People everywhere are talking about stress. Heat stress. Financial stress. Work stress. Home stress. Covid-19 stress.
One young lady told her mother, “I find it stressful just to go to the grocery store!”
It is true, because you are always wondering, Am I keeping safe among these people? Are the store managers working carefully enough in my behalf? Is management keeping up an adequate level of sanitizing so that I can be reasonably confident I am safe? “What if…” and our mind begins to whirl.
I saw a list of De-stressors on a website the other day, and felt sad that the advisors had nothing better to offer. It was mostly on the level of the obvious: Get enough sleep, eat what you like, talk with a friend, pet your dog, etc. Good advice, but—
Isn’t there something better, something that could take the sharp edge off the negative world we live in?
Let’s go to the Scriptures and see what we find on God’s marketplace.
Yes, there are de-stressors here. Heavenly de-stressors. Plenty of them.
Let’s check out a few. Here is one from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 26.
Isaiah 26:3 3You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Perfect peace. That should help take care of some stress. Peace that will not be disturbed, no matter what. Isn’t that a de-stressor worth trying?
What are the conditions for its use? How does it work? Let us read the passage again. Notice there are two conditions to be met.
Isaiah 26:3 3You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Condition 1: Trust in God
Condition 2: Mind stayed on God
Both requirements must be met to activate the de-stressor and give us the peace.
Now let us ask: How? How do we “stay” our mind on God? It is not telling ourselves constantly all day long, God I know you are there. Or, I know God is, I know God is. Our thoughts must be meaningful to give us stability. They must lift our minds out of this world and into another.
Staying [anchoring] our mind on God means fixing our minds on all that God represents to us: His law of life, His sublime truth, His far-reaching plan.
That is something we all can do: think through God’s laws for life. Review the singular points of truth. Review His far-reaching plan. This should be de-stressing.
Now let’s look at another heavenly de-stressor. It comes from the One who is on duty 24/7. We find it in Psalm 121. We will need the whole chapter to learn about this very special formula.
Psalm 121:1–4 1I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?
The Psalmist says, I love to look up to the hills. But the hills aren’t the source of my help.
2My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Here is the heavenly de-stressor. My help comes from the One who made heaven and earth!
And there is more of the de-stressing formula. Continuing with verse 3:
3He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Think about it: The Heavenly Keeper, on duty 24/7. When we sleep, when we wake. And all the time between.
There is still more in this de-stressor.
Psalm 121:5–8 5The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Kept. Preserved. Day and night. Going out, coming in. And it is from now and forward, to eternity. No need for stress under this heavenly Keeper.
Let’s look at another heavenly de-stressor. It is in the experience of Jacob, father-to-be of the 12 tribes of Israel.
It was a promise of protection and blessing God made to Jacob at a high-stress point in his life. If ever Jacob needed a heavenly de-stressor it was then. He had been rightfully given the blessing and was fleeing from his vengeful brother Esau. The first night, at Bethel, he had an inspired vision from God.
Genesis 28:12–13 12Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Jacob must have been spellbound. Was this more stress or less?
13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.14Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; … and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Sound familiar? It is the same promise God gave to Jacob’s grandfather Abraham many years earlier.
Genesis 12:3 3I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
What is the great de-stressor God gave Jacob as he was fleeing? God renewed His promise right here.
Genesis 28:15–16 15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
The angel of God says,
I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.
God’s promise of keeping – that is the heavenly de-stressor. How did Jacob respond?
Genesis 28:1616Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
Let’s look at another Heavenly De-stressor, this time from the book of Proverbs. This passage pictures Wisdom as the 24/7 guardian.
Proverbs 6:20–23 20My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
Those are the conditions binding on all who would receive God’s promise.
21Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
In other words, keep those divine testimonies CLOSE! Then,
22When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will KEEP you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
24/7 communication. No time for stress because all the activity of day or night is directed by God’s heavenly wisdom.
One more heavenly de-stressor, and this one is from Job. Very different in nature, but protecting him from stress his whole life through.
Job 14:13 13“Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Even the thought of dying did not stress Job. His trust in God was so strong, so confident, so sure, that it would take him both INTO and OUT OF the grave—and beyond! Here was the absolute heavenly de-stressor. Nothing in the world could give comfort to equal this. The God he had served faithfully would KEEP Him, and “REMEMBER” him at the appointed time—the time of the resurrection!
Job says further:
Job 14:14 14If a man die, shall he live again?
The answer is YES!!
All the days of my appointed time [the time of the resurrection] will I wait [in the grave], Till my change come.
According to the Lexicon, the meaning of “change” is as
a change of clothing, a replacement, a renewal. – DBL
Job was anticipating the change to immortality after He was awakened.
The promises of heavenly de-stressors are scattered. Just to mention a few:
Psalm 12:7 7Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
God is the KEEPER. That takes away the stress. Here is another statement about God’s heavenly de-stressors. As Job said,
Job 34:29 29When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—
The de-stressors are God’s to dispense.
Again, speaking of the righteous, the Psalmist said,
Psalm 41:2 2The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; And he shall be blessed upon the earth: And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
When the Lord keeps alive, we have nothing to fear. It is the perfect heavenly de-stressor. Again from Proverbs, speaking of God:
Proverbs 2:8 8[God] keepeth the paths of judgment, And preserveth the way of his saints.
The apostle Peter takes this heavenly de-stressor to an even higher level. He pictures each loyal one being KEPT by God for the final, full salvation!
Hear Peter as he introduces his brethren to his strong, convicting faith. It is at the beginning of his first epistle:
1 Peter 1:3–5 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Those who are KEPT…unto salvation. Isn’t that what we want? We want that de-stressor, God’s KEEPING promise, keeping us safe and secure, preserving us from the stress and tumult of this world until the time comes at last for the dispensing of SALVATION! Verse 7:
1 Peter 1:7 7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
At the appearing of Jesus Christ. That is when the prize will be dispensed. We can depend on the heavenly de-stressors to KEEP us until Christ returns to change the mortal bodies of each of His faithful servants to that glorious, immortal state, made like the angels, never to die!