1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,160 Now let us turn to our message for today. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,520 It is titled, Anxiety and God's Plan for You. 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:09,960 This is continuing this weekend's theme 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,440 of mental health, help, and spirituality. 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:19,440 We're going to look at a theological perspective 6 00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:24,380 but we aren't only going to leave you wondering 7 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:26,020 what to do with it at the end. 8 00:00:26,020 --> 00:00:29,180 We'll look at some practical applications. 9 00:00:29,180 --> 00:00:31,960 Before we do that, one more word of prayer. 10 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,240 Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you again 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:36,840 for your love and your care towards us. 12 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,500 We know how much darkness and stress and turmoil 13 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:42,880 there is in this world and we pray that 14 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,740 through all of that fog, you would be that light 15 00:00:45,740 --> 00:00:47,520 shining bright in our lives. 16 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,380 So Lord, be that light to us today. 17 00:00:49,380 --> 00:00:51,240 We pray in your name, amen. 18 00:00:52,940 --> 00:00:56,540 Another part to my story, I love backpacking. 19 00:00:56,540 --> 00:01:01,500 If you are new to this, if you're new tuning in online, 20 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:03,600 some of my other church members have heard me share 21 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:05,700 about my love for the outdoors, the forest, 22 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:09,980 hiking, camping, tents, campfires, I love it all. 23 00:01:09,980 --> 00:01:11,080 I like it all. 24 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,160 Not a fan of ticks and mosquitoes and poison ivy 25 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,580 but that comes with the rest of it 26 00:01:16,580 --> 00:01:19,540 and there's so much good for me that I can tolerate 27 00:01:19,540 --> 00:01:21,060 the not so good. 28 00:01:21,060 --> 00:01:23,660 On this same trip with my brother, 29 00:01:23,660 --> 00:01:27,980 we did a new total mileage for the number of days 30 00:01:27,980 --> 00:01:31,580 we were out there, it was 52 miles in three days. 31 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:35,220 We felt it in every fiber of our bodies. 32 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:39,220 It took a little while to recover but we made memories, 33 00:01:39,220 --> 00:01:41,460 we enjoyed each other's company, 34 00:01:41,460 --> 00:01:44,620 we got to run across some kind people who helped us 35 00:01:44,620 --> 00:01:48,060 when we got turned around, saw some beautiful landscapes 36 00:01:48,060 --> 00:01:52,020 and little waterfalls and the like, I love it. 37 00:01:52,020 --> 00:01:55,980 God's nature, his creation is wonderful 38 00:01:55,980 --> 00:01:57,620 and I like being immersed in it. 39 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,740 However, this is a however, when you're doing so many miles 40 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:04,220 that means you have to do a lot in each day 41 00:02:04,220 --> 00:02:07,540 because we only had three days but we were trying to do it 42 00:02:07,540 --> 00:02:09,540 in about two and a half. 43 00:02:09,540 --> 00:02:13,380 Long days, it meant that our two nights 44 00:02:13,380 --> 00:02:15,460 that we were out in the woods, we didn't finish 45 00:02:15,460 --> 00:02:17,780 until after the sun had set. 46 00:02:17,780 --> 00:02:19,940 It gets darker a little earlier in the woods 47 00:02:19,940 --> 00:02:22,260 because that hill is up there and the sun goes behind it 48 00:02:22,260 --> 00:02:24,380 and next thing you know, it's dark. 49 00:02:24,380 --> 00:02:26,300 Trees add to it. 50 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:31,300 Our first day, we went 21 miles, 21 miles. 