A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Shirley Charleson is a homemaker, and a member of Bridlewood Presbyterian Church, Agincourt, Ontario.
Women Under Stress. Randy and Nanci Alcorn, Multnomah Press, 1986,247 pp.
“Stress is the wear and tear of life. It is the cumulative effect of all the demands made on us — physical, emotional and spiritual.” We all at some time in our lives are affected by stress. While much research on the subject has been done on men, it is the experience of the authors, Randy Alcorn, a pastor, and Nanci, his wife, a homemaker, that it is most often women who are crying out for help. Many secular books have been written on the subject of stress, but Women Under Stress points out that the one who can shoulder the stress of today’s woman is a God who cares for her — “Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7. While the book is written for women, many chapters would be helpful to men in understanding the stressful situations their wives, female coworkers, friends and family members, find themselves in.
The opening chapter tells of the special stress on the woman of today; “Women are being bombarded in unprecedented ways with all kinds of contradictory messages as to who they are and what they are supposed to look like and act like in today’s world.” The next chapter tells us that we need some stress to provide incentives and challenges — without it we would “be unproductive, unmotivated and uncreative.” “Stress is the spice of life.” After reading that, it is sometimes hard to see what the problem of stress is, but the authors do point out that “if stress is the spice of life, many of us are overseasoned.”
Following chapters show us “How to cope with stress” and “How God uses stress for your good and His glory.” We read of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” as a source of stress being used to teach our inadequacy and God’s sufficiency. A helpful chapter is “Managing your time and tasks before they manage you”; in this are guidelines for time management, “the urgent vs. the important” using the example of Mary and Martha in Luke 10.
The final chapters are helpful guides on reducing stress through exercise, eating right, healthcare and relaxation. Each chapter in the book concludes with a section entitled “Food for thought and discussion” with questions and Bible verses for personal study.
The final paragraph of the book summarizes what could be a Christian’s approach to stress. “God made only one of you, so budget yourself. Spend yourself wisely. Seek to be able to say to the Lord at the end of your life, T have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do’ (John 17:4). No less. And no more.”