From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

S-T-R-E-S-S. Any of you recognize this in your life lately? So often, I keep hearing people say they are stressed out. They don't have time for family, church, rest, etc.; or they accomplish it all and remain stressed out. How can this be? Stress, stress, stress. But who can take away your stress? Yes, Jesus.

We need to be a student of stress, not a slave to it. Stress is a good reaction made by God...the "fight or flight" reaction we have in a fearful or stressful situation. There are a lot of chemical changes and reactions in the body that the Lord designed for us, which add to the complete and optimal working of our bodies. And we need to understand a bit about stress to help get through it. You can't avoid stress, but you can handle it.

The stages of stress are (a) ready, (b) react, (c) recover. It is the recovery we don't have enough of. We are sick and weak because of “un-recovered” stress. Remember that God rested, not because He was tired but because He wanted to give an example for us to follow. Go through your stress, according to God's directions:

1. Pray – Philippians 4:6-7 – Don’t be anxious about anything but bring your request to God and His peace will guard your heart and mind.
2. Think – Romans 8:6 – The mind controlled by the Spirit of God and His ways is life and peace.
3. Sleep – Psalm 4:8 – Lie down and sleep in peace, for God makes us dwell in safety. (Staying up half the night watching TV is NOT sleeping!)

If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we do not pray enough, we do not think as God thinks, and we do not sleep enough. In today's world, it is too easy to be short on all three items. Pray without ceasing, put on the mind of Christ and rest. Let us encourage each other to discipline ourselves to handle stress the way the Lord outlined it and it will not defeat us, but complete us. You either suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. I vote for the discipline! Endure the fire—it’s producing pure!

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