The American culture seems to be one that is stressed by trying to cope with stress. Some might conclude that the Covid crisis has created the stressed state in which our nation writhes. Perhaps it would be better to conclude that the crisis has simply revealed the stress in which our culture already existed. Our world has faced pandemics before but the response from the historical records indicates perhaps that the reaction was a bit different than that of our present day. Maybe their coping reservoir was fuller because the stresses of everyday life were addressed differently and they had not depleted their coping reserves.
What is stress anyway? Henry Warren provides a simple definition saying,
“Stress can be defined as events or situations that put pressure on you – and
your reaction to being placed under that pressure” Richard S. Lazarus adds this
helpful insight, “Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person
perceives that ‘demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual
is able to mobilize.’ In less formal terms, we feel stressed when we feel that
‘things are out of control’” (Mind Tools). The symptoms of stress are
numerous including insomnia, drowsiness, anxiety, depression, anger,
indecisiveness, inability to focus, sense of gloom and worry. Stress levels are
often measured using observing physical symptoms or measuring the number of
“stressors” that surround our lives. There are a plethora of testing tools
(like the Holmes and
Rahe Stress Scale) that help people assess how stressed they may be. Most
individuals, however, do not need a tool to tell them they are stressed – they
already know they are and just want it to go away.
Many resources suggest coping techniques or medications that are
available to address stress. People, it appears prefer not to cope with stress;
they just want it to go away. Thus, they lean toward a quick fix if they can
find it. In fact, Market Watch (05.26.20) reported that as the Covid
pandemic unfolded, anti-anxiety
medication prescriptions spiked 34%. Express
Scripts analyzed prescription claims and concluded, “This analysis, showing
that many Americans are turning to medications for relief, demonstrates the
serious impact COVID-19 may be having on our nation’s mental health.” Stress
clearly has serious impacts and consequences in our culture.
Stress is not new, and it is a burden we would rather not endure. We see
people coping with stress in biblical times. The Apostle Paul writing to the
church of Corinth describes the stress he felt at the time, “For we do not want
you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we
were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself”
(2 Corinthians 1:8). The word “affliction” as one linguist notes means
“pressure (what constricts or rubs together), used of a narrow place that ‘hems
someone in’; tribulation, especially internal pressure that causes someone to
feel confined (restricted, ‘without options’) (source - HELPS Word-studies).
What a good description of stress! This word describes how many feel in our
society.
What caused Paul’s stress? Perhaps physical hardships (2 Cor. 11:23-27),
emotional pressures (11:28), fleshly maladies (12:7), or spiritual
discouragements weighed heavily on his life. Whatever it was, he was afflicted,
stressed, pressured, and at the end of his rope. It was then he discovered a supernatural
resource that carried him through this time. He focused not upon his stresses,
but upon his Savior who showed up as his Deliverer – “He has delivered us… he
will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to
deliver us” (1:10). He also discovered that God was his Comforter – “God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in
any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (1:3-4). How did
Paul cope with His stress? He did so by looking at his God who delivers and
comforts.
Paul admitted he may have felt alone in his stresses, but he also
acknowledged that not only was God his supernatural resource, but he also had flesh
and blood friends praying for him. Paul acknowledged, “And you are helping us
by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously
answered so many prayers for our safety” (1:11). How encouraging in the times
of our stress to hear the encouraging words, “I am praying for you.” Many have been
energized in the stresses of life with those five words. Be reminded as we pray
for the stressed out as Max Lucado writes, “Our prayers may be awkward. Our
attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears
it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.”
In a society of stress, be
encouraged in the stresses of life. Paul wrote, “We are hard pressed on every
side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (4:8-9). J. B. Phillips paraphrased it
this way “we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out.” Stressed? We
probably all are at some level. It is in these times as Corrie Ten Boom says,
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” The God we know is
aware of our stresses, and more than that, can do something about it!
