SEVEN SECRETS OF STRESS FREE LIVING

How To Be At Peace Under Pressure - Part 1 of 8

Rick Warren
John 8. Last week I passed out a survey to everyone and asked you to identify t
he things that are causing the most stress in your life. I tallied the results
and this week we begin a new series, "How To Be At Peace Under Pressure". We're
going to look at the eight greatest stresses in life according to you, your sur
vey. The pressures of Time, Money, Marriage, Your Job, of Expectations of other
s, and many other things specifically each week.
But in order to kick this series off, I thought we'd go back and review some abo
ut the life of Christ. About a year ago we looked at the reasons why Jesus was
able to handle pressure. I want us to look at those as we begin this new series
on stress.
Jesus Christ was a man who was constantly under pressure. There were demands on
His time. He was very alone. He rarely had any privacy Himself. He was const
antly interrupted. People misunderstood Him, people criticized Him, people ridi
culed Him. He had enormous stress that would have caused any of us to cave in.
But, as you look at the life of Christ, you discover very quickly that He remain
ed at peace under pressure. He was never in a hurry. He was always at ease. H
e had a calmness about His life that made Him handle enormous amounts of stress.

We're going to look at the life of Christ, the principles that Jesus Christ live
d by in order to handle stress.
1. John 8:12. "When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, `I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness for they have the
light of life.'" Jesus said, "I am..." and He defined Himself. He said, "I am
the light of the world." Eighteen times in Scripture, Jesus says, "I am" someth
ing. ... the Light, the door, the way, the truth and the life, I am the Good Sh
epherd, I am the Son of God... Eighteen times in Scripture, He said, "I am..."
v. 18 "I am the one who testifies for Myself." The first principle in order to
handle stress in your life is KNOW WHO YOU ARE. It is the Principle of Identifi
cation. Jesus said, "I know who I am. I testify of Myself."
That's so important in stress because, if you don't know who you are, somebody e
lse will try to tell you who they think you are. If you don't know who you are,
you will allow other people to manipulate you into being somebody you're not. A
lot of stress in life comes from the fact that we wear a mask, we're not honest
with ourselves and others. We have a fear that we're going to be found out bec
ause we live double lives. We try to be somebody we're not. Insecurity always
produces pressure in our life. When we are insecure, we feel like we're pressure
d to perform. We set unrealistic standards for our life and we work, work, work.
And then, because we don't meet those unrealistic standards, we get under tens
ion and pressure.
I see this all the time when people come to me for counseling. The first way to
balance stress in your lives is to have an eternal balance of who you are.
You know who you are by knowing whose you are. I'm a child of God. I am put on
earth not by accident but for a purpose. I am deeply loved by God. I'm accept
ed by Him. He has a plan for my life. Because He put me here, I'm significant.
Because He put you here, you are significant. In order to handle stress, you
must know who you are. Until you handle that principle, you're going to be pres
sured by insecurity.
2. John 5:30. KNOW WHO YOU'RE TRYING TO PLEASE. Dedication. "By Myself I can
do nothing. I judge only as I hear and My judgment is just for I seek not to pl
ease Myself but Him who sent Me." Principle number one: Know who you are -- Id
entification. Principle number two: Know who you're trying to please -- Dedicat
ion.
You can't please everybody. Just about the time you get one group pleased, the
other group gets mad at you. And just about the time you get Group B pleased, C
rowd A gets mad at you again. Even God can't please everybody. And it's foolish
to attempt to do something that God can't do. You cannot please everybody.
Jesus settled it. It was a dedication issue to Him. He said, "I'm going to ple
ase God, the Father." And the Father said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased." When you don't know who you're trying to please, you cave in to
three things.
Criticism, because you're wondering what everybody else is going to thin
k about you.
Competition, because you're worried whether somebody else is getting ahe
ad of you.
Conflict, because somebody disagrees with you and you don't know who you
're trying to please so you give into them.
You cave under pressure because one, you don't know who you are (identification)
and two, you don't know who you're trying to please (dedication).
A long time ago I settled in my life, I want to please one person in life -- Jes
us Christ. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all thes
e other things will be added unto you." That means if I center in on just pleasi
ng God, if I work on just that one thing, that simplifies life. It will always
be the right thing to do. If it pleases God, it's the right thing. Regardless o
f what anybody else thinks, it's the right thing.
It simplifies life and it reduces pressure when you know who you are and who you
're trying to please.
We love to blame our stress on other people. "You make me..." "I have to ... I
must ... I've got to ..." Who says? Actually, there are very few things in lif
e that you have to do. You have to breathe. (Actually, you could choose not to
breath.) Whenever you say, "I have to... I must ... I've got to..." what you're
actually saying is, "I choose to because I don't want to pay the consequences."
That's a different matter. Nobody makes you do anything. It's a matter of wh
at you want the consequences of -- positive or negative. So, don't blame other
people for your stress. When you get under pressure, you are choosing to allow
other people to put you under pressure.
You are not a victim unless you allow it, unless you choose to be pressured by t
hose incidences.
Know who you are. Jesus said, "I know who I am."
Know who you're trying to please. Jesus said, "I'm just trying to please God."
3. John 8:14. "Jesus answered, `Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimo
ny is valid. I know where I came from and I know where I'm going.'" Principle
number three: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH. Organization. Jesus said, "
I know where I came from and I know where I'm going."
You have to plan your life. You have to set priorities. If you don't set prior
ities, you will be guided by what other people think is important. In life, you
live by priorities or you live by pressures. There is no other option. You ei
ther set what you decide is important in life or you let other people tell you w
hat is important in life. You set priorities or you live by pressures. We get
operating in the tyranny of the urgent.
Have you ever come to the end of the day and thought, "Did I accomplish anything
? I used a lot of energy and activity but did I accomplish anything?" We get f
rustrated because busyness is not necessarily productivity. You can be spinning
in circles and not accomplishing anything. Why?
You don't accomplish anything if you don't know who you are, who you're trying t
o please, and what you want to accomplish. You have to have a goal, an objectiv
e. Preparation causes us to be at ease. Preparation prevents pressure but proc
rastination produces it. Good organization, good preparation reduces stress. Be
cause you know who you are, you know who you're trying to please and you know wh
at you want to accomplish. Having clear goals simply simplifies life. It's cle
ar-cut. Spend a few moments each day in prayer, talking with God, look at your
schedule for the day, decide "Is this really the way I want to spend one day of
my life? Am I willing to exchange my life -- 24 hours -- for these activities?"
Know who you are, know who you're trying to please, know what you want to accomp
lish.
4. Luke 4. We have the incident of some people in the town trying to interrupt
Jesus, trying to get Him away from His master plan, trying to disturb Him from
what His goal was in life. v. 42 "At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary pla
ce. The people were looking for Him and when they came to Him where He was, the
y tried to keep Him from leaving." He was going to leave, but they tried to kee
p Him from leaving. "But He said, `I must preach the good news of the kingdom o
f God to the other towns also because that's why I was sent.'" v. 44 "And He ke
pt right on preaching in the synagogues of Judea." Principle number four is thi
s: FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME. The Principle of Concentration.
Jesus was a master at this. Everybody was trying to interrupt Jesus. Everybody
had Plan B for Him. But it says when they came and said, "Why don't You do thi
s?" He said, "I must keep on heading toward My goal" and He kept right on doing
what He knew God had told Him to do -- preaching about the Kingdom of God. He w
as determined, He was persistent. He concentrated His efforts.
When we diffuse our efforts, we're ineffective. When we concentrate our efforts
, we are effective. It's like light. Light diffused simply produces light. Lig
ht concentrated produces a laser. If you take a magnifying glass and concentrat
e the light on a leaf and the leaf will catch fire. It is the same light withou
t the magnifying glass, but the glass concentrates it and produces power.
Know who you are -- Identification. Know who you're trying to please -- Dedicat
ion. Know what you want to accomplish in life -- Organization. Focus on one th
ing at a time -- Concentration. Jesus Christ did not allow interruptions to forb
id Him from concentrating on His goal. As a result, He wasn't under stress beca
use He kept His concentration. And He did not allow these other things to make
Him tense or stressed or irritated.
5. Mark 3:14. As I have studied the life of Christ, I've gleaned these princip
les on stress management from His life. "Jesus went up into the hills, and calle
d to Him those He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve, designating
them apostles that they might be with Him and that He might send them to preach
." He delegated His authority.
So how do you handle stress? You know who you are. You know who you're trying
to please. You know what you want to accomplish. You focus on one thing at a ti
me. YOU DON'T TRY TO DO IT ALL YOURSELF. The Principle of Delegation. Don't t
ry to do it all yourself.
