Stress of God’s People

We all know the story of Samson one of the strongest men in the Bible. God’s “Superman.”
Even a strong man has weak moments.
Judges 16:16 (KJV)…And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
This woman (Delilah) came to him every day”…with her words.” What? Were these words of encouragement? No! These were pressure words. These words were words that caused Sampson to be pressured into doing something that he shouldn’t be doing. This is STRESS.
We should never cause people to be stressed.
This woman hindered the purpose of God in the life of Samson.

Look at Amos 2:13 (KJV) …Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
A cart that is full of grain is hard to push and causes much stress on the body.
What has caused God to be stressed? UNTHANKFULNESS of God’s people.
Do we realize how much God does for us and we do not even thank Him for His gratefulness, His mercy, His Son who is our Savior.
Israel was unthankful for…

Verse 9 – Unthankful for God’s help in destroying the Amorites.
Verse 10 – Unthankful to God for His leadership, protection, and providence in supplying food in the wilderness.
Verse 11, 12 – He gave their sons wisdom in prophecy and they didn’t even prophecy. They did nothing with the talent (spiritual gifts) that God gave them.

Stress leads to anger. Do we realize that God is angered only at people who do not follow His commandments?
God wants us to be blessed (Happy). What is wrong with that?

II Corinthians 1:7…And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
Paul knew that he could depend upon these brethren at Corinth. This is Paul’s second letter to the church. They have grown in faith. They love Paul and Paul loves them. WHY? Because Paul said“…ye are partakers of the sufferings.” They had experienced the same stress that Paul had.
Look at verse 8) For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, Paul was sharing his testimony and trying to relieve some of the stress in his life by sharing with someone else.
In our Sunday School lesson this morning on stress we talked about the 10 tips for resolving stress.
One of the ten tips was… to “talk to others.”
It helps relieve the pressure of stress.
Paul in verse 8 expounds upon the magnitude of his stress…

“…that we were pressed out of measure,” Paul and those who traveled with him had one thing after another happen to them. The term “out of measure” gives the idea that you could not know the amount of pressure and stress that they were dealing with because they couldn’t even remember everything that happened.
“…above strength,” When Paul says “above strength” he means their own physical strength. They were totally exhausted and wore out physically at times..
“…insomuch that we despaired even of life:” Paul here is giving them the result of the stress that they experienced. This term is Paul saying that he was so stressed out because many things that happened could have led to his death.

Paul’s stress was due to worry for his life over wild beasts that he faced, people who were angered at him for his past, people wanting to jail him, and times he spent in jail.
Paul was in jail more than any person in the Bible. It was his home. Do you know that when you go to jail you lose all your stuff, your job, your dignity, your pride, your self-respect, self esteem, and your freedom.
PAUL’S ADVICE – Look at verse 9) But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
This is evidence of Paul’s conversion. This is the proof that Paul was a changed person. Hi trust was in the LORD (God) who raised His son from the dead to give us hope of the same.
When your stress is so overwhelming that you believe that could die at any moment… turn to God in prayer and ask for Him to remove the stress.
Paul explains in this next verse of how He trusts in God for deliverance…10) Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
WHAT CAN WE DO FOR OTHERS? – Look at verse 11) Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. Pray!

Sin against God has always caused stress. Satan loves to get God’s children to be stressed out.
Look at the words of Jesus Christ “Our Lord” in Luke 6:46…And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
That is a great question for everyone here this morning. Why do we say that Jesus is Lord of our lives and then do nothing that He asks us to do?
Jesus also answers that question in John 8:44…Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45) And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
This does not give us an excuse to lie, or steal, or commit adultery or whatever. It is a reminder of who our lord should be.
Satan has a wonderful way of making us do things that we do not want to do. He is a liar. He has a way about him that causes people to want what he has to offer. Then when we get it, we are depressed and unhappy and now stressed out. Satan is happy an God is sad.
Back into Luke 6, look at verse 47) Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Jesus telling His disciples (followers)… “Here’s what is going to happen when you do what I tell you to do…”

48) He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: When troubles or bad things, and all that follows comes to you, you have nothing to worry about because you have full coverage insurance that takes care of that. (Jesus Christ Mutual Life)
“…and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. This insurance policy will make sure that you will not be completely wiped out and your life will be restored.

Jesus now explains what is going to happen if you do not listen to His words of wisdom… Look at verse 9) But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
In a nutshell, Jesus is saying that you will be worth nothing and you life will crumble because you do not have a life based on a good structure. In other words… The blessings of God will not be upon you.