I can’t TAKE it any more!

Yesterday I read that Rihanna was being treated for exhaustion and it made me think about the pressures celebrities face.

Many young girls and women dream of becoming a famous pop star with the glamorous lifestyle it brings. But few realise that getting to the top invariably involves long days, lack of sleep, constant travel, physical exertion and lack of privacy. 

If wannabe singers knew what it really involved, would they go for it?

Furthermore, if many of us realised how stressful it would be to get our dream job, have a family or overcome our various physical challenges, would we be game to take the risk?

The fact is, modern life is stressful. We are constantly on the go… always reachable by some form of technology… always feeling like we should be doing more.

Do you ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day? That as soon as one task is done, ten additional jobs will torpedo themselves into your ‘inbox’?

When we get stressed, our bodies release stress hormones. These hormones raise our blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels and long-term stress can lead to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, obesity, heart disease, skin problems and (in women) menstrual problems.

So what can we do about it?

Well, on a practical level, it’s worth exploring what the cause of our stress is. We may not be able (or willing) to give up us our jobs/motherhood/illness/family strife but there may be ways to reduce stress.

Do you take on more responsibility than you need to?

Do you feel guilty delegating work to others?

Do you have trouble saying ‘no’ to things you know you don’t have the time or energy to do?

Are you constantly striving for things you think will make you happy but in reality don’t?

Once you’ve had a think about this, it’s worth finding out what God says about stress:

1. It is a real thing that affects us all: “The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me” (Job 30:27)                                                                                                         

“All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied” (Ecclesiastes 6:7)

  

2. Stress makes us unproductive and unfruitful: “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22)                        

“Unless the Lord builds the house, it's builders labour in vain...In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat” (Psalm 127:1-2)

3. The answer is Christ: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27)

So how should we respond? By making the right choices…

“You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Choose what is better and it will not be taken from you” (Luke 10:41-42).

What is the “better” option though? Relationship with God…

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

The woman who spends time with God and reading His Word, she will be…

“Like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever she does prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3).

Read more from Joy in the next issue of Liberti magazine.