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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. How do you choose relaxation over stress? Spend time with God each day. You know, in my own life, I've discovered how I begin my day and how I end my day governs my stress level throughout the day. That's the foundation for choosing relaxation over stress. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, today, millions of Americans are struggling with the physical, mental and spiritual effects of stress.
Is there any way to break free from the endless cycle of worry? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress teaches that while we can't live without problems, we can live above our problems. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Let me start with a personal question. How's your level of stress these days? You see, when you and I get all frazzled and bent out of joint, the stress can damage our spirit and our bodies as well. Today, we're going to talk about choosing relaxation over stress. But first, I'm pleased to tell you that Pathway to Victory has been planning a world class stress relieving vacation for you. In May of 2025, we'll be hosting a wonderful Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. During this 12-day adventure, you'll get to experience the breathtaking landscapes that trace the path of the New Testament. Now, the dates for the cruise are May 5th through 16th.
Please take a look at the spectacular itinerary and reserve your spot by going to ptv.org. Look, learning to cope with our stress takes intentional effort. It requires our willingness to overcome barriers that get in the way.
And you know what? The biggest obstacle is our mind. You see, faith is not a feeling. It's a choice. And in my book, I show you the path toward choosing attitudes that will literally change your life. I want to send you a copy of my book, Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. And when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure that one is sent to your home right away. Right after the message today, David and I will explain more. But right now, let's turn our attention to Matthew chapter 11, in which Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I titled today's message, Choosing Relaxation Over Stress.
In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was asked to define obscenity, and he famously said, I'm not able to define it, but I know it when I see it. You know, the same thing could be said about stress. You may not be able to define stress, give a dictionary definition of stress, but we know it when we see it. Or more accurately, we know it when we feel it, don't we? Migraines, high blood pressure, certain strokes, even cancer are just some of the symptoms of a stressed-out society.
It's no accident that among the top-selling drugs in our country right now are the ulcer medication, Tagamet, the hypertension medicine, enderol, and the tranquilizer, Valium. And don't make the mistake of thinking stress is something that Christians are exempt from. A famous television teacher preacher asked his electronic congregation to send in the number one problem they were dealing with in life, and at the top of the list was stress. Even though Christians are not exempt from stress, Jesus offers us this word of promise that we read from Matthew 11. Beginning in verse 28, Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.
My yoke is easy, and my load is light. Now, please don't misunderstand. Jesus is not saying because you're a Christian, you're exempt from stress. You're exempt from problems.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus promised you're going to have problems in the world. In John 16 33, he said, These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation.
The Greek word tribulation literally means to press. In this world, you're going to have pressure. You're going to have stress. But he goes on to say, Take courage. I have overcome the world. Jesus is not saying we can live in this world without problems, but he said there is a way to live above your problems. And that's what we're going to talk about today as we continue our series, Choose Your Attitudes Change Your Life. We're going to talk about the attitude choice of choosing relaxation over stress. Now, first, I think it's important to differentiate between two kinds of stress. There is actually a healthy kind of stress. You know, in the world of mechanics, the word stress refers to the ability of certain metals to bear certain loads, an amount of loads, the load bearing ability of certain metals. And for some metals, loads, stress can actually strengthen that metal.
The same thing is true for us. A certain amount of stress can actually strengthen us. For example, a certain amount of stress that releases beta endorphin can enhance the work of natural killer cells in our body. They roam throughout our body, checking on tumors and dealing with tumors that would bring about cancer. And that's one of the things that these beta endorphins do.
They enhance our immune system. That's why Dr. John Morley, professor of geriatrics at the St. Louis University School of Medicine writes, the stress that you adequately cope with may actually be good for you, whereas stress that you fail to cope with is most probably bad for you. What are the hazards of prolonged or ignored stress?
Well, there are physical results of that. For example, we all know the relationship between stress and high blood pressure. But new studies are demonstrating that stress that's not dealt with can actually raise our cholesterol, that not only causes heart disease, but actually weakens our immune system and can lead to cancer. There are emotional effects of stress. Prolonged stress raises our level of cortisol in our bodies that can lead to chronic depression. But there are also spiritual effects of stress. Now, again, some stress can actually be spiritually beneficial to us. I think that's what James has in mind when in James 1, verses 2 to 4, he writes, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Just as a certain amount of stress can strengthen a metal, a certain amount of stress can strengthen us spiritually. In verse 3, that word testing, the testing of your faith, that word in Greek is dakomion. It's a word that referred to a piece of pottery that after being shaped was placed into a firing oven in order that it might be strengthened. And if that piece of pottery formed by clay survived the firing oven without cracking, the potter would take it out and at the bottom he would write the word dakimos, tested, approved. But if it broke in that firing oven, if it cracked, it was discarded upon a heap of trash.
