STRESSED! Does that one word describe you? If so, Happy National Stress Awareness Day – yesterday. I don’t think you are supposed to celebrate stress, though. This is just a day to be aware of the effects of stress on our lives.
In 1967, Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe began sifting through the medical records of 5,000 medical patients, trying to assess if the stresses in life may have been a factor in their medical problems. Obviously, they found that life events do create stress that can affect a person’s health and well-being. They developed a scale with 43 life events, assigning a value to each event as a way to help “predict” if a person was likely to develop health issues.
The death of a spouse ranks at the top of the list, receiving 100 points. Divorce is next, receiving 73 points. At the bottom of the list are minor traffic infractions (11 points), holidays (12 points), and vacations (13 points). Vacations are supposed to help relieve stress, but they can also create stress.
A total score of 150 or lower puts you at low risk and low susceptibility to stress-induced health breakdowns. If you received 151 to 300 for a score, this is considered risky, and you have a 50% chance of a major health breakdown in the next 2 years.
If your total score was 301 or more, you are at a severe risk with an 80% chance of a major health situation.1 If you want to take the test, go to the link below and see how many of the 43 categories have affected your life so far this year. Maybe they should have added a 44th category: taking this test and seeing your final score!
Anyone who denies that stress exists or that stress can cause physical problems is obviously deluded or living on an island by themselves, cut off from reality. Although “stress” is not in the Bible, there are many references to the things that cause stress: death, troubles, persecution, worry, etc.
The old adage is that “stressed spelled backwards is desserts!” While I would never tell you not to enjoy desserts, we could never eat enough to totally deal with stress. And eating too many desserts will create another type of stress as you stress about your weight gain, diabetes, etc.
To deal with stress and stressful situations Biblically, the Scriptures give us the direction we need. Consider these verses:
Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
While we cannot make stressful situations disappear from our lives, we can determine the extent of affect those situations are allowed to have over us. The stresses of life do not have to knock us down. Instead, they can be stepping stones to draw us closer to the Lord.
Today, rest your stressed soul on the One who wants you to live with internal and eternal peace. Take the Lord at His word, believing that He doesn’t want stress to have the victory over your life. Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
1https://www.stress.org/self-assessments/holmes-rahe-life-stress-inventory/
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