STRESSED TO THE MAX

#1 · June 7, 2010, 12:42 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on June 7, 2010, 12:42 pm
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

STRESSED TO THE MAX

June 6, 2010

Text: Ruth 1:11-22

One common characteristic among all humans regardless of gender, race, national origin, and so forth is that we all experience tension, or stress. Some people are under incredible pressure just for basic daily sustenance. One could imagine that moving beyond struggling for survival to a more affluent lifestyle would reduce stress levels, but we know that this is not true, either. Anyone here this morning completely stress free? If so, there is cause to worry. I have heard it said that the only people completely free from stress are those no longer alive. Stress is a lot like some of the nutritional things we are warned about. Take sodium, for instance. We are told that we need to cut out a lot of sodium from our diets. I dont doubt that, but the complete truth is that it is bad to cut out all sodium. We need some, just not as much as we usually get. So it is with stress. Too much is bad for us, but manageable levels keep us active and focused.

Typically, all of us face some common sources of stress: work, family responsibilities, leisure, finances, choices and decisions. The list can be quite extensive. I have seen a poster in a lot of places depicting stress. Maybe you have seen it, too. A zebra is pictured. The front half of the animal looks OK, but the back half is a little messed up. The zebras stripes are falling off! Some of the stripes are heaped on the ground, as if unraveling. The caption reads, I think Im having stress.

The zebras predicament depicts us. Part of us is OK. But another part is typically in a panic situation as we try to slay the dragons of stress all around us without running out of energy or sanity. As I mentioned, short of death, we are always going to experience tensions of life. Even after death, I believe it is biblically accurate to suggest that those outside of Gods saving grace will face eternal stress.

I doubt that many of us consider stress as a miracle from God. Most of us would probably think of it more as one of the curses introduced as a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve. Yet, there are Christians in many fields of study who encourage us to find the good side of stress. Since were going to face it anyway, we might as well see if there is a good side to stress.

Stress impacts us many ways: physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. It wears us out and tears us down. Physically, it elevates our blood pressure, tenses our muscles, and increases our heart rate. Emotionally, it can drive us crazy as we feel backed further and further into a corner with no way out. Spiritually, the light of God seems to get darker and darker as we wonder why He does not come closer. We cry out with David who wrote, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1)

When it comes to biblical testimonies, we are not alone in our stress. Book after book includes the accounts of those placed in extreme circumstances and under tremendous pressure. Some come readily to mind: Moses, David, Elijah, Peter, and Saul. Perhaps Naomi and Ruth do not come bursting forth as examples of stress as readily as some of these others, but here they are anyway. It is bad enough in our day to lose a husband and children to death, but in Naomis day it was devastating. The only source of security for a woman was her husband or sons. Facing life with no close male kin meant facing certain destitution. There were no jobs for women, outside of picking up leftovers in the fields and trying to live off of them. This is what Ruth did upon their return to Judah. Small wonder, then, that Naomis response was so strong when the women in Bethlehem asked, Can this be Naomi? Read from 1:20-21: Dont call me Naomi (which means pleasant), she told them. Call me Mara (which means bitter), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. Does this have a familiar sound? If you have not thought words like those before, you probably know someone who has thought and said them. Thinking that even God was against her, what hope did Naomi have? She sums it up well: Call me Mara. Call me bitter.

In spite of the extreme circumstances we may sometimes face, there is a different view we can take toward stress. Quite a different view. That view is that stress has a good side. We can let stress lay waste to us, or we can commit ourselves and our stress to God and allow Him to make a good work out of them. Now I know that some of you are going to balk at this. Maybe all of you will. I know that I dont always remember it. Loss is loss. Grief is grief. Struggles are struggles and afflictions are afflictions. Come on, pastor, you cant expect me to be cheerful all the time. You cant expect me not to have any tensions.

No, I dont expect you to be cheerful all the time. I dont expect you not to experience the stress of hardships or grief or anguish. I do not expect Christians to be free from the struggles of this world. But I do expect you and this applies to me, too to believe the Bibles many accounts of how God uses our stress for His further glory and purpose. I do expect us to believe that God is very much alive and very much active in our world and in our lives. Mind-boggling, exhausting stressful circumstances, even those well beyond our control, have a flip side when we let Christ redeem them the way he wants to.

