Stress impacts from people from all walks of life – no matter age, race, gender or religion…the truth of the matter is attempting to deal with stress without God can be difficult. Learn how to manage stress the biblical way – as God designed it.

How to Manage Stress – the Biblical Way

In my “day job” – I’m an emotional wellness/mental health/life coach (I know that’s a mouthful!) – a major concern that comes up is daily for the people I serve is managing stress and work/life balance. The entire world – Believers and non-believers alike – are certainly dealing with seemingly insurmountable stress right now as it relates to the world crisis we’re currently experiencing (watch to video above to see my tips on how to handle stress in a crisis).

Even though that is the case – as Believers we should have  a different approach to it. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t experience stress –  but as Believers, stress should not consume us.

My belief is experiencing and acknowledging stress is one thing but being conquered by it is another.

WHAT IS STRESS?

Stress by definition is the body’s physical reaction to anything that makes you feel threatened or out of balance.

And I might add – anything that causes fear – and as we know – fear is not of God. (2 Tim 1:7)

WHAT ARE STRESSORS?

As you can see – stress is more of a medical term and how are body reacts. We often use the term “stress” incorrectly to define the things that actually cause us stress, The correct term for those things that cause stress (bills, kids, traffic, etc) is stressor.

Stressors are situations that are a perceived to one’s wellbeing or position in life, when the challenge of dealing with the situation, exceeds the person’s perceived available resources.

You see that I emphasized the words “perceived” because I’ve learned that how one approaches their life determines how they allow stress to impact them. 

Our level of faith and level of stress go hand in hand.

If we don’t believe God (our source) will work a situation out for our best (or provide the resources) then we are apt to be impacted to a greater degree by our stressors.

In other words, your level of faith to see God as your source is directly proportionate to the  level of stress you experience (or how you perceive your stressors).

For the most part – stress is a thought game – essentially – what you think about the job, the kids, and bills will impact how much stress you experience, thus lead to how it impacts you physically (from headaches to cancer).

So the idea is not to behave as if you aren’t impacted by your stressors but to acknowledge them and formulate your prayers, thoughts and actions to align to the belief that God is your source – even if you are out of (perceived) resources.

HOW TO MANAGE STRESS (THE BIBLICAL WAY)

I know, I know all of this is very informative – but how do you do this?!?

I’m glad you asked!

Stress and stressors can be addressed on 3 levels – Physical, Mental/Emotional and Spiritual. Pick out a few that 

Below are some practical tips to help you get started.

Physical

Deep breathing

Exercising

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Stretching

Mental/Emotional

Examine your Thoughts – Acknowledging stressors and challenges and renewing/changing how you perceive them.

Review Your Day/Week – Make it a weekly if not daily practice to ask yourself – what’s stressing you. Then brainstorm different ways to handle it.

Spiritual

Prayer – Find scriptures that you can meditate and pray on daily dealing with the specific stressors you’re dealing with.

Read – Read articles or devotionals as a mindfulness technique to help keep you spiritually grounded.

Express Gratitude –  Be grateful that God is working out your issue right now.

These are some of the ways that I choose to handle the stressors in my life. What about you? What are some of your stress management tips? Which ways are you thinking about implementing?