we are headed into a season of stress. the holidays are so full of stress. an article in newsweek talked about the fact that stress has an accumulation factor in our lives and once you’ve felt stress the next time you experience stress it has a greater impact on you. as you go through your life, stress accumulates. it has more and more of an impact on us throughout our lives.
what is stress? the simplest definition i know is this: stress is the result of carrying too great a load. when the load gets too great, whether it’s on a truck or foundation or a life, then you have that feeling of stress.
what does the bible say about stress? it says for one if you want to have less stress check your schedule. anyone with an overcrowded schedule is going to have too much stress.
dr. richard swenson in his book the overload syndrome quotes a mom who says, “i am so tired. my idea of a vacation is a trip to the dentist. i just can’t wait to set in that chair and relax.”
if you’re feeling that way, you’re overloaded. your schedule is too full.
what’s the result of all this busyness in our lives? ecclesiastes 5.3 (nlt) says it this way, being too busy gives you nightmares. it has an impact on our lives, an impact on the way that we sleep, an impact on what we’re going through. this busyness in our lives is overwhelming our lives.
busyness, this rush, is a part of our work but it’s also a part of our families and it’s also a part of our play. so how do we stop? how do we lessen the stress in our schedules?
psalm 90.12 (nlt) is a prayer that says, teach us to make the most of our time that we may grow in wisdom. GOD, teach me to use my time so that i may grow to be more and more a wise person, the kind of person you want me to be.
one idea for less stress of an overcrowded schedule: all of you have a schedule that’s already overcrowded. there’s already too much in it. so for less stress don’t add anything to your schedule without subtracting something from your schedule. if it’s already overcrowded and you try to add something in, something’s going to be subtracted anyway. so you don’t add anything without intentionally subtracting something from your schedule.
just a thought from the front porch…
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