Looking for Someone to Relieve My Stress - Matthew 11:28; Matthew 6:33-34; 1 Peter 5:7

©Copyright December 5, 2021 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

This Advent season we are preparing for Christmas with a question that was raised at the tomb of Jesus. The angels asked: “Who are you looking for?” It is that question that will spur our reflection on the Christ child. Who are you looking for this Christmas?

To start us off, the one thing I hear people say more than anything these days is they feel stressed. They are tired. We are weary of the turmoil around us and the stress of health alerts. Everywhere we turn people seem to be ready to boil over. It may be a comment on the mandate for vaccinations, the right to gun ownership, gender identity, racial inequality, or whether you support the red or blue candidate. It doesn’t take much to get into an argument. Our problem is not just that these are heavy issues, it is that they carry such emotion that any true discussion is rendered impossible.

Add to this, inflationary prices, supply chain delays, job pressures from increased responsibilities, increased government regulations, and you are surrounded by triggers for stress. This is all in addition to the stress of relationships, family and making ends meet. We know stress is bad for us. It is physically bad, and it compromises our thinking and productivity.

We are looking for someone who can relieve our stress and lighten our burden. We may be looking for a political figure, a counselor, a doctor who can help us, or some other person who can help us fight through the burden of weariness. This morning I want to show you that Jesus is the One we are looking for. In Isaiah 9:6 we are told Jesus will be called the Prince of Peace. In other words, one of the reasons Christ came was to bring us peace. He is the One we should be seeking. This is the gift the we would love more than any other.

Anxiety and Stress is not God’s Will for Us

Jesus said to His disciples

27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubledor afraid. (John 14:27)

The point Jesus makes is HE is the one who gives us peace of mind and heart. It is a gift the world CANNOT give us.

The Lord established the concept of the Sabbath rest at creation. It was for the express purpose of getting us a day of rest. It was set aside to be a day to realign our priorities, to remind us of the eternal nature of our lives, and to give us a chance to reboot. God built in a stress relief valve, but it is one we have largely overlooked.

Why Do We Have Peace So Seldom?

This promise of peace is not unfamiliar, but it does seem elusive in our day. There are many reasons we may feel stress,

· A driven personality. People with a Type A or success driven personality are always pushing for more and feel they can never relax until they have amassed a fortune or reached their arbitrary level of success. Unfortunately, the measure is always a little bit more than what they have.

· Unrealistic expectations. In other words, you feel you must be a good family person, be in excellent physical shape, have a great appearance, make a lot of money, and meet the expectations of your friends and family. You may be trying to please everyone around you, and it is killing you.

· A materialistic outlook. No matter how much we have we feel like we need “just a little bit more.”

· Overcommitment. We sign up for everything (sometimes in a made dash for significance) or feel we have to say yes to every request. If we do not do so we feel we have failed.

We live in a time when there are entire industries that are designed to help us lose weight; health clubs to help us be better looking; credit cards, discount warehouses, Wal-Mart and Amazon set up to help us buy more stuff impulsively while making us think we are saving money on these things we don’t actually need anyhow.

Think about the amount of money we spend each Christmas buying things people don’t want, to give to people we don’t particularly like, because we feel we should do so! And we do all this to celebrate the birth of Jesus who said, “you cannot serve both God and money.”

The real reason we don’t have peace is because Satan continues to whisper lies that tell us we are never good enough and we do not yet measure up. Satan’s entire plan is to keep us as far away from contentment as possible. He will make us think that things will fall apart without us. He will keep reinforcing this message until we die or have a breakdown only to discover things continue to work fine without us. At its root, stress is sin. It is looking to things other than the Lord for significance, meaning, and purpose in life.

Stress carries with it a host of physical problems. It impacts our sleep, our health, our self-image, and our relationships with others. Stress can lead to depression, a loss of appetite, an increase in appetite, an inability to concentrate and so much more.

