Fear destroys us….

Today I am reading BE IN HEALTH, starting on page 196. The subject is stress and homeostasis. Homeostasis maybe viewed as a specific reponse by the body to specific stimuli.  Homeostatic mechanisms are geared toward counteracting the everday stresses of living. This is normal and how God created us.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) is what it is called when stress triggers changes in the body like high blood pressure and high blood sugars. The Hypothalamus is called the body’s watchdog. This leads to two different pathways.  The first is part of and anxiety disorder. It is the fight or flight response.  This is immediate and short lived. The second part is fear. The world is plagued by fear.  Wright says “What is the worse thing that can happen to you?  Die and go to heaven? ”  A stress is anything that causes fear in your life. Cortisol is released and is helpful in the flight or fight response but it is dangerious in the long term and can become our enemy.  Cortisol distroys the immune system long term. The Medical community says that  the destruction of the immune system is caused by fear, anxiety and stress.

Wow! So it is really important that we handle our stress daily so it doesn’t destroy us.  I have clients come in all the time that are overwhelmed with the demands of life.  Of course,  in most cases, we allow the demands of life to overtake us.  We don’t have to be involved in everything.  We can say no to good things so we can say yes to better and best things.  We can have a balanced life. We can look about our priorities and make them what is most important and let everything else go.

We get so caught up in the small picture and run from one thing to another trying to juggle it all. But if we look at the big picture, God’s story.  What is the most important thing?  That people are saved and go to heaven.  So as I plan my day, I filter everything through that filter.   What is going to effect God’s kingdom?  That is what I choose to do.  Not the little things that have no eternal value.