Is Stress a Sin?

 If stress is a sin, then caregivers are the chief of all sinners. Lol. Parents and teachers are next up in the line of top sinners in the world. Stress is not a sin, it's a term used for a physical response to a change in circumstances. As caregivers, there are so many things that can cause stress in a day. We live in stress and survival mode. We get a phone call, our loved one falls ill, they fall physically, rush trips to urgent care or the ER, and nine million other things can increase our overloaded stress levels. But it doesn't mean we are not continuing to trust God in the stressful caregiving moments. 

It's a fact - there will be stress! And we will learn how to deal with it. But our Bible heroes, even all the ones listed in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11), had stress. David wasn't stress-free when he was sitting in the back of the cave, hiding from Saul, who was trying to find him and kill him. I have no doubt that Job was stressed out as he learned over the course of ONE day that he'd lost his kids, his crops, his wealth, and finally, his health. But he fell to his knees and cried out that God was still God in the middle of the trying circumstances. That's faith. That's trusting God.

There was a lot of stress and tears when David returned to Ziklag and found it destroyed and plundered. But he encouraged Himself in the Lord. I wonder if he used to play the harp as a means of stress relief, even though he wouldn't have said it that way back then. 

The body responds to stress by elevating our heart rates, quickening our breaths, and firing off a series of internal events. This is the way God designed our bodies - it's built-in, so He must have known there would be stress on our journey through time. Just because we feel stress, doesn't mean we fell out of faith. It's not a sin. It is the perfect time to learn to trust Him more.

David, Daniel, Job, Abraham, and all our other Bible heroes dealt with stress during their lifetimes, yet they all continued in the faith. The presence of faith doesn't mean the absence of stress and vice versa. They can both live in the same body! 

Today, even in the stress of caregiving, I declare I will trust God, and I'll keep on doing that even if all my "buttons" get pushed. Lol. I will remind myself that He is a safe place to hide, in the storm, after the storm, and between storms. My thoughts will be on how He "gets" us and how He's not afraid of our stress, instead He meets us right where we are with His peace, grace, and new mercies every single time. I will trust Him for one more day, will you join me?

ANNOUNCEMENT: I have been thinking about how stress affects us, and I've come up with a few strategies that I use to help lessen at least some of it. Starting in February, I'll do a series of posts on Saturdays on managing stress for caregivers - so keep an eye out for them!

Check out one of my best-selling books - 31 Days in Psalm 31. It's a devotional taken from Psalm 31 (obviously!) - a time when David was hiding in a cave from Saul - even though he'd been anointed the next king. The social isolation of caregiving can certainly make it feel like we live in a cave but God is there with us. And that's what this 31-day devotional is all about, exploring and discovering God in the caves of life. You can get the eBook from my shop at Buy Me A Coffee. Or the print and kindle versions are available in my Amazon Shop.