Not only is stress very common in the professional world, but stress is also one of the fastest rising epidemics in American society. Whether you are entering a corporate work environment, starting your own business, going into ministry, or starting your own church/mission organization, excess stress will follow you. So how do we as Christians deal with the stress that comes with business or ministry?
We need to first understand how God created us to be and what He created us for. We have been given “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” which “guard[s] … [our] hearts … [and] minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). God also tells us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). God created us for relationship with Him and He sent Jesus to restore the relationship with Him that we broke. Part of that relationship with God is submission to and depending on Him.
In my experiences, stress has been a signal to me from God showing me that I’m not depending on Him enough and that I’m not trusting Him enough. We know God has a plan for us, and we know that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him, so why are we still stressed? I think we’ve grown up in a culture that recognizes and admonishes people who have it all put together, and who have everything planned out. If we are striving to achieve that rather than to please God, we’re putting ourselves in His place. This results in a copious amount of stress. God is God and we are human for very good reason.
But then how do we practically deal with stress? How do we get the head knowledge of who God is to sink into our heart and show itself in how we react to things? Stress is a pattern of thinking. We recognize what is, what isn’t, and what should be, we then think about how we can fix that and put everything into its rightful category, which is immensely overwhelming. If we intentionally challenge and change our habit from thinking about what’s wrong and how to fix it to recognize what’s going on and accepting the peace that God is in control of it.
Stress is a very powerful and sometimes crippling force today, but it fails in comparison to the power of God. Take your stressful thoughts captive and make it obey the truth of God.
Souces:
https://www.sciencealert.com/americans-are-in-the-midst-of-an-anxiety-epidemic-stress
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