Anxious?

Arrowwood Gospel Church

Anxious? Don’t be, instead ask God and you’ll receive His peace.

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Transcript:

Introduction

SLIDE 1

Anxiety

Today we’re stepping away from Acts. Instead, we’ll be talking about anxiety – hopefully this will be helpful and practical as this is an issue that is common for many.

We’ll be going through many different passages, so it may be helpful for you to get out your notebook to keep track of some of the scripture references – We’re not going to spend a lot of time at any one section of scripture. Instead, it will give you the opportunity to go back and study that passage on your own during the week.

We’re going to look at the antidote to anxiety which is trusting God. We all want to trust God and think we are most of the time, but if we’re often feeling anxious, then there is a disconnect – it’s revealing that we have not learned to put our trust in Him.

What is anxiety? It’s that feeling you get in your gut or your chest. That feeling of worry or nervousness. General unease. Maybe about somethings that’s going to happen or something that you’re not sure how it’s going to end. Apprehension.

Anxiety is a good thing if it’s temporary – it’s your body warning you about danger. Ongoing anxiety is not healthy. Either you’re in danger (get out of danger) or you’re feeling unhealthy anxiety. Today, we’re talking mostly about unhealthy anxiety. But listen: if you’re anxious because you are in a dangerous situation, you can trust God even there.

Do not be anxious

Our first passage is a favourite. Philippians 4:6. If you haven’t already, memorise it.

SLIDE 2

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [Philippians 4:6 NIVUK]

This verse has two instructions:

FIRST, Do not be anxious, but SECOND, Present your requests.

It’s like we’re given a choice here. Are you going to Be Anxious? OR Are you going to Present Your Requests?

The choice is obvious, but… I think we often choose the former over the latter.

For both of these choices, we’re given some detail.

Do not be anxious.

• “Okay, about what?” About anything.

Instead: Present your requests.

• “When?” In every situation.
• “How?” By prayer and petition.
  “What’s petition?” It’s like an urgent, devout, almost begging prayer to God to meet a specific need. Think of it this way: sometimes the quick txt-msg style prayer in the back of your mind is appropriate, but that’s not this. This is deliberate fervent prayer. Maybe it’s a prayer that you write down.
• “Anything else when we present our requests?” Yes! Thanksgiving. Prayer is supernatural, but I believe that with thanksgiving, just the act of giving thanks reminds us that God is good.
• “To whom should we present our requests?” To God.
• “Why would I do this?” Ahh, because here’s what will happen! Next verse,

Philippians 4:7,

SLIDE 3

⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 4:7 NIVUK]

If you’re anxious, I think that’s what you yearn for.

Segue

Now sometimes, when we present our requests to God, the Holy Spirit will call us to some healing. There might be some stuff we have to work through. Looks see what that looks like.

What if

Let’s start with the future. Often, we get stuck on the “what ifs.”

What if I lose my job? What if my kids get sick? What if I fail? What if… What if… What if…

This can be debilitating – sometimes it’s a control thing: we have to be in control of every possible scenario.

Luke 12:25,

SLIDE 4

²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? [Luke 12:25 NIVUK]

There’s some stuff that you can do to increase your odds of living an extra hour or two. But, worrying is not going to help with that… Ultimately, who decides when you will die?

God does. That’s right.

If He controls when you will die, then do you think He can take care of everything else in your life?

If you worry about the future, memorise this whole passage in Luke 12 – you’ll be blessed.

So, what do you do? Take all your what-ifs. Write them down on a piece of paper. For each, ask God, “Lord, can I trust You with this?” Most of these what-ifs are things you can’t control, but God can. And He’s good.

Go Through the Pain (Deal with Your Own Sin)

That’s the future, but what about the past? Working through stuff in our past can be scary, but that’s what we’ve gotta do to address anxiety. Nobody likes working through their past pain, but in the words of Pastor Ken Dyck,

The only way through the pain is through the pain.

He’s saying that if you’ve got some unresolved hurt in your life, “can’t go over it, can’t go under it, can’t go around it… gotta go through it.”

