“THE ANSWER FOR A DE-STRESSING LIFE”
NUMBERS 12:2-13
[2] Now there was no water
for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and
against Aaron.
[3] And the people quarreled
with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished
before the LORD!
[4] Why have you brought the
assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and
our cattle?
[5] And why have you made
us
come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain
or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”
[6] Then Moses and Aaron went
from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and
fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,
[7] and the LORD spoke to
Moses, saying,
[8] “Take the staff,
and
assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before
their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for
them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”
[9] And Moses took the staff
from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
[10] Then Moses and Aaron
gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now,
you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”
[11] And Moses lifted up his
hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
[12] And the LORD said to
Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in
the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly
into the land that I have given them.”
[13] These are the waters
of
Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them
he showed himself holy.
How’s your stress level
these
days? Do you feel cool, calm and collected or do you feel like you’re a walking
talking volcano that’s about to erupt. Maybe you feel like you’re somewhere in the middle. Hopefully
you’re not as stressed out as
the housewife who felt like she was at the end of her rope. She felt that way after experiencing
one catastrophe and another. So
when the phone rang and a friendly voice said,
“Hello dear,” the housewife began
to sob. “Oh mother,” she said, “I’ve had a terrible day. The baby won’t eat, the washing
machine
broke down, and the car got a flat tire, which means I can’t do my
shopping. If all of that isn’t bad
enough I also sprained my ankle. I
don’t know how I’m going to get ready for that dinner party I’m supposed to
have this evening.” After
listening to the tale of woe the mother sprang into action. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ll
be right
over. You sit down and rest that
ankle. I’ll do the shopping for
you and I’ll clean the house. I’ll
also call someone I know who can fix the washing machine for you. Then I’ll
call George at the office and tell him that he needs to come home early and
give you a hand.” The housewife
was stunned. “George?” she said. “George who?” “What do you mean George?”
the caller
said. “Why George your husband of course…Isn’t this 284-1373?” “No,” the housewife
said. “Oh, I’m
sorry,” the caller said, “I must have the wrong number.” “That’s okay,” the housewife
whimpered,
“but does this mean you’re not coming over to help?”
People today are stressed
out
big time which really isn’t surprising when you look at everything that’s
going. They say that the recession
is over but people are still loosing their jobs and in some cases their still
loosing their homes. And those who
are lucky enough to have a job are working harder just to make ends meet.
That’s because the price
of
gas is going up again along with the price of food, health care and everything
else. You also have to wonder if all the unrest in the Middle East is going to
make us more vulnerable to another terrorist attack. It makes you think of the words that Thomas Paine
wrote over 200 years ago. “These
are the times that try men’s souls.”
In some ways what we’re
experiencing today isn’t all that different from what Moses and the Israelites experienced
out there in the wilderness. The
stress out there in the wilderness was off the charts. They’d already dodged a bullet when God
rescued them by parting the Red Sea waters. Then they dodged another bullet when they were starving and God
rescued them by sending them the manna from heaven. Now they were dying of thirst and everywhere they looked all
they could see were rocks and an endless sea of dust and dirt..
So, the people were stressed
out and what did they do with all of that stress? They went to Moses and they complained. They shouted,
“Why have you brought the
assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here…?” It’s interesting to note
that
this story is also told in the Book of Exodus and in that version of the story you’ll
find something that you won’t find here.
In the Exodus version of the story Moses tells God that the people are
so angry he’s afraid they’re going to stone him to death.
People do things like that
when
they’re stressed out. They complain. They get angry and in some cases they
even get violent. Sounds like
today doesn’t it? Just look at the
road rage. Turn the radio on and
you’ll hear the talk show hosts saying all kinds of mean spirited things. This is also an age where
politicians demonize each other and Congress women end up getting shot. Social
workers will also tell you that the stress is also showing up in more depression,
child abuse and domestic violence.
Yes, there’s lots of
complaining
out there. Yes, there’s lots of
anger out there. Yes, there’s even
some hatred and violence out there.
It makes you wonder if we’ve forgotten how to love one another even as
Jesus loves us. That thought
probably went through a minister’s mind when he went to buy some tools at the
local hardware store. When
he went to pay for the tools he asked the man behind the counter if they could
offer him a pastoral discount.
“After all,” the minister said, “I’m a just a poor preacher.” The man behind the counter
glared at him. “I know,” he said. “I heard you last Sunday.”
Stress is a big problem these
days and if stress is getting the best of you it might be a good idea to go
back and look at what happened out there in the wilderness. Go back and look at what happened beside
the waters of Meribah. You see, the mistake that the Israelites made is that
they didn’t take their stress to God.
They took their stress to Moses and the only thing that did was leave Moses
feeling stressed out as well.
Moses was so stressed out that he didn’t just tap the rock once with his
staff. He gave it two big whacks.
Not only that but he was so stressed out that he didn’t give God the
credit for the miracle. So
what you see is a snow ball effect, stress leads to anger which leads to more stress
and more anger and the end result is that a bad situation only gets worse.
So, here’s the million
dollar
question. When stress starts to get the best of you where do you go? Some people turn to pills. Some people turn
to alcohol. And as much as it pains me personally
to say it some people turn to chocolate or food in general. Some people take their stress and go
running to a friend or someone in the family. The best thing you can do though is bring the stress
to God.
The more you turn to God the
more it will help you deal with the stress in your life. It will also help you keep the stress
out of your life. That’s because
the more you turn to God the more you’ll see things the way God sees them and
the more you live your life the way God wants you to live your life; and that
always means less stress. For one
thing, you’ll begin to see that you don’t have to wear designer clothes or
drive a luxury car to be happy. You don’t have to have all those expensive
gizmos and gadgets to be happy. So,
you’ll live a simpler life which means less debt and less stress.
The more you turn to God the
more you’ll also realize that other people are also human. So, you’ll find it
easier to forgive which means fewer arguments and less stress.
The more you turn to God the
more you’ll also realize that as far as God is concerned it’s always more
important to love than to be right.
So, once again that will mean fewer arguments and less stress. The more
you turn to God the more you’ll also realize that a lot of the things you
stress about really aren’t all that important. Think about that this week when you start to get
stressed out about something. When
that happens stop and ask yourself this question: Is it really all that
important?
That’s probably the
worst
thing of all about stress. It
keeps you from embracing the wonderful gift of life and all of the grace filled
moments that God gives you each and every day. That simple truth is what motivated an unknown author
to write his own version of what happened on the Sermon on the Mount. It goes like this:
“Then
Jesus took his disciples up the mountain, and gathering them around, he taught
them saying:
‘Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn, for they
shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Bless are you when people revile and persecute
you.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in
heaven is great.’
Then Simon Peter said, ‘Are we supposed
to know this?’
And Andrew said, ‘Should we write this
down?’
And James said, ‘Is there going to be a
test on this?’
And John said, ‘How come the other
disciples didn’t have to learn all this stuff.’
And Bartholomew said, ‘Will we have to
turn our homework in?’
And Thomas said, ‘I doubt that I can
memorize all this.’
And Philip said, ‘I don’t have a pencil
or any paper.’
Then
one of the Pharisees told Jesus to
show him lesson plan and asked, ‘Where are your anticipatory goals and your
objectives in the cognitive domain?’
And Jesus sat
down and laughed.”
Believe it or not, when it comes to a lot
of stress in your
life, you really do have a choice. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
March 27, 2011
