This year, God wants to re-ignite our passion for Him and for the life that He has given us. Last week, we were reminded that the end result of us being faithful to God and to obediently live according to His word and will is that we enjoy life. God wants us to enjoy the life that He has given us. He wants to give us joy and rest. God takes joy and rest seriously!
One of the things that most commonly stops us from enjoying life that steals away our joy and rest is worry.
Worry is a misuse of the imagination that God created us with. When anxious thoughts begin to run through our mind and we allow them to hang out there, worry arises. When we are worried, irritability and anger are usually not far behind it.
These things steal away from our lives. Quite literally, they steal away from our lives!
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.
They do not at all lead to hope or faith or trust. They do not result in peace or confidence or patience. They definitely do not lead to a full and abundant life.
Now, as a disclaimer before going through the rest of the message, the context of what we are going to cover is anxiety brought on by our own doing. If you are overwhelmed by a persistent sense of anxiety or depression, but with no reason to be feeling that way, you should seek out a mental health professional.
Until the Lord heals you, you may need medications to treat a true chemical imbalance. However, they will also likely couple that treatment along with counseling because there are healthier ways to cope with anxiety. The latter part that we have control over is the context of what we are covering today.
There is a huge difference between having an uncontrollable sense of anxiety for no reason and feeling anxious because we are choosing to think about things that make us anxious. The latter is the part that we are covering.
OK, here we go!
Worrying is trusting in our own selves and not trusting the Lord. Worry comes from trying to figure out what we are going to do about a situation or what things could potentially go wrong in something that is out of our control. It is impossible to simultaneously trust God and also worry. Worrying brings about a curse instead of a blessing!
Jeremiah 17:5-10
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
That phrase has always confused me. “That person won’t see prosperity when it comes.”
I don’t know about you, but when my bills are paid, when my account still has money in it, when I’m healthy, when life is going well overall, it’s very obvious and clear to me that I am prospering. Most of us can recognize prosperity when it comes, so what does this mean?
In contrast, someone who trusts in their own selves still worry even when things are going well for them. Even when they are blessed and prosperous, they still worry about what could go wrong. THEY DON’T SEE IT! Their perspective is darkened by the simple question, “What if?”
They are objectively prospering, but because of their perspective, they subjectively do not see it that way. They don’t see prosperity when it comes!
In stark contrast, the one who chooses not to trust in themselves, but to trust in the Lord; the one who chooses not to worry is blessed no matter what comes their way!
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
How do we send our roots out into the stream so that we never cease to bear the fruits of the Spirit no matter what season of life we are in? Well, the root of our lives is our heart and mind. Will we keep them rooted in the rivers of living water that flow into our lives through the Holy Spirit? Or will we leave them rooted in our fleshly heart and thoughts?
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Why does the Lord search and examine our hearts to determine our deeds? That is where our deeds begin and where the motives behind our deeds are clearly revealed!
To begin to rid our lives of worry and anxiety, we must go straight to the root source of them – our heart and thoughts.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
That’s good, but how do we know whether we are trusting in the Lord or leaning on our own understanding? As we just read, our hearts are deceiving above all things and beyond cure! That’s why God gives us a new heart. If we look within and think that we’re trusting the Lord, how do we know that we’re not just deceiving ourselves?
Prayer! Just ask God!
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Prayer is key to all of this. It is through prayer that we allow God to search us and to reveal sources of anxiety and worry within us. He sees and reveals to us what we may not see on our own. It is also through prayer that we then hand those things over to God. That’s how we trust Him, we hand it over to Him and follow His lead.
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
How much of our anxiety are we supposed to cast onto Jesus? ALL OF IT!
We were not designed nor purposed to carry the heavy weight of worry and anxiety. It steals from our lives!
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
This psalmist was having all kinds of problems in life and people who rose up against them in wickedness. They ended the psalm by testifying that:
Psalm 94:17-19
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.
The Lord wants to help us as well! The Lord wants to take away our anxiety and replace it with His peace and even joy!
This is one of the roles of the Holy Spirit within us; to search us and know us and to reveal the things causing our anxiety and worry to us. The Holy Spirit also helps us in our weakness to hand these things over to Jesus. Jesus said:
John 14:26-27
26 the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Jesus wants us to cast our anxieties and worries onto Him!
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
It is also through prayer that we receive His peace!