You might say, “Well, that issue from my past doesn’t affect me, so I don’t need to dig it up.”

If you’ve dealt with it, then you will feel safe thinking about it (you won’t avoid it). If you haven’t dealt with it (even if you think you have), then it will be affecting you today.

Maybe this is why you’re anxious, because you haven’t worked through that trauma or you haven’t forgiven that person. Unresolved hurts or sin can cause us a great deal of anxiety.

Maybe you’re often bitter. Is it because you’ve allowed bitterness to take hold. Maybe it’s no longer directed at the person that hurt you, it’s now directed at everyone. This is what unconfessed sin does.

“Got some scripture to back that up pastor?”

Sure, James 5:14-16

SLIDE 5

¹⁴ Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. [James 5:13-16 NIVUK]

This passage is full of gold. But, I want you to see that there’s a connection between our illness and working through our junk.

So, Here’s another test for whether you’ve dealt with your past sin: Have you confessed it?

Think about that sin that you don’t want anyone to know about. The one that you’ll take to the grave.

“Oh, I can’t confess that. Nobody would ever forgive me for that.”

Maybe not… but you know who does? Jesus.

If you trust Jesus, and you know that He’s forgiven you… then concerns about whether someone else still judges you will fade away – you don’t need to be scared about what someone else thinks.

“Pastor, you don’t understand, it wouldn’t be good if that got out…” Do you trust Jesus? Is he going to abandon you because your secret’s out?

Confessing doesn’t mean, “make it public.” (well, sometimes it might), more often it means find a Christian that you trust and confess to him or her. Maybe it means confess to the person that would be hurt by knowing this: your spouse? Maybe go see a Christian counsellor confess to her or him.

Deal with the Sins Against You

So, “Go through the pain,” sometimes means dealing with our own sin. Sometimes it means forgiving the sins of others.

You might be dealing with some serious anxiety because someone has seriously hurt you. It might even be that that wrong happened a long time ago – maybe you’ve tried to suppress it, but you know that it’s still there.

The Cost of Sin is Huge

Something that I’ve learnt: the sins that we’ve committed, maybe years ago. The cost of that sin is usually much higher than we realised at the time. Likewise, I know that the hurt that we endure is usually much greater than is realised by the people that hurt us. Your sins and hurts aren’t equivalent to mine, but what is similar is the fact that the cost of that sin is usually greater than is realised by the sinner.

When we think about our own sin or evil that’s been done to us, it’s hard to think that mercy is the solution (mercy meaning withholding the punishment someone deserves): how’s there justice in that?!

Let’s talk about that.

Forgiveness

Forgiving is one of those areas where knowing our theology can help bring healing. I’d say forgiving is another area where we as Christians have the only solution.

SLIDE 6

See, forgiveness jumps into the tension between justice and mercy. As Christians we act justly and we love mercy. (Micah 6:8)

When someone hurts us, justice demands that they pay the price for that and make things right. Mercy, in contrast says, “I’m not going to give you the punishment you deserve.”

If that’s where it ends, then either we forgive (mercy without justice) or we make sure that the person that hurt us pays for what they did (justice without mercy).

Fortunately, it doesn’t end there for us as Christians. We forgive, but then by forgiving we’re trusting God to sort out the justice and mercy tension.

Court

Have you ever watched a show where at the end the bad guy just dies. I really don’t like those endings. It’s so unsatisfying. What I really want to see is that guy go to court. Receive the punishment that he deserves.

I think even more than that, we want that guy to be sorry.

Once in a while, there will be a court case that makes its way into the news. During the sentencing, the accused might have an opportunity to address the court, or the victim, or the family of the victim.

Sometimes the accused will say nothing. Sometimes he’ll make excuses or try to justify what he or she did. In those cases, our response is usually, “You don’t get it. You don’t understand what you did.”

Other times the accused will say he or she is sorry. Sometimes in these cases, the response will be, “Sorry’s not enough. It doesn’t undo what you did.” But it seems to me that more often we just don’t believe it, “You’re not really sorry. If you were really sorry, you’d do… .” Or, “You can’t really be sorry, because you don’t know what you did.”