Stress sometimes leads us away from God (we are too busy) instead of driving us to Him. This is unfortunate because I want to argue that the real antidote to stress is not a pill or a heavy dose of counseling. Rest, peace, equilibrium all come from the one who was born in Bethlehem: Jesus.

The Biblical Antidote to our Stress

The Biblical Antidote to stress and turmoil in our lives if for us to turn toward Jesus rather than away from Him. When Simeon saw Jesus at his circumcision in the temple, He said,

29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,

as you have promised.

30 I have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared for all people. (Luke 2:29-30)

It is true that our souls are restless until they find God’s peace in our lives. People run frantically to try find meaning in their lives. Isaiah said,

3 You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

4 Trust in the Lord always,

for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. (Isa. 26:3-4)

God is the One who keeps us in peace. We appropriate that peace in our lives by trusting and FIXING our thoughts on Him. Sadly, for most of us, we have to learn to think about Him occasionally before we can FIX our thoughts on Him.

Jesus Himself said,

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

Jesus speaks specifically to those who are weary and carry heavy burdens. That is us! Weary is a good word for the result of the pandemic with Covid-19 and its variants.

Jesus does not tell weary people to toughen up, to get counselling, to protest in the streets, or anything else. His instruction is simple: “come to me.” We are to come to Him for strength, wisdom, guidance, new life, the power of the Holy Spirit, and that sense of wholeness only He can give.

Our biggest problem is not all we have to do or the threat we face. Our biggest problem is the way Satan has used all of this to get us to move away from the Lord and from His people. He has isolated us and created such anxiety we don’t believe we have time for Him! It is a tactic He has used again and again.

People have accomplished much more than we have in much more stressful times. They were still able to follow the Lord! People have known peace in great hardship; they have found peace though they are imprisoned for their faith or some other reason. It is said Martin Luther used to get up two hours early to pray each day. The busier days meant to him that he needed to spend even more time in prayer, so he could get done what needed to get done.

Jesus said His yoke is easy to bear and His burden is light. Have you tried to live the way God calls us to live??? There is nothing easy here! I am coming to understand that the burden of following Christ is meant to set us free! As we follow and serve Him, a strange thing begins to happen, stress begins to lift, joy starts to follow. There is no other place we can turn to in stressful times that will not enslave us further. We work, drink, spend, talk to counselors, exercise, get a different job and more. The result? We aren’t free, the noose is simply tightened a little tighter. When we do things His way, we begin to see the fog clear. We see with different eyes, and we are reminded that we are not alone in this world and all these struggles will soon pass away.

Listen to these words of Jesus,

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:31-34)

The key ingredient to combatting stress in our lives is to change our focus. We are to seek FIRST the kingdom of God and live righteously. We are to trust God to provide what we need!

Does that sound like an oversimplification? Attend any management class and they will tell you the key is to prioritize. We are to do the most important things first and then do the others in descending order of importance. Jesus said - let me say that again, - JESUS SAID we are to put our relationship with Him first and other things will fall into place. In the stressful times. We tend to elevate other things to that “first” position. Seeking Christ starts to slide down our list of priorities. Yet, as we seek Him,

· He gives us perspective (this world and its desires are passing away)

· He gives us strength

· He gives us wisdom and discernment (you will see things in life more clearly when you have spent time with Him to gain an eternal perspective with Him).

Ever since college I have tried to live by Matthew 6:33. It has been a battle. I have had many ups and downs. I continue to be a work in progress. I meet with God before anything else I do in the day (eat, shower, etc. . . OK, I do make coffee first!) There are days I would prefer to sleep for an extra hour, but I have become convinced that if I give myself to the Lord FIRST each day, I am able to face the tasks of the day with greater clarity and a supernatural strength. By my actions I am making a statement to myself and to the Lord as to what is most important in my life.

Practically Speaking

Let’s take things out of the theory stage and talk practically. How do we start to do what Jesus tells us to do?

