How To Deal With Stress

And amen. I tell you the Lord has a sense of humor because of all the mornings for Lee and Robbie to both be out. I'm preaching on how to deal with stress, with me, leading, the music and doing all the announcements. The Lord certainly has a sense of humor, but really you think about this message? You think about the subject of it? It's really a timely message, as we enter into what many would we would say, the most

The most wonderful time of the year, is really the most stressful time of the year. I mean, you were just in it and the announcements I gave you a lot of activities and events that are going to take place in the month of December. You have your own activities and it in and events at that you have to to meet NMB at. And so many times in December in in and of itself is a very frantic and stressful month. And so I'm going to be dealing with this morning how to deal with stress how to deal with stress. And we looking at what is stress, where does it come from? Well, when we talk about stress, we're talkin about the condition of the emotional tension, or the emotional pressure, that is experience in the course of our everyday life. Or stress can come from real expectations or the perceived expert expectations, that we place upon ourselves, or maybe others Place upon us. So, just just by having the expectations and having that pressure can cause this thing of stress, I stress can be ordinary or stress, can be extraordinary. Stress can be ordinary in that. The things that we deal with on a day-to-day basis. Is stressful, maybe our job. Just driving through Conway traffic at 5 right causes stress. The everyday ordinary things can cause stress. Now, there is such stress as extraordinary stress, which is all of those ordinary things that you deal with day in day out. But yet you have some other things on top of that. That's, that is not ordinarily there. Maybe there is a sickness that you have or maybe there's a sickness in your family. You're dealing with death or something and that just is stress. That is extraordinary, it's very substantial over and above the ordinary. A stress can be felt. Or it can go insane. We may not feel it until it shows up. In our body physically. And and in our health will discuss that in just a moment. Stress is the emotional and physical strain that we experience living in a fallen World under the pressures of sin and sinful people.

Job. 14:1 job said this man, that is born of a woman is of a few days and full of what trouble. The job says hate life. Even at its best is short man. That is born of a woman is of a few days and in that lifespan The days are full of trouble and that were trouble, literally means in the Hebrew strain. Stress. Pressure turmoil. He says, man, that is born of a man is of a few days is full of strain and stress and turmoil. John 16:33 Jesus said in the world, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. That word tribulation is the word turmoil. It is a word pressure in Jesus said, you will have this stress, you will have it, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world. It's all this message. This morning is very, very important because the effects of stress, Upon Our Life can be very harmful to our health. High blood pressure increases when you are stressed out blood sugar Rises, your digestive system can slow, muscles can become very tense and people deal with back pain or neck pain deal because of that, immune systems can be compromised. When you are under a lot of stress that you have been a higher sense of alertness there for you, have a very difficult time, going to sleep, your mind is always thinking about something. You can never turn it off. as matter fact, stress has been described as America's number one, health problem in our country, Here's a thing that we must understand, we cannot avoid stress. You can't. Don't let anybody tell you that you can live a stress free life. Because you can't, you deal with everything in this world, even in the ordinary things that brings pressure and brings the man. And with that comes stress, So we cannot avoid stress. It's a part of life. In this sinful Fallen world. That the thing I wanted to focus on this this morning is how we respond to stress. Is what is so important that we must, we must have it our minds, in our and our hearts, we're going to have stress. So therefore, how are we going to handle it? How are we going to manage it? Well, honestly, just wanted two ways that you can handle stress. You can either handle it positively or negatively, most Americans handle it negatively. Because if you handle stress positively, you're going to trust the Lord completely in your stressful times of life.

Believing. As a Christian, when we are stressed. We must even believe that stress in and of itself is something that God is working for our good. Did you know that stress brings good character? so Paul said, Paul said a Romans five and verse to he said we glory in tribulations That is stress turmoil. Why is the glory in these things? Paul says, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance produces character in character produces hope. Don't reality. We ought to embrace the stress that we have, instead of denying that, is Steven there or it exists. We ought to embrace it, but then handle it correctly, handle it positively. James said this way and James 1:2, he said, count it all joy. when you enter into various tribulations, Not a one of us counter Joy when we are stressed out, but James tells us it actually is because God is doing something in you. He's working out something in you that you may trust him even more in your time of conflict and pressure.

Stress. if you handle it negatively, Stress leads to anxiety. And and anxiety will lead our can lead to depression.