But in those times when we see that that person really is sorry. Really does regret his or her actions. In those times, we sometimes start to have compassion for that person.

It’s like if we know that someone that’s hurt us is truly sorry, we often want to extend mercy. If that person is not sorry… well, they don’t want our mercy. It’s similar in our sin against God, except that He actually can balance the scales of justice (He is capable of delivering the judgement we deserve) AND He does know our hearts (He is capable of seeing whether we really are sorry).

That mercy & justice meet at the cross. 1 John 2:2,

SLIDE 7

[Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins… [1 John 2:2 NIVUK]

The cost of our sins is paid by Jesus – justice is brought through Him. In this way, we receive mercy.

Summary

Let me spell it out again in case you missed it, because this is important:

When you’re hurt by someone, that rouses God’s wrath. He’s angry that you were hurt – it’s not ok that that happened.

When you forgive, you’re trusting God to balance the justice and mercy. You’re letting go of the need to control how justice is achieved.

God’s wrath is directed at the person that hurt you. But in His mercy, He sent His Son Jesus to take the place of the person that hurt you. That’s what happens on the cross: Penal Substitutionary Atonement. Jesus is substituted in for the person that sinned. Instead of the sinner taking on the penalty of his sin, Jesus takes it on.

You say, “Well, that’s not right. The person that hurt me gets off scot free?” He or she does, but see, God knows that person’s heart. Being a Christian means that we’ve acknowledged that we’ve done some really bad stuff. That kind of mercy is only received by a repentant heart.

Or, let me put it this way: the person that continues into eternity gloating over the hurt he caused you, that person will receive the punishment he’s due. However, the person that enters into eternity grieved over their sin and trusting in Jesus, that person’s sin will be cast onto Jesus.

Research shows that anger intensifies anxiety. Ongoing anger is not a good thing. Forgive. Understanding the cross can help us forgive.

Here’s some scripture,

Romans 12:19, trust God to bring justice,

SLIDE 8

¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. [Romans 12:19 NIVUK]

John 3:36, Trust Jesus’ mercy

SLIDE 9

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. [John 3:36 NIVUK]

1 Thessalonians 1:10,

SLIDE 10

[you]… wait for [God’s] Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. [1Thessalonians 1:10 NIVUK]

Is it time to let it go? Trust God to deliver justice. Trust that Jesus voluntarily went to the cross and he can take on that wrath for whomever he chooses.

Shame (and/or insecurity??)

Another thing from our past that sometimes causes us anxiety is shame. Maybe something happened to you. Maybe you did something. When you think about that, you’re ashamed. You don’t want to tell anybody, but it’s not even that: you just are ashamed of it even if nobody knows.

You know who knows? God knows. He still loves you.

If it’s a thing of not measuring up, know this: as a Christian you’re clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.

If you have some deep shame. Talk to another Christian about it. Often, we need to hear the Holy Spirit remind us of our worth through another Believer. Also, memorise verses that remind you of God’s love for you. If you need help identifying some verses to memorize, let me know. I’d love to help point you to scripture’s declaration of God’s love for you.

Forgetting What is Behind

What else causes anxiety? How about not letting go of the past. We talked about specific examples, but generally, sometimes we’re still fretting over the past.

Sometimes when we talk about the past, Philippians 3:13-14 comes to mind. Paul here is talking about fully knowing Christ,

SLIDE 11

¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:12-14 NIVUK]

“forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead…” That’s a worthy goal.

Sometimes, “forgetting what lies behind” is an issue self control. If you’ve dealt with the past, then it might require self-control to keep it from taking hold again.

Satan doesn’t want you to be free from the sin, shame, or hurts of the past. He’ll use that past to get into our heads. What’s our response? 2 Corinthians 10:5,

SLIDE 12

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. [2 Corinthians 10:5 NIVUK]

Here Paul is teaching about the boldness he sometimes has to use when confronting false teaching. He reminds us that this is a spiritual battle.