It's the same way with us. God allows tests in our life stress not to destroy us but to strengthen us. It can have a positive benefit in our life as long as it drives us toward God and not away from God.
But it can also have a negative impact if we allow it to drive us away from God. Think about Moses. Moses believed because God told him he was going to be the liberator of Israel from Egypt.
But years passed, there was no sign of an exodus. And Moses got stressed out over that. Things weren't moving according to his timetable so he thought he better take matters into his own hands. And that unmet expectation led to anger and caused him to lash out at an Egyptian soldier and kill that Egyptian soldier. And one moment of uncontrolled anger led Moses to spend the next 40 years secluded in the wilderness, going through a long and painful interlude in his life, all because of an unmet expectation, all because of anger that was not controlled. Or look at Jonah. God said to Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh and deliver my word to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Jonah was stressed out about that assignment from God.
The Assyrians were the most cruel people on the face of the earth. They would skin their captives alive and Jonah didn't want to have any part of that. So how did he respond to the stress? He took flight.
He ran the opposite direction, away from God. Many people do the same thing today. They allow stressful situations to send them away from God into a world of addictions or illicit relationships or materialism as well. And to summarize, some stress is good for us, but stress that is not dealt with adequately can be harmful to us. How do we handle the stress mess?
Two ways we do it. First of all, removing unnecessary stress from our lives. And secondly, dealing positively with unavoidable stress in our life. Let's talk about, first of all, removing unnecessary stress. How many of you would like to remove some stress right now from your life? Don't point to the person next to you.
It's not polite, okay? We're not talking about that, but some stress can actually be and should be removed. Let me mention six causes of unnecessary stress in our life. First of all, stress caused by lack of purpose. A stress caused by lack of purpose.
The French philosopher Nicolas Bollet said, he is most fatigued who knows not what to do. When you don't have a clear purpose in life, it can produce stress. Secondly, stress caused by unrealistic goals. Much of the stress we have is when we instill unrealistic goals that have no basis in Scripture at all.
We're not just imposing these unrealistic goals on ourself. I remember many years ago when I got my first contract for my first book, I was so excited about that first book. And the publisher said, now you have six months to do this book to turn in the manuscript. But in a fit of insanity, I decided I would do it in three months.
I was going to push myself and finish this book in three months. The only problem was Julia had just been born, so that caused a little difference in our household. Things were going on at the church and I ended up putting undue stress, not only on myself and Amy and poor Julia, but on my church as well. And it was just all unnecessary because of an unrealistic expectation. Thirdly, stress caused by unresolved anger. You know, anger is a negative emotion we feel when our expectations are not met. In fact, I want you to think about the last time you got really angry. I bet you can trace that anger to some expectation you had that was not fulfilled by another person or circumstance.
Think about it. We get angry when the stoplight doesn't turn from red to green as quickly as we think it should. We get angry when our mate doesn't pay us the attention we think he or she should. Much of the anger we have is caused by unmet expectations.
And that's why it's important that we learn how to deal with that. Stress caused by unresolved anger. The Word of God commands in James 1-19, Everyone, be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. In the Greek language, there are two words for anger. One word for anger means a violent, explosive, volcanic outburst of anger. We've seen that.
We've done that before. But the word here, anger, or gay, refers to a smoldering, persistent anger rather than a temporary outburst. And it's that anger James writes about in verse 20 when he says, For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Is anger always wrong?
Not necessarily. Anger sometimes is like a headache. It's a symptom that something else is wrong that needs to be dealt with. And that's why Paul said in Ephesians 4, verses 26 and 27, Be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and don't give the devil an opportunity. When anger arises, deal with it. Deal with it before the sun sets.
Don't allow it to smolder and destroy your life. A fourth source of unnecessary stress, stress caused by comparison to other people. Stress caused by comparison to other people. My late mentor, Howard Hendricks, used to call comparison the favorite indoor sport of Christians.
He was right. Christians absolutely love to compare themselves with one another. We compare our houses, our clothes, our cars, our jobs, our bank accounts, our children. But listen to what the Word of God says about comparison. I love the way the Living Bible paraphrases this in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 12. Their trouble is that they are only comparing themselves with each other and measuring themselves against their own little ideas.
What stupidity. The Bible says it is stupid to compare yourself to anybody else. Next, some stress is caused by materialism. Building our affections around money or the things that money buys. Remember the story that Jesus told in Luke chapter 12, the parable about the rich man who suffered from insomnia?
He couldn't sleep at nights because he was so caught up with his possessions. What am I going to do with all the excess income and produce I have? Where am I going to invest it? He says to himself, this is what I will do. I'm going to build larger barns. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this.
I'm going to do this. And then I'm going to store up so much money, I'm going to take off the rest of my life and say, soul take ease, for you have enough now. Eat, drink, and be merry.
And God came to him that very night and said, you fool. Tonight your soul is required of you. And who now will own what you have left? That word required is a banking term.