Philippians 4:4-9
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
What an awesome trade! We give God our anxiety and He trades it in for peace. Not just any peace, but a peace that transcends all understanding AND guards our hearts and minds from anxiety!
However, as the next verse indicates, we have a role to play in this as well. After we pray and trade in our anxiety and worry for peace, we have a choice to make. What will we permit in our minds?
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
We may not choose what thoughts pop into our minds, but we have complete choice about which thoughts we dwell on and meditate on and which thoughts we toss aside. We face all of the same troubles and difficulties as those not yet saved in the world face. However, we should have different thoughts and attitudes about them!
This is where the war is raging between peace and anxiety, between joy and worry; within our minds.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Just because a thought pops into our minds, we do not have to allow it to remain there! We can take our thoughts captive. If they do not agree with God’s word or Christ’s will for our lives, we can replace it with what He says! We have the divine power to demolish strongholds that try to take root in our minds!
Isaiah 26:1-4
1 We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
We are kept within perfect peace when our mind remains steadfast on the Lord; trusting in Him.
In fact, Jesus gave us a tool to use to replace our anxiety and worry with peace. He gave us a way to change our thoughts from worry to trust. All that we have to do is simply to look around us to get re-grounded and have our perspectives corrected.
Take a look around you. How many birds do you see lying dead due to starvation? How many yards and fields do you see barren without any grass or trees or flowers? Even in this wintery season where most things die, the grass is still green underneath it!
Matthew 6:25-34/Luke 12:22-34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Luke 12:26) Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
What a truth! Can anyone add even a single hour to their lives by worrying? Absolutely not! In fact, we know that it steals away and shortens our lives! If we can’t even add an hour to our lives, then why do we spend any time at all worrying? Jesus goes on:
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Again, Jesus isn’t telling us not to worry because our lives are all rainbows and sunshine. Jesus is telling us that we will face trouble of some kind each and every day. However, worrying is not what our response should be! Trust in God is what our response should be to that trouble!
(Luke 12:32-34)
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What is it that we treasure? Where are our hearts? Do we rely on and trust in the things of this world or the Kingdom of God? Jesus doesn’t tell us to trust in our stuff, but rather, to sell it and give it away to people who don’t have stuff. Then, we build up for ourselves treasure in Heaven and rely in fullness of trust in the Lord!
Don’t be afraid and don’t worry, little sheep. Jesus has got you! If He takes care of the grass and birds, how much more will He take care of us? Are we not more valuable than grass? If God faithfully takes care of growing it, then why do we worry about Him taking care of us?
Worry is a misuse of our imagination! Most of the things that worry causes us to think about never, ever, ever even happen. So why did we think about those things? Why did we worry?
After those things did not happen and we realize that there was nothing to worry about, why do we choose to yet worry again?
AND, absolute worst case scenario, if what we worried about did happen, did worrying about it do anything to avoid or to help the situation? Of course not!
Nothing good can ever come from worrying.
What if instead, when anxiety and worry arises, we begin to imagine and think about those situations going well? What if we began to bless situations in our minds? Hope would begin to rise up within us. Faith and trust in the Lord would take root within our hearts and minds. We would become the prophetic people that we were created and purposed to be!
Say for example that we go to the doctor and they want to run some tests. What if while we were waiting on the results, we imagined the report coming back good? What if instead of putting ourselves in the grave with our imaginations and Google searches, we brought Heaven to earth and searched God’s word?
Isn’t that how Jesus taught us to pray? Your Kingdom come, Your will be done here on the earth even as it is in Heaven? Didn’t Jesus just say that it is the Father’s pleasure to give us His kingdom? Why should we desire and expect anything less?
Why fill our thoughts with everything that could go wrong instead of how good everything could end?
Colossians 3:1-4;15-17
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
…
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Let’s intentionally choose life and blessings over death and curses. Let’s fill our minds and hearts with Heavenly, Kingdom things that release hope and faith and trust and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and everything good and perfect!
Let’s fill our minds and thoughts with God’s truth, His promises, and everything from His Kingdom. Whatever trouble comes our way, there is a promise of God to trump it, to heal it, to deliver us from it, to restore anything lost by it, and more!
Let’s fill our hearts with psalms, hymns, songs of the Spirit, gratitude, love, understanding, wisdom, and every good and perfect thing from His Kingdom.