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Happiness: Managing Stress

Mark 14:32-36 ”They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”





Stress and Anxiety Are Different


Stress: When external pressure is greater than your capacity to deal with it.


Anxiety: An internal feeling of fear or worry, but without the an actual circumstance to fear.


Philippians 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.



6 Stages of Stress

Shock: The event or circumstance catches you off guard.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” NIV

2. Sorrow or scared: An emotional response to the event or situation.
Isaiah 53:3 NIV “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

Philippians 4:13 NLT For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

God Never Wastes A Hurt



Psalms 34:19 19 The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. NLT



How To Face Adversity

Honor your pain and embrace the process.

1 Peter 5:10 10 In His kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. NLT


2. Don’t get stuck in self-pity.


John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” NLT


3. Give yourself grace.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.



4. Know that you are not alone.

Galatians 6:2  Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. NLT

True Happiness: What Happy Couples Know



Marriage is a sacred covenant, established by God, between on man and one woman.


Matthew 19:3-6 3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” 4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” NIV



What Happy Couples Know


God must be our source for our deepest need, not our spouse.

John 15:5 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. NIV
2. To keep intimacy alive and allow it to evolve.

Proverbs 5:18-19 18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. NIV

3. How to communicate and fight fair.

1 Peter 3:7-9 7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. 8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. NLT



4. If you want a Christ-centered marriage, live a Christ-centered life.

Hebrews 13:5-6 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” NIV

Practice kindness and hospitality to strangers.

Both forgiveness and healing are experienced through Jesus, God’s Son. 

We believe God is inattentive, absent or even against us. 

1. We doubt God’s character is good. 

1. We resent others success or victories.