Scientific studies have shown over and over again that one of the surest ways to reduce stress is to exercise. But for exercise to come about, like everything else, it must be scheduled in your daily plan. Exercise must be seen as an essential, important, vital part of your work and health. If not, you will usually neglect it until something happens at work where you become impatient, angry, or miserable. Or something happens to your health, like it did mine a few years ago, when I had a severe heart pain for several days. That’s finally when you get down to business and say, “I need to do something about this, before it’s too late.”
Like the doctor said to me after all the medical exams showed I didn’t have any physical reason to have heart pains. She said, “From what you’ve told me about your life, it’s obvious you’re suffering from stress. When you have stress in your life electrical impulses send charges to your heart which cause that excruciating pain. You’ll need to reduce the stress in your life, because if you don’t, it could kill you. Stress kills.”
We have all heard that stress kills, but how do we reduce the stress level. What practical steps can we take to help us maintain that calm and peaceful composure we desire to have? We have already mentioned the importance of daily exercise as a preventative measure. Vigorous exercise like jogging, speed walking and aerobics have been shown to be good stress relievers. But they need to be worked into your daily schedule and not pushed aside when the work load builds up. Your exercise period needs to be seen as a priority for health, but also as studies have shown, exercise actually increases your creativity and mental capacity.
Another step to take is to avoid and eliminate the situations or thought patterns which cause you to become stressful. The famous founder of the Jesuits Order was Ignatius Loyola, the Basque soldier whose spiritual experience in the battlefield caused him to become a disciple of Jesus. Ignatius developed a system of mental discipline for himself and later used it for his new disciples. Each new Jesuit recruit was to evaluate his thoughts throughout the day, learning to reject those thoughts that were contrary to the Word of God, and act upon those that were in accordance to God’s Word.
In a similar manner, those suffering from stress will need to have diligence to monitor their own behavior and thoughts to learn what situations or thought patterns lead them to stress. Such situations or thoughts will need to be vigilantly avoided. You may even need to ask the help of those around in your monitoring.
The Bible teaches,
“I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me, because he trusts in me.”[1]
So an important aspect of eliminating stress is to keep our mind on the Lord. We do this by spending time reading and meditating on His Word. Again, your time with God must be something that you schedule into your daily plan. It may be in the evening before you go to bed, or in the morning before starting the day, or both. But you need that time with God. If you spend time in His presence, His presence will go with you and stay with throughout the day.
I find that while I’m jogging, I can not only pray and bring my problems, worries and loved ones before the Lord, but I can also review and memorize verses or hymns. I just recently memorized the Christian song “How Great Thou Art,” which has been a big encouragement to me and has helped me to put more praise into my thoughts and life.
If you are suffering with stress you may need to make a conscious effort to praise God more. The Bible tells us,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”[2]
So bringing more praise and thankfulness into your life is another positive weapon to help you to defeat worry and fear which are causes of stress.
The Bible also tells us,
“One can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight.”[3]
So it could also help to ask for pray of your loved ones, companion, or workmates. Your confession and humility will help promote a positive and trusting attitude in the workplace and home. So cast your burdens upon the Lord, because He promises to sustain you.[4] He has also said,
"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”[5]
With this in mind, you may need to re-evaluate your work load, or ask others to help you re-evaluate it. It may be that you are trying to do too much in your own strength, or you’re not delegating enough to others whom God has already raised up to help you. The Lord can’t help us if we don’t cooperate. You may need the help and input of others to properly see what really are your responsibilities and tasks, and what you should leave undone, and what you should delegate to others. Eliminating extra unnecessary work can reduce stress and help us major on the majors and as a result work smart and get more done.
In summary, No.1: Organize your schedule to include daily exercise preferably running, vigorous walking, or aerobics for 30-60 minutes a day. Do more walking at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. Walk to lunch instead of taking the car.
No.2: Watch your thoughts and monitor the situations that cause you to get stressful and attempt to avoid them. Ask the help of others in this. You may need to cut down on your coffee intake if you are drinking too much.
No.3: Use prayer, praise and God’s presence to help change your thought patterns and renew a positive spirit in your life. Spend time with God and He will spend time with you. He says,
“Seek me first, and all these things shall be added unto you,”[6]
even a stress-free life, so stress not, amen?
[2] Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
[3] Deuteronomy 32:30 (KJV paraphrased)
[4] Psams 55:22
[5] Matthew 11:28-30
[6] Matthew 6:33 (KJV abbreviated)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment