God's People also Experienced Stress

By S.P. COMILA

Stress is already a part of human life. It can be enthralling and it can be motivating, but for our situation today, the effects of COVID-19 pandemic to our economy and health are somewhat trying to knot our stomach. It can linger to our life and it would seem like it could never go away for some.

Concerns are already increasing because in these times of lock-down, numerous reports have revealed an increasing cases of mental health disturbances perhaps due to failed or improper coping strategies for stress.

I have a separate article about how to successfully cope with the stresses of life using both spiritual and medical perspective.

For this time, let’s try to learn about some Biblical characters who have experienced the same thing as what you and I are facing today. You may even think that because these Bible heroes were the chosen instruments of God to save Israel and the people, they might not have experienced it in their lives. Such perception maybe true because you cannot even find a “stress” word from all the pages of the Bible. However, there are Biblical terms that can capture the concept of stress and it includes anxiety, fear, anger, despair, and guilt. This gives you a clearer view that even the prophets, the disciples and the great servants of God experienced stress at one or many times in their life.

Who are they?   

1.      Daniel- Put yourself into his situation when he was thrown into the lion’s den. Without his sincere prayer, he might be attacked and eaten by all wild and hungry lions. Psychologists may often call his stress as ‘Terminal stress.’

2.     Esther- Convinced by her thought with only one choice to save her fellow Jews, she was determined to put her life at risk. Whatever things you might be thinking in her situation, it is still considered as stress.

3.     Joseph- He was blamed and was punished from accusations that he didn’t do. He was sentenced to jail and that could become a great trouble for him. If other men would be placed into his tempting situation, most would definitely fall in the seductive hands of Potiphar’s wife. All other struggles that Joseph faced can be regarded as a form of ‘acute stress.’

4.     Elijah- One of his biggest stresses was when he saw the Cherith brook gradually drying. This compares to the dryness of your bank account so it is still a stress.

5.      David- if you were David, you might be highly pressured for your new position to rule the Kingdom as anointed by Samuel. It gives you more burden since King Saul is very much fugitive that he doesn’t want to leave his throne.

6.     Moses- Imagine being a servant-leader just to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Think also of the time when he was disobeyed by the Israelites, when he was cursed and was teased by the Egyptians. Despite the fact that he had accomplished a great mission for God, some of the stress we are experiencing now can be incomparable to his struggles.

7.      Paul- If only there is an award for a person who experienced the greatest number of stress, perhaps Paul could have been awarded. Take an illustration to his missionary life experiences. It started from an argument when Barnabas did not join him in his mission. He never got away from struggling into shipwrecks, snake bites, and being jailed for many times. Paul faced a lot of sufferings and inconveniences and you can read more in the Bible.

Yet with all the struggles and burdens, even thinking that his mind and body is giving up, Paul still wrote an extremely powerful message to the Corinthians,

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

The words highlighted in bold would strongly imply a synonymic correlation to stress. In the New Testament alone, Other Greek words have been scattered which when translated means “trouble”, “persecution’, “despair” etc.

Let’s take the word “trouble” for example. When Jesus had to face the looming cross, he provided words of comfort to his disciples: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

What a beautiful phrase to live by.

SOURCE: Boredom, Stress and Burn out, How do I handle? By Dr. Harold J. Sala