What to do in times of unrest
War is breaking out and political tensions are high. Pair that with economic unrest (i.e. rising interest rates, high inflation, decreasing stock values) and you have a recipe for mental-breakdown-soup.
Let’s explore the psychology of stress, how stress impacts our financial decisions, and God’s purpose in our sufferings.
Psychology of Stress
Unfortunately, our nervous systems don’t do a great job distinguishing between physical and emotional threats. So, when your 401(k) takes a major hit and elicits an emotional reaction, your body may react as if it’s under a life-or-death attack.
Friends, we do not function well when we feel under attack. We breath faster, become more alert, and we are easily triggered. This is great if you’re about to fight off a bear, but if you’re sitting at your kitchen table staring at your computer, this is a problem.
We respond by going into self-preservation mode- fight, flight, or freeze.
Fight – we snap at our spouses or family members, we are highly emotional, and constantly in motion. We may hoard funds and become very tight with money.
Flight – we check-out, we distract ourselves with work/television/social media/sports, and we suppress emotion. We may overspend in an effort to avoid conflict and convince ourselves “everything is fine.”
Freeze – we become paralyzed with overwhelm, on the outside we look calm but under the surface we are fraught with panic. We may overthink every financial decision to the point of inaction.
We need to pay attention to stress and take the warning signs seriously. Prolonged exposure to stress can cause:
Physical problems (ex: chest pain, dizziness, digestive issues)
Mental problems (ex: anxiety, depression, isolation)
Susceptibility to addictive behaviors (ex: drinking, overeating, binge watching Yellowstone…)
Unhealthy cognitive behaviors (ex: worrying more regularly, looking at situations more negatively)
Some of you are starting to get more stressed reading this article about stress… so let’s turn this around.
God’s Purpose in Suffering
Is God present in war?
Is God present in economic decline?
Is God present in your suffering?
The answer, my dear friend, is yes. God is not only present in your suffering, he also has a plan and a purpose for it too.
Romans 5:3-5 says, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
James 1:2-3 similarly says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
As Christians we can find encouragement in our trials, because this is how we grow!
When we are put in seemingly impossible situations, we begin to realize our true dependency on God, and we can rejoice because our dependence fosters a deeper intimacy with him.
Suffering reminds us of our true purpose in life – to develop a close relationship with God and help others do the same.
Our purpose is not to avoid suffering at all costs. If we look at the inverse of Romans 5:3-5, we can conclude that if we do not suffer, we do not build our endurance, our character does not grow, and we do not experience the real living hope of Jesus Christ.
Simply put, if you want to grow in your faith, you must put yourself in situations that require faith.
Jesus gives us a new purpose for suffering. His reality changes the way we see the world. He promises that our present suffering is only temporary, in light of our eternal homecoming.
Friend, are you feeling anxious? Like you’re under attack? Try doing three things:
1) Pray. Pray for endurance in your suffering, for developing character, and ask God to show you where there are opportunities in your life to draw closer to him.
2) Study God’s Word. Jesus himself suffered greatly during his time on earth. When reading scripture, we learn that he often prioritized spiritual needs above physical ones (ct Matthew 4:4). Consider God’s word as spiritual food necessary to fuel your soul and your mind.
3) Talk with a friend, pastor, or counselor. We were created to live in community. Talking to people about your feelings produces stress-relieving hormones and boosts your mood.
Have you been wrestling with stress and living in fight/flight/freeze mode? The good news is you don’t have to stay stuck. The God of the universe sees you, he loves you, and he is walking with you.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.