No doubt, these are stressful days. The threat of terror, sons and daughters

dying on the sands of Iraq, economic woes, the Delta solution coming down

the pipe, and hurricanes battering our sister states of Florida and South

Carolina are enough to cause anybody's stress level to rise.

A man told his pastor that he was under incredible stress. The pastor asked

him how he was sleeping at night and the man said he slept like a baby. This

confused the pastor, who asked, "If you can sleep like a baby, then

what's the problem?"

The man explained, "Well, I sleep for an hour, then I wake up and cry

for an hour. Then I fall asleep for a while, then wake up and cry for awhile.

I do this all night long!"

With all that's on our minds, we're lucky to get any sleep at all. Yet,

we realize that stress comes with living life. Jesus said, "In the world,

you will have tribulation." We shouldn't be surprised that crises come,

or that we meet pressures at every turn.

Because stress is a part of life, it's impossible to avoid stress. Rather,

the key is being stressed about the right things and then managing the stress

that comes. As the old saying goes, "You're successful if you can choose

your problems." There's only so much mental, emotional and mental energy

to go around, so we have to decide where to focus our energy.

We can't do it all. We can't undo yesterday's mistakes. We can't control

what tomorrow brings. If we're not careful, we'll end up like the man who

went to his psychiatrist and said, "Sometimes I think I'm a teepee and

sometimes I think I'm a wigwam."

The psychiatrist said, "Your problem is you're two tents!"

We can only live our lives today and do the best we can to handle what life

brings us. We get too tense when we try to "fix" too much.

Have you ever thought about Jesus and stress? Jesus ministered under tremendous

pressure. Individuals thought if they could just touch Him, they'd be healed.

So the crowds constantly pressed against Him. The religious leaders attempted

to undermine His work and grew more and more hostile to the point of wanting

to kill Him. Even His family members thought He was a religious nut.

So what did Jesus do? He stayed focused on His primary purpose. He came

to preach the good news of the gospel, and that is what He did. Occasionally

He'd retreat from the crowds and the pressure of opposition so He could re-group

spiritually. And He intentionally looked for people to help.

Jesus said, "I came not to be served, but to serve." He wasn't

self-absorbed or self-focused. He looked beyond Himself to others.

Related to that, noted stress researcher Hans Selye said the best cure for

managing stress is "altruistic egoism." Cultivating goodwill, being

courteous, saying kind things and doing kind deeds all help activate our

body's relaxation response. Do something nice for somebody else and take

your mind off of your stress.

(Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor of McDonough Road Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

The church family meets at 352 McDonough Road and invites you to join them

this Sunday for Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m.)