Sometimes stress is triggered by other people or circumstances – things out there, many of which we don’t have any control over. Other times, it’s something that we bring on ourselves. Whichever of those two it happens to be, you and I, we need to know how to handle stress.

The Stress of Circumstance

I wish I could tell you that there is something that you could do to avoid every stressful situation and circumstance in this world. Wouldn’t it be fantastic? But it just wouldn’t be real. Because no matter who we are, where we live, how young or old we are, how rich or poor we are … there are going to be those days when tough, difficult, stressful situations and circumstances arise.

Sure, some stressful things are avoidable. We’ve been talking about those already in this series that I’ve called, "Stress Busters". And when it comes to dealing with needless, avoidable stress – I’m definitely all for that!

But some stressful situations are totally unavoidable, and they’re the ones that we’re going to chat about for a few minutes today. Because it seems to me that the trick isn’t to hide our heads in the sand and pretend that we can make them go away. The trick is flourishing amidst the stress.

Now, you might think that’s a crazy idea! Flourishing amidst the stress? Get off the grass, who are you trying to kid? I know … I know that’s what some people are thinking right now. But this isn’t my idea. It’s something that Jesus came up with. It’s something that He said to His disciples right at the most stressful point in His relationship with them.

He was soon to be crucified – the plot to kill Him was well afoot and His disciples could feel it. Not only was Jesus threatened, but they were probably wondering: well, are we going to be next? When they come to arrest Jesus and nail Him to a cross, are they going to do the same to us? There can’t be any greater level of stress than that.

So right at that point, right at that moment, this is what Jesus says to them:

The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that you may have peace. In this world you will face tribulation. But take courage; I have conquered the world. (John 16:32-33)

So, the persecution is coming, they’re about to be scattered, running in fear for their lives, and Jesus tells them in this world you will face persecution. The original Greek word there that sits aback of the English translation for "persecution" is thlipsis, it means pressure, stress – literally it means to have the life squeezed out of you.

Just fantastic Lord, they must have been thinking. Thanks for that, just what we needed to know. A promise from God right in the moment when we’re in fear of our lives and Jesus tells us – in this world you will have the life squeezed out of you. Perfect!

But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He goes on to say: but take courage, be of good cheer, don’t worry, because I have conquered the world. All this I’ve said to you so that in Me you might have … peace.

The exact opposite of stress. Which would you rather have in your life – peace or stress? Well, peace obviously! But here’s the nub of what Jesus is saying – you can have that peace, right in this place where the life is being squeezed out of you.

Did you get that? Jesus is saying – look, you won’t always be able to avoid the pressure, in fact one thing is for certain, you will have pressure, you will feel squeezed. But in the middle of that you can have confidence and peace, because I have overcome the world – something they would just see in a few short days later when Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to them.

And friend, that’s His message for you today. I love how this powerful truth works its way out in the life and the ministry of Paul the Apostle, who down the track, had more than his fair share of pressure. Have a listen to what he writes from out in the field, out on assignment preaching the Good News of Jesus into a hostile world. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 8 to 11:

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction that we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we could not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

There it is again, the same word that Jesus used for persecution, that exact same word thlipsis – unbearably crushed so that in their despair they thought they were going to die. You’d call that serious stress, right? And yet in the middle of all that, what gave them strength and peace? They relied on God. They trusted in Him. They were at the end of their tether, they had nothing left, life itself hung in the balance – so they did the only thing that they could do.

That’s what happens, especially, let me say, when we’re in the business of getting out there and doing God’s business; serving God. I find it to be true that whenever I’m serving God, opposition comes thick and fast. The more powerfully I feel called to step out and serve my Lord, the more powerfully Satan hurls opposition my way. It’s as though the armies of hell muster in opposition and they unleash all their fury.

I remember once, it was the first time I was to lecture at my old Bible College, where I’d been taught. It was a Thursday evening and I drove off from my home. Before I’d gone half a kilometre, three different vehicles had tried their darnedest to run into me. What’s going on? I thought to myself. And then I realised. That’s what happens when you’re serving Jesus.

Opposition, disruption, stress, pressure, they all get hurled at you from every direction. So, let’s not be amazed. It happened to Jesus. It happened to Paul. It’s going to happen – guaranteed – to you and to me. It’s exactly what Jesus promised. In this world you will have thlipsisi – you will have tribulation, you will have the life squeezed out of you, but be of good cheer, be confident, don’t be stressed, because I have overcome the world.

And you know something, He has. Our confidence in those places at those times needs to be in Jesus – in Him and in Him alone. Sometime later, in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 8 to 15, Paul puts it like this:

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So, death is at work in us, but life in you.

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture — ‘I believed, and so I spoke’ — we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Friend the message is clear. In this world you will have tribulation – but don’t worry, because right in that place, Jesus is there, and He will carry you through. And when I’ve had nothing left in the tank, that’s the only thing that’s carried me through. Jesus. Let your confidence be in Him and in Him alone. Now that’s what I call a stress buster!

The Stress of Evil

Evil seems like a strong word, doesn’t it? I mean, by and large, you and I don’t think of ourselves as evil people. We’re not a murderer, or a rapist, or a child abuser, well, 99.99% of us aren’t. And so, the word evil seems just a tad strong.

I’m guessing you know the story of Adam and Eve. God put them in the Garden of Eden, they had a fantastic life, they could do whatever they wanted, except eat the fruit of one of the trees in the garden. That’s all. I don’t think there was anything particularly special about the tree – no magic potions, no hallucinogens in the fruit. It’s just that God nominated this one tree to give Adam and Eve a choice – either to obey Him or not.

God always gives us a choice. Genesis chapter 2, verse 9:

Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So, what was the tree called? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Where evil is defined as anything that rebels against God. You see, up until the point that Adam and Eve ate the fruit from that tree, they had no idea what evil was. It may have been a concept, but they’d never experienced it in their lives. They didn’t know it, they had no knowledge of it. And God warned them:

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may eat freely of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will die.’ (Genesis...

Stress Inside and Outside // Stress Busters, Part 2