Resistance

When faced with troubles and difficulties, our best defense against stress is complete submission to the Lord.

James 4:7 instructs us first submit to God and then resist the devil and he shall flee. In the orginal resist means take a complete stand against, i.e. a "180 degree, contrary position" (Bible Suite by Biblos).

Likewise Ephesians 6:13 says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (KJV).

Stress tries to call us back to old places, sinful habits or ungodly relationships for temporary relief. Unfortunately, this leads to frustration and more stress because it's never enough. Sadly, finding our relief outside of God creates a separation in our relationship with Him.

When we fail to stand firmly, deeply rooted in the truth of His word, we can end up doing the opposite of James 4:7. By submitting to our flesh, even the devil, we in turn resist God.

Let's ask the Lord why we respond the way we do to the pressures of life. There is usually a pattern that emerges in this pressure cooker moment where we are the most vulnerable to temptation. When some are stressed, they may over eat, shop, become talkative, or become very quiet and shut down. Stress shines a light on a deeper root issue that God can only remedy.

Once again, we need to learn what it means to stand by submitting to God. This is an interesting form of resistance but if we don't yeild to the Lord we run the risk of trying to manage stress in our own strength.

The promise of God's word is that true submssion produces resistance to the devil. The devil will find himself "stressed" by our obedience. So, we don't need to live in a place of heighten anxiety, but bow your knee to Christ and the stress will roll right off and on to the devil, who will be resisted by a submitted believer!