Insight for Living Canada - LifeTrac Podcast - Stressed Out

0:00LifeTrak with Chuck Swindall is a presentation of Insight for Living Canada. If there is one addiction that is the top of the list for most people, it is the one that we tend to approve of and even overlook. It's okay, everybody does it. It's addiction to anxiety. It's being in bondage to worry. For most people, they would have to admit that their worry list is longer than their prayer list. They are quicker to tell you what they're worried about than they are able to admit what they've been praying about. Maybe true of you. I had a man tell me at the close of our second morning worship service today, I didn't know you had been looking into my mail and into my house, but he said, you just told me the story of my life over the last and he named the number of months.

1:04He said, I am a classic worrier. You know what was interesting? He didn't look like it. I don't know what a worrier is supposed to look like, but it wasn't him. He looked like your ordinary garden variety man. But the fact is true that deep inside his life, there is a reservoir of ever increasing worries. He said, I worry when I awaken, I worry through the day, I worry about things that have never happened and often don't, and I worry when I go to bed at night. I am your classic worrier. He said, thanks for knowing what to preach on. I said, actually, I preach on what I need to hear and I let you listen in. So I understand. I may look like a guy that wouldn't worry that much, but believe me, I fight it just like the rest of you. I'm not addicted to it, but I could be. I could be. I came across a wonderful book that has been put back in print.

2:06Maybe it never left print, but it's sort of left the popular ranks years ago, written in 1963, but now redone in the concepts of the 21st century. It's called None of These Diseases, written by two believing physicians who address how disease affects the spirit and the life and often makes a sick. That is the disease of worry. Listen to their words from this book. Throughout human history, infection causes most diseases and death. At the dawn of the third millennium, health enemy number one is stress. The American Academy of Physicians estimates that two-thirds of doctor visits are for stress-related conditions. Your soul is born with a need to know and experience God. Without this intimate connection, your spirit is in chaos and longs for peace. Then comes stress, loss of alludment, loss of a job, of the pain of rejection.

3:11This external stress may disrupt your illusion of internal peace and make you aware of your soul's inner chaos. Then they go into it a little more scientifically. Your brain interprets this unrest as fear, anxiety, swery, anger, or other emotions. Through its nerve network, the brain sends alarm signals throughout your body, without asking your permission, your glands release adrenaline, cortisone, insulin, and other stress hormones. Every organ becomes overexcited. In short, you are stressed out. It isn't unique to the 21st century, but it's become far more prevalent. It may be your number one battle, or it may rank among the top three or four.

4:11Anxiety causes stress, and stress is our number one health enemy. Chances are, you have something stressful on your mind right now. Jesus said that when you come to Him, He'll give you rest. This isn't simply nice thinking, it's truth to live by. And it's a far greater remedy for stress than any doctor could prescribe. Listen to more of Chuck Swindall's LifeTrack messages at LifeTrack.ca, that's L-I-F-E-T-R-A-C. LifeTrack, where life and truth meet. The preceding LifeTrack presentation was brought to you by Insight for Living Canada. The original message, God's Peace in Philippians 4, was copyrighted in 2005, and this LifeTrack sound recording was copyrighted in 2012 by Charles R. Swindall Incorporated.

5:15All rights are reserved worldwide.