Stressed for Success

3-30-08 message by Pastor Rich Doebler

How many of you still haven't filed your taxes? April 15^th is only a couple of weeks away. Next to Christmas, tax season is one of the most stressful times of year for me. It's not just finding all the receipts and filling out the forms. It's finding the money to pay what I still owe. In the last 30 years I think I can count on one hand the times I didn't owe anything on April 15.

Maybe it's not taxes that causes you stress-but it's something. What do you find stressful?

• Tests at school? My kids in college call me with more prayer requests during tests and final exams than any other time.

• Home repair? Don't even ask me about the plumbing job I tackled last Friday!

• Raising kids? Fixing your spouse? Juggling two jobs-or more? Paying bills?

• Stress is part of life. It's practically everywhere, practically every day.

How do you define stress?

One dictionary says, in part: "physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension." Another dictionary says: "hardship, adversity, force, pressure." The word comes from Old French and Latin words which literally meant "narrowness, oppression, compressed, draw tight." So we might say, "I'm in a tight spot."

David was in a tight spot when he prayed, "Give me relief from my distress..." (Psalms 4:1, NIV). The word "distress" literally meant "narrow straits or pressure," and the word "relief" meant "enlarge, widen, broaden." If you're in a tight spot, you want a larger space. KJV says: "...thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress."

In Psalm 31:8 David prayed: "You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place" (NIV). NKJV says: "wide place." LB says: "You have not handed me over to my enemy but have given me open ground in which to maneuver." God doesn't always help us with stress by removing the battle. Sometimes he gives us a place wide enough to fight better.

Even better than the dictionary definition, I like this definition of stress:

Video: hamster with snake...the definition of "stress."

How would you like to be this little hamster? A couple of years ago, zookeepers at a zoo in Tokyo put him in a cage with 3-foot long rat snake. The snake wouldn't eat frozen mice, so they thought a little, warm-blooded snack would fix the problem. They even named the hamster, Gohan, which in Japanese means a very tasty rice dish.

The snake didn't eat the hamster-he just keeps an eye on it. Eventually the snake started eating frozen mice, but I'm not sure that's particularly reassuring to the hamster since the zookeepers have kept the two together in the cage. [AP story: Snake name: Aochan; zoo: Mutsugoro Okoku Zoo; zookeeper: Kazuya Yamamoto.]

Stress comes when you feel threatened or pressured. Stress comes in tense situations, when nerves began to fray.

You can try to escape the stress of life by going fishing, camping, or canoeing in the BWCA, but stress will always manage to find you. One of the most stress-filled nights of my life was spent on an island in a tent-in a huge storm. Strong winds blew our tent down several times that night. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed all night-1 to 3 times per second. We were flooded by 9 inches of rain. We would have left, but you can't paddle an aluminum canoe across a lake in a lightning storm. Instead we had an all-night prayer meeting.

We cannot escape stress, so we might as well learn to make the most of it. We might as well learn how God can use stress to do significant things in our lives.

Some people don't handle stress well. They simply try to survive. Others, however, use stress to their advantage. They don't just survive; they thrive! Can you say yes to stress? It's not a bad thing to deal with stress from time to time. It's okay to be stressed when God uses it to make us better.

Let me give you an example of the benefit of stress. When my son buys a new guitar string, it comes in a wrapper. It's all coiled up, loose and comfortable, relaxed. It has no stress. But you can't make music on a relaxed guitar string. A guitar string can't make music unless you put some tension on it. It has to be pulled tight and stretched out. Then you have to press it against the frets and pick at it. Who wants to be picked on? But a guitar string needs someone to pick on it if it's going to make music. Without tension and stress, a guitar string is nothing special. Without stress, it's just a piece of wire. But with the right tension and stress, pressed and picked on, a guitar string can sound beautiful!

