We have just finished the Easter season. My Minister gave a unique perspective to the reality of Jesus in one of his recent talks. I’m sure you’ve all seen a reality cop show once or twice. It doesn’t take long for a friend of the criminal to change his story and confess that their friend is guilty. Perhaps you’ve been in a similar situation. It’s easy to say God doesn’t exist but it’s very hard to get past Jesus’ disciples (his 13 closest friends) testimonies. Historical records tell us that every one of them were murdered, tortured even for their belief in Jesus. Funny how a criminal’s friend can’t keep the lie up, but one of Jesus’ disciples would die for a story. How many people would die for something that wasn’t true, something they didn’t actually see? Seems to me maybe they did actually see what some, including myself, believe today.

So if we believe God exists, why are we stressed? I really don’t know but I do know that God is bigger than our stress. I’m literally the worst person ever to talk about this lately. As I’ve said I’ve been so stressed that it actually hurts. I’ve been pulled in so many directions I barely know where to go. The times I do actually recognize I need to give it to God, I become legalistic. I find myself thinking “I need God to help me with A, so I better not do anything wrong (sin) until he does.”

What a cycle. Why is it that my gut instinct is to be perfect if I want God to help me? And why do I not just allow God to be in control so I don’t stress?

As far as I can tell, and I believe the Bible backs me on this, God is faithful and in control. Perhaps even the self-inflicted situations that cause us stress are easy for God to handle. It’s easy to believe that God is ready to help but I often feel guilty because I’m the one that got me into this mess. I often find myself thinking that if we’ve dug ourselves in a hole by not listening to God, why would He even help us? I even question if He should. Have you ever felt that way? The God that I read about, and believe in (not just because 13 of His closest friends were willing to die instead of changing their story) seems to be pretty gracious. Perfection doesn’t seem to be a requirement for His grace and/or help. All we need to do is recognize our need for Him, and humbly ask for his help.

No matter how seemingly big or small your stress is, you can give it to God. Stress isn’t measured by the size of the problem.. It’s measured by the length you have to carry it. When you have to lift a cup of water for 3 days it doesn’t matter that the cup only weighs a few ounces as it’s impossible to keep it up for that long on your own. Small problems can be big burdens.

If you’re stressing, you can turn to God. I believe He exists and I believe He will give you peace… I even believe He will do the same for me, and until then I will do what a verse from the Bible tells me to do. Phillipians 4:6-7 – pray and let God be God.

Evan Drisner wears many hats. As a local Business Leader in his community, an Ordained Minister with the PAOC, Music Director at his Church, Father to two young boys and Husband to an amazing wife his life is in constant motion. He has a passion for music (Pearl Jam and the Beatles), his family, the lake and people in general.

©2013 Used by Permission. Excerpts taken from http://mypresenttense.wordpress.com/

Conquering things beyond my ability has always been a part of who I am. At 8 years old, I was already operating all of my dad’s farm equipment. He started asking me to make decisions at a young age. My dad would ask me which tractor to buy. He would lay out the pros and cons of each model before I made my informed decision. He let me look at all his books about business and farming. We got involved in partnership very early on and started a farming operation called Isaac Buhler & Son.

Finding a way to handle stress
I made it my determination to continually expand everything I did. I wanted to increase my capacity for leadership right from the beginning. In the process I was careful to define myself as a leader, not a farmer or businessman, but a leader. It’s no surprise that handling multiple companies, expanding them and leading them, was sometimes stressful. Stress is a part of everyone’s life and people deal with it in many different ways. I needed to find a way to handle stress if I wanted to keep expanding my business.

I was in my 30s when I realized that defining my stress capacity was the key ingredient to handling stress. There were many areas in my life such as my marriage, my relationship with my children, my finances or my job that affected my stress level. For instance, if my wife and I had a disagreement in the morning, it might use up 30% of my capacity to carry stress that day. But if I had breakfast with my wife and she encouraged me in my work, she can actually add to my capacity to carry stress instead of taking it up.

I found that if I didn’t concentrate on loving people, the time I spent feeling negative towards them took up my stress capacity. It is very easy for a person to let this part of their life use up their capacity to handle stress. Once I realized that there were better things I could spend my time doing, I was more able to manage my stress and maximize my stress capacity.

Reducing risk, finding security
As someone who tends to push the envelope in life, I wanted to add to my stress capacity. I knew that to do that, I had to reduce risk. To reduce risk, I needed to have security. Often people try to find security in RRSPs, toys or large assets. I have found that the ultimate stress management tool for me is to have eternal security. This security and peace is only found through Jesus Christ.

