Don’t ignore it. Pay attention to “a tension” in your life. A dictionary definition of tension is the act of stretching or straining. The state of being stretched or strained. Tension can be mental or emotional strain, pressure or stress. Often tension is present in relationships. And then there is spiritual tension. We all have and live with tension in our lives. It’s not if we have tension, the issue is how do we deal with tension when it comes our way? 

Tension can impact our physical and mental well-being. What we must not and cannot afford to do is ignore tension and allow it to go unattended for prolonged periods of time. We must pay timely attention to any tension in our lives.

When we are experiencing physical tension, it is not too difficult to recognize. We may have headaches, or our muscles can tense up and we feel tight across the chest our shoulders. We can have trouble breathing, have panic attacks, blurred eyesight, sleep problems, fatigue and even indigestion. There are exercises and things we can do to relieve some of the symptoms from a physical standpoint. Yes, physical conditions such as being overweight, poor eating habits, high blood pressure and other ailments do lead to physical tension. However, in many instances you may be dealing with a symptom of tension but not the root cause. Much physical tension is caused by something going on internally, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

Signs of mental and emotional tension include, crying spells or bursts of anger, losing interest in daily activities, feeling guilty, helpless or hopeless, avoiding family and friends. Relationship tensions, often manifest themselves when you’ve become a contrarian, intimacy is rushed or nonexistent, inappropriate anger response, you want to be alone — a lot, and you are simply unhappy.

And spiritual tension, can be seen by sadness, anger, despair, anxiety, questioning people and institutions, such as clergy, asking “Why now?” and “Why me?”.  It is also expressed in feelings of emptiness, loss of direction, abandonment, spiritual lethargy, no desire to worship, pray, study God’s Word or go to church. The feeling that God is distant and far removed from your life.

It seems to me that much if not most of the tension in our lives is relationship based. If we are at odds with our spouse, family members, co-workers or church folk and the underlying issues resulting in tension are not addressed, we will not be in a good place, and put our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being at risk. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned in this post, the ball is in your court. Make the first move, and don’t delay by letting days, weeks, or months go by without addressing the tension.  Whether it’s a person or situation causing tension, go to them and talk it out, seek reconciliation and restoration in the relationship. 

If it is God, you are experiencing tension with, know that your heavenly Father is ready to receive you with open arms, remember the prodigal son? As you pour out your heart to Him in repentance, He is ready to forgive, refresh, and restore. For our vertical relationship with God 1^st John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And for our horizontal relationship with others James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed.” Isn’t it amazing that if we simply obey the greatest command of all – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and might.  And love others as yourself”, we could avoid virtually all tension in our lives.

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