Stress and the Human Being - D. Ravindranath

Is it normal for humans to feel stress or is stress a denial of the power of God in our lives and of our trust in him?

The Bible seems to indicate that stress is evidence of a life that is not in conformity to God’s will. Jesus clearly expected his followers to have a high level of trust. He said: Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. So do not worry, saying: What shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

Yet we all experience anxiety or stress at many points in our lives. Sometimes stress occurs when times are hard — when a loved one has died, or when we have lost a job. At other times stress is related to a good event, but one that still brings anxiety— graduating from college or getting married or beginning the first job in our career. These are times of stress and anxiety for even the most mature people in all walks of life.

©  Wake Up India, July-Sept. 2001.  Reprinted with permission.

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