In the previous post, Stress and Sex, I pointed out that stress not only feels oppressive but actually affects us physically with the release of stress hormones. One of the top five reasons women complain of lack of sexual interest is due to stress and anxiety.
Because I like to give you practical advice, stuff you can actually do, and not just philosophy, Stress and Sex, also had some things you could do to help lower emotional stress levels.
There is another way to counter stress and anxiety. It is to find perspective.
Perspective isn’t to say you shouldn’t feel the way you feel. Perspective helps us see the big picture. Perspective usually helps us see outside of our self toward the best perspective, God’s vantage point.
For Christians, perspective includes remembering God is sovereign and God is love. It includes remembering this world is broken and there will be suffering. It includes remembering one way or another, it’s all going to be OK and that spiritual things are more important than physical things.
I tried to remember all of this as we dealt with hiccup after hiccup in selling our Florida home. They were small problems that felt monumental at the time. I tried to keep putting things in perspective and was sometimes unsuccessful nearly going nuts with anxiety. Even though some would call my anxiety “lack of faith,” God still showed me immense care in the small details as he smoothed each issue over.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
Recently, my husband sent me a link that I have to share with you. It’s a very powerful reminder of what is truly important. Please listen to this courageous woman’s testimony about her severe persecution and how God cared for her. It yanked me right back into a place of great perspective. I think you’ll be moved by it, too.
If after watching the video you’d like to know a more detailed account of Helen’s story, check out her interview on this Voice of the Martyrs web page.