51 00:02:32,620 --> 00:02:35,420 We were optimistic, we were aiming for a battlefield, 52 00:02:35,420 --> 00:02:37,080 we were gonna camp at the battlefield, 53 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:38,940 there's gonna be something flat at a battlefield, 54 00:02:38,940 --> 00:02:40,220 that's where we were going, that's our goal, 55 00:02:40,220 --> 00:02:41,420 that's our target. 56 00:02:41,420 --> 00:02:44,320 We had prepared well, he and I are, 57 00:02:45,260 --> 00:02:46,420 at least between the two of us, 58 00:02:46,420 --> 00:02:48,860 we are known for being over preppers. 59 00:02:48,860 --> 00:02:50,900 We carry too much and we have extras 60 00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:53,180 and we never really learned that lesson 61 00:02:53,180 --> 00:02:55,420 but we were prepared, we had our food, 62 00:02:55,420 --> 00:02:57,820 we had our clothing, we had warm socks, 63 00:02:57,820 --> 00:02:59,880 we had our tents, we had our bags, 64 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,380 we had everything that we needed for our journey 65 00:03:03,380 --> 00:03:06,000 and we knew that we wanted to get to that battlefield. 66 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,420 Well as the sun started to go lower and lower 67 00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:13,660 and then disappeared and then you hear the nighttime sounds 68 00:03:13,660 --> 00:03:16,580 and the shadows get even blacker 69 00:03:16,580 --> 00:03:21,580 and then you can't see the rocks and the roots as well. 70 00:03:21,740 --> 00:03:25,480 I noticed a change in my brother's body language. 71 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:29,860 Have you ever been in the woods 72 00:03:29,860 --> 00:03:32,740 or away from a city at night? 73 00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:35,840 It's different, isn't it? 74 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,340 You don't have what they call light pollution 75 00:03:38,340 --> 00:03:41,420 anywhere around you, dark is dark. 76 00:03:42,460 --> 00:03:44,020 It's very dark. 77 00:03:44,020 --> 00:03:46,880 Do you ever feel like when those moments 78 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:48,680 when it's like that much darker, 79 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,760 do you get a little bit more alert 80 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,080 on what you hear or smell or what your toes 81 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,820 are picking up through your shoes as you take a step? 82 00:03:58,820 --> 00:04:00,480 Are you looking for something that might 83 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,760 throw you off balance a little bit more? 84 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,260 Well I noticed that in my brother. 85 00:04:06,260 --> 00:04:07,800 He was doing a couple of things. 86 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,200 One, he stopped talking so much. 87 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:11,580 That was a small blessing. 88 00:04:11,580 --> 00:04:15,480 He also picked up his pace. 89 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,760 As he picked up his pace, he distanced himself from me 90 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,380 and I noticed his steps weren't quite so 91 00:04:23,380 --> 00:04:25,580 just kind of wherever they may fall. 92 00:04:25,580 --> 00:04:28,580 He was a little more careful and a little bit more certain 93 00:04:28,580 --> 00:04:31,960 because we didn't want a twisted ankle at night 94 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,000 in the middle of the woods. 95 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,140 I also noticed that when he did talk, 96 00:04:37,140 --> 00:04:40,500 the only thing that he said was one word, 97 00:04:40,500 --> 00:04:43,920 blaze, because when you're hiking a trail, 98 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,740 you look for the markers on the trees 99 00:04:46,740 --> 00:04:50,360 or the signs that tell you you're on the correct trail. 100 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,260 You haven't gotten off onto where a deer path 101 00:04:53,260 --> 00:04:55,960 or some other animal or a water runoff. 102 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,540 Sometimes it's a little confusing. 103 00:04:58,540 --> 00:05:01,020 Blaze, he would say each time we saw our little 104 00:05:01,020 --> 00:05:02,560 white diamond with a turtle on it. 105 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,860 That's what we were looking for. 106 00:05:04,860 --> 00:05:07,360 Blaze, blaze. 