Do you know why we get uptight, tense? Because we feel like it all depends on u
s. Atlas, holding up the cares of the world. It's all on my shoulders. If I le
t go, the world will fall apart! If you let go the world does not fall apart.
Amazing! You can't do it all yourself anyway. We get tense when we think it all
depends on us. Jesus enlisted and trained twelve other men, disciples, because
He realized He couldn't do it all Himself. He delegated His work.
Why don't we do that? Why don't we delegate? Why don't we get other people inv
olved? Why do we try to do it all ourselves? Two reasons:
1. Perfectionism. "If you want a job done well, do it yourself." That
's a nice idea but it doesn't work all the time. Because there's too many things
to be done and you don't have time to do them all. It's kind of an egotistical
attitude that says, "Nobody can do it like I can."
It says Jesus got twelve men, appointed them and sent them out to do the same th
ing He had been doing. Do you think that Jesus would have done a better job tha
n these disciples? Of course He would have. But He learned to delegate and let
them do it even though He would have done a better job.
I'm learning to let other people make some of the mistakes. Why be a hog? Why
hoard them all to yourself? Mistakes are really a privilege. Edison said don't
call them mistakes, call them an education. Some of you are the most educated
people I know. You've made a lot of mistakes. Don't rob somebody else of their
education. Give them the opportunity to mess things up. Give them the opportun
ity to blow it. You sure get plenty of opportunities and so do I. Perfectionis
m keeps us from allowing other people to help out.
2. Down deep inside we have a real fear that they might do a better job
. We're insecure. If I turn over this responsibility, that's "my baby", what i
f they do a better job? That's threatening.
If you know who you are you won't be threatened by that. If you know who you're
trying to please, you won't be threatened by that. If you know what you want t
o accomplish, you realize if you want to accomplish it you have to get everybody
else involved. Focus on one thing at a time. That in itself means you have to
do the next step -- delegate. You have to get other people involved because yo
u can't focus on more than one thing at a time effectively.
When I've got thirty things to do on my desk, I clear my desk and work on one th
ing. Then I put that away and work on something else. Sometimes the secretary
will come in and see a pile beside my desk. When I've got all these things on m
y desk I go fifteen different ways. You can't chase two jackrabbits at once. Yo
u've got to focus on one.
6. Mark 1:35. "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up
, left the house and went out to a solitary place where He prayed." Principle n
umber six: MAKE A HABIT OF PERSONAL PRAYER. Principle of Meditation.
Prayer is a gigantic stress reliever. It is a God given tool for letting off yo
ur anxieties. No matter how busy Jesus got, He made it a practice to spend time
alone with God. No matter how busy He got. If Jesus was busy and made time fo
r prayer, how much more do you and I need it? A quiet time, getting alone with
God, can be a decompression chamber for life. You get alone with God where you'
re all by yourself and you talk to God in prayer, tell Him what's on your mind a
nd let God talk to you as you read the Bible. Then you look at your schedule an
d you evaluate your priorities and wait for instructions, get your act together
at the start of the day. Jesus waited for instructions to start His day. It's
like a soldier checking into the command post saying, "Reporting for duty!" Med
itation. Make a habit of personal prayer.
So many of our problems simply come from our inability to sit still. We just do
n't know how to be quiet. Most people cannot sit five minutes in a car without
turning the radio on. We walk into the house and we're all alone we turn on the
TV. We want to hear noise, talk.
The Bible says, "Be still and know that I am God." The reason why a lot of peop
le don't know God is they can't be still. We get so busy we don't know where we
're going. It's like Rollo May said, "It's an ironic habit of man that when he
loses his way, he doubles his speed." It's like the air force pilot in World Wa
r II flying out over the Pacific and he was lost. He radioed in and they said,
"Where are you headed?" He said, "I don't know, but I'm making record time!" A
lot of us are like that -- going in a million and two directions, but we don't
know where we're going to end up.
You start your morning with prayer like Jesus did. That is a stress reliever.
And periodically through the day, stop and pray. Prayer recharges your spiritua
l batteries. You isolate yourself alone with God in a beautiful situation.
This week I had the opportunity to speak in Northern California at the mountain
resort camp where I committed my life to Christ to do anything He wanted me to d
o thirteen years ago. I remember going out and kneeling at the base of one of t
hose giant 300 foot redwoods and recommitting my life to the Lord the way I had
done thirteen years ago. I got out and walked down the creeks and up the mounta
ins and let God just pull it out of my mind.
Make a habit of personal prayer.