First, start your day with Him. I know some people will say that aren’t good morning people. They need to meet with God during the day or maybe before they go to bed at night. But here is what often happens: the demands of the day don’t seem to allow us time for God and at night we are so tired and are brains are so weary, we don’t have anything left to give.

This is so important to our health (both spiritually and physically) Here is the challenge: take 5-10 minutes at the start of your day and read God’s Word. Jot down something you learn or a command you are given. Just 10 minutes! Don’t use this time for reading what other people have to say about reading the Bible . . . read it yourself! Start in the gospel of Matthew. The goal is not the amount of ground you cover, it is to carefully listen and reflect on the truth of Scripture. Take a small chunk and listen to what God is telling you.

Second, commit your day to the Lord. This doesn’t have to be a long pastoral prayer . . . this is simply stopping to ask God to help you during the day. Throughout the day, when you feel the pressure rising, deliberately STOP and ask the Lord to help you focus once again.

Third, give God the first place in your calendar and your check book.There is something freeing about giving God first place in our life and finances. This is a way of tangibly and physically seeking Him first. We block out time in our week for big games on TV, for meetings with “important people,” for special events, for exercise, for family gatherings. Why can’t we block out time for God each week?

Fourth, stop often to remind yourself of what Christmas is actually meant to celebrate. Look for ways (think about how absurd it is to say this) to bring Christ into your Christmas. Keep the main event the main event!

Dr. Archibald Hart is a Christian Counselor, and he suggests four additional very practical techniques for relieving stress.

1. Improve your time management. Get up early enough so you don’t have to rush to work. Set reasonable goals for the day and stick to them.

2. Deliberately Slow down. Most people would do a better job if they would simply slow down! Hart suggests we

a. Speak more slowly

b. Focus on becoming a better listener

c. Walk more slowly

d. Don’t multi-task! Focus on one thing at a time.

e. Eat slowly and savor your food.

f. Drive slower.

g. Take 30 minutes out of every day to PLAN to do nothing.

3. Limit interruptions. Put your phone aside so you are not sidetracked by text messages and emails. There are seldom messages that can’t wait until you are at a good stopping point. Every time we let these things interrupt us we lose concentration. We will need to take time to figure out what we were doing and where we were at. That is very inefficient. Texts, cell phones, email, Messenger are all meant to be tools to help us not master to enslave us. Look at how difficult it is for a family to just go out to eat without being distracted by their phones! When you need to work make it clear to people that you cannot be disturbed.

4. Finally, learn to see the humor in life. Lighten up! Laughter diffuses anger, releases stress, and can restore sanity to our lives.

Allow me to suggest some other ideas

· Repent of sin quickly. Guilt is a stressor in life. Bring the matter before the Lord and deal with it immediately.

· Be motivated more by relationships than deadlines.

· Get outside and feel the fresh air.

· Move every hour.

· Sing more music that lifts the soul to Heaven.

· Look for opportunities to honor God during your day and when you see an opportunity, take it.

· Keep a running conversation going with the Lord throughout your day.

· Remind yourself that you cannot fix the problems of other people. Only the Lord can do this. We can listen and point people to Jesus. People ultimately must resolve their own problems. You can’t carry the weight of your life and the life of someone else for long.

The answer to stress is still the same as it has always been, when we are weary and heavily burdened, if we will turn to the Lord and align our hearts with Him, we will have a peace that is superior to anything we can gain from the world around us.

We can get medicine from doctors, but if we don’t take that medicine, we will never get well. We may be given exercises from the physical therapist but if we do not do those exercises, we will not get better. We can get good financial advice from a financial planner, but if we don’t follow their advice, we will never see our savings grow. We can be given great counsel from our counselor, but if we don’t do what we are counseled to do, we won’t improve. In the same way, when God tells us how to relieve the stress of our lives, we can do what He says and reap the benefits, or we can continue to be miserable.

Christmas is the story of God’s rescue plan. Christmas can increase your stress or deliver you from that stress. You must choose which it will be.