107 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,740 I'm like, well, he's paying attention. 108 00:05:10,740 --> 00:05:11,580 It's very good. 109 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,240 I was a little less concerned about it. 110 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,320 I have a little bit more experience than him 111 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,600 and I asked him, it seems like you're moving 112 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,880 a little quicker and you've stopped talking quite so much. 113 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,140 What is going on? 114 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:32,000 And he goes, well, I'm a little more fearful now. 115 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:33,720 Understandable. 116 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:36,300 What are you fearful for? 117 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:39,440 Well, I'm fearful that one of us could get hurt. 118 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,780 I'm fearful that we could find ourselves on the wrong path. 119 00:05:42,780 --> 00:05:46,560 I'm fearful that we're not going to actually make it 120 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,380 to our destination at the end of today. 121 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,960 He didn't much care that my response was, 122 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,260 well, be thankful in all things, dear brother. 123 00:05:58,880 --> 00:05:59,840 I found it funny. 124 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:01,840 I was a little less concerned. 125 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:06,320 We were well prepared with our basic needs. 126 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,360 And we had markers along the way telling us 127 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,520 where our path was going. 128 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,880 We had the map and we had the markers. 129 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,920 So I was wondering what could we learn 130 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,140 from these experiences in the woods. 131 00:06:24,140 --> 00:06:27,240 And because I knew that this weekend was coming up 132 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,040 and I knew that this topic was coming up, 133 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:34,600 I praised God that as I am stumbling through the darkness 134 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,160 and we're making our way to point B, 135 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,600 he impressed me with two points. 136 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:42,440 Two points. 137 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:47,440 One, in Matthew chapter six, 138 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,200 during Christ's famous Sermon on the Mount, 139 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,200 that begins in Matthew five and it continues 140 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,460 through chapter seven. 141 00:06:57,460 --> 00:07:01,180 In Matthew chapter six, 142 00:07:03,060 --> 00:07:07,260 we find a spiritual approach to anxiety, 143 00:07:07,260 --> 00:07:12,020 to fear, to unnecessary concern. 144 00:07:12,020 --> 00:07:14,780 And I wanna make sure that we catch that word, 145 00:07:14,780 --> 00:07:17,060 unnecessary concern. 146 00:07:17,060 --> 00:07:19,500 Those are our times when it's very much necessary 147 00:07:19,500 --> 00:07:21,040 to be a little anxious. 148 00:07:22,300 --> 00:07:25,140 But Jesus, after talking about giving to the needy 149 00:07:25,140 --> 00:07:27,060 and he shares the Lord's prayer 150 00:07:27,060 --> 00:07:31,300 and the blessing of fasting when you fast. 151 00:07:31,300 --> 00:07:33,300 Fasting could be a very real part 152 00:07:33,300 --> 00:07:35,820 of your spiritual practice. 153 00:07:35,820 --> 00:07:37,620 There are different ways of fasting. 154 00:07:38,620 --> 00:07:40,900 Then he talks about laying for yourselves 155 00:07:40,900 --> 00:07:44,740 up treasures not on earth where they can be destroyed, 156 00:07:44,740 --> 00:07:45,880 but in heaven. 157 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:51,500 And then he says this in Matthew six and verse 25. 