One of those kinds of events took shape in my own life. Like everyone else, I had no idea what the future held. I only know now through the luxury of hindsight. Everything was complete after my ordination into Christian ministry in 1986 for my transition from traditional Navy officer to Chaplain. In order to enter the Chaplain Corps, I had to accept a reduction in rank. Thats just the way the system worked. I expected to be a Lieutenant junior grade, the lower rank, for only one year, after which I would be promoted back to the rank of Lieutenant. This was the typical length of time in this rank, and promotion was typically automatic. However, when the promotion list was published the next year, my name was not on it. I was disappointed and frustrated, to say the least. I checked to make sure my records had been screened that they had not been missed as a result of all my changes. Yes, I was told, they had been looked at. I checked to see if there was anything missing in them, or if there were any adverse entries. I was told that everything was in order. All of my evaluation reports were as good as anyone elses, and better than most. It was a complete mystery to the officer conducting the review as to why I was not promoted along with others in my group. It was a complete mystery to me, too.

I do not normally remember fortune cookie fortunes. Even though I like to eat fortune cookies, I do not put any stock in those little pieces of paper that come in them. I have eaten many fortune cookies since 1986 and cannot tell you any of my fortunes except one. I can tell you the one I read that same day I found out I was not promoted nearly twenty-five years ago. I read that day, Adversity will make you stronger. I do not recall taking much comfort from that. Startled, yes. Comfort, no. I was hurt and embarrassed by not being promoted. I was not pleased with having to spend at least another year as a Lieutenant junior grade when I had already been a full Lieutenant once in my career. I had graciously consented and sacrificed to being reduced in rank in order to become a Chaplain, but this was ridiculous. It was too much. In that moment, God had forsaken me, His dedicated servant! I was promoted during the selection process the next year, but I was still confused about the events that took place the year before.

About five years later, I found out that there was an opportunity for reserve Chaplains to be voluntarily recalled to active duty service. I inquired about it and obtained the details. One of the requirements for consideration was that the applicant could not have a date of rank to Lieutenant prior to October 1997. The document I was reading almost fell out of my hands. Had I been promoted on time, or at least what I considered to be on time, I would have been ineligible for active duty! However, with a promotion date in 1988, I was eligible to apply. I did apply, was accepted, and served gladly. In spite of all the stress that I experienced when I learned that I had not been promoted as I expected, God used the stress for His purpose.

Ruth, for whom the book is named, is the woman of faith in this account. She did not change her name, as Naomi did. She refused to abandon her mother-in-law, even though Naomi encouraged her to return to her own people in Moab. Look at 1:16-17: But Ruth replied, Dont urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you will go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me. An act of faith on Ruths part? A bold step? A decision that could have ruined her completely? You better believe it. But Ruth chose to be pleasant rather than bitter. She recognized, no doubt, that without her assistance her mother-in-law might not survive. Where you go I will go.

If you have not read the entire account of Ruth, or if it has been awhile since you have read it, I encourage you to go ahead and do so. Its a short one, and I cannot imagine it not holding anyones attention. It is a story of courage, faith, and love all the elements we like to see on the big screen.

Was God in control of the lives of Naomi and Ruth? Did He provide an opportunity for them even though it was impossible for them to see it? The answers, of course, are yes. Indeed, how could they even begin to imagine Gods vision for their lives? Among those who became descendants of Ruth and Boaz was David, a pivotal figure in Gods salvation history. And from the house of David came our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We cannot avoid stress. It can rob us of our focus and inhibit our performance. But stress becomes more negative the more we fail to prepare. Preparing to deal with stress can, in the end, produce extraordinary accomplishments. The Christian faith has a spectacular legacy of dealing with stress. We can be thrilled each time we revisit the stories of Gods purpose and plan to overcome the evil and trials that plague His people. We can be thrilled each time we experience the presence of God and recognize His activity in our lives. It is our recognition of Gods actions in the past as well as faith in His promises for the future that allow us to place stress in perspective and to find the positive side of stress. Ruth remained faithful to Naomi and consequently to God in spite of the uncertainty and stress that they faced. Yes, they were stressed to the max, but God had a mighty purpose for their situation in spite of the stress involved.

