Did you know that the word ‘stress’ is recognizable in many languages? Why is that? That is because it comes from the Latin words ‘strictus’ (which means tight or narrow) and ‘stringere’ which means to tighten. The romantic languages source Latin. As I have failed to be proficient in the Italian language, I understand it is easier if you know Spanish. So many words are similar. Stress in physics refers to the interaction between a force and the resistance to counter that force. I’m always disappointed when a rubber band breaks. That happens often enough because I keep old things around. I don’t see the word ‘stress’ anywhere in the Bible but it is an international concept. The other thought is that something that stresses me may not stress you. It is a relative term. Synonyms are pressure, strain, and tension. Those may be in the Bible as I think about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – sweating tears of blood. This is a real thing called hematidrosis, a rare condition in which the capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture under extreme physical or emotional stress. This description also uses the term anxiety. I think of some hard things in my life and none went this far but we all have stress.
I don’t think we can solve everything that causes stress but we know a guy. That is casual language for God is not surprised by the things that are hard. He sympathizes with us. He wants to give us good gifts but we are in a broken world that we deal with until Heaven. It is important to mention that there is good stress (Eustress) and bad stress (Distress). Eu – is a Greek prefix. There are innumerable good stresses like: study for a good grade to progress you to your desired goal, run daily to stay healthy, and listen patiently because you love your child, etc. Good stress for a good outcome. I flubbed at this last evening on my way to a class. There are two turning lanes and the car beside me changed from lane 2 to land 1. Guess which lane I was in. It was a close call and I didn’t even have a chance to honk my horn. So I defer to the car, now in front of me, and, in my upset, thought, …now should I honk my horn? Tailgate? Wave my arm?, etc. Then I thought, that bad driver might be in my class. I don’t mind being disgusted with someone I don’t know, but the thought that I might know them lowered the stress and response to stress. They weren’t. I think I handle stress better with the people I know.
The good news is not about being self-sufficient but that in our stress we can rely on Jesus for His all-sufficiency. Think about potential stress when David approached Goliath. There is no mention of how David was feeling. How did he do it? He trusted in God. God will allow more than we can handle because He is a problem solver and no, sometimes we can’t handle it.