I believed in God when I was 12 and was very active in my faith and the church. However, in my 30s, I became disillusioned by my success and God became less important to me. After a period of time, I realized that my success could not fill the void in my life or give me the security I needed. Something was missing, and no matter how successful I was it wasn’t quite enough.

One night I was listening to talk by E.V. Hill. He said, “If the message of Jesus Christ and the cross of Christ doesn’t change every minute of every day for the rest of your life, you either don’t believe it or don’t understand it.” I will never forget those exact words, because they made me reflect on everything I was doing. I realized that Jesus Christ wasn’t changing every minute of every day of my life. If there really is a Heaven and a God, then surely how I live today will be impacted by that. I knew that I wanted to follow God and pursue a life with Him. I started to truly understand the security and freedom that comes from knowing God.

Knowing God has helped me handle stress because He has given me the power to face whatever comes my way. He has given me the security of being ultimately satisfied. The void in my life is filled by Him alone — not success, or money, or praise for a job well done.

Jesus has given me a larger capacity to carry stress and helped me to be a more effective leader and businessman, as well as husband and father, because eternally I know where I am going. The things I used to spend my time stressing about seem so small in light of eternity. My life here is only temporary because I know I will be in heaven one day. Knowing and accepting this truth has allowed me to be a conqueror, for I am never threatened by any obstacles in life. Whether it is stress, money or any other curve ball thrown my way I know what really matters.

Leonard Buhler is President of Power to Change Canada, formerly Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada. Leonard formerly was in the agricultural business specializing in production and retail. He also directed the Power to Change Manitoba campaign. Leonard served as a board member from 2001-2003 and he was installed as President in February 2004. Leonard and his wife, Debbie, have been on staff with Power to Change, Canada since September 2003. For updates from Leonard you can follow him on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

What is stress?
According to Webster’s Dictionary, stress is a constraining force or influence. Stress is the way our bodies respond to perceived or actual danger. It is not the cause, but the effect of an event. You can divide stress into two categories:

1. Problem: A problem is something you can solve. You have a choice of whether you want to solve that problem or not and you can change your attitude towards that problem.
2. Fact of life: A fact of life is something you can’t do anything about. We must constantly recognize the facts of life, such as natural disasters, sickness and the past, accept them and live with them.

When you can divide your stress into the two different categories, you are able to decide how to handle them in a proactive way. If the stressful thing is a problem, then acknowledge it as a problem and take the necessary steps towards solving that problem or handling the predicament. If what’s stressing you is a fact of life, then acknowledge that you cannot solve the stress and accept it. This will change your outlook and in turn alleviate the stress.

Stress carrying capacity
Everyone’s capacity to carry stress is different, and knowing your maximum capacity is important. Realize what adds to your capacity and what takes away from it. For example, having an argument with your wife in the morning may take up 30% of your stress capacity that day, whereas having a quality conversation with her over breakfast can have the directly opposite effect. Her encouragement and faith in you can add much to your stress carrying capacity. Everyone’s capacity is expandable; figure out what adds to your capacity and exercise those things. It is very much like working out – the more you do it, the more you will build muscle and strength. When you exercise things that add to your capacity, the larger your stress carrying capacity will be.

Face reality
It is important to face the truth in life and then take everything one step at a time. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Document the facts of your life. How much money have you lost? What has changed? Which relationships are in trouble? You cannot change the facts of life so they are not the problem. You need to accept the things you cannot change.

2. Offload responsibilities until you are living within your stress limit. If the things on your plate surpass your stress capacity, take them out of your life until you are able to carry them.

3. Get help or advice where needed. Your friends and family are incredible assets to you. Share the stress load with people you trust. Don’t be afraid to ask them for advice when you need it.

4. Create vision. Look at the present from the future. Ask yourself what changes you need to make or what steps you need to take in order to paint your vision.

5. Protect what remains. Get prospective on life and appreciate what you have – the relationships, net assets, skills, virtues. Spend time with your friends and family and cherish these relationships.

Stress may seem like a bad thing, but once you’ve taken control of it, there are many opportunities for growth. You even begin to appreciate life and have a positive outlook on problems. Manage it, handle it, battle it, conquer it, rule over it – whatever it is that you decide to do with stress, don’t wait until tomorrow to start.

Leonard Buhler has been the President of Power to Change, Canada since 2004. Before joining Power to Change, he was in the agricultural business specializing in production and retail.

(c) 2010 Power to Change. Used by permission.