Peace and Stress

Mark 4:35-41  “Peace”

“ ‘ Peace, be still,’ ” Jesus said to the sea.”  The words Jesus used originally are from the word to keep silence, siope.  It is also used when Jesus on Palm Sunday said the disciples if they did “ hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Luke 14:40  Be still is “ to muzzle “ as in Mark 1:25 “ Hold thy peace and come out of him” to the unclean spirit.

    How do we have peace?  Every Christian knows that through trust in Jesus we have eternal life and that gives us eternal peace. Romans 5:1 “ being justified by faith , we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  So why is it that we do not feel peaceful at lot of the time? 

   We know that eternal life is secure.  We are safe in the arms of Jesus because of His blood shed for us .  The Father will not lose us.  John 6 reminded us 6:39 “ I should lose nothing” when Jesus talked about His sheep---- those whom come to Him. But the peace in our lives is a different matter.  Christians have trials and troubles just as the rest of the population.  We cannot avoid them.  Sometimes our trials and the stresses and the storms overwhelm us and we think we are going to sink.

   Perhaps we do not manage our stress too well.  This is a part of our growth as Christians and people.  Do we remember when we were younger and things unknown to us upset us a great deal?  Now, as older Christians we may say, “ I have been thru that before and I know it may get hard and difficult , but I got thru it once and I can get thru it again.”

   Someone has said that there are two days in every week about which we should not worry.  One is Yesterday, “ with its faults and blunders, aches and pains.”  Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.  Yesterday is gone!  The other day we should not worry about is “tomorrow.”  “ Tomorrow is beyond our immediate control.”  We should only live one day at a time.

    Have you ever looked at all the changes you have experienced in a year?  Stress management people say that a high score of change will yield more stress.  Even good stress is stress.  There are personal changes, family changes, work changes…aging is a personal change.  Family changes are family members leaving home etc…..Work changes are changes in pay or starting a new job.  If we do not manage our stress the scale of life changes can overwhelm us.

   How do we do that?  How do we have peace?  Jesus talked to the disciples about their fears.  “ How is it that you are so fearful? Mk 4:40  Perhaps we are in the storm and life is going too fast for us.  We need to learn to say no.  “ Do what is absolutely essential.  Slacken your pace by saying ‘no’ to non-essentials until you have assimilated the changes you’ve already endured.” ( from “ Stress Management and Effective Coping Techniques” Ft Knox, KY, Ireland Army Community Hospital.)

    A big area of stress that needs to be addressed is in the area of problem solving & goal setting.  Our goals should be understandable and realistic in the power of Christ.  List steps need to accomplish our goals.

    Anger that is unmanaged can cause us unnecessary stress.  We do not wish to erupt in rage so we should wait until we are relaxed to talk to another that has upset us.  It may even be that we have to remove ourselves from a certain situation for a while and come back when we are ready to have our anger under control.

Of course leisure is not just something that should wait for the weekend.  We need times of letting out the steam so to speak so that we do not blow up.  A few minutes of recollection and prayer can assist.  Our Lord is the best example in taking time for prayer and alone time that He needed to talk with the Father. “Leisure in its original sense meant freedom, not compulsive.    Are we experiencing the peace of Christ in our emotional and personal lives?  If the area of stress is not controlled it can lead to poor health and even death.  If we are experiencing difficulty in this area, I offer my thoughts to you.  I have learned that managing stress is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and others.  I like what the author and Christian , Thomas Merton said, “ Our whole life should be a meditation of our last and most important decision: the choice between life and death.  …Life is a spiritual thing, and spiritual things are silent.”

“ O MOST loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee, who carest for us; Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”   Amen. 1928 Book of Common Prayer-page 596