The same God who had a purpose for Ruth gives us a purpose as well. We may be stressed to the max, but God still leads us in our daily steps and provides for our daily needs, too. Im not going to suggest that there are not some frightening and uncertain moments in life. But we do have the promises that God is with us every step of the way, and according to those who have walked with the Lord before us, that is enough.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

179 W. Broadway

PO Box 515

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com

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To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

STRESSED TO THE MAX

June 6, 2010

Text: Ruth 1:11-22

One common characteristic among all humans regardless of gender, race, national origin, and so forth is that we all experience tension, or stress. Some people are under incredible pressure just for basic daily sustenance. One could imagine that moving beyond struggling for survival to a more affluent lifestyle would reduce stress levels, but we know that this is not true, either. Anyone here this morning completely stress free? If so, there is cause to worry. I have heard it said that the only people completely free from stress are those no longer alive. Stress is a lot like some of the nutritional things we are warned about. Take sodium, for instance. We are told that we need to cut out a lot of sodium from our diets. I dont doubt that, but the complete truth is that it is bad to cut out all sodium. We need some, just not as much as we usually get. So it is with stress. Too much is bad for us, but manageable levels keep us active and focused.

Typically, all of us face some common sources of stress: work, family responsibilities, leisure, finances, choices and decisions. The list can be quite extensive. I have seen a poster in a lot of places depicting stress. Maybe you have seen it, too. A zebra is pictured. The front half of the animal looks OK, but the back half is a little messed up. The zebras stripes are falling off! Some of the stripes are heaped on the ground, as if unraveling. The caption reads, I think Im having stress.

The zebras predicament depicts us. Part of us is OK. But another part is typically in a panic situation as we try to slay the dragons of stress all around us without running out of energy or sanity. As I mentioned, short of death, we are always going to experience tensions of life. Even after death, I believe it is biblically accurate to suggest that those outside of Gods saving grace will face eternal stress.

I doubt that many of us consider stress as a miracle from God. Most of us would probably think of it more as one of the curses introduced as a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve. Yet, there are Christians in many fields of study who encourage us to find the good side of stress. Since were going to face it anyway, we might as well see if there is a good side to stress.

Stress impacts us many ways: physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. It wears us out and tears us down. Physically, it elevates our blood pressure, tenses our muscles, and increases our heart rate. Emotionally, it can drive us crazy as we feel backed further and further into a corner with no way out. Spiritually, the light of God seems to get darker and darker as we wonder why He does not come closer. We cry out with David who wrote, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1)

When it comes to biblical testimonies, we are not alone in our stress. Book after book includes the accounts of those placed in extreme circumstances and under tremendous pressure. Some come readily to mind: Moses, David, Elijah, Peter, and Saul. Perhaps Naomi and Ruth do not come bursting forth as examples of stress as readily as some of these others, but here they are anyway. It is bad enough in our day to lose a husband and children to death, but in Naomis day it was devastating. The only source of security for a woman was her husband or sons. Facing life with no close male kin meant facing certain destitution. There were no jobs for women, outside of picking up leftovers in the fields and trying to live off of them. This is what Ruth did upon their return to Judah. Small wonder, then, that Naomis response was so strong when the women in Bethlehem asked, Can this be Naomi? Read from 1:20-21: Dont call me Naomi (which means pleasant), she told them. Call me Mara (which means bitter), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. Does this have a familiar sound? If you have not thought words like those before, you probably know someone who has thought and said them. Thinking that even God was against her, what hope did Naomi have? She sums it up well: Call me Mara. Call me bitter.

In spite of the extreme circumstances we may sometimes face, there is a different view we can take toward stress. Quite a different view. That view is that stress has a good side. We can let stress lay waste to us, or we can commit ourselves and our stress to God and allow Him to make a good work out of them. Now I know that some of you are going to balk at this. Maybe all of you will. I know that I dont always remember it. Loss is loss. Grief is grief. Struggles are struggles and afflictions are afflictions. Come on, pastor, you cant expect me to be cheerful all the time. You cant expect me not to have any tensions.

No, I dont expect you to be cheerful all the time. I dont expect you not to experience the stress of hardships or grief or anguish. I do not expect Christians to be free from the struggles of this world. But I do expect you and this applies to me, too to believe the Bibles many accounts of how God uses our stress for His further glory and purpose. I do expect us to believe that God is very much alive and very much active in our world and in our lives. Mind-boggling, exhausting stressful circumstances, even those well beyond our control, have a flip side when we let Christ redeem them the way he wants to.