158 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:56,500 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, 159 00:07:57,500 --> 00:08:01,260 what you will eat or what you will drink, 160 00:08:01,260 --> 00:08:04,660 nor about your body, what you will put on. 161 00:08:04,660 --> 00:08:08,800 Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 162 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:10,940 Look at the birds of the air, 163 00:08:10,940 --> 00:08:14,340 they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns 164 00:08:14,340 --> 00:08:17,720 and yet your heavenly father feeds them. 165 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,340 Are you not of more value than they? 166 00:08:20,340 --> 00:08:23,740 Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour 167 00:08:23,740 --> 00:08:25,700 to his span of life? 168 00:08:25,700 --> 00:08:28,400 And why are you anxious about clothing? 169 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,260 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. 170 00:08:31,260 --> 00:08:34,140 They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, 171 00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:36,780 even Solomon in all his glory 172 00:08:36,780 --> 00:08:39,740 was not arrayed like one of these. 173 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:41,960 If God closed the grass of the field, 174 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,020 which today is alive and tomorrow thrown into the oven, 175 00:08:45,020 --> 00:08:49,580 will he not much more clothe you, oh you of little faith? 176 00:08:49,580 --> 00:08:53,700 Therefore do not be anxious, saying what shall we eat, 177 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:56,340 what shall we drink, what shall we wear? 178 00:08:56,340 --> 00:08:58,460 For the Gentiles seek after these things 179 00:08:58,460 --> 00:09:03,460 and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. 180 00:09:03,660 --> 00:09:07,220 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness 181 00:09:07,220 --> 00:09:10,560 and all of these things that is the needs of life 182 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:12,260 will be added to you. 183 00:09:14,060 --> 00:09:16,080 Now one difference between my brother and I 184 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,820 on our backpacking journey that night, 185 00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:23,240 that first night is I knew our needs were met. 186 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,820 We had shelter, we had a way of making fire, 187 00:09:26,820 --> 00:09:30,160 we had light that, you know, our headlamps are good 188 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,500 for about 10 hours of light. 189 00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:36,260 We had food, we had clothing and a sleeping bag 190 00:09:36,260 --> 00:09:40,000 that was going to keep us warm from the elements. 191 00:09:40,940 --> 00:09:42,320 Our needs were met. 192 00:09:43,780 --> 00:09:45,460 More than that in your life, 193 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:47,540 your heavenly father knows your needs 194 00:09:47,540 --> 00:09:49,940 and he is not only prepared but he is sufficient 195 00:09:49,940 --> 00:09:50,780 to meet them. 196 00:09:52,300 --> 00:09:56,980 So when we talk about unnecessary stresses and anxieties, 197 00:09:57,900 --> 00:10:01,220 it is true that you may not have a wardrobe 198 00:10:01,220 --> 00:10:03,340 that takes up two full bedrooms 199 00:10:03,340 --> 00:10:07,620 with a fresh pair of socks every single day. 200 00:10:07,620 --> 00:10:09,940 I think few people actually enjoy that. 201 00:10:10,860 --> 00:10:15,540 You may have a much more simplified lifestyle, 202 00:10:15,540 --> 00:10:19,400 a handful of outfits, a pair of shoes and the like. 203 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,060 God knows your needs. 204 00:10:24,180 --> 00:10:27,620 And when it comes to your needs of life, 205 00:10:27,620 --> 00:10:31,300 what Jesus is saying is where are your priorities? 206 00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:35,540 Are your priorities stressing about the ins and outs 207 00:10:35,540 --> 00:10:40,540 of walking this mortal life or are your primary concerns 208 00:10:40,540 --> 00:10:44,700 about the eternal life? 209 00:10:45,580 --> 00:10:48,140 Are you laying up your treasures in heaven 210 00:10:48,140 --> 00:10:52,140 even if that means maybe you don't have an extra pair 211 00:10:52,140 --> 00:10:53,780 of shoes this week? 212 00:10:55,180 --> 00:10:58,940 Maybe you don't need the designer wallet if it means 213 00:10:58,940 --> 00:11:02,260 that you can help someone with an education 214 00:11:02,260 --> 00:11:06,140 that's setting them up for discipleship. 