Stressed Out: Anxiety and Hypertension

There is an old Greek proverb that speaks about being stressed:

You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.

Just finished listening to a series of sermons about stress in our lives. It wasn’t a bad collection of messages. But to be honest the series left me … ummm … stressed. The messages looked to the 23^rd Psalm for a foundation of biblical principles and strength to eliminate life’s anxieties. I wish it were that easy. I long for the day when my ability to memorize the Psalm and my reliance upon God for life would obliterate my angst.

A Blood Pressure Illustration: Stressed

Today “stressed” defines my life. I have been diagnosed with hypertension. They used to call it high blood pressure. Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases your risk of serious health problems, including heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, dementia or even death. Most people with high blood pressure have no signs or symptoms. As such, it is a disease that has been labeled “the silent killer.”

Staggering Facts

According to the Center for Disease Control, about 75 million Americans have high blood pressure. About 29% of us suffer – or about one out of every three. Anyone, including children, can develop high blood pressure. In a sense, my body is always stressed.

Stress affects each of us in a different way. Some people worry about the future. Others worry about what might happen. Still more people worry that the worst will happen. There are well-meaning people that believe if your faith were stronger, you would never be stressed. I am not a worrier. I don’t fret about who holds my future or how I am going to get there. But perhaps like an alcoholic’s body reacts to alcohol, my body reacts to stress through an elevated blood pressure. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Distressing Reality

The first time someone measured my blood pressure, it was dangerously high. I had not had a need for a check-up for years. I actually found that it was high at the dentist’s office before I was scheduled to have a cavity filled. When the numbers made it to my physician, he called the number “impressive.”

The truth is most of the time I didn’t feel bad. I was a very calm person. Things did not get to me very often. I didn’t worry about things that might happen in the future. On the outside, I didn’t show that things bothered me. I was not a combative person. I did not like confrontation. But apparently inside, the pot on the back burner was boiling.

Pressure Packed Moments

So I wondered “is there anyone in the Bible that seemed to have been stressed?” Was there anything they did to handle it? More importantly, what were the things that apparently caused it?

There are certainly many instances in the Scriptures of people who had moments of life that were pressure-packed and required immediate positive action and attention. Peter gets out of the boat to walk on water and after a few steps, his feet begin to sink. David aggressively heads to battle the giant that no one else would dare face. Paul stands before the kings of royalty in order to defend his belief system and actually save his own life. Can things get any more stressed than that?

I understand impassioned moments. Truth is, I used to play a lot of competitive softball. There are instances when the outcome of the game depended upon snagging a ball that was crunched over my head, or delivering a solid hit during a clutch at bat toward the end of the game. Some times I came through. Of course, there are just as many, if not more, times when I did not.

I am not a medical doctor, but I don’t think it is the instance that makes our blood pressure rise. I think it is our perspective upon the role we play in the instance.

A Biblical Example of a Life Stressed

Let me take you to a biblical example. The classic story is probably one with which you are familiar. The account is recorded in the last verses of the tenth chapter of Luke.

Jesus and the disciples are traveling along, they enter a village and a woman named Martha welcomes them into her home. This could be the first time that they met, we do not know that for certain. But we learn through later chapters and from later gospels that Jesus becomes close to Martha and her family.

We also learn from Luke that Martha had a sister named Mary. John tells us later that they in fact had a brother named Lazarus as well. The drama in Luke’s account develops when, as Jesus is teaching, Mary sits at His feet, drinking in every word. Martha, on the other hand, is left to prepare the meal, which we can assume was to be served after Jesus finished teaching.

Luke 10:40 records a phrase that seems significant in understanding the cause of stress. “But Martha was distracted by her many tasks” (Luke 10:40 HCSB).

Perspective Altered by Distractions

There are several reasons for our distraction. They all seem to pull us away from a proper understanding and perspective of our role in a circumstance. I firmly believe – and please understand, this is a battle that I fight every day – when our perspective is messed up, it stresses us out.

First Distraction: Sin

First of all we get distracted by sin. Sin devastates us. Huge implications swallow us whole. It can be doing things that we know are wrong. It can be neglecting to do what we know is right. When our actions are not in tune with who we are supposed to be, the result can only be a tension – a bending of the bow. There really isn’t an indication that this was at play for Martha, but it certainly is one of the possibilities of a distraction that alters our perspective.

All of the next three distractions seem to be involved in Martha’s situation to one degree or another. The text brings these distractions to the surface.

She (Martha) came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”

⁴¹ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:40-42 HCSB).

Second Distraction: God Doesn’t Care

Secondly, in another distraction, Martha assumed that the Lord did not care. We often make that assumption about God when things that we understand as “bad” confront our lives. Where is God when bad things happen? Surely a good God would not allow such evil in our world. What we are really saying is “Doesn’t God care that this is happening to me?”

Not only does Martha assume Jesus doesn’t care, she is presumptive enough to tell Him what to do about it. “Then tell her to help me.” Take care of this situation. Do something about it. Right now!

Third Distraction: Blaming Others

The next distraction is very common. Martha shot a critical glance at her sister. It is interesting that we anxiety-prone people frequently blame others for the drastic situation. Rather than admitting our role in the escalation of our stress, we criticize others for causing it. Self-inflicted pain hurts more deeply and last longer. “My sister has left me to do all the work.” I am critical of others – the ones who cause the traffic jams, the ones whose insensitivity has caused the turmoil, the ones who simply don’t see and do things my way.

I would bet that even if Mary had been helping, she wouldn’t have set the table right by Martha’s standards. There wouldn’t have been enough salt in the green beans. She would have forgotten the dessert.

Final Distraction: Me

Similarly, the final distraction in the text may be the most significant. There is a reason that psychologists have labeled the condition as a “messianic complex.” It is up to ME to fix this. I have to be the one to take care of this problem. I demand that things proceed my way. My plan must be the one to fix it – even if it means me going to a cross. (And if I have to go to a cross, I will be sure and tell you about the inconvenience and suffering the cross caused me.)

Isn’t it important for me to remember that there is only one Messiah and it isn’t me?

A Biblical Solution: Only One Thing Matters

Listen to what Jesus says to Martha. “Martha, you are worried and upset about many things.” That indictment sentences all of us. There are so many things going on in our lives. The problems stack up. EVERYTHING matters! What are we going to do? Talk about stressed!

Jesus said, “Only one thing matters.” In the circumstance, it might be easy to assume that Jesus was speaking about listening to His teachings, but I would like to take it one step further than that.

For God only one thing matters concerning you. The Father is really only concerned about one thing – where you will spend eternity. God doesn’t care about the winner of the ball game. The promotion isn’t a high priority in His mind. To be honest, He isn’t even concerned about my high blood pressure, so long as the outcome is my eternity in heaven.

Believe it or not, I am grateful for my high blood pressure. It reminds me, even with everything that I do to attempt to control it, numbered days reign and conquer. My higher blood pressure reminds me to make sure that I keep my perspective upon my role in the moments that I have. More importantly, it reminds me that in all things I am to give thanks.

I won’t have high blood pressure in heaven.