Throughout human history, nights were filled with fears of malaria, bubonic plague, cholera, and tuberculosis. The 1918 flu alone killed more people than all of World War I. But despite Covid, pandemics don’t keep most of us awake anymore.
What keeps us awake now is stress — and stress is killing us. Cardiovascular disease, America’s number one killer, is largely the result of a maladaptive stress response. Stress raises blood pressure. Chronic stress means chronically elevated blood pressure. That ongoing hypertension damages arterial walls, leaving pits where inflammation and fatty deposits accumulate and cause blockages. So while we’ve built multi-billion-dollar industries around diet and heart health, it’s actually our stress loads that allow cholesterol and other crud flowing through our arteries to threaten us in the first place.
We lie awake ruminating over frustrations, disappointments, anger, guilt, and shame — and in doing so, we’re shortening our own lives.
You might ask about my credentials to write about physiology and pathology. Fair question. But I’m not writing about physiology and pathology. I’m writing about the spiritual source of those symptoms.
Consider these verses:
The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything... — Philippians 4:6-7
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you... — John 14:27
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest... — Matthew 11:28-30
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7
Do not be anxious about your life... — Matthew 6:25-34
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you... — Isaiah 26:3
In me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. — John 16:33
To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. — Romans 8:6
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts... — Colossians 3:15
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble... — Psalm 46:1-3
Fear not, for I am with you... — Isaiah 41:10
They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength... — Isaiah 40:31
We often associate sin with evil or malicious intent, but those are just subsets. The broader definition of sin is autonomy from God: navigating life and circumstances without considering or accepting his input. Sin is disconnection from God, whether by intent or distraction, whether momentary or chronic. Stress is the result.
The antidote for sin is God’s grace and mercy. Through Jesus Christ, the eternal consequences of all our sins are forever removed. But we don’t stop sinning. Every day we get distracted, or simply choose rebellion, and navigate our circumstances without God’s perspective. That disconnect creates stress.
Some will say, “My stress isn’t my fault — it’s other people’s sin, or circumstances I can’t control.” Go back and read those verses. God offers peace in all circumstances. That’s what the Bible means by “peace beyond understanding.” It’s peace that surpasses circumstances — peace that comes from intentional connection with God.
In one of Scripture’s darkest moments, Jeremiah wrote:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. — Lamentations 3:22-23
Think about that. God offers fresh mercies every morning.
Booyah!
If Jesus already provided enough grace for our eternal salvation, why new mercies every morning? Because it’s those daily mercies that allow us to reconnect with God and find peace from the stress of our daily disconnections. God offers stress relief every single day.
Because we live in a loud world — constantly bombarded by visual and audible stimulation. We’re so busy processing what we can see and hear that we rarely stop to discern what we can’t. Not unless we’re intentional about it.
So how do we reconnect?
How do we receive God’s new mercies every morning?
Prayer — Paul wrote “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). I think he was less focused on creating a religious standard and more focused on what prayer does for us — and what it means to God. If we could see God’s expression when we pray, and his excitement to pour those mercies upon us, we might never stop.
Learning Scripture — I’ve never met anyone who committed to daily Scripture study who didn’t increasingly find peace. Note: going through the motions of simply reading through the Bible without genuine effort to learn won’t produce the same result.
Worship — Nothing shifts our outlook quite like music. The Bible is full of faithful people who were worshipful people. Worship focuses us on God, and since he’s offering new mercies every morning, worship positions us to receive them.
Fasting — Fasting is setting aside whatever consumes our attention and giving that time to God. Its entire purpose is deepening our connection with him.
Generosity / Giving / Tithing — Self-centeredness is the greatest threat to God-centeredness. Giving moves our focus from ourselves to others, and that goes hand-in-hand with loving God.
Serving Others — Like generosity, serving redirects our attention outward. Combined with other practices, it deepens our connection with God.
Fellowship — Few things shape our thinking like the company we keep. We move closer to God in community with other believers, and drift into disconnection as we drift into isolation.
Pursuing Calling and Purpose — The more we embrace curiosity and pursue what God made us for, the more we reconnect with our Creator.
Forgiveness — It’s hard to receive God’s new mercies while tightly grasping spite or unforgiveness toward others. Loosen your grip & trust God to fill you with his best. He won’t let you down.
David was calm facing Goliath. Daniel was calm in the lion’s den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were calm walking into — and out of — the fiery furnace.
Our circumstances aren’t the source of our stress. The stress is internal, and the damage it causes is inside us — then it flows outward into our relationships and our coping habits. We can keep chasing the symptoms, or we can address the source.
It’s the daily disconnections that put the weight of your world on you rather than God. You don’t need God to swoop down and rescue you — he’s already with you, offering fresh mercies every morning. The key to experiencing less stress is intentionally & consistently connecting with God.
Thanks for reading,
John
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