Christ First Forum

The dictionary defines stress this way … it's the body's reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response. Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or even anxious.
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Thriving in the stressful times in which we live is easier when the roots of stress are understood and accepted as a reality of our daily life. The beginning of stress began in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Today we most certainly live in a world where stress is widespread and in many instances out of control. Maybe you’re showing signs of stress at this very moment!

(1) Are you losing sleep and feeling anxious or afraid?
(2) What are the biggest things on your mind right now?
(3) Do you have them under control?
(4) Should you ask your friends how you’re doing?
(5) Most importantly, are you letting God help you to manage your stress filled life?

My friend, many people in today's fast-paced world and maybe you're one of them, with their day planners, pagers, laptop computers, and cell phones are pushing themselves to the limit. Parents, many times with wrinkled brows and clenched fists, race from soccer fields to school meetings to piano lessons, grabbing meals on the run and collapsing into bed stressed out and exhausted from their daily activities and hectic schedule. A news article I read some time ago recorded the growing search for stress relief through spas, massages, pills, and exercise tapes. The report ended by saying, “Although people will pay to fix their stress, they aren't about to change the lifestyle that is causing it.” We have to face the fact, stress is a reality of our daily life, and as such, stress cannot be eliminated from our life, and must be accepted and handled as God intended. Attempts to rid ourselves of stress can, through good choices, be minimized and even avoided in many situations such as:

(1) Making activities simpler;
(2) giving up certain activities;
(3) getting better organized;
(4) expecting others to change;
(5) having others do their fair share, and
(6) making needed changes.

Furthermore, attempts to rid stress from our lives are met with varying levels of success and that any success often lacks long-term stability. Sometimes our success isn’t effective, then other times it is somewhat effective and sometimes it is very effective. Many times, we have a vain hope that we can do something that will make our lives totally stress free. My friend, that hope is a myth. The Bible, God's Word, teaches that stress is a reality of daily life.
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The Beginning of Stress … Genesis 3:1-19, teach the certain reality that stress is part of our daily life. (1) Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

The Temptation & Satan's Disguises … As Adam and Eve faced temptation for the first time; many things were true of them that aren't true for us. They lived in a perfect environment and uncorrupted society. No family influence could be blamed for their choice to do what is wrong. Adam and Eve stood in the morning of creation as creatures of great wonder. No sinful heritage, no ravaged surroundings could be blamed for their downfall. There were also many sins that Adam and Eve couldn't commit. They couldn't commit adultery. They couldn't steal from anyone. They couldn't dishonor their father or mother. They couldn't bear false witness against their neighbor. They couldn't covet their neighbor's property. Nevertheless, the essence of sin back at the dawn of creation was the same as it is today. At the one crucial point at which they were tempted, Adam and Eve didn't take seriously, what God had said. It's often difficult to understand why people give in to certain temptations. From our vantage point, their problem should be easy to handle. We may even wonder how Adam and Eve could have been so foolish as to have thrown aside all that God had given them in the morning of their existence. We would not have fallen so easily or would we? Part of the problem is that the tempter wears a disguise when he slithers into our lives. The Bible tells us that the serpent was "more cunning than any beast of the field" (Genesis 3:1). No ominous hissing or rattling warned of danger. He didn't ask, "Pardon me, may I have 20 minutes to destroy your life?" Public Enemy No. 1 uses the same tactics today as he did back then. However, God's Word warns us that Satan dresses as an angel of light, and his cohorts appear as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). We must be vigilant to prevent such a crafty deceiver from sneaking into our lives. In the temptations we face today, we too must decide if we will believe the Lord and do what He says is right. We too must realize that sin can devastate our relationship with Him.

Genesis 1:31 states God’s evaluation of the world He had made: “It was very good.” No stress. Genesis 2 describes life on the earth as God intended it to be. There was perfect communion with God, perfect communion between the man and the woman, and a perfect life in the perfect world that God created. No stress at all. The above verse in the Third Chapter of Genesis provides the historical account of the fall of man from the perfect and stress-free world. It came through the deception of Eve by Satan disguised as a serpent. It was completed when Adam accepted Eve’s offer to join her in disobedience. This Biblical account is straightforward and easy to comprehend. Volumes upon volumes have been written in an attempt to fully present all the details and complexities of these six verses. Indeed, they are rich in theological meaning, but the narrative is quite clear. Adam and Eve, prompted by Satan, disobeyed God’s known and clear will … Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”.
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The Fall and Problems … Genesis 3:7 and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (9) And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou? (10) And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (11) And he said, who told thee that thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (12) And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (13) And the LORD God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. These verses present a simple narrative describing the immediate and initial effects of the fall, such as:

(1) Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened, and the couple realized for the first time they were naked. Stress became a part of their lives;

(2) they sensed the need to clothe themselves and had to create attire from available materials. More stress;
(3) they experienced fear at the voice of God. More stress;
(4) they had to find a place to hide. Still more stress;
(5) they had to reply to God’s inquiry as to their whereabouts. Additional stress;
(6) they had to explain the reason for their hiding. Stress upon stress, and

(7) they had to acknowledge eating of the tree God had placed off limits to them and, in so doing, devise a plan to shift the blame to someone else. More stress.

Just think about the drastic changes, which occurred in Adam and Eve’s perspective on life after the fall, such as their:

(1) innocence was replaced with guilt;
(2) honesty was warped by deception;
(3) trust was shattered and replaced with distrust;
(4) communion gave way to estrangement or separation;
(5) love was modified by fear;
(6) serenity was replaced with tension; and
(7) the perfect became imperfect.

