The document discusses how to handle stress as a Christian. It notes that while we all experience stress, focusing on God and taking steps to manage our stressors, like making plans and asking God for help sticking to them, is a better approach than ignoring stress or relying only on prayer. Taking our attention off ourselves and putting it on God allows us to see and hear from Him. Having self-control over our thoughts and actions during stressful times, with God's help, prevents stress from overwhelming us. The document encourages renewing our strength and trust in God, who promises to be with us through all circumstances.
(Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 455) Michael Segal - Dreams, Riddles, And Visions_ Textual, Contextual, And Intertextual Approaches to the Book of Daniel-Walter de Gru
The document discusses how to handle stress as a Christian. It notes that while we all experience stress, focusing on God and taking steps to manage our stressors, like making plans and asking God for help sticking to them, is a better approach than ignoring stress or relying only on prayer. Taking our attention off ourselves and putting it on God allows us to see and hear from Him. Having self-control over our thoughts and actions during stressful times, with God's help, prevents stress from overwhelming us. The document encourages renewing our strength and trust in God, who promises to be with us through all circumstances.
The document discusses how to handle stress as a Christian. It notes that while we all experience stress, focusing on God and taking steps to manage our stressors, like making plans and asking God for help sticking to them, is a better approach than ignoring stress or relying only on prayer. Taking our attention off ourselves and putting it on God allows us to see and hear from Him. Having self-control over our thoughts and actions during stressful times, with God's help, prevents stress from overwhelming us. The document encourages renewing our strength and trust in God, who promises to be with us through all circumstances.
The document discusses how to handle stress as a Christian. It notes that while we all experience stress, focusing on God and taking steps to manage our stressors, like making plans and asking God for help sticking to them, is a better approach than ignoring stress or relying only on prayer. Taking our attention off ourselves and putting it on God allows us to see and hear from Him. Having self-control over our thoughts and actions during stressful times, with God's help, prevents stress from overwhelming us. The document encourages renewing our strength and trust in God, who promises to be with us through all circumstances.
Undoubtedly as we have entered into the room tonight all of us have stress in our lives. Some of us have stress from school, others have stress from our family, and some have stress from a relationship, and various other causes across the board. The truth is we all have stress, but how do we handle it? That is; how do we as Christians handle it? For some you may eat your stress away, for others you may starve your stress away, others may add more to their life to ignore the stress, all of these are normal reactions to stress but as believers are they the best way for us to handle the stress that comes into our lives? Now the churchy thing to say is “well just take it to Jesus brother/sister!” However true that statement may be, I bet it doesn’t really comfort you or I all that much. There are several verses in the bible that deal with the issue of stress, mostly they speak of you and I never being alone –and I believe the reason for that is because when we are stressed we often isolate ourselves and seek shelter in ourselves. Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. John 14:27 says Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. It would appear based upon just these 2 verses that God truly is with us. These verses would much easier on all of us though if we could see Him with us or hear His voice right? The truth is though we probably would have both of those things if we refocused our attention from ourselves to Him. How can I see what I am not looking for? How can I hear what I am not prepared to hear? Example: have you ever been in the car with someone and they are driving and they say hey look at that and you look up only to see nothing and then you ask what and they are like “that right there!” and you’re like “yeah I got nothing” then you hear it “you missed it” ahh busted! –You weren’t prepared to see it. Example: what about when you are in your room texting or doing homework and your mom or dad yells something to you and you totally miss it and they freak out cause they have to repeat themselves. –You weren’t prepared to hear it. When God shows us something are we prepared for it? When God speaks are we prepared to hear it? If you and I will take our eyes and ears off of ourselves and focus on God both of those things will be available to us. Now let me say this; I do not believe that you can ask God to take away your stress and you not take steps to help. One of the biggest stresses right now is school right; exams, end of year tests, sporting events, all of those things make the end of the year not so much fun. So lets say you bring this to God and say “God I need your help with this school work, it’s too much” and then you go to sleep. Have you prayed to God or simply made a wish? What if you stopped and made a plan and said, from this time to this time I will study for this, from this time to this time I will write this paper, etc… then you stopped and said God help me to focus my thoughts and use my time wisely to know this information. I think that is a prayer God will answer, because I think once you have taken the step to line things out and then asked God to help you stick with it, I think that’s where conviction comes in –you start looking at Facebook and you know you shouldn’t, you start texting and something is telling you to stop, that is God speaking and being present. 1 Peter 1:13 says prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled. The truth is that we simply have to use a little self-control and focus on the task before us, but so often we let the stresses in our lives take over and rob us of the fullness that Christ has for our lives. Over in Proverbs 25:28 it says that a lack of self control brings misery -28 Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. I think most of us would agree that stress has the ability to make us miserable as well as miserable to be around. I went to Jamaica a few years back with some of you and we had to work on a wall that had crumbled due to a recent storm (Hurricane Ike). The cinderblock wall had fallen and needed to be broken and moved to a dumpsite and it was only about 97 degrees at 9am when we started breaking it apart and moving it. Listen, long story short, that wall was miserable to work on and to be around and we (you and I) can be much the same way when we let stress take over our lives and do not get ourselves under control. Isaiah 43:1-3 says 1 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. There is nothing that can overtake you, nothing that the Lord cannot bring you through. Another verse from Isaiah in Isaiah 40:28-31 -28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Tonight that is what I want to give you time to do, time to renew your strength, time to renew your trust in the Lord. Some of you may have no trust in the Lord tonight, some of you may not know much about Jesus, tonight we are here for you and would love to show you what the Bible says about your relationship with God. For yet others of you this may be a time of rededication, when you acknowledge that you haven’t been faithful to God but you are ready to turn from that and move toward faithfulness and trust and not simply because you want better grades or for all your wishes to be answered but because you want something better from your life. You were created for so much more than to let the stress in your life rob you of the fullness of life Christ offers. Whatever your need tonight, the time is now to act; the time is now to get up and do something! 5/13/11 10:22 AM 5/13/11 10:22 AM
(Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 455) Michael Segal - Dreams, Riddles, And Visions_ Textual, Contextual, And Intertextual Approaches to the Book of Daniel-Walter de Gru