Handling Stress Without Strain

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
Stress is a natural and normal part of life itself. People who try to avoid stress fail to see that he frictions caused by the weight of stress is good for us and is a normal part of our life together as men and women in society. That’s why a large truck carrying a heavy load will have better traction on a slippery road than a light, unloaded car. without the stress of a heavey burden whose wight can provide him a better footing.
(1) To be able to handle stress without strain, we must stop fighting stress as something alien to our human situation and learn to accept stress as a normal part of our lives. stress is built into our jobs, into our marriages, and into all human relationships. You see our responsibility and our burden can help to save us and provide us a sure footing. The loads that we are asked to carry will not injure us. They may help keep us alive!!

(2) The ability to be able to handle stress is in proportion to our ability to be flexible.
flexibility allows us to give back the energy of friction and of stress without experiencing the damage of strain. When a person takes his first airplane flight in a jumbo jet or in a small craft, he may be apprehensive as he sees the wings  of the airplane flapping in midair. But this built in flexibility in the wings keeps the plane aloft and flying. If the design of the plan wasn’t designed in the right way the high speed of the friction would rip the wings right off and you can figure out the rest of that story.
inflexibility leads us to store up all of the friction and stress  of living until physical or emotional fatigue and strain cause some type of personal blow-up. By our inflexibility we allow the normal and natural elements of stress to cause harmful strain. And just like a tire on a car, where friction and heat cause the casing of the tire to bulge, we may finally have a blowout. Each of us must come to terms with our own personal load limits. I’m sure while driving across a bridge you’ve noticed that there is a heavy load capacity. the load limits are established in proportion to the elastic strength which has been built into the working parts of the bridge. Distress points are kept within the normal amount of energy or pressure forces which the bridge has been designed to carry. Strain is the damage done by our loading the materials on the bridge beyond their elastic limit. Our character has its own tensile strength. Our emotional durability may have wither a boiling or breaking point. Our disposition and temperament may have a lower or higher pressure point than found in other people. As we come to terms with ourselves, understanding the propensities of our physical nature and our aptitudes and endowments, we can pace ourselves and avoid letting stress become strain from unreasonable or unrealistic expectations imposed on us by others or even by ourselves.
The miracle of God’s love and strength makes it possible for us in Jesus Christ to go beyond average expectations and to assume the responsibilities which might otherwise do us in. With a new serenity of spirit and a peace of mind, with out anxiety or worry, we are able to face the challenge of change and uncertainty in our daily lives.