And that's just not what a doctor has said. That's what Solomon said. Proverbs 12:25 Proverbs 12:25 Solomon said, anxiety in the heart of man causes depression. Anxiety, in the heart of man causes depression, stress, left unchecked. Left unmanaged will lead to anxiety in the heart anxiety, in the heart, left unchecked unmanageable lead to depression of the Soul. so, when our text

We can just see. And we can even feel this trash. The pressure, the tension that our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ felt when he was on this Earth. and if you know that as we have been preaching through this book, it is something that really started in chapter one, the moment that he started his public Ministry, it started out with a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. But I want us to notice something in our taxes, how Jesus handle it. How we ought to apply this to our heart and life this morning. Notice number one, the cause of our stress, the cause of our stress. All stress has a cause, okay? All stress have a cause stress is a cause and effect scenario. I noticed in our texts.

Let me see, Jesus. Cause of his stress was due to demand and pressure demand and pressure and you know this to be true, right? You've been maybe you, you're at a factory or a corporation who is demanding upon you Very demanding upon you and rightfully so to some degree. But maybe overly demanding. And you have the pressure of those who are above you, you have pressures of life and you feel like you're just being squeezed, on every side. Well, in our text, we see that the demand was put Upon Jesus by the multitude and the pressure that he received from the Pharisees were two, great causes of a stress. We talked about this last week, but the pressure upon Christ was immense. It was massive. We think about how our Lourdes every move was closely, watched it was closely scrutinized that he and his disciples could not even eat grain on the Sabbath. Without receiving a harsh review from the Jewish religious leaders. And so this opposition that Jesus was constantly receiving from the, Pharisees is why in verse 7 is says but Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the Sea. So he knew of the stress by the Pharisees, he knew of the The plot between the pair of season, the rodians, how those two opposing groups came together in order that they might destroy the Lord Jesus. So he moves away from the presence of the Pharisees and he goes out into the country out by the seashore. But in him doing this Our Lord being our Lord being truly a man. Felt the pain of intense hatred. He felt the pain of being alienated if you will, and being hated. Of course, Jesus knew what awaited him at their hands but now was not the time he knew that their plot would eventually. Take place but now is not the time so he withdrew from comparing to me again with Drew himself to the seashore where he would be less vulnerable to their strategies and pressure. And so he got away from the Pharisees, right? But he did not get away from the multitude. he did not get away from the crowd because again of his immense popularity, I mean, we can say and it's truthfully to say that Jesus, here in this, Time in his ministry, he was a celebrity of sorts. He was a very popular individual.

So if anything, the pressure was even more intense for Jesus. Again, we read Denver 7, but Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the C and a great multitude From Galilee following him, followed him and from Judea and Jerusalem. And I do mia & Beyond Jordan in those from tyre and sidon a great multitude when they heard, how many things he was doing came to him. This was a large massive crowd of thousands of people that have in throng, him here in Galilee. And then you, add the hundreds or more, who travel from the other regions that were listed and you get them. A better picture of the massive crowd. That is just really swarming, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a massive response. There, a waves upon waves of needy people, people who were demanding And listen, they were not demanding just for an autograph. No, they were demanding that they be healed. I mean that's what they were a desperate situation. They knew that Jesus could heal and they were in a desperate situation with them physically, they wanted to be healed and so you can just imagine how chaotic this would have been for the Lord Jesus Christ. So great was the crowd that Christ was in physical dangers. What verse 9 is talking about verse 9 says. So, he told his disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for him because of the multitude lest they should crush him another words. Jesus told his disciples to have a getaway boat nearby just offshore in case they needed it. So massive crowds very dangerous situation so you add danger plus demand and you have a very high-stress situation here. Jesus was under a lot of stress. Jesus was under immense pressure and that pressure came from three areas. I never one, it came from the sorry Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious Council the Pharisees and the Sadducees, It also came from the sorrowful sick, the multitude, but then it also came from satanic spirits. We noticed a spin, how it describes, the pressure from the sick versus ten-tails has for he healed many. So that as many as had Affliction, Affliction pressed about him to touch him. So again, the picture here is one of Chaos. This is a wild scene that is taking place here and where it says a 10 where it says that he was pressed about him, the most who was pressed about him to touch him, that were pressed about means to fall upon the means to squeeze. It means to press hard together. So you take this and add to this, then the pressure of the demonized. As described in verse 11, verse 11 says, and the unclean spirits, you have this work and a lot. The Pharisees and the multitude, the multitude, and the unclean spirits. Whenever they saw him fell down before him and cried out saying you are the son of God. That is if it's amazing as we are still in the very early parts of the Book of Mark that this is the 4th time that Mark has mentioned that Jesus has cast out demons. He mentioned his three times or earlier in chapter one alone, but it's very interesting because nowhere in recorded history has there ever been anyone who had the power to cast out demons? You, think about all the great prophets of old? There's no there's no account or record whatsoever about such things. But Mark's house, it's already four different occasions where Jesus cast out demons. And why is he doing this? He's doing this because he wants to demonstrate to those two who are reading this. That Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord. He has power over demons. So Jesus continues to confront, he continues to conquer the Demonic as proof, that the kingdom of God has arrived in him, is the kingdom of God has arrived. That means that the King has arrived, Jesus is the Messiah King. Jesus lordship is seen by the demons falling down before him and listen knowledge. That Jesus is truly the son of God.

