TEXT: Various
TITLE: Jesus - How to handle stress
SERIES: When Life Gets Messy…
TOPIC: Stress
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, October 6, 2009
PROP.: Jesus was constantly under pressure and yet remained cool, calm and collected. Here are 8 principles we learn from His life!
INTRODUCTION: Good morning!
Today marks a new sermon series. The name of the series we will find ourselves in is this: When Life Gets Messy
Because when life gets messy, life becomes difficult.
All throughout this series, we are going to learn how to clean up the mess by looking at the lives of different people!
The beautiful thing about the Bible is that God teaches us using a lot of different people to bring about His eternal truth and principles.
Today I want to talk to you about stress. Stress makes life messy. Listen to the health problems associated with stress:
Depression Heart Disease Obesity
Pain of any kind Digestive problems Autoimmune diseases
Sleep Problems Skin conditions such as eczema
Anxiety
The list goes on and on…
What is stress exactly? Websters dictionary defines stress this way:
stress /strɛs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [stres]
the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain.
I think Bilbo Baggins (from Lord of the Rings), said it well:
“I feel like butter scraped thinly over too much bread…”
Is that how you feel?
What I want you to do is to write down the one thing that stresses you out the most! Write it at the center at the top of your page…
Stress makes a mess out of many people’s lives.
So who will we look at this week to help us clean up the mess that stress creates?
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ was constantly under pressure. There were grueling demands on his time; he rarely had any personal privacy; he was constantly interrupted. People repeatedly misunderstood him, criticized him, and ridiculed him. He had enormous stress which would have caused any of us to cave in.
But as we take an overview of the entire life of Christ, it becomes clear that not only did Christ stand strong - he lived life with grace and peace.
And believe me, I know the danger of using the life of Christ as an example. As soon as I said “let’s look at what we can learn from Jesus about how to live our lives” some of you checked out mentally.
You are gone. Why? Because you have it in your mind that, “well, that’s Jesus! He’s God! I can never live like Jesus lived.”
And you’re right. You are not going to live a sinless, perfect life like Jesus did! And it’s true that Jesus is special and unique! He lived his life free from the mistakes of sin…that’s what qualified Him to be a sacrifice on our behalf.
But what I think we tend to forget is that just as true as it is that Jesus was fully God, it’s also just as true that Jesus was fully human!
Just like you, Jesus could only be in one place at one time. Just like you, Jesus had emotions that needed to be kept in check. Just like you, Jesus became tired, hungry, hot, cold. And yet, Jesus handled His stress in the right way!
Have you ever wondered why Jesus never used his miraculous power to serve himself? It’s true! Jesus, even though He had miraculous power at his finger tips, never used his power to make life easy or less complicated for Himself. And I believe the reason why Jesus spent 33 years on this earth was to show us how to live. To give us instructions on how to live this life.
And so what do we learn about handling stress from Jesus? We learn these 8 principles:
I’m going to give you four this week and four next week.
1st Principle in handling stress is…
I. Identification: Know Who You Are!
I believe much stress could be avoided if you simply could answer the question: “Who am I?” If you can’t confidently answer that question, you will seek the answer from others. You will let others manipulate and pressure you into believing you are somebody you aren’t!
A lot of stress in life results from our hiding behind masks, living double lives, being unreal with others or trying to be somebody we’re not.
Insecurity always produces pressure in our lives and when we are insecure, we feel forced to perform and conform. We set unrealistic goals, standards, and even though we work, work, work, we still can’t meet those unrealistic standards.
A. Christ Knew! (Confidence of Christ)
Jesus knew exactly who He was. He stated it time and time again.
John 8:12 - “"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 10:9 - “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved!”
John 14:6 - “I am the way, the truth and the life”
John 10:11 - “I am the good shepherd”
John 10:36 - “I am God’s Son!”
Christ knew who he was.
And because Jesus knew exactly who he was, he didn’t have the stress of trying to be something that he wasn’t!
And Jesus had the potential to be something that he wasn’t -
From his disciples - they wanted him to be the physical king of Israel. To rule an earthly kingdom
From the religious leaders - they wanted him to not be God’s son. Life would have been so much easier if Jesus would have just said he wasn’t God. That would have made the religious leaders happy…
B. Do You? (Your confidence)
One way to know WHO you are is to realize WHOSE you are. You are a child of God. I was put on earth not by accident but for a purpose. I am deeply loved by God. I am accepted by Him. He has a plan for my life, and because he put me here, I am significant!
To handle stress, you must know who you are. Until you handle this issue, you will be hindered by insecurity.
The second principle of handling stress is
II. Dedication: Know whom you’re trying to please
People get stressed because they are trying to please too many people! And people who are people pleasers get really stressed when one group of people is angry or ill-pleased with a decision that is made.
ILLUSTRATION: When I was the youth minister and we would go on youth trips, you know where we would eat most of the time when we were on the road? I know the youth group could tell you…we ate at McDonald’s. On those rare occasions when there were other restaurants nearby, it would be possible for people walk somewhere else - but more often than not, it was McDonald’s.
And I would occasionally hear complaints (which I quickly became immune to). You know what I learned early on in ministry?
A. YOU CAN’T PLEASE EVERYBODY!
Jesus knew this principle early on in his ministry as well.
John 5:30 says - “30By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”
And because Jesus focused on pleasing God rather than men, he achieved his mission! His life was a success. On two separate occasions, God’s voice rang down from heaven declaring - “This is my Son in whom I’m well pleased.” Once at Christ’s baptism. The other at the transfiguration of Jesus.