What was known and pleasant to them became unfamiliar and unpleasant, and that was only the beginning. God’s Judgment is recorded for us in Genesis 3:14-19, "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (15) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (16) Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (17) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return".

A thorough study of the above verses would reveal the all-encompassing depth of God’s righteous judgment, but a simple reading of the narrative makes it obvious that stress had entered the perfect world that God had created. Verses 14 and 15 describe God’s curse and judgment on the serpent. Two aspects of this curse can be noted. First, the serpent would be reduced in stature. It would crawl around and “eat dust” (v 14). This expression carries the idea of total defeat, as illustrated in verses such as Isaiah 65:25 and Micah 7:17. The rest of the animal kingdom, though indirectly mentioned, also suffered from man’s sin. Secondly, Satan was judged. Granted, Satan’s name is not used in the text, but a study of Genesis 3:1 would confirm the presence of Satan in this event (Romans 16:20; Revelation 20:2). The clause “I will put enmity between thee and the woman” (v. 15) appears to include both the serpent and Satan. Not only will there be hostility between the woman and the snake, but there will be a spiritual battle between Satan’s spiritual seed (his demonic hosts) and the woman’s seed (Jesus Christ). Satan’s kingdom has been and will continue to be in opposition to the true Kingdom of God.

Verse 16 describes God’s judgment on the woman. Three aspect of this judgment are noted: She will have great difficulty in childbirth; her “desire” will be to her husband; and her husband will rule over her. Note the stress implied in this judgment. Children, declared by God as a gift (Psalm 127:3), would be delivered in pain. The wonder of marriage to be lived in a loving, caring relationship and declared by God as good (Genesis 2:23-25) became warped by strife between husband and wife. Verses 17-19 describe God’s judgment on the man and the world in which he would labor and live. In addressing Adam, God first reviewed the man’s sin: “Because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it …” (verse 17). These words must have pierced Adam’s mind and heart. He had failed. God first stated the overall and pervasive curse in the ground: “Cursed is the ground.” Then verse 18 adds “thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth,” indicating just some of the negative change implied in the general curse. Next God pronounced judgment on Adam (v. 19). Daily life would be hard. Food would be gathered with much sweat, little yield for the effort, and in the presence of thorns and thistles. In addition, after living a hard life, Adam would die. In addition, the judgment placed on the serpent, Satan, and Eve would affect Adam’s life as well.

Note the stress implied in this judgment. Instead of a pleasant and rewarding labor of love tending the Garden of Eden, Adam would labor hard just to get by. Moreover, this labor would be complicated by thorns and thistles, making life that much harder. Instead of the bounty of the Garden of Eden, Adam would from then on gain little from much effort. The loving, caring relationship he had at one time enjoyed with Eve was replaced with strife and the constant necessity to address the needs and concerns of a fallen wife (as the wife must address the concerns of her fallen husband). Instead of a natural eternal life, Adam had to prepare for his own death. Stress is a part of our daily life. The disobedience of Adam and Eve brought God’s judgment. What had been perfect and stress free is now stress filled, stress laden, and stress generating. Stress manifests itself in every phase and activity of life. I must emphasize the change that occurred at the fall. Please note the following words in the above verses: guilt, estrangement or separation, deception, distrust, fear, tension and imperfect … thus, sin lies at the root of stress.
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Stress is rooted in the fall of man, and will end with the coming of a new Heaven and new earth. Between its beginning and its end lies a life filled with stress and something we cannot run from. We all have had those moments when we feel stressed out and research concerning stress concludes that many people are literally killed by stress in their lives. So, how can we attack the roots of stress? How can we handle the circumstances that are beyond our control? We can find answers in the account of the most violent storm experienced in the New Testament. It is described in Acts 27 and it threatened the ship transporting Paul to Rome. Inside this story are the skills we need to survive the storms of stress.

(1) Talk it over with God (Philippians 4:6). Take your anxiety to Him. When you pray, give His Spirit an opportunity to bring peace to your heart and to straighten out your thinking. Some stress can be avoided through obedience to God’s Word (Proverbs 3:1-2).

(2) Get Rid of Cargo You Don't Need (Acts 27:18-19). Some of our "extra cargo" may be bad things we have accumulated: a compromising relationship, an obsession with money, a sinful habit—things we hang on to until a storm exposes how they're sinking us. There is also good cargo that may have to be jettisoned. We tend to accumulate activities that can be helpful if taken separately. Nevertheless, taken together, they're just too much.

(3) Get Busy With Things That Matter (Acts 27:22-24). Those "things" that really matter are usually people. With all the pressures to achieve, the people we love can slowly get pushed to the corners of our lives. Our "ship", the project, the schedule, and the budget, may be lost on the rocks. That is costly, but okay. It's our people we cannot afford to lose.

(4) Get Serious With God (Acts 27:29-32). Often our panic makes us reach for a lifeboat instead of the Lord. But at certain point in your life, God will strip you of all other resources, leaving you only Himself.

(5) Get Back to a Healthy Routine (Acts 27:33-36). As Paul's ship was about to go aground, he urged the crew to eat. When a strong disturbance batters our ship, our daily routines are usually the first things thrown overboard. However, when we start to miss sleep, meals, and time alone with God, we start sinking. Those healthy routines are what keep us strong on both sunny and stormy days. When God orders up storms in our lives, it is because a change is needed.