Dear Friend,

In Mark 6:30-32, Jesus addressed a subject that is discussed often in our day: stress!

After the apostles returned from their first ministry tour, they gathered around Jesus and told Him everything they had done and taught (v. 30). Their arduous ministry labors finished for the moment, they had hoped to rest and refresh themselves. But so many people were coming to receive Jesus' healing touches and heavenly words, they couldn't even eat lunch. Seeing they were stressed to their limit, Jesus stepped in.

The Great Physician diagnosed that His messengers, unable to find relief from non-stop ministry labors, were suffering fatigue. Hmm, exactly what is fatigue?

Physically, fatigue is “extreme tiredness resulting from unrelieved, excessive mental or physical exertion.” After a long day at the office filled with hard work and many difficult troubles, you are weary and more prone to make mistakes than you were when you were fresh and alert that morning. Medically, fatigue is “a reduction in the efficiency of a muscle or organ after prolonged activity.” After playing several sets of tennis in hot weather, your muscles don't respond as quickly as they did during the first set. Metallurgically, fatigue is “a weakness in materials, especially metal, caused by repeated variations of stress.” Due to variations in flight paths, maneuvers, cargo loads, temperatures, and other factors, an airplane's parts repeatedly experience specific stresses, which, if not detected and corrected, may cause a catastrophic failure due to "metal fatigue."

Combining these definitions, ministry fatigue is extreme tiredness caused by repeated variations of mental and physical stress incurred in constant ministry activities. Fatigue leaves us weak and inefficient in our work and dangerously subject to a breakdown (or burnout). So, when the Good Doctor diagnosed His first ministers were suffering ministry fatigue, He promptly ordered them to rest: "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert [deserted] place, and rest awhile" (v. 31). Wisely, they complied.

I'm sure they periodically remembered and followed this lesson in the years ahead when on the verge of being overwhelmed by the stresses of their extensive ministry labors. What should we learn from this?

Simply this: Like an attentive physician, Jesus carefully monitored His apostles' level of stress and, when it became excessive, He stepped in to relieve them. Thus, instead of experiencing exhaustion and failure, they received rest and restoration. Instead of snapping, they soared. Instead of burning out, they burned on, glowing with unquenched spiritual power. Instead of experiencing a breakdown, they experienced a breakout - and changed the world. How? By the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit working through limited human vessels who learned from Christ how to manage their stress.

If we follow the apostles' example, we, too, will experience breakouts instead of breakdowns. And not just ministers, but every Christian. To this end, let's take a moment to study stress so we may learn to review, remove, reduce, relieve, and repair it, as necessary.

To review stress, let's begin with some Q & A:

• What causes stress? It is caused by prolonged exertion due to our vocation, ministry, responsibilities, Christian trials, troublesome relationships, or any other "repeated variations of stress," or combinations of stress that strike us repeatedly without relief. Stress comes from anything causing discomfort, anxiety, vexation, disappointment, or sorrow. An infinite number of things may cause stress.

• What does stress do? It leaves us burnt out, or excessively tired, dispirited, listless and apathetic, and considering abandoning our tasks or responsibilities. If unremedied, as stated above, stress can lead to burnouts or breakdowns - physically, emotionally, psychologically, ministerially, and spiritually.

• What causes you stress? Well, you will have to look in your own "honesty mirror" to discover that. Sometimes stresses are very subtle, and it takes prayer and the Holy Spirit's all-knowing conviction to help us identify the people and situations that are overtightening our emotional strings, reducing our mental efficiency, exhausting our spiritual reserves, pulling down our wings of praise, and threatening to take us down.

We remove stress by identifying any stresses we are subjecting ourselves to needlessly and eliminating them. If any relationship or activity is outside of God's will, it will overstress you. God gives grace for everything in His will and nothing outside it. Without Him, we can do "nothing" (John 15:5)! So, ask yourself, "Does God want me doing this or am I doing it because of pride, selfishness, covetousness, or to please or appease someone other than Christ?" You can remove some, perhaps much, stress, by simply eliminating these things you have taken on without Christ's approval.

We reduce stress by identifying the stresses that are in God's will and prayerfully considering how we may make these necessary challenges less stressful. Can we handle them differently? Get others to help? Seek God's wisdom to show us His way, which is always better than ours: "Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path" (Psalm 27:11).

We relieve stress by spending more time with Christ daily, so He can renew our strength: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ... mount up with wings like eagles ... run and not be weary ... walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:29-31). Divine stress relief, or soul rest, is imparted to us in God's enlivening, empowering presence: "In thy presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). Jesus promised, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest ... My yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). Savior time is stress-relief time, but our stubborn independence always leads to spiritual implosion. Every morning spent in Christ's Word and presence, praying, worshiping, and studying the inspired Word, imparts the inspiration and strength we need to live a stress-free day - provided we also practice self-examination (see 1 John 1:5-10).

We repair stress by more comprehensive measures. Besides practicing the daily stress relief described above, we also take time apart, as Jesus prescribed for His overstressed apostles. We recover our spirit and strength more fully in these periods of leisure and stress-free activities. We vacate our stress center, and intentionally go somewhere else and do something else. Not permanently, but temporarily. As Dr. Jesus ordered, we rest "a while" (Mark 6:31). For a few days or weeks, we intentionally do not overstress ourselves in anything we do. Such well-timed retreats from the daily grind repair the damage our stresses have ground into us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We emerge refreshed, recharged, and ready to serve Christ and others with fully renewed spirit and efficiency.

While not exhaustive, these suggestions are sufficient. They provide a reliable and proven biblical plan of action. Reviewing, removing, reducing, relieving, and repairing your stresses will keep you from fainting, snapping, or breaking. Instead, you will remain strong and on course for a breakout - to help Christ's bride conquer her "repeated variations of stress," and to help overstressed sinners all over the world receive the One in whom they may find permanent soul rest.

So, there it is. Why let stress handle you when you can handle stress?

Handling stress,

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries