One might expect that the executive leaders of international mission organizations would encourage a single, clear course of action: Sacrifice everything. How do you help an entire world that’s hurting when you, yourself, are on the brink of burnout? So how, and why, should you look up from your local community to consider global work? What is your responsibility? Who is your responsibility? And do the answers to those questions even matter if you’re completely drained of the energy and capacity to respond? Odds are, then, that you’re pretty stressed. The desire to consider others is precariously stacked against addressing our own needs, and all of this is clouded by a growing fog of exhaustion. Many Christians long to reach out to our global neighbors, but we’re burdened by stress for our own homes, local communities, and domestic challenges. This is hardly a surprise given that we’re halfway through a second year marked by a world-shaking pandemic, racial injustice, economic instability, unsettling international elections, and social unrest.
Seventy-seven percent of respondents listed worries about the future of our nation as a significant source of stress-that’s up from 2019, when only 66 percent made this claim. Unsurprisingly, the 2020 Stress in America survey revealed a large escalation in stress levels. The American Psychological Association surveys people across the United States about stress, digging into its intensity, its causes, and its effects on physical and mental health. Three in five Americans are stressed by the issues our nation currently faces.
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