We start the day wrong. We get up and turn on the radio for some bad news. We
turn on the TV for some more bad news. We pick up the newspaper to read some mo
re bad news. As if you don't have enough problems by yourself, you've got to ad
d on all the problems of the world. By the time you get to work, you do have th
e weight of the world on your shoulders because you've fed all that into your su
bconscious; instead of getting up, going out -- leaving the house -- and praying
. Make a habit of personal prayer.
Review:
Know who you are -- Identification
Know who you're trying to please -- Dedication
Know what you want to accomplish -- Organization
Focus on one thing at a time -- Concentration
Learn to delegate and get other people involved. Don't try to do it all
yourself -- Delegation
Make a habit of personal prayer -- Meditation
7. Mark 6. Jesus had just been ministering. They were feeding 5000 people. v
. 30 "The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done a
nd taught. Then because so many people were coming and going and they didn't ev
en have a chance to eat, [you know you're busy when you don't have a chance to e
at!] Jesus said to them [the twelve disciples] Come with Me by yourselves to a q
uiet place and get some rest." TAKE TIME OFF TO ENJOY LIFE. The Principle of R
elaxation or Recreation.
Jesus looked at these guys that had been working so hard, so many days. Finally
He said, "Fellows, you deserve a break today! Let's just go get some rest. Let
's go take it easy."
It says they got in a boat and crossed to the other side and went out into the d
esert and they rested. Now we have a Biblical basis for a Palm Springs vacation
. They went to the desert!
The reason why Jesus could handle stress is He knew when to relax. He knew when
to let go. Frequently, He either went to the mountains or the desert just to l
et it all hang out.
Rest and recreation in life are not optional. In fact, they are so important in
your life that God put them in the Ten Commandments. He said it was that impor
tant. Every seventh day you are to rest. Remember the Sabbath. That is not an
option. You are to rest. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, for his bene
fit, not vice versa. The Sabbath was made for man. God knows that our physical
, emotional, mental and spiritual constitution demands periodic breaks. Jesus s
urvived stress because He enjoyed life.
One of my favorite verses is Matthew 11:19. The Phillips translation says, "Jes
us came enjoying life." We think Jesus is some sourpuss guru walking around so
bored with life, "I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger, traveling through this wor
ld of sin and toil and stress." You never see Jesus saying that. The Bible say
s, "Jesus came enjoying life."
1 Timothy 6:17 "God hath provided all things richly for our enjoyment." They ar
e here to enjoy. We put out the brochure at Easter that said, "Life was meant t
o be enjoyed, not just endured." That's a principle of life.
Balance is the key to stress management. You need some time off. You need to pr
actice what I call creative loafing. It is better to have loafed and lost than
never to have loafed at all. You need to just take it easy sometimes. Get a ho
bby. Get a sport. Gardening. Whatever.
Any time you ignore any one of these principles, you are asking for tension. Yo
u're asking for stress. You're asking for pressure. You must know who you are
-- identification. You must know who you want to please -- dedication. Center
in on pleasing God. You must know what you want to accomplish, have a goal. If
you don't have a priority you'll live by pressure. You must focus on one thing
at a time. You must learn not to try to do it all yourself, get other people i
nvolved. You must make a habit of personal prayer. Take time to enjoy life.
There's one last principle that I want to share with you. This is in addition,
because Jesus didn't need it. We need it because we're human. Jesus didn't nee
d it because He was the Son of God.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus is talking, "Come to Me all you who are weary and burdene
d..." Does this apply to any of you? "I'm so tired! I'm sick and tired of bein
g sick and tired!" If you're that way... "Come unto Me all you who are weary an
d burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me fo
r I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls for My
yoke is easy and My burden is light."
8. The eighth principle of stress management is this: GIVE YOUR STRESS AND GIV
E YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST. He is the Prince of Peace. You will never have ultimate
inner peace or peace of mind until you have a relationship with the Prince of P
eace. He says, "Come to Me and I will give you ..." More guilt, more burden, m
ore stress, more rules and regulations... that's what a lot of churches teach.
I've been in some churches where you become a Christian and you get more pressu
re. But that's not what Jesus said. He said, "I want to give you rest. I'm th
e stress reliever. You get in harmony with Me and I will give you inner strengt
h." The Principle of Transformation, where our lives are transformed from a str
essful lifestyle to a satisfied lifestyle.