God wants to make something beautiful out of our lives. When things get tight and stressful, when we start to feel stretched and challenged, we want to escape, but God wants us to make music! When life gets difficult and tense, we want to ease the stress, but God wants to tune us for his glory!

The person who is never stressed will never really accomplish much in life. The person who is always laid back and relaxed, the person who never faces any challenge, the person who doesn't push through adversity, the person who always looks for the easy way out-that person will never reach his full potential in God. That person will never achieve God's plan.

I'd go so far as to sat that stress is a key to success! Stress can open a way for you to thrive, not just survive. If you never deal with stress, God can't tune your heart. If you avoid all tension, God can't use you as an instrument to play his music. Without stress, there's no success.

David became a success because he learned to deal with stress. He went from dealing with lions and bears to fighting a giant with a sling. Then he had to deal with a crazy king with a spear trying to pin him to the wall. Then he had to run from the crazy king's entire army and live in a cave out in the middle of the desert.

¹ David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. ² All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. (1 Sam 22:1-2, NIV)

David was stressed out, but before long, everyone who was stressed out started joining him in the cave. He became leader of a whole group of stressed out, upset, high-strung, discontented people. ("Discontented" literally meant "bitter of soul.") "Everyone who was in trouble [desperate (HCSB)], or who owed money, or who was unsatisfied gathered around David, and he became their leader" (NCV). David had his own troubles to deal with-and then he inherited everybody else's troubles too! Talk about a life filled with stress! But out of that stress came great success!

Let's take a closer look at three of these people who came to David in distress, in debt, or discontented. They stuck with him in the cave. They fought for him. They risked their lives for him. And eventually they enjoyed the success that came when David became king over Israel. They knew stress firsthand-and perhaps we can learn something from them about dealing with stress (and achieving success).

⁸ These are the names of David's mighty men: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. ⁹ Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered [at Pas Dammim] for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, ¹⁰ but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. ¹¹ Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled from them. ¹² But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory. (2 Sam 23:8-12, NIV)

Stress comes in many forms. Maybe you've experienced some of the types of stress these three men faced:

1. Facing bad odds.

Josheb-Basshebeth was outnumber 800 to 1! He had enemies coming at him in wave after wave from every side. He killed one-and 799 still kept coming. Have you ever felt stress like that?

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by circumstances... outnumbered... like the odds were against you... like you were dealt a rotten hand... then you've probably felt something like Josheb-Basshebeth!

You could almost be tempted to say, "What's the use? Why even bother trying? There's no hope. There's no way I can overcome these odds."

But I like what Josheb-Basshebeth did when faced with 800 enemy soldiers. "He raised his spear" (v 8). You can't win a battle if first you don't raise your spear! If you're outnumbered or overwhelmed, the first thing you must do is raise your spear and rise to the occasion.

In other words, don't quit. Don't give up. Don't retreat. Ignore the odds and trust in God!

Just raise your spear-with God's help aim at one problem. If you're overwhelmed by problems, you don't have to solve them all with a single blow. But if you solve one problem, your odds improve.

When you're outnumbered by problems, keep trusting God. Don't give up. Improve your odds one small victory at a time. Josheb-Basshebeth began his time with David in distress, in debt, and/or discontented. But he became a "mighty man"-and you also can become mighty in the Lord if you ignore the odds and trust in God.

2. Being abandoned-and exhausted.

Eleazar was with a bunch of David's men when they faced off against the Philistines who were lined up and ready for battle. Turns out most of them were bigger talkers than doers. They enjoyed taunting the Philistines, trash talking: "You're nothing but a bunch of big, dumb losers! Your own momma can't stand to look at ya! You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag." But when the Philistines came after them, they all turned and ran-all except Eleazar.

"The men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground" (v 9-10).

Did you ever feel abandoned by those you trusted? You relied on them, but they didn't come through. You depended on them, but just when you need them, they're nowhere to be found. They're like the men of Israel-they retreated.

