137. Don't Get Stressed

I have seen an article saying that the primary cause for many sicknesses is stress, especially among modern people. As our lives become more fast-paced and result-driven, we can easily get stressed, without even knowing or being conscious of it.

There is a disease called “auto-immune disease.” It is our body’s immune cells attacking their cells, instead of attacking viruses in the body. There are many causes for this kind of disease, but one of the main reasons is proven to be chronic stress. It is a clear sign that God did not create our body to correctly and safely handle stress. That is why when our body is stressed, it produces all kinds of unwanted problems.

The sad news is that trying not to get stressed does not work. Positive thinking can help, but it does not solve stress. But the good news is that we have a person where we can get “dump” our pressure onto, and his name is Jesus.

In one of the writings in the New Testament, it says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). The word “cast” literally means “to throw upon,” and the picture we can imagine is us throwing away our garbage into a garbage truck.

As I get older, I appreciate more the fact that I have a heavenly Father to share my worries and frustrations. It is because I’m beginning to experience a lot more limitations than before. When I work out, I get stressed by not being able to lift the weight I used to do with ease when I was younger. When I play basketball, I get exhausted much more quickly than before. By the end of the day, I get so tired that I wonder how I stayed up so late to play computer games in my school years.

Also, as my relational responsibilities and complexities grow, relational stress increases as well. Many times it leaves me helpless how to handle them. I used to struggle mightily to pray when I was a younger Christian. I still struggle with prayer, but I find myself going to my prayer time with much more eagerness than before, not that I became more spiritual, but I became more desperate.

So, it is crucial that we “dump” all our anxieties on Jesus continuously through prayer. He knows how to take care of them. If in doubt, remember that he cares about us more than we care about ourselves. I often remind myself that this is the attitude of those who have learned the secret of prayer: “Stress is His, Rest is mine.” The result is never good when we meddle with what does not belong to us.