Times of Stress

(2 Timothy 3:1-5 – Times of Stress)

This scripture today speaks directly to the days that we live in. It says that in these last days there will be times of stress, and that is certainly the way of the world at present. And it is getting even more stressful as time marches forward.

The scripture explains why these days will be times of stress. We should also note that it is not just speaking about the world. The times of stress it talks about are also what is happening in the church.

In fact the focus of this scripture are the times of stress in the church. When we understand these things we need to then seek ways to deal with stress in our lives. And the way to do that is to get close to God.

Times of stress in the church

Before going any further, let us look at the scripture under review.

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Look at these causes of stress. Although it appears to be initially speaking about the world in general, verse 5 shows us that these same stress factors are affecting the church today.

Verse 5 in particular talks about those who hold the form of religion but deny the power of it. And this is definitely happening today.

A little story…

A few years ago as my wife and I travelled into outback Australia, we visited a church in a small country town. On that particular night they were visited by the minister responsible for all of the churches in that denomination for half the state. This man was probably the second highest ranked minister of that religion in Australia.

He preached that night on the story where Jesus fed the five thousand with just a few loaves and fishes, which comes from this scripture.

15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:15-21)

The way this minister then explained this story had both myself and my wife in shock.

He said words to the effect that the preaching of Jesus had a profound effect on the people. He explained that the people must have had food, and Jesus’ preaching filled them with love, so that they shared their food with everyone else in the crowd.

My thoughts at the time were, “Are you serious? Did you not read the scriptures?”

Clearly he did NOT read the scriptures. In essence what he did in those few words was to completely empty this miracle of all of its power. He removed the power of God from the situation and gave glory to man for providing for his fellow man.

And that was a lie! Nothing could be further from the truth. Feeding the five thousand, and feeding the four thousand (see Matthew 15:32-39) were miracles. In fact in the feeding of the four thousand, again with just a few loaves and fishes, it says clearly that the crowd had been following Jesus for three days with nothing to eat.

Strategies to overcome times of stress

What I have described above is exactly what Paul was saying when he wrote that in the last days there would be those, “…holding the form of religion, but denying the power of it.”

And what was Paul’s advice to the rest of us? Avoid such people.

Stay away from people who will water down the truth of the Bible and especially when they change the glory of God and give glory to man. Avoidance is a great strategy to maintain your own faith and not be influenced by the lies that are being preached as truth. This is especially the case when what is preached is so dramatically different to what scripture says in black and white.

As for the strategies to overcome in these times of stress, consider what causes stress.

All forms of stress are caused by pressure. If you look at building and engineering, calculations are made specifically to determine the stresses that affect structures so that they can be strengthened and supported. If they get it wrong, bridges fall down, buildings collapse, and people die.

It’s the same with personal and spiritual stress. Pressure from within and without can lead to times of stress that take away our peace.

Look at the litany of examples Paul spoke of in this scripture.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding the form of religion but denying the power of it.

All of these induce stress in people and they must learn how to handle it.

Through Christ Jesus we can have victory over the flesh, and most, if not all of these form of stress are problems of the flesh.

The way to overcome these is firstly to avoid those who behave in these ungodly ways. Second, pray about the issues and situations where you can’t remove yourself. Third, apply the teachings of walking in the Spirit and if you don’t know what or how to do that, there is a section in my free eBook titled the “Six Foundation Teachings of Jesus Christ” that explains the process of walking in the Spirit. You can also do a search using the search field at the top right hand side of this blog as I have a lot of information on this site concerning the who, what, why, when, where, and how of walking in the Spirit.

So, finally, these are indeed times of stress and they will worsen as the Day of the Lord draws near. All Christians need to be prepared to stand against the causes of stress so as to live a peaceful life in Jesus Christ, and we do that by focusing on Him.

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