We all have it. We all hate it. It causes all kinds of issues in our lives. What does the dictionary say stress is? Webster says that stress is a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation. Does stress actually serve a purpose?
James 1: 2-4. Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
I can’t tell you how many times I have read this verse in the Bible or even the Book of James. The Book of James is one, if not my favorite book of the Bible. I have certainly had my trials and stresses in life, haven’t you? It seems that I am down in the valley much more than I am ever on the mountaintop. If we are on the mountaintop, we are just relaxing, so if we are down in the valley, we have the chance to learn so much more. I hate to say it, but it looks like the valley is a much more productive place for us. I can’t say that I love being in the valley because it can be very painful. The Bible speaks in 1 Peter 1:7 about being tested by fire, or being refined by fire. I would call it purging the bad from our lives. The definition of purging is purifying or cleansing. When we are in a valley, the Lord is purifying us by trials by using our life’s stresses to bring us closer to HIm. What happens during a trial is that we either turn closer to the Lord, or we turn away from Him. The Lord gives us that choice. God never decides for us that we have to come closer to Him.
Stress can also lead to perseverance in life, and without this there is basically no success. The biblical definition of perseverance is steadfastness under pressure and endurance in the face of trials. Every day we face this in some way or another, whether it is big or small. In the book of James it says to let endurance have it’s full effect so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. There are many days that I want to skip this part because I think that maybe I can be a slight bit immature or maybe just a little bit incomplete and still get by, but would I be complete for Heaven? God wants us to get everything he has for us on this side so that we are complete for eternity. That is the importance of the purging and persevering process.
So, as we see, stress does serve its purpose, although we may not like it. It serves it’s purpose on this side of Heaven, so that we can be complete for Heaven. I definitely want to be ready for Heaven when the Lord gets ready for me, don’t you?
James 1:5-6. Now, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God-who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly – and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