It means to call in alone. There's a day coming for all of us when God's going to call in our loan. He's going to say, you've had enough time here on earth.
It's time for you to come and stand before me. That's why it's so foolish to build your life around the material. In fact, people who have a lot of money experience a lot of stress. Ecclesiastes 5-12 says, the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.
That was true of this rich man. But you know, materialism isn't a problem just for the wealthy. Materialism is an attitude that says, money or the things that money buys can really solve my deepest longings. Poor people can be materialistic as well. They can be under that illusion too, that money is the answer to all of their problems.
In fact, many times a poor person can be more materialistic than the rich because he's never had money and he is still under the illusion that money can solve his problems. And that's why Jesus said in Luke 12, verses 22 and 23, For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious. Do not be stressed out for your life as to what you shall eat, nor for your body as to what you shall put on, for life is more than the material. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Sixth, some unnecessary stress is stress caused by physical fatigue.
Stress caused by physical fatigue. Because we've talked about this before, I'm not going to camp here long, but the great story, the great illustration of that is the story of Elijah, the prophet of God. He ran from Jezreel to Beersheba. And remember, after that 120-mile run, 1 Kings 19, 4 says, He went a day's journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die. And he said, It is enough now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.
Why did he say that? Why was he ready to end his life? He was worn out. He was worn out spiritually from that great victory on Mount Carmel. He was tired after running 120 miles.
Who wouldn't be? And he had a distorted perspective of reality. You know, I think of Vince Lombardi's famous quote, Fatigue makes cowards of us all. There's something about just being physically tired that distorts your perception of yourself, your circumstances, and your God. And that's why, again, to quote Howard Hendricks, sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap. Just take a nap. Rest.
It restores your proper perspective. Now, we've talked about some stress that is unnecessary and can be removed, but other stress is unavoidable and has to be dealt with. Remember, Jesus said in John 16, 33, In this world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. How do you keep stress from paralyzing you? Let me share with you five keys, biblical keys, for choosing relaxation over stress.
Number one, gain God's perspective on problems. Remember, stress is basically an attitude that initially results into our responding to problems with panic. When problems come, stress says you should panic. But an attitude of relaxation responds to problems with expectation.
Panic or expectation? Let me show you something great again in James 1, verse 2. James says, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.
That word encounter is a Greek word that means literally to ambush. Have you ever had a day like this where, you know, you get up, it's a day like any other day, you think it's going to be a great day, and all of a sudden you run into a problem? And that problem comes out of nowhere.
It's nothing you expected, a phone call, an email, something happened, and then another problem comes, and then another problem. I have found problems usually don't travel alone. They don't travel alone.
They come in groups. And that's what he's talking about here. Many times you are ambushed all at once, unexpectedly, by various trials. How are we to respond? He said, Not with panic. Consider it joy. Consider it joy. Now, he doesn't say, and he's not saying, you know, you're driving down the tow way, and you have a flat tire, and you think, oh, gee, isn't this great, this flat tire. Thank you, Lord, for this. He's not saying.
That's unrealistic. The idea of joy is not giddiness. It's not happiness. It's the calm assurance that God is in control of your circumstance. To choose relaxation over stress means to understand that God is in control.
That's his perspective, and that he can use this for some positive benefit in your life. This topic truly strikes close to home, doesn't it? Our world has been rocked with shocking scenes of terrorism in the Middle East, and further north, an egregious attack on Ukraine.
There's unrest in our own nation as well as the temperature rises with the upcoming election. And yet, even with these unsettling moments, God is calling us to choose relaxation over stress. This is one of the 11 topics we explore together in depth in my practical book called Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. And I'd be happy to send a copy to your home right away when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.
Isn't it about time you make your circumstances work for you rather than against you? Would you like to push through the barriers of fear, loneliness, and bitterness? When you apply the biblical principles that are clearly outlined in my book, you can expect the dark clouds of guilt, stress, and worry to disappear.
Request a copy when you call, write, or go online. Again, my book is called Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. In closing, thank you for giving generously to Pathway to Victory. Even during uncertain times, God is leveraging this global unrest to get the attention of millions of people around the world who are stressed out and worried. Let's make sure they have access to the truth. Your gift allows us to bring Pathway to Victory to questioning people who are ready to hear the answer. Thank you so much.
David. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll send you a copy of the book titled Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. It's written to help you live out the principles we're learning in this study. Give a gift and request the book when you call 866-999-2965 or online visit ptv.org. Now when you give $75 or more, you'll receive the book as well as our current teaching series called Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life on both CD and DVD.
You'll also get a group or individual study guide. Again, call 866-999-2965 or online go to ptv.org. You can also write to P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
That's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins inviting you to join us again next time for part two of the message, Choosing Relaxation Over Stress. That's right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
