If you have ever had a stress fracture in a bone you know that it hurts like you know what and what is weird is that it doesn’t debilitate you totally but it really messes up how you go about things. The same can happen in building structures that won’t fall down immediately, but start showing the signs of the stress. And yes, both can be said about organizations and people within organizations. Stress fractures show up when demands are high and work expectations are filled with pressure. Sometimes our stress fractures start when we are overwhelmed with the challenges of work and life at the same time. In actuality it seems there is always something that is adding to the stress and pressure. I find it comforting to just start at the point of realization that we are not superman or superwoman. We are human and the stress of work and life catches up with all of us and when it does the question is not totally what we do to get out from under it, but more so how we deal with it to get through it. It also helps to see others who we think are well above all of it to actually show us that they are human too. We see this clearly in Numbers 11 with Moses (it’s worth the read of the entire chapter) where in verses 14-15 he says to God, “I can’t carry all of these people by myself! The load is too heavy! I’d rather you killed me than treat me like this. Please spare me this misery.” Wow, Moses got right to where we can get too! So, we are not alone and when we reach the stress fracture points and Moses shows us exactly where to go to for relief. He cries out to God and if you go on to read Chapter 11 you will see that God helps Moses understand how to delegate and organize around what needs to get done so the burden was not all on Moses going forward. It’s an encouraging and reinvigorating story of how God provides and how He might give us the little stress fractures but when asked, He provides enough relief for us to pick ourselves back up and keep on going.

Reference: Numbers 11