Stress is bad enough, but if you're counting on others to help and they turn and run, stress can be pretty discouraging. That's when we need to hold on to God and do what Eleazar did-he stood his ground. If others run away and leave you alone, "stand your ground"; don't run and don't give in to fear.

Eleazar did more than stand his ground, however. He also used his sword. In fact, he used it so much that "his hand grew tired and froze to the sword" (v 10). Deserted by his friends but determined to stand his ground, Eleazar wouldn't even let exhaustion get the best of him. He fought through exhaustion until his hand "froze to the sword"-it cramped up on the hilt of his sword. He refused to quit. They had to pry his fingers loose from the sword.

On a commuter flight from Portland, ME to Boston, Henry Dempsey, the pilot, heard an unusual noise near the rear of the small aircraft. He turned the controls over to his co-pilot and went back to check it out. As he reached the tail section, the plane hit an air pocket, and Dempsey was tossed against the rear door. He quickly discovered the source of the mysterious noise. The read door had not been properly latched prior to takeoff, and it flew open. He was instantly sucked out of the jet.

The co-pilot, seeing the red light that indicated an open door, radioed the nearest airport, requesting permission to make an emergency landing. He reported that the pilot had fallen out of the plane, and he requested a helicopter search of that area of the ocean.

After the plane landed, they found Henry Dempsey-holding onto the outdoor ladder of the aircraft. Somehow he had caught the ladder, held on for ten minutes as the plane flew 200 mph at an altitude of 4,000 feet, and then, at landing, kept his head from hitting the runway, which was a mere twelve inches away.

It took airport personnel several minutes to pry Dempsey's fingers from the ladder. Things in life may be stressful, and you may not feel like holding on, but have you considered the alternative? [Craig Brian Larson: Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, p. 114]

If you're tired, worn out, burned out, get a grip. Get a grip first of all on God. Then you can get a grip on your sword. That's the only way to hang in there and not let go until after the battle is over.

3. Feeling a lack of significance.

Shammah, like the first guy, was left alone when the Israelite troops all ran away. But there was something more about Shammah-he was left to fight alone over a bunch of beans, in"a field full of lentils... Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field" (v 11).

It's one thing to fight on when the odds are stacked against you. It's something even more when you're in the middle of the field and you're completely surrounded. I like Shammah's response-something like...

Marine Corp Lieutenant General Louis "Chesty" Puller in the Korean War who said: "The enemy has us completely surrounded. They can't get away from us now. We have them right where we want them. We can shoot in any direction... That simplifies our problem." [Louis "Chesty" Puller Gen. USMC, Chosin Reservoir, N. Korea]

It's something more to fight on when you feel like the battle is meaningless. Even if you win, all you've got is a bunch of beans! But Shammah "took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down..." (v 12).

We can get stressed out if we feel there is no purpose in what we're doing, if we feel like what we're doing is worthless or insignificant. Who wants to risk his life for a bunch of beans?

But Shammah had a different perspective-and so should we. In God's kingdom no one is called to insignificance. No one is asked to do something meaningless. God has purpose and significance for everyone.

Shammah knew that for a bunch of men living in a cave, scrounging for food off the land, even a bowl of bean soup could mean the difference between life and death.

If you're stressed by a sense of meaningless effort, like you're battling for no good reason to win something worth next to nothing-remember God calls us to see things differently than the world sees them.

My first job in business-with a contract worth thousands of dollars... But I was talking to my pastor and told him what I was doing-how important the contract was, and he said, "Oh, that's just money. That's nothing compared with one soul." He stopped me in my tracks. I learned that the world values things that are unimportant in the kingdom of God-and that things unimportant in the world can be of great value in the kingdom of God.

Shammah fought for beans because he saw their significance. Like Shammah, we should fight for the things that God calls us to defend-no matter how insignificant they may seem to the world.

These stressed out, troubled, indebted, discontented men became mighty in the Lord-because they learned that God could work through their stress to give them success.

The LORD brought about a great victory (v 10, 12)