Is it not ironic to you that? How the Demons of Hell eggnog. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God. They declare it. They publicly declare it and they actually want to publicly declare to all but yet the religious Pharisees Denied it. Did not see it. Why is that? Very amazing. Jesus, again, he demands their silence. Verse 12 tells of Jesus sternly warned them. Speaking of the demonic spirits that they should not make him known. Not getting this. Is that Messianic Secret. Jesus is the Messiah. Yes. And he is going to make himself known that he is the Messiah, but he doesn't want the demons to be the one who publicly declares his messiahship. Jesus knows that a demonic Declaration of his deity, would not help his mission or calls whatsoever. I mean, it's imagine how it's a Pharisees, got word that a demon was going around saying, Jesus Christ is the Messiah, how they would twist that and say, oh my goodness, here's a demon of Hell, declaring his Did that you must be of the Devil Himself. So you have this Messianic secret, he tells the demon to keep your mouth shut. It's the wrong source and it's the wrong time. Jesus will be fully revealed not by demonic confession, but by the cross of Calvary and the empty tomb, amen. So, after a futile attempt to control Jesus, the demons are silenced by his Sovereign Authority. Jesus will carry forward, the complete and complete his mission on God's terms on his terms. Not their terms. Jesus is Lord the demons, as powerful as they are. They're not Lord. They listen. The Lord Jesus. And you know, listen the same must be true for us. We must do the will of God and God's ways, and In God's Time Remember that? Not putting all this together. The sick, the crippled for pushing and grabbing at Jesus and falling over him. The demon eyes were maliciously, sizing him up. The Godless Pharisees were watching his every move waiting to exercise their plot to destroy him.

You see the stress that he's under?

And you see it's easy for us to miss the point here. Because we're so quick can rightly. So, To emphasize that Jesus was much more than the ideal, man. Being that Jesus was a hundred percent, God, and that's true.

but then also, what is true is that Jesus was also man, And he really did feel immense inescapable stress and strain. We never should do this. I can't say the word dilute their correct word. I'm looking for dilute the manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You should not say well, Jesus was God and he was partially man. Didn't know. He was a hundred percent man. 100%. He was the god, man. He was a God, man. And noticed this as a man. Jesus, underwent a lot of stress. He went, he went through a lot of strain. A lot of pressure. Jesus did not avoid stress. How can you read this? And think Jesus was never stressed, or he was never pressured. You can't read it that way. So knowing that Jesus was stressed and pressured. Do you think you that you're good enough and somehow you don't deserve to be stressed while the sinless? Son of God knew what stress was?

you think somehow that you're just going to avoid it now, you're not If Jesus endured it. How much more should we endure stress and pressure? So knowing that Jesus endured stress and handle stress and had strain upon his life. This means that Jesus was and he is a man who understands twenty-first-century mankind. in broadest terms, he understands the distressful, the Frantic lives of modern-day men and women He understands the pressures upon which most folks live in day in and day out. he understands the pressures which we feel when we try to reach out to others in and yet are we ejected

As he did. He understands the pressures of a life of faith. And beloved listen to me. We ought to take comfort in that they win. We ought to take great comfort and encouragement in that. So that whenever we are under it, We need to recall Jesus and how he ministered to the crowd and how he dealt with all those troublemakers. And now, he dealt with demonic forces.

And the question is, how did our Lord manage to deal with the pressures of life and Ministry? Where are Lord response gives us an unfailing model notice secondly. Not only the cause of our stress but notice, secondly, how to control stress, how to control stress. Our Lord took three distinct steps to manage or control the demands and pressure of his ministry. I noticed I did not say how you can cure stress.

I did not say that because there is no such thing. As you curing pressure. No such thing as you cheering, then the demands that life brings you, there's no such things as no such thing as a stress free life. and if you think that is true, you're constantly going to live in a state of disappointment. Because everyday secretly brings a new stress. A new strain, a new pressure of some some kind

I notice the first step. Pain immediately with Jesus. Jesus withdrew to be alone. So how did Jesus control or manage stress? Well, number one, solitude, Solitude. Verse 13. The first part says, and he went up. On the mountain.

He ran to the Hills.