One of those kinds of events took shape in my own life. Like everyone else, I had no idea what the future held. I only know now through the luxury of hindsight. Everything was complete after my ordination into Christian ministry in 1986 for my transition from traditional Navy officer to Chaplain. In order to enter the Chaplain Corps, I had to accept a reduction in rank. Thats just the way the system worked. I expected to be a Lieutenant junior grade, the lower rank, for only one year, after which I would be promoted back to the rank of Lieutenant. This was the typical length of time in this rank, and promotion was typically automatic. However, when the promotion list was published the next year, my name was not on it. I was disappointed and frustrated, to say the least. I checked to make sure my records had been screened that they had not been missed as a result of all my changes. Yes, I was told, they had been looked at. I checked to see if there was anything missing in them, or if there were any adverse entries. I was told that everything was in order. All of my evaluation reports were as good as anyone elses, and better than most. It was a complete mystery to the officer conducting the review as to why I was not promoted along with others in my group. It was a complete mystery to me, too.

I do not normally remember fortune cookie fortunes. Even though I like to eat fortune cookies, I do not put any stock in those little pieces of paper that come in them. I have eaten many fortune cookies since 1986 and cannot tell you any of my fortunes except one. I can tell you the one I read that same day I found out I was not promoted nearly twenty-five years ago. I read that day, Adversity will make you stronger. I do not recall taking much comfort from that. Startled, yes. Comfort, no. I was hurt and embarrassed by not being promoted. I was not pleased with having to spend at least another year as a Lieutenant junior grade when I had already been a full Lieutenant once in my career. I had graciously consented and sacrificed to being reduced in rank in order to become a Chaplain, but this was ridiculous. It was too much. In that moment, God had forsaken me, His dedicated servant! I was promoted during the selection process the next year, but I was still confused about the events that took place the year before.

About five years later, I found out that there was an opportunity for reserve Chaplains to be voluntarily recalled to active duty service. I inquired about it and obtained the details. One of the requirements for consideration was that the applicant could not have a date of rank to Lieutenant prior to October 1997. The document I was reading almost fell out of my hands. Had I been promoted on time, or at least what I considered to be on time, I would have been ineligible for active duty! However, with a promotion date in 1988, I was eligible to apply. I did apply, was accepted, and served gladly. In spite of all the stress that I experienced when I learned that I had not been promoted as I expected, God used the stress for His purpose.

Ruth, for whom the book is named, is the woman of faith in this account. She did not change her name, as Naomi did. She refused to abandon her mother-in-law, even though Naomi encouraged her to return to her own people in Moab. Look at 1:16-17: But Ruth replied, Dont urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you will go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me. An act of faith on Ruths part? A bold step? A decision that could have ruined her completely? You better believe it. But Ruth chose to be pleasant rather than bitter. She recognized, no doubt, that without her assistance her mother-in-law might not survive. Where you go I will go.

If you have not read the entire account of Ruth, or if it has been awhile since you have read it, I encourage you to go ahead and do so. Its a short one, and I cannot imagine it not holding anyones attention. It is a story of courage, faith, and love all the elements we like to see on the big screen.

Was God in control of the lives of Naomi and Ruth? Did He provide an opportunity for them even though it was impossible for them to see it? The answers, of course, are yes. Indeed, how could they even begin to imagine Gods vision for their lives? Among those who became descendants of Ruth and Boaz was David, a pivotal figure in Gods salvation history. And from the house of David came our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We cannot avoid stress. It can rob us of our focus and inhibit our performance. But stress becomes more negative the more we fail to prepare. Preparing to deal with stress can, in the end, produce extraordinary accomplishments. The Christian faith has a spectacular legacy of dealing with stress. We can be thrilled each time we revisit the stories of Gods purpose and plan to overcome the evil and trials that plague His people. We can be thrilled each time we experience the presence of God and recognize His activity in our lives. It is our recognition of Gods actions in the past as well as faith in His promises for the future that allow us to place stress in perspective and to find the positive side of stress. Ruth remained faithful to Naomi and consequently to God in spite of the uncertainty and stress that they faced. Yes, they were stressed to the max, but God had a mighty purpose for their situation in spite of the stress involved.

The same God who had a purpose for Ruth gives us a purpose as well. We may be stressed to the max, but God still leads us in our daily steps and provides for our daily needs, too. Im not going to suggest that there are not some frightening and uncertain moments in life. But we do have the promises that God is with us every step of the way, and according to those who have walked with the Lord before us, that is enough.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

179 W. Broadway

PO Box 515

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

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To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org