City Living: Handling Stress

Sunday service last 6th of March was very inspiring and very applicable to me during that time. For the past few weeks, I am under a lot of stress. Doing two separate roles in work isn't an easy task but sometimes you have to do it as it is your job. It is not about complaining but sometimes you will feel unease to those right and left work. Pastor Jeff gave a moving preach and I claimed that it was for me. The whole service revolved from the verse of 1 Kings 19:1-18. He gave three major points on how to handle stress so that we can comply on it according to His ways.

1. Watch out for dangerous signs (1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severly, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them. 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desrt. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough Lord," he said. "take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.". / 9 there he went into a cave and spen t the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, elijah?" 10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too".) - We should always be remided to recognize the signs so that we know how to handle such situation. a) Irrational Fear - sometimes you will wake up 3AM in the morning and you will feel such a fear that you don't understand or those moments that after leaving the office there are some frustrations or questions like what if? how if? or you will be scared of what will come the next day and you will think of it even you were at home. b) Unhealthy Isolation - this is a sign on which we want to be alone and get out of the noise of many people. You'll feel that you need a space that you chose to be by yourself. c) Depressive Thoughts - There's a moment that we want to give up or even wishing to die. We just want to finish it without a resolution or just go away from it, leave out of the country and not facing it. d) Self Pity - These are the moments that you compare yourself to others as a lower class or one who can't do it or that you are useless and deserves nothing.

2. Take care of the physical body (5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said "Get up and eat." 6 he looked around and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touhced him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you". 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.) In order to survive the stress, we are advised to be healthy. a) Eat & Drink Well - When we say eat, we should consider the foods that we are eating whether if it is beneficial or will cause harm to our body system. It is also advisable to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. b) Rest Well - I was advised before that it is good to have an eight hour sleep or that we should sleep before 10PM to ensure that we had a complete rest to prepare for the next day. Ps Jeff also mentioned that our day starts the moment we sleep in preparation for the next morning. c) Exercise - Yeah I know, this part is sometimes not easy but hey, a 30 minute jog a day could be useful. Or upon waking up, we can do push ups and seat ups. Exercise is a very good way of releasing the stress, I have experienced a lot of this before and it is genuine, just sweat out the stress.

3. Clarify my perspective - We should be reminded by this phrase: "God is God and I am not!". Indeed he is above all and He has his own ways that we can't understand but when it comes, the clarity of it will be revealed to us. a) God can work through the Unspectacular - God is still at work even without that "dramatic" effect and that He has His plans, He is always at work for our own good b) God is in full control in all circumstances - The words say it all, let go and let God.