The greatest single source of stress in your life and my life is we try to live
our lives apart from the one who made us. When we live our lives out of the inf
luence and control of God, when we try to do our own thing, work our own way, be
our own god, without being in harmony with the very one who made us, it causes
all kinds of problems and the guilt from it causes more stress.
What do you need? You need a transformation. You need to take your life and it
s stresses -- "God, I give You this. Give me a new life." You don't turn over
a new leaf. The underside has got the same problems as the topside. Not a new
leaf, a new life. A transformation. Born again. A new way of living. Jesus sa
id, "My peace I give unto you." Let God transform you from the inside out and y
ou begin to see things in a more peaceful way and you begin to take things for w
hat they are -- the irritations and interruptions and inconveniences.
The Twenty Third Psalm by a fellow in Japan. His translation of it:
"The Lord is my pacesetter. I shall not rush. He makes me stop and res
t for quiet intervals. He provides me with images of stillness which restore my
serenity. He leads me in ways of efficiency to calmness of mind. And this gui
dance is peace. Even though I have a great many things to accomplish this day I
will not fret for His presence is here. His timelessness, His all importance w
ill keep me in balance. He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my
activity by anointing my mind with His oils of tranquility. My cup of joyous en
ergy overflows. Surely, harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruit of my hour
s for I shall walk in the pace of my Lord and dwell in His heaven forever."
In the next few weeks we're going to be talking about specific areas of stress.
These are principles you will find will apply in your marriage, your job, in de
aling with your children, dealing with conflict, dealing with your finances, phy
sical stress, emotional stress. Follow the life of Christ. He's the example fo
r us. But more than that, let Him transform you on the inside. He says "Come t
o Me I will replace your stress with satisfaction," -- your pressure with His pe
ace, your frustration with His fulfillment.
Prayer:
As we close, which of these principles have you been ignoring and it's c
ausing tension and stress and irritation and conflict in your life?
You must know who you are. Otherwise you try to be three, four... diffe
rent people and that causes stress. Who are you? You are God's child. You are
loved by Him. You know who you are by knowing whose you are. Get in relations
hip with Him. He made you for a purpose. You are unique. You're significant.
You're like no one else in the world and you don't have to be like any one else
in the world. Relax and be yourself. You say, "I don't like some of the things
in my life." God can change those if you'll give them to Him.
`You must know who you're trying to please. Who are you trying to pleas
e? Yourself? Others? People who you want to impress? Simplify life. Say, "I
just want to please God and do what's right and it will always be the right thi
ng."
You must know what you want to accomplish. God has a purpose for your l
ife. The more you get to know Him, the more that purpose will become clear in y
our life. It doesn't happen overnight.
Focus on one thing at a time. Jesus said, "Don't worry about tomorrow.
Sufficient unto each day are the evils thereof." There's enough pressure today
. Don't try to grab tomorrow's and bring it in, too.
Learn to delegate. Don't try to do it all yourself. Involve other peopl
e. Let them be a part of your life.
Make a habit of personal prayer. Commit your life to reading the Bible
every day. Start with the book of John and read one chapter a day, stop and thi
nk about it, pray about it. Spend ten-fifteen minutes at the beginning, middle,
and end of the day -- whenever -- as a decompression chamber with God. Tell Hi
m your frustrations. Tell Him your stresses.
Take time to enjoy life. Relax. Most of all let Him transform you from
the inside out. He says, "Come to me and I will give you rest." He says, "Are
you weary, burdened, frustrated, depressed, burned out? I will give you rest."
You might pray, "Lord, I want You to be my pacesetter. I want You to di
rect my life. Help me to concentrate on pleasing You. Help me to know who I am
. Help me to know Your purpose for my life. Jesus Christ, I need Your peace in
exchange for my pressures. Jesus Christ, remove the frustration and fill my li
fe with fulfillment. I ask You to help me. I give You my life -- the good, the
bad, the stresses, the pressures. I want to follow You. I want You to be the
manager of my life."
Lord, thank You for the Bible. Thank You for the life of Christ. Thank
You that He not only gave us an example on how to live but, Jesus, You are aliv
e today. Many people are opening their hearts to You. They're asking You to ma
ke Yourself real to them. Help them to know how much You love them. Help them
to know how much You care about them and want to help. Jesus Christ, be the man
ager of my life. I pray this in Your name. Amen.
SEVEN SECRETS OF STRESS FREE LIVING
How To Be At Peace Under Pressure - Part 1 of 8
1-9