Are you stressed?

What is stress anyway? 

Allow me to provide you with an example: Take a toothpick between the thumb and forefinger of both hands and bend it. 

Keep bending. 

The point at which you hear that first audible "crack" is that toothpick's stress level.

How about you? Are YOU stressed? Are you being bent slowly, a bit more every day?

When we are under stress, something's going to give. Something will start cracking; our health, our marriages, our peace of mind. We might get depressed, ignore our relationships, stop performing at an optimum pace on the job, or suffer poor health. 

Not only that, but our stress problem could beget additional problems, compounding the issues in our lives that must be dealt with.

Here are some suggestions that, if followed, I GUARANTEE will create a turn-around in your stress condition:

1) Take time to pray. 

Did I lose you already? Prayer is a supernatural event. I say that because it simply isn't natural for a busy human to "waste" time talking to someone they can't see, and may not even truly trust. Give prayer a chance! Think about it, you're taking time for OTHER things that don't make any sense, aren't you? 

If a millionaire contacted you today and said he had a million dollar check for you if you'd meet him for lunch this Thursday at 2PM, would you find a way to get to that meeting? Well, the Creator of the Universe requests the honor of your presence every day, off and on throughout the day and night, not only because He wants to hear your voice, but because He has things to say to you that will encourage, motivate and delight your soul and, literally, change your life. 

Are you interested?

I have learned to shut off the radio when I drive, the TV, whatever causes distractions in my life, and simply listen as much as I speak when it comes to prayer. At times, I have sat in traffic with my cell phone to my ear - OFF but pressed against my head nonetheless - and prayed aloud that way. 

Pray in the shower. Pray on the commode. Pray a simple "breath prayer" on an elevator ride. There are many moments when we can speak with the Father throughout the day. Find yours! Prayer breeds intimacy between those we pray WITH, the ones we pray FOR and the One we pray TO. 

Let us pray!

2) Bible Study. 

Most would agree that what we're hearing or reading from the news is either untrue, partially true or we aren't getting the news that really matters, just the stories that distract us. On the other hand, most would agree the Bible is 100% true. Isn't it strange how rarely we crack the pages of a resource containing truth that will benefit our lives while devouring that which we admit is at least partially lying to us? 

How are you investing your free time? Could you use at least a  portion of that time to study God's Word? There's nothing but good to come of such an investment.

3) Fellowship. 

Two or three gathered in His Name constitutes a church gathering, in my opinion. Jesus said so. I believe this because, whether we're assembling on a Sunday morning in a steepled edifice, or seated around pancakes at an IHOP restaurant, we are ALWAYS The Church. I recommend we seek out people whose faith walk we'd like to emulate, good examples of Christ-Followers we'd like to be like, and hang around with those folks whenever possible. As I've often said, we all need a Paul, a Barnabas and a Timothy in our lives - someone who teaches us, someone on our spiritual level with whom we can sharpen our own iron, and someone we can instruct; a disciple.

Additional  suggestions:

There are, of course, additional methods for relieving stress, but these three are the best. I find them to be empowering and that's important. Without God's power in our lives, we're functioning solely on people power and, quite frankly, that's not enough to sustain us.

Be sure to add such things as vacation time, exercise and proper dieting to the list, too. When you think about it, you're too blessed to be stressed, so don't give the enemy that foothold in your life. He doesn't deserve your help!

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo

Founder, The Church @ Work