Now that Thanksgiving has passed and Black Friday has turned into Broke Saturday, I think that we can safely say that the Christmas season is in full swing. While Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, it can also be the most stressful time of the year for many people. Shopping pressure, holiday stress and financial strain can leave you feeling more burned-out than lit-up.

Women seem to get more stressed this time of year than men do. In fact, I heard a story about these two men whose families lived next door.  The husbands opted to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. An unexpected storm surprised the sailors. Before long, the weather started getting rough, and their tiny ship was tossed around like the Minnow on Gilligan’s Island. While heading toward the harbor, the boat hit a sandbar and grounded. Both men jumped overboard into the icy water and began to push and shove in an attempt to get the sailboat into deeper water. Knee-deep in mud and repeatedly bounced against the hull by unfriendly waves, one of them turned to the other and said with a smile, “Sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?”

In an issue of the AARP Bulletin last December, readers were asked to respond to the question: What’s your strategy for coping with stress? The answers ranged from eating a tube of ice cream to having a stiff drink. But Don Betz of Oakdale, Minnesota, offered his own unique solution. Every January 1st, Betz says, “I give my wife one dollar, and she worries about everything for both of us.” He then goes on to add, “If someone else wants to be stress free, they can also send her a dollar.” (2005)

The truth is—stress is very real problem for a lot of us, and not just during the holidays. Research shows that 75-90% of all doctor visits are for stress related complaints. Stress has been linked to all sorts of medical problems such as migraines, hypertension, stroke, heart attack, anxiety, depression, and many more. Whether it’s the holiday season, work, money, the kids, your health, your marriage, or something else, we all get stressed out from time to time. So what’s your strategy for coping with stress? How do we handle the stress in our lives?

David knew a little something about stress. In Psalm 4, David’s Kingdom was in turmoil. He was being attacked by his enemies, slandered by his own son, and things just seemed to be falling apart. In this inspires prose, David gives us three simple steps for dealing with our stress. The first step David gives us for handling stress is supplication.

• SUPPLICATION

Supplication, by the way, is just a big theological word that means to ask for something; to make a request. And that’s what David does. He begins Psalm 4 saying, “Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress;    have mercy on me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1 NIV). David’s first instinct when he starts getting stressed out was to go to God in prayer and ask for his help—for mercy!

There’s a story about three preachers sitting on a park bench discussing the best positions for prayer, while a telephone repairman worked nearby. “Kneeling is definitely best,” claimed one. “No,” another contended. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven.” “You’re both wrong,” the third insisted. “The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor.” Then the repairman final spoke up. “Hey, fellas,” he interrupted, “I don’t have a whole lot of experience, but the best prayin’ I ever did was hangin’ upside down from a telephone pole.”

That’s usually the way it works. We do our best praying in our most dire circumstances. It doesn’t matter whether you’re kneeling beside your bed, standing in the checkout lane, or sitting behind the wheel of your car. What matters is that you take your worries and concerns to God.

The Bible says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Philippians 4:6 NLT). Pray about everything, God says. Not some things, a few things, a lot of things, good things, bad things, or sad things; but everything. God cares about every detail of our lives.

Psychologists tell us that, in many cases, simply talking to someone about our problems will help us put thing in perspective. Prayer can give you an instant sense of relief. When I get stressed out and I take a time-out to pray, often I immediately feel a sense of peace simply by getting these things off my chest. I’m voicing my frustrations to Someone I know cares about me.

Corrie TenBoom once said, “Any concern too small to be a prayer is too small to be a burden.” She’s right. God invites us to bring all of our concerns to him—big or small. The Bible also says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV). That’s what David did. When life got tense or traumatic, David turned to prayer and trusted God to get him through the tough stuff. You and I can do the same.

So the first step in dealing with stress is supplication.

• STILLNESS

The second step is stillness. And this one can be particularly hard for some of us. America is the country of shortcuts and fast lanes. We’re the only nation on earth with a mountain called Rushmore, and all our rushing around can make life feel overwhelming. Too many worries, too many places to be, too many items on the to-do list.

