According to the American Institute of Stress, “the technical definition of stress is the body’s nonspecific response to any demand – nice or unpleasant.” Most people consider stress as a mental or physical strain – something bad. They associate it with physical and mental health problems comparable to heart disease, stroke, anxiety, and depression. But stress can be a very good thing. Psychologists consult with positive stress as eustress. Many Biblical accounts record what people did under either stress or eustress, giving us insight into God’s wisdom and beauty.
In 1 Kings 3, Solomon is faced with a difficult situation: two women and one baby, each woman claiming to be the boy’s mother. King Solomon didn’t benefit from DNA testing, forensic evaluation, or psychological assessments. He needed to employ the wisdom God had given him to decide on appropriately, but when he answered incorrectly, the true mother could be devastated, and the son might never meet his real mother. Solomon decided to make use of pressure to flush out the fake.
“Divide the living child in two, and provides half to the one and half to the opposite.” – 1 Kings 3:25
Solomon’s wisdom was this: he knew how the true mother would respond and that the one who had lost her child had nothing to lose. The real mother’s response under extreme stress was to save lots of the lifetime of her infant. “Then the lady whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, ‘Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and not at all put him to death.’” The mother whose child had died responded from her own state of strain, revealing the madness of grief. “‘He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.’” (1 Kings 3:26) Solomon used his own stress to think clearly a few mother’s desire to guard her child. This would emerge more strongly than another longing.
What Does Stress Reveal about Us?
Because extreme duress often requires a fast answer, there is no such thing as a time to think about. Our authentic thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are revealed, which was a very good thing within the mother’s case. She loved her son a lot she was willing to lose him if that meant he would live. Whatever our heart is whole with will emerge in how we speak, especially under pressure.
“You brood of snakes! How could evil men such as you speak what is nice and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” – Matthew 12:34
This is a reminder to fill ourselves with the Word of God and to spend time with him. When we’re focused on Jesus, we all know him higher and respond as he would. Psalm 1:1-2 informs us:
“Blessed is the person who walks not within the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way in which of sinners, nor sits within the seat of scoffers, but his delight is within the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
During the early years of his reign, Solomon honored God and was rewarded with great wisdom. Although we frequently fear the results of pressure on our ability to reason, the Holy Spirit helps each believer in his time of trouble because God has established us like a fruit tree yielding good fruit.
“An excellent tree produces good fruit, and a nasty tree produces bad fruit.” – Matthew 7:17
Coping with Trauma and Impulsive Decisions within the Story of Lot
We reply to difficult situations by attempting to either address or control them. Lot warned the boys who were to marry his daughters about the upcoming doom of Sodom and Gomorrah, but they brushed off the warning. In the aftermath, “pondering they really were the last living human beings,” observes Sheila Alewine, the 2 girls made a terrible selection.
“Our father is old, and there just isn’t a person on earth to come back into us after the style of all of the earth. Come, allow us to make our father drink wine, and we’ll lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” – Genesis 19:31-32
A traumatic event will affect perceptions. Melanie Greenberg Ph.D explains: “A reactive amygdala keeps individuals with PTSD on the alert and prepared for quick motion once they face a threat, leading them to be more impulsive.” This is why we must fastidiously refrain from making major decisions immediately following a traumatic event. Lot’s daughters had just seen two cities destroyed and maybe heard the screams as people were burned to ashes. The smell of burning flesh probably reached them, and the acrid smoke would have stung their eyes.
Meanwhile, their mother had turned back to look and develop into a pillar of salt, so that they were stuck with Lot, who had been willing to trade his daughters’ sexual favors to secure protected passage for the guests who got here to warn them about God’s plans. Lot was not someone they may depend on of their distress. He let his daughters ply him with alcohol.
“That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.” – Genesis 19:33
Lot’s way of handling the burden of his situation was to flee into drunkenness, leaving his daughters to process their feelings and questions on your entire event without counsel or comfort, comparable to a godly man may need provided from the Scripture or through prayer.
The Importance of Patience and Godly Decision-Making Under Stress
In times of high stress, we all the time have decisions to make, which might leave us feeling fatigued and confused. But we will respond reasonably to our fears and concerns when our hearts and minds aren’t any longer racing. The actions of Lot’s daughters exemplify the importance of waiting. Lot’s grandsons would develop into the nations of Moab and Ammon, Israel’s enemies.
One might wonder what type of example Lot and his wife had been setting throughout their daughters’ lives. Living in such a debauched society would have added even greater confusion. Paul wrote,
“Bad company corrupts good morals.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33
Now faraway from such a corrupt society, Lot’s daughters only needed time to think. It is all the time a miracle when someone from a dysfunctional background, faced with chaos and confusion, makes a sensible and God-honoring decision. Yet, God demonstrates his love for us, redeeming the sins we commit under pressure, as he did with Peter.
Finding Faith When Life Takes a Turn
Jesus’ ministry took a direction Peter was not expecting. He wanted the Messiah to be a warrior and believed Jesus’ talk of death was defeatist.
“Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never occur to you.” Matthew 16:22
Instead of reassuring Peter or thanking him for his encouragement, Jesus rebuked his disciple. “Get behind me, Satan!” (v.23). “Peter didn’t fully know what he was saying when he first declared that Jesus is the Messiah”, explained one author. Jesus declared that he would need to die and be raised from the dead, which confused Peter. In fact, “at first that is unacceptable to Peter; he doesn’t need a Messiah who’s anything but a mighty ruler who leads Israel to an earthly victory.”
What happens when our own plans and ideals are overturned, and we see that God has something else in mind? Do we trust the Lord or turn aside? For some time, Peter turned aside. He even denied Jesus thrice when put under pressure. (Luke 22) Was Jesus the Messiah? If so, then why was he dying on a cross? If Jesus was not the Christ, then Peter was not prepared to be arrested and crucified next to him.
Christ’s Pursuit and Restoration of Peter
By lovingly pursuing Peter after the resurrection, Jesus demonstrates that we aren’t excluded from his embrace; we aren’t rejected from the family of God once we stray. Peter’s story is a typical one on this sense—Christians often walk away for a bit of while, deny Christ, or fail to declare him when placed under pressure.
Christ’s resurrection was a miracle on many levels. He defeated death and brought full restoration to sinners who desire to follow him. He got here to Peter and told him to “feed my sheep.”
“Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It’s the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he placed on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.”- John 21:17
Christians often fear that they are going to lose their salvation in the event that they sin or that they will likely be saved grudgingly, as if the Lord would keep his promise but without love. Jesus reassured Peter that, although he had denied Jesus when placed under stress, he was forgiven and restored to a relationship with God. Christ’s forgiveness is greater than we will imagine.
However, a redeemed relationship with the Father is expensive because we recede and ask Christ to extend. Jesus told Peter the way in which he was going to die: “You will stretch out your hands, and one other will dress you and carry you where you don’t need to go.” (v.18). Redemption in Jesus replaces worldly stress with a burden for sharing the gospel and glorifying God, but additionally supplies us with powerful means by which to hold that burden and reply to the pressure of persecution which accompanies our devotion to Christ.
“The Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you must say.” – Luke 12:12
The Power of Integrity in Ruth’s Story
Ruth’s response to the terrible strain of widowhood was to put herself under a unique sort of pressure for the precise reasons. She left her people to support Naomi, whose own people loved God. God rewarded Ruth’s integrity and courage by redeeming Lot’s daughters’ mistake, selecting Ruth – a Moabite – to develop into the ancestor of Jesus Christ. The rewards of her integrity give us a mere glimpse of those everlasting rewards the Lord has in store for his people. This just isn’t to say that integrity, patience, and concentrate on Jesus will protect us from stressful situations. But a fruitful spirit helps believers to discern God’s direction, his forgiveness, and his presence. Jesus sweated blood on the considered his suffering. Stress is a reality for all of us at various points in our lives, but even Jesus prayed to the Father as he faced trial after trial, right to the tip. We are also invited to ask for help.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will provide you with rest.” – Matthew 11:28
Sources:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bring-distress-jesus/
What Is Eustress and Why Is It Good for You? | Psychology Today
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/how-god-uses-stress-for-our-good-and-his-glory.html
https://www.stress.org/what-is-stress/
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/jesus-rebukes-peter
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