But the point is he got away by himself. It was a solitude aloneness. And this is not the only time that Jesus done such a thing. There's other times in the gospels where Jesus would go along, get away from the crowd, get away from his disciples, even spend time with God. You see the gospels make it clear that though he was both man and God, he still needed to be alone. And though, he came to save man at times, he needed to be away from man.

Humans. Will stress you out, right?

Jesus, therefore sought solitude. He sought being alone.

And actually, these times are essential to wholeness. Actually are our times of solitude and aloneness are essential to our for our well-being. Like what the old country preacher Vance havner said? if we do not follow Christ, example, here to come apart, And be alone. We may indeed just come apart. Very true, how we need to follow Jesus. Example here, no stressful times to come apart. Be alone in order that we don't just come apart. Just think about the business of our schedules.

You know, it seems like it gets busier every year. Even though that our society has created, so many inventions to make our life more or less hectic, less busy. If you'll buy this thing, you'll have more time those things shall we do with those things. Just crammed some other things in that, right? We we don't lose any business. We we fill it with other things. Think about our busy schedules.

How our society has changed to such a point. That there's really no. Not even a place where we can be alone. Especially if we have her phone with us, right? And if we have a phone with us and we're trying to be alone with God and there it is that temptation to get on the phone. And we're dealing with things today that obviously your generation before us. Never knew anything about. I think about all the noise that we have in our life day in Day Out. we all wake up to allowed alarm clock, we get dressed listening to the news, we ride in our vehicles, listen to the radio, listening, to the news or whatever, we get home, and we try to relax by listening to the late night news and then finally Drift Off to go to sleep with a blood pressure up. Ready to do the same thing again in the morning. Our lives are nothing but busy noisy lives. We need Solitude, we need silence. You said, by the way, you don't know how hard it is to find a time. And I understand that understands fastest route to young moms. who are constantly bombarded by the little ones, constitutes attention of a can you go to the bathroom without

Constantly, there's no quiet. Time. It's hard. Let me give you a few suggestions that Ken Hughes gives.

He said. It is really not that hard, how about 8? Parked car in the park. A church sanctuary. A Wok on a hiking path. Maybe get up a few minutes before the family wakes up. Find yourself a time of Silence. Find some place, find some time and get away. And I'm not talking about about days of solitude. I'm not talkin about hours and minutes. The pressures of lies in the example of Christ, demand, that we do this every day for at least a few minutes.

So Jesus got away and found a place of solitude, but notice that was just the first step. Jesus always took the next step which is supplication. That is afraid. He prayed. The parallel passage of scripture. The parallel passage to Mark chapter 3, is Luke chapter 6. And inverse 12. It says, now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to what to pray. And continued all night in prayer to God. So Jesus wasn't a very high-stress high-pressure situation. He needed to get a loan but he didn't just do heated. He denied tub. Just twiddle his thumbs while being alone, he prayed. And the Bible tells us and Luke 6:12 and he prayed all night and so the greater the stress, the greater The Strain, the greater the pressure, the greater time that is needed for you to pray.

I think about this, if Jesus had to do this being the Eternal Son of God, how much more do we mere vessels of clay need to follow his example.

pressure people that we are pressure not only by The Irregular demands of life but by those who are in need those who are ill pressured, almost beyond our limits, Prayer to God is what we need most.

Let me give you some promises about prayer request. Lee number one, God has promised to hear our prayers. Amen, and amen. Just promise to hear our prayers. Has promised to even go beyond hearing. He's promised to answer our prayers, every friend that you pray receives an answer. Don't ever feel like you don't ever get an answer from God. Jesus said this, and Matthew 7:7. Ask And it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be open. I didn't notice also that God uses our prayers to accomplish his will in the world. So our prayers is a means that God used to accomplish his will in the world James 5:16. Says confess your trespasses one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man. Availeth much Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain in the earth, produced its fruit So let me encourage you to be men and women of prayer seek the Lord and seek Him often because nothing will develop your life anymore than prayer wheel. Jesus himself knew this and he spent extended time. Exposing his heart to that of his blessed. Father noticed a third and final step of Jesus how he handled stress. We talked about Solitude, we talked about supplication, I then noticed, thirdly, he surrounded himself with others. He shared himself with others who would share the load, verse 14, through 19 says that he appointed twelve that they might be with him, they might send them that he might send them out to preach in, to have power to heal sicknesses. And the cast out, demons Simon to whom, he gave the name, Peter James, the son of Zebedee. And John the brother of James to whom he gave the name. Bowen urges, that is sons of thunder, Andrew Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas James's, son of our pay is Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite in Judas. Iscariot who also betrayed him and they went into a house. Listen to Jesus. The man needed his time alone.

He also craved companions to serve with him and was strengthened by their lives. Listen to Jesus needed people to share, and to surround himself with. So we in our imperfections, need other men and women to share the load. And this is what is so great about the Church of Jesus Christ. In God's church, we have a community of Believers. We have a community of Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

We learn from this example of the Lord Jesus Christ in a very stressful time. Very pressure time that he not only six Solitude and six are but he seeks the Friendship of others. So we see this beautiful example of the beauty of friendship that Jesus himself needed friends in the in his human nature. He was fully human and to be truly and fully. Human means to be made for friendship. It means that we are relational beings. It means that we are made to be with one another.

This is why I do all those covid. Lockdowns were so detrimental to our society as they ostracize everyone.

Those in the nursing home didn't ever see their family, those in a hospital could not see their family. God did not create us like this. God has created us to be relational.

And if every time you see kit and long to be by yourself to such a degree that you don't want to be with anyone, you're in a very dangerous situation. You need to seek others. And you need to seek others to the point that you're able to share your feelings with them, the honest and open with them. As much as you can, you need to talk and you need to be a listener as well. Listen, even before the fall of Man. Think about this even before the fall of Man in a perfect world. God said the atom, it is not good for man to be alone. Think about that in a perfect world. Said, hey, it's not good for you to be alone. How much more in a fallen world?

It's not good for us to be alone. It's not. So Jesus wanted them with him. Not only two to train them. So that they could go out as the 12 apostles but also for his own sake.

For his own sake, he was a people person. He wanted men around him with whom. He could be close with whom, he could bear his heart and bear his mind. So that he could also find comfort in their close relationships with him. Jesus was not ashamed to have close friends.

Look out 12 men of whom he chose.

And Jesus was not ashamed to even have poster friends. And he was certainly not ashamed to have closest friends. The 12 or close, or should I say the 11, but then Jesus had an even closer set of friends, right? He had three that he was relied Upon A Lot, Peter James and John. so, he had an inner circle of that in a circle and then There was only one who could say. The Apostle whom Jesus loved. That was John.

So Jesus had a very close friend and John and rimmer. John was the one who wrote the scripture that we're at the beginning of the of the service. In first John 1:1 saying, hey, we have handled him, we witnessed him, John had laid his head against the chest of Jesus Christ.

Wii to new friendships today. Close to me union with one another. And I believe, it's so important in these friendships because iron sharpens iron in those close friendships. What do we learn from our? Jesus are pressured Jesus. If you will, who is overwhelmed and Galilee. Well, first of all, we sometimes need to get away. We need times of Silence, when need a place, we need a time, not necessarily for days, not necessary for hours, but just maybe, just a few moments, a few minutes. Will you get along with god without your phone?

And you have the time of solitude. And then second we need to pray.

What we are in the Lord? Holy depends on what we receive from him. And what we receive from him, is what we ask of him. And what we ask of him only come through our prayers to him.

And those who are exposed to the father's life, find him bringing Grace to their pressured lives. And then, finally thoroughly, we need to surround ourselves or share our selves with others because gracious relationships defuse the pressure gracious relationships diffuse. Pressure my we learned well from Jesus on how we manage and control not cure stress. and may we learn from this passage of scripture that

Really. This reminds us of our great need of the Gospel. Now, we need Christ. And for us ourselves, it is Christ or chaos. You're never going to have a, A Satisfied Soul. You're never going to have your the longing of your soul, satisfied without rice because it was made for him, Made In His Image. And the only way you're going to satisfy the longing of your soul is for you to Bow before his lordship. So even in our stress, we see our fallenness in our need of something other than ourselves. We need him. There was the greater Adam. Who fulfilled? Everything that Adam failed at. We need Christ, we need him. Let's pray together. Hydrate and kind heavenly father, will we? As Believers we recognize. this morning this afternoon, how Desperately, we are for you. We're living in such a stressed world. so many pressures that are different. Then what our forefathers face? I'm not saying a third grader. But they're different.

The following what is true is that regardless of the times regardless of the stress and the causes of stress,

We must look to you.

Will help us to seek you in all things including are stressful times. That would look at the Life of Christ and use that as an example. Of how we should live. Father, I pray for those Lord that are here that do not know your son Jesus. Father, I pray that they would have no rest for their souls.

I pray that you would, Keep them awake at night.

Just by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. You drawing them to your son Jesus. And then coming to the saving knowledge of your son Jesus Christ. Father, we love you and we thank you Lord, for this day we ask you Lord to use this message For Your Glory. Where's all these things in Christ name?