Several years ago, a Tahoma, Washington newspaper carried the story of Tattoo the basset hound. Tattoo didn’t intend to go for an evening run, but when his owner accidentally shut the dog’s leash in the car door and took off for a drive, he had no choice. Motorcycle officer, Terry Filbert, notice the passing vehicle with the dog struggling to keep up. He commented that the poor basset hound was, “picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could.” He pulled the car over and Tattoo was rescued, but not before the dog had reached a top speed of 25 miles per hour.

Too many of us are living our lives like Tattoo, picking them up and putting them down as fast as we can—as if we’re being dragged through life.

David continues his psalm, by adding, “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent” (Psalm 4:4 NLT). In other words, don’t let your stress build up until you blow up! Slow down. Sit down. Calm Down.

Another translation says it this way: “Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still” (NKJV). Be still.

It sounds so simple, and yet it remains so elusive for many of us.

There’s a reason David says to meditate at night on your bed, though.

From the moment I get home in the afternoon, the commotion is nonstop. Within thirty seconds of walking through the door, both my knees are attacked by two squealing girls. I might get a high-five or hug from my son and if I’m lucky a welcome home kiss from my wife. After that it’s off to the races. The next few hours bring a cacophony of family noises: giggling laughter, clanging dishes, rumbles on the floor, someone asking for help dressing a Barbie, someone else asking for help with their homework, the thud of toys flying across the room, splashes in the bathtub, the cries of agony and argument—she hit me, he stole my crayon. Soccer practice. Cub Scout meetings. Dinner. Story time.

Then, after the third or fourth time sending the kids to bed, the hurricane finally passes; the roar subsides. The lights go out. The quietness slows my pulse. The silence opens my ears. The stillness makes room for the sacred.

We need to take advantage of those moments. Seek them out. Intentionally insert stillness into our schedule, and allow our stress to subside in the stillness.

• SACRIFICE

So the first step David gives us in handling our stress is supplication, the second is stillness, and the third is sacrifice. Listen to this statement: “Do what is right as a sacrifice to the LORD and trust the LORD” (Psalm 4:5 NCV).

What I think David is telling us here is this: Do the right thing in whatever situation you find yourself, do it for God because you know it’s what God wants you to do, then trust him to work things out.

When we get stressed out, we often don’t think straight and we don’t make good decisions. You may feel like screaming at the kids, but that’s not the right thing to do. You may feel like drop-kicking your husband, but that’s not the right thing to do. You may feel like cussing out the jerk that cut you off and stole your parking space, but that’s not the right thing to do. You may feel like going on a shopping spree with money you don’t have, but that’s not the right thing to do.

Doing the right thing even when it’s hard is a sacrifice. Do what is right as a sacrifice to the Lord. And then trust the Lord. He’s in control.

When nothing seems to be going right, when you’re overwhelmed with worry or work, when life feels out of control, God is still in control. The best thing we can do is trust and obey.

A television program preceding the Winter Olympics one year featured blind skiers being trained for downhill skiing, impossible as it sounds. Paired with sighted skiers, the blind skiers were taught, on the flats, how to make right and left turns. When that was mastered, they were taken to the slalom slope, where their sighted partners skied beside them shouting, “Left!” and “Right!” As they obeyed the commands, they were able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line, depending solely on the sighted skier’s word. It was either complete trust or catastrophe.

That’s the kind of trust God wants us to have in him. We can’t see what’s ahead and we’ve got no idea where the finish line will be, but God knows it all. He’s given us instructions for doing life his way in his Word. He challenges us to follow his instructions—to do what’s right—and trust him to see us safely through.

Conclusion:

Maybe you’re one of those people who just take life as it comes, you don’t let things bother you, and you never get bent out of shape. But if you’re like me, then you could probably use a little stress relief every now and then.

I saw a Peanuts cartoon once where Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!” So Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace?” Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.”

Maybe you’ve got some outer obnoxiousness that’s stressing you out too. Whether it’s the stress of Christmas shopping, family chaos, financial strain, or whatever else, I think we could all benefit from David’s prescription for coping with stress: supplication, stillness, and sacrifice.