Faith On The Line - Stress, Stress Go Away Vol 18 | Page 23

perceived (interpreted in our thoughts) that
produces major distress.
For instance, when the Israelite army was
defied by the Philistine giant Goliath, they
were stressed out—distressed! 1 Samuel
17:11 states, “And the Philistine said, ‘I defy the
armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that
we may fight together.’ When Saul and all Israel
heard those words of the Philistine, they were
dismayed, and greatly afraid” (emphasis added).
Do you see what caused them to be
distressed? It was their perception—their
interpretation of Goliath’s challenging words,
and physical stature I might add!
But notice David’s empowering response—
his eustressing perception when faced with
Goliath’s challenge:
. . . who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that
he should defy the armies of the living God? . . .
Let no man’s heart fail because of him . . . The
LORD that delivered
me out of the paw of
the lion, and out of the
paw of the bear, he will
deliver me out of the
hand of this Philistine
(1 Samuel 17:26, 32, 37).
Let me ask you a
question with a conspicuous answer: Why
was Saul so distressed
and David so courageous when faced with the
same situation? What made the difference?
I hope you’ll consider this important point:
through the grace of God, even in crisis, it is
possible to keep God’s eustress-producing
thoughts in mind and respond to glorify Him
(2 Corinthians 9:8).
Christ’s life is full of examples of this
healing reality. Remember when He and the
disciples were caught in a sudden storm on
the Sea of Galilee? The disciples were extremely distressed because of the intensity of
the storm. Why were they stressed out about
the storm? It was their perception of how the
storm was going to affect them! Where do we
see that? Matthew 8:25 says, “Lord, save us:
we perish.”
Look at Christ’s reaction to the same
situation in verse 24: “And, behold, there arose
a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the
ship was covered with the waves: but he was
asleep” (emphasis added). He was at peace in
the midst of a life-threatening storm!

Why was Saul so
distressed and
David so courageous when faced
with the same
situation?

Spring-2012-Magazine-April_4.indd 23

23
4/4/2012 1:08:40 PM