‘You will stand firm and without fear.’ Job 11:15 NIV
I
ignore the warning signs and chronic stress can take a toll on your body. So, what are some of the signals? Well for starters, your stomach churns at any form of disagreement. When you can’t find an outlet for pent-up frustration, you may resort to overeating, smoking, drinking, drugs, and generally abusing your body. You isolate yourself, which affects your loved ones.
However, it’s the signs you don’t see that can do the most damage. Cortisol, a hormone our bodies release in the grasp of stress, adds to out-of-control feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. And studies verify that over time, stress raises your blood pressure, contributes to migraines and tension headaches, and results in the plaque that leads to heart disease. Chronic stress has been observed to increase cardiovascular risk by almost 50%t! Not to mention documented connections to alcoholism, anxiety attacks, asthma, cancer, colds, depression, flu, insomnia, obesity, strokes, and ulcers. And those uncontrolled crying spells when you’re exhausted are no coincidence. Stress lowers oestrogen levels, which can activate emotional outbursts.
If this describes you, take action! Rearrange your priorities, slow down, start taking control of your life, and turn to God. ‘Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favour.’ (Job 11:13–19 NIV)
SoulFood: 1 Sam 18:1–20:29, Lk 3:15–38, Ps 102:12–17, Prov 17:7–10
Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©