215 00:11:06,140 --> 00:11:11,140 Maybe if your priorities are spending a little extra time 216 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,880 in the word of God rather than stressing 217 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:20,320 about catching a sale, God knows your needs 218 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,920 and he will take care of you and he will bless you. 219 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,400 Maybe if you are struggling with the Sabbath 220 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:34,400 and to the human mind how taking 24 hours out of a week 221 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,080 and not putting it into productive labor, 222 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:45,080 that means money making labor, how else will we make it? 223 00:11:45,220 --> 00:11:47,640 Survive, I need the extra paycheck, 224 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,120 there's incentive pay on a weekend. 225 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,920 Can God really stretch my check to cover all of that 226 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:56,940 if I'm faithful to him on the Sabbath? 227 00:11:56,940 --> 00:12:01,940 I promise you not only can he, but he wants to 228 00:12:02,220 --> 00:12:07,220 and there are too many testimonies that he has and will 229 00:12:07,220 --> 00:12:09,460 to call it a coincidence when he does. 230 00:12:11,260 --> 00:12:12,260 He's there for you. 231 00:12:14,460 --> 00:12:16,260 That's not a promise that it's easy, 232 00:12:18,340 --> 00:12:21,860 but it's also a certainty that he's there for you. 233 00:12:21,860 --> 00:12:26,860 If you feel an unnecessary anxiety welling up in your life 234 00:12:26,860 --> 00:12:30,420 about the basic needs of life, food and shelter 235 00:12:30,420 --> 00:12:35,420 or the fact that we age and you wish you could add 236 00:12:34,940 --> 00:12:38,940 an extra five or 10 years onto your life. 237 00:12:38,940 --> 00:12:41,140 If only I could go back with all my wisdom 238 00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:44,540 to when I was 24, 24 was a good year. 239 00:12:44,540 --> 00:12:46,780 I could do all that I wanted, I never hurt. 240 00:12:46,780 --> 00:12:49,780 We could go back to that, oh, how wonderful would it be? 241 00:12:49,780 --> 00:12:53,780 Well, that anxiety is not going to add any more seconds 242 00:12:53,780 --> 00:12:56,780 or minutes or hours, you certainly can't go back in time. 243 00:12:56,780 --> 00:13:00,780 I dare say the only thing you will add are anxiety lines 244 00:13:00,780 --> 00:13:02,780 and gray hair or less hair. 245 00:13:04,780 --> 00:13:06,780 You can't add that onto your life, 246 00:13:06,780 --> 00:13:09,780 but if you are investing in heaven, 247 00:13:09,780 --> 00:13:11,780 eternal life is your reward. 248 00:13:11,780 --> 00:13:16,780 That is certainly a goal worth striving towards. 249 00:13:19,780 --> 00:13:22,780 Take your cares to God, 250 00:13:23,780 --> 00:13:28,780 your anxieties when it comes to the basic needs of life. 251 00:13:29,780 --> 00:13:33,780 But then again, the second part of it was 252 00:13:33,780 --> 00:13:35,780 what do you do with your anxiety 253 00:13:35,780 --> 00:13:37,780 and what do you do with your anxiety 254 00:13:37,780 --> 00:13:42,780 when you travel? 255 00:13:42,780 --> 00:13:44,780 As you are moving day to day 256 00:13:44,780 --> 00:13:48,780 and you experience what life brings to you. 257 00:13:49,780 --> 00:13:52,780 My brother and I were well prepared for our trip. 258 00:13:52,780 --> 00:13:55,780 My brother and I had studied our maps 259 00:13:55,780 --> 00:13:58,780 and we knew our turns and we knew the way points. 260 00:13:58,780 --> 00:14:01,780 And like I said, each time we saw our white diamond 261 00:14:01,780 --> 00:14:04,780 with a turtle blaze, we were on the correct trail. 262 00:14:04,780 --> 00:14:07,780 I would invite you to turn in your Bibles 263 00:14:07,780 --> 00:14:11,780 closer to our scripture reading for today in Philippians. 