The Keys' to Success in High Stress part 2

I recently “retired” after six years as a board member with Tri River Habitat for Humanity. In the time that I served on the board Tri River completed three homes in partnership with needy families in the community. Our goal was to complete one home per year but as the following story illustrates, Christians define success differently from the rest of the world.

In 1940, Clarence Jordan founded Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, as a haven for racial unity and cooperation. In 1954, the Ku Klux Klan burned every building on the farm except Jordan's home.

In the midst of the raid, Jordan recognized the voice of a local newspaper reporter. The next day, the reporter showed up for a story about the arson while the rubble was still smoldering. He found Jordan in a field, planting seeds. He said to Jordan, "I heard the awful news of your tragedy last night, and I came out to do a story on the closing of your farm."

Jordan just kept planting and hoeing. The reporter continued his prodding, with no response from Jordan. Finally, the reporter said, "You've got two Ph.D.'s, you've put 14 years into this farm, and now there's nothing left. Just how successful do you think you've been?"

With that statement, Jordan stopped hoeing. He said to the reporter, "You just don't get it, do you? You don't understand us Christians. What we are about is not success, but faithfulness."

Here’s the cool thing about that story. Tri River Habitat’s last home, its 11th in Halifax County, was finished last year. Most of the volunteers were white. The partner family was black. The executive director of Tri River recently informed me that the Banister River Association of Baptist Churches, a traditionally black association in our county, will soon be a major source of volunteers with the ministry. Koinonia Farm is the place where the vision of Habitat for Humanity was hatched. Who succeeded and who failed?

THE KEYS TO SUCCESS IN HIGH STRESS part 1

Are you feeling stressed? Pressured? Overloaded?
Many of you are returning to school soon, some to totally new environments, some to increasing responsibility as you near the end of your educational career and the beginning of your working career. That’s stressful.

Some of you are under tremendous pressure at work. One guy described his day as “walking into a buzz saw.” Here’s a little research on the subject:

A survey of 1,313 managers on four continents found that "one-third of managers suffer from ill health as a direct consequence of stress associated with information overload. This figure increases to 43 percent among senior managers."

The sheer volume of information you have to screen, absorb and respond to can make you sick. Then there are those other “little” stressors that any body with a lot of responsibility and a little authority can relate to.

 Dealing with spin – Information comes to us like a Tom Glavine curve ball. It looks like the straight stuff until it gets to the plate. The truth gets lost in the rumor mill or shady ethics.
 Office Politics – Strained relationships between others in your organization make your job more difficult.
 Political Correctness – Rears its head but you have to say things no one wants to hear.
 Administrative Hassles – Can you just go ahead and hire the person best qualified or do you have to jump through a bunch of hoops first to keep the watchdogs happy?
 Communication Breakdown – I thought you said it would be here Friday! No, I said it would be there Monday!

If you can connect with any of that you can connect with Pastor Tim of the first Church of Ephesus. He was dealing with all of it only it was dressed in Church clothes instead of business.
 Spin – Tim was confronting spin in the form of legalism, Gnosticism and superstitious mysticism. (See chapters 1, 4,5,6).
 Politics – Strained relationships between church members put him in the middle. (See chapter 2:8)
 Political Correctness – What would the role of women be? How would he address it? (See chapter 2:9)
 Administrative Issues – Who would serve as Elder? Deacon? How would they be qualified? (See chapter 3:1).
 Communication – He had to set the example of clear communication and following through on commitments. (See chapter 4:11-16).

Let me go back to my original question. Are you feeling overloaded? Pressured? Stressed to the max? If so you might be feeling like Pastor Tim. And maybe you’re feeling his instinctive response: RUN BABY RUN!

But his mentor the Apostle Paul had another idea. It’s recorded in
1 Tim 1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer. (NIV)

That was not what Tim was hoping to hear. But it’s one of the keys to success in high stress. Paul was saying to his son in the faith,
“Tim your desire is to come back under my wing. But God has you there for a purpose. Be content to stay there.”

The message: If God has you in a tough situation stay in it. Don’t bail out just because your palms are getting sweaty. If you’re sure God’s in it – you stay in it. Problems are just opportunities dressed in scary costumes. God has something to teach you in it and something to accomplish through you in it. If you bail out you may never learn what you can be and you may never see what God can do.