there. There comes a time when all our human ingenuity falls short and we have to hang on for dear life. Paul faced this. He reminded us that God has promised – we will get through this (Hebrews 13:6).
Along with trying to find something to be thankful for amid the stress – at the very least we can be thankful that God is still there, eh? Why not ask God for an Encourager. One thing we often forget to do in facing stressful situations is to simply ask for help. Ask God to send you an encourager. Supernatural encouragement often shows up through quite natural means – a neighbor, a friend, a card, a workmate, a boss, a child, a family member. Be alert to such guides and encouragers. The Holy Spirit is a skilful and subtle worker (Hebrews 13:2). We often have to ask God to show us where He is working amid our trouble because it is the nature of stress to make us lose focus.
The Psalms have been summarized as a journey from orientation to disorientation to reorientation. The apostle Paul would have liked that. The Psalms were often on his lips. Let the same thing be said of us as we learn to be stress fighters. We will be following Paul just as he followed Christ.