Friends, the same thing is true for us. If you’ve dealt with that issue / given it to Jesus / forgiven / received healing…, then you don’t need to keep going there. But, that doesn’t mean Satan isn’t going to try and keep going there. (The armor of God is helpful here.)

Mail Once

Have you ever heard that rule about going through the mail: deal with it once. I try and apply it to old-skool mail and email. It goes like this: when you’re going through the mail, you deal with it right then (right, because the temptation is to check when we don’t have time to deal with it, then come back later, then if it’s something less important we’ll put it in a pile or mark it as unread…). Instead, as soon as you open it, deal with it.

Don’t keep coming back to the mail you’ve already dealt with. In your life, don’t keep opening that old piece of mail that Jesus took away from you.

If there’s some more work you’ve gotta do, do it (this is sometimes the case with forgiveness, we have to forgive again and again for the same sin). Otherwise, deal with it once.

Return

When it comes to our past, this requires discernment. Three voices can battle in our hearts: our own voice, Satan’s voice, and the voice of the Holy Spirit.

• Your own voice might bring up the stuff that you’re still working through.
• Satan might try to convince you that you shouldn’t trust God.
• The Holy Spirit might bring some things to mind that you still need to work through (so that you can better trust God).

If that thought is telling you, “It’s hopeless.” Take it captive and throw it out, in Jesus’ name!

If that thought is something you’ve dealt with. Take it captive and throw it out, in Jesus’ name!

If that thought is something you’ve got to work through still. Make plans to deal with it. If it’s going to require working through it with a friend or spending a lot of time in prayer or making an appointment with a professional (counsellor / medical doctor / psychologist) – do it. Just last week, Julie & I had an appointment with a counsellor. No shame in that.

Deal with it

So, forgetting what is behind, might be a thing of self-control – self-control is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Before getting to the self-control stage though, you’ve gotta work through it.

Don’t misrepresent the Holy Spirit’s words. Instead recognise that you have to work through the past so that you can forget it.

Living in the Now

SLIDE 13

So, there’s lots of weird stuff that the world would advocate related to anxiety. Be cautious of worldly self-help or meditation practices. Also, if it’s talking about spiritual wholeness (or anything spiritual) and it’s not pointing to Jesus, run the other way.

One thing that is helpful: living in the present. The world has recognised that this is a good thing (sometimes called mindfulness).

The difficulty for the world, of course, is that in order to live in the moment / in the present, you have to have dealt with the past and with the future. Given that, in our time and place, there are so many people that are anxious, I believe dealing with anxiety is an area that we can provide the world with real hope.

So, we’ve talked about how to address the past. We’ve talked about trusting God with the future.

Now what? Live today! Enjoy this beautiful world God created. Give thanks for the relationships He’s blessed you with. Step in – with Jesus’ healing – to the problems and brokenness that He’s is calling you to be a part of today.

Your friends that are so anxious, tell them about the peace that you have. Don’t tell them that you have it all figured out – or that you’re anxiety-free (I don’t think we ever fully arrive). If you’ve experienced that peace that transcends understanding, tell people.

It transcends understanding so… they can’t experience it by your descriptions, but they can experience it. They hunger for it. Tell them about it.

Conclusion

Do not be anxious.

We started off with the instruction to not be anxious.

Often, we are to obey that instruction by working through and demolishing the lies that Satan would have us believe. Friends, listen to me: if you have some hurts that the Holy Spirit is calling you to work through, you’re being disobedient if you won’t work through that.

I believe this is God’s will for us today: we don’t need to be anxious. But maybe, when I read this verse and point out that this is an instruction, you get anxious about that: “Oh no, another thing I have to be anxious about.”

That’s not Jesus’ heart at all. We’ve talked about working through past hurts, forgiving, and working through our what-ifs. These might help you to trust Him.

Jesus loves you. If you wrestle with anxiety, if memorising some of this scripture might help, then do it. If that’s too much, don’t.

Just know this: Jesus loves you. Peter says, in 1 Peter 5:7,

SLIDE 14

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. [1 Peter 5:7 NIVUK]

Let’s Pray -> Pray