B. Choose to please God!
So if you can’t please everyone, why not choose the most important person to please and make that your goal? Question: Who matters most? Answer: GOD!
The apostle Paul made this his goal in life and I guarantee, he had less stress in life for choosing to do so.
Galatians 1:10
10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul had a clear direction of who he was trying to please…and because God matters the most, God was whom Paul was trying to please.
And when it’s not clear who you’re trying to please, you will cave, you will crumble when faced with these 3 things:
1. Criticism - Since you can’t please everyone, the people who aren’t pleased with criticize your decision and say some pretty stupid stuff that will hurt. And if you are in people pleaser mode, you will try to please the squeakiest wheel and will cave in. But if you are confident in who you are living for and who you’re trying to please, when the criticism does come, it won’t bother you…as much! It will still bother you, but not as much because you know whom you are trying to please.
2. Competition - When you are trying to please the masses, you will try to “one up” others just to make yourself look good. And in trying to make yourself look good in the eyes of others, you compromise your boundaries.
3. Conflict - When someone disagrees with you, if you are not certain whom you are trying to please, you will conform to become the person they believe you should become! After all, you want to please them, you can’t handle it if they don’t agree with you! You MUST smooth things over. When you are confident that you are pleasing God with your actions, the conflict that arises from people who don’t agree with your decisions will mean a lot less.
It was Jesus who preached a sermon on the side of a mountain which reminded us of these words in Matthew 6:33...(we sang the song this morning)
Matthew 6:33
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Please God…and God will take care of the rest!!!
The third principle of handling stress is
III. Organization: Know what you’re trying to accomplish
Jesus eludes to this principle in
John 8:14 -
14Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.”
There are 24 hours in a day. We all have the same amount of time and yet some people seem to accomplish so much more in 24 hours than we do! Why is that? Could it be that your life is not organized? That you haven’t given much thought to what you need to or want to accomplish for that day?
If you don’t make plans and set priorities you will be pressured to do what others think is important.
ILLUSTRATION: I am very much a “list making” type of person. When I know I have a lot to get done in a week, I make little - “To do lists” And then I will organize what needs to be done first. It’s important that you organize what’s important! Because…
A. Organization prevents pressure
You see, either you live life according to priorities or you live life according to pressures. There is no other option. Either you decide what is important in your life or you let other people decide what is important in life.
And when you are organized, you are prepared. Preparation causes you to be at ease. To put it another way, preparation prevents pressure but procrastination produces pressure.
How many times have you been stressed out because you waited till the last minute to do something? And when you are organized, it will greatly reduce your stress!
Also
B. Organization cuts down on “busy work”
It is really easy to operate under the tyranny of busyness, to come to the end of your day and think, “Have I really accomplished anything important?” Busyness is not necessarily productivity. You may be running…but if you’re running in circles, you’re not accomplishing anything.
And stress comes about when we let others decide what is important in our life.
For Jesus it was clear. He came to earth for a specific purpose and mission. And soon, he would return to heaven. It was clear in Christ’s mind what He was to accomplish!
Your stress will be less when it is clear in your mind what you have to accomplish!
IV. Concentration: Focus on one thing at a time
What causes us to lose our focus on what needs to be done?
A. Busy schedules
Do you sometimes find yourself pulled in different directions? Do you ever find yourself stressed out because there is so much to do? You see, because I’m a person who makes “to do lists” sometimes, it becomes easy to be distracted, discouraged and overwhelmed because there is much to do! I worry about how it will all get done?
But then I ask - what needs to be done first? Then I force myself to fixate on that one thing till it’s accomplished.
QUESTION - how do you eat an elephant?
ANSWER - One bite at a time
When you have a huge task ahead of you, it can cause you to stress out a bit! Take a deep breath, and start with one job at a time!
Jesus offered these words in Matthew 6 verse 34.
34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Jesus is essentially reminding us to focus on one thing at a time. When we are consumed with worry - back up…get some perspective…do what needs to be done first.
So not only does a busy schedule try to keep us from staying focused, people can sometimes cause us to lose our focus and do what isn’t important!
B. People can cause us to lose focus:
Several people tried to detour Jesus from his planned schedule. They tried to distract him from his goal in life.
In Luke chapter 4, Jesus was healing a bunch of people. Listen to Luke’s account of what was going on in verses 40 - 44.
Luke 4:40-44
40When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.[h]
42At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." 44And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.[i]
People, for selfish reasons, wanted Jesus to do what they wanted him to do! But Jesus remained focus and told other people what he needed to do.
And sometimes, what you and I need to do is simply say the short, but powerful word - NO! I think a lot of our stress would be eliminated and reduced if you and I would just say NO!
We like to blame our stress on other people when in fact it’s our inability to say “no” that causes us to be stretched beyond our limits.
Jesus knew who he was
Jesus knew who he was trying to please
Jesus knew what he was to accomplish
Jesus was focused
CONCLUSION: These are just the first four principles Jesus practiced in his ministry, with his friends; in his life. We will discover the last four principles next week!
If you are stressed, hang in there…breathe in…breathe out. Then Remember who you are; Remember who you’re trying to please; Remember what you’re trying to accomplish; focus on achieving one thing at a time.
I want to pray for you and whatever might be stressing you out.
Your Job
Your family
Financial pressures
Whatever it is…today can be the day where you begin your journey free from stress!
NEXT FOUR…
V. Delegation: Don’t do it all yourself
VI. Meditation: Make a habit of personal prayer
VII. Recreation: Take time off to enjoy life
VIII. Transformation: Give your stress to Christ
