Stress can be defined as the degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope due to unmanageable pressures. It has to do with how our bodies respond to new or unexpected occurrences, threats, and uncontrollable situations. How one deals with stress can depend on a variety of factors, including your environment, social or economic status, upbringing, and undoubtedly your level of spirituality or your faith.
Many may be surprised by such an assertion, but your spirituality and faith can definitely help you to manage stress. Persons of a spiritual persuasion are called upon to express faith in something or someone bigger than themselves. Such faith has many benefits when it comes to managing stress, and we are happy that you are taking advantage of the Amen app to boost your faith, which will help you manage stress.
Firstly, faith calls you to give God, the Sovereign One, control of your life and destiny. Most persons are overwhelmed by life’s events because they feel out of control. This causes stress that sometimes results in high blood pressure, headaches, body pains, and various other maladies. However, when you choose to have faith in God, you are already comfortable trusting God with the chaos of everyday life.
You submit to his will with the acceptance that even though you do not know or understand what is happening, God is in control. This acknowledgment gives you the freedom you need to take things in stride, knowing that a Greater Being is orchestrating everything in your life. According to Martin Luther King Jr, “ Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” With faith, you can take that first step knowing that God controls the staircase.
Secondly, faith can provide meaning and purpose to your life. One of the primary weapons of stress is the uncertainty that it brings. You do not know where you are going and what you should be doing, so when things seem to fall apart, you cave in and succumb to the stress and confusion. With faith, however, you know your destiny. You accept that you are a child of God and an heir to his throne.
You acknowledge that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9). This faith gives you purpose and an optimistic perspective when you understand that circumstances that bring sorrow and stress endure only for a season, but joy comes in the morning.
Thirdly, faith helps you to develop coping mechanisms that are necessary to deal with stress. Praying, meditation, moderation, exercise, a nutritious diet, and developing and maintaining healthy relationships are all recommendations that may be given to manage stress, whether from a medical or psychological perspective. Interestingly, faith in the Sovereign one also calls for obedience to his Word, which encourages these same recommendations, even if not in so many words.
3 John 2 tells us: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Faith calls us to pursue physical health even as we seek after spiritual health, which, when combined, gives us a powerful advantage over stress and its harmful effects.
Fourthly, faith creates communities. Many persons succumb to stress because they do not have a support system to encourage and help them during difficult times. We need each other. The Bible tells us, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10) People tend to unite around their faith, and that is why you have churches and spiritual groups where members can mutually support each other. The truth is that everyone has their rough days, so you must have someone you can call on during those moments when you are not at your strongest.
Finally, through faith, we can find peace, everlasting peace, the peace that surpasses human understanding. It takes faith to smile through your storm and to wait patiently on the Lord when the cyclone of stress rages. Faith takes you out of a self-dependent mode to a God-dependent one, where you cast all your cares on Him because you know He cares for you. Romans 5:1-2 tells us: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” The text also goes on to say that when we have faith, we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations result in patience. How amazing? With confidence, we can delight in our stresses and rejoice because we know that there is a purpose for it all. Stress comes to teach us patience and build our resilience, but we can only accept and appreciate this when we have faith.
When we have faith, we can manage stress because we no longer rely on ourselves to overcome life’s trials and tribulations. Life is unpredictable, and uncertainty brings varying levels of stress, but those with faith are able to cope. Faith prompts one to develop the character that can withstand the pressures of life because a higher power sustains you and you have a purpose, everlasting peace, and a community of mutual support.
Our Amen app seeks to provide you with mutual support on this faith-building journey. Together we will manage stress and experience everlasting peace through our Lord, Jesus Christ.