264 00:14:12,780 --> 00:14:14,780 Our Bible verse says, 265 00:14:14,780 --> 00:14:16,780 do not be anxious about anything, 266 00:14:16,780 --> 00:14:19,780 but in everything by prayer and supplication 267 00:14:19,780 --> 00:14:23,780 with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 268 00:14:23,780 --> 00:14:26,780 Paul gives a couple of imperatives 269 00:14:26,780 --> 00:14:29,780 beginning in chapter four in verse four 270 00:14:29,780 --> 00:14:31,780 and then in verse four in verse five. 271 00:14:31,780 --> 00:14:34,780 And then finally in verse six, 272 00:14:34,780 --> 00:14:37,780 those imperatives are directions, instruction. 273 00:14:37,780 --> 00:14:40,780 Do this if you are a disciple of Jesus. 274 00:14:40,780 --> 00:14:42,780 But it comes on the back end 275 00:14:42,780 --> 00:14:45,780 of what he ends chapter three with. 276 00:14:46,780 --> 00:14:50,780 It's always good to read a little bit before with Paul. 277 00:14:50,780 --> 00:14:53,780 Paul almost always builds up to something 278 00:14:53,780 --> 00:14:56,780 and then he gives you a therefore do this. 279 00:14:56,780 --> 00:14:59,780 So if you only look at the beginning 280 00:14:59,780 --> 00:15:02,780 of the verse four, you might wonder, 281 00:15:02,780 --> 00:15:05,780 what's the foundation for the therefore? 282 00:15:06,780 --> 00:15:09,780 Paul coming towards the end of chapter three, 283 00:15:09,780 --> 00:15:11,780 beginning in verse 12, 284 00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:14,780 speaking of that resurrection from the dead, 285 00:15:14,780 --> 00:15:16,780 that first resurrection, 286 00:15:16,780 --> 00:15:18,780 the resurrection to eternal life, 287 00:15:18,780 --> 00:15:20,780 that resurrection to glory in Jesus. 288 00:15:20,780 --> 00:15:23,780 When Jesus came forth from the tomb, 289 00:15:23,780 --> 00:15:25,780 victorious over death, 290 00:15:25,780 --> 00:15:27,780 that's the certainty that he can give 291 00:15:27,780 --> 00:15:29,780 the same thing to you and I, 292 00:15:29,780 --> 00:15:31,780 our loved ones who have passed away, 293 00:15:31,780 --> 00:15:34,780 leaving the holes in our relationships. 294 00:15:34,780 --> 00:15:36,780 Because Jesus is victorious, 295 00:15:36,780 --> 00:15:39,780 he can also grant it to you and I. 296 00:15:39,780 --> 00:15:42,780 And that is what Paul is talking about. 297 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:43,780 In verse 12, 298 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:47,780 not that I, Paul, have already obtained this eternal life 299 00:15:47,780 --> 00:15:49,780 or am already perfect. 300 00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:51,780 How many of us have already obtained 301 00:15:51,780 --> 00:15:53,780 eternal life or perfection? 302 00:15:54,780 --> 00:15:56,780 Correct answer. 303 00:15:56,780 --> 00:15:58,780 None of us have. 304 00:15:59,780 --> 00:16:00,780 So in other words, 305 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:02,780 consider yourself in fine company 306 00:16:02,780 --> 00:16:04,780 with the apostle Paul. 307 00:16:05,780 --> 00:16:09,780 But Paul presses on to make it his own, 308 00:16:09,780 --> 00:16:12,780 and the reason being because Christ Jesus 309 00:16:12,780 --> 00:16:15,780 made him his own. 310 00:16:15,780 --> 00:16:18,780 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, 311 00:16:18,780 --> 00:16:19,780 but one thing I do, 312 00:16:19,780 --> 00:16:21,780 forgetting what lies behind 313 00:16:21,780 --> 00:16:23,780 and straining forward to what lies ahead, 314 00:16:23,780 --> 00:16:26,780 I press on toward the goal for the prize 315 00:16:26,780 --> 00:16:30,780 of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 316 00:16:30,780 --> 00:16:33,780 Let those of us who are mature think that way, 317 00:16:33,780 --> 00:16:35,780 and if anything you think otherwise, 318 00:16:35,780 --> 00:16:37,780 God will reveal that also to you. 319 00:16:37,780 --> 00:16:41,780 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 320 00:16:41,780 --> 00:16:43,780 If you are farther along in your Christian walk, 321 00:16:43,780 --> 00:16:44,780 in other words, 322 00:16:44,780 --> 00:16:45,780 Paul is saying, 323 00:16:45,780 --> 00:16:46,780 think like me. 324 00:16:47,780 --> 00:16:48,780 Think like me. 325 00:16:48,780 --> 00:16:49,780 Well, what is he saying? 326 00:16:49,780 --> 00:16:51,780 I forget what lies behind 327 00:16:51,780 --> 00:16:55,780 and I strain forward to what lies ahead. 328 00:16:55,780 --> 00:16:57,780 Often our anxieties come about 329 00:16:57,780 --> 00:17:01,780 in a misplaced identity crisis. 330 00:17:02,780 --> 00:17:04,780 The enemy of souls loves to tell you 331 00:17:04,780 --> 00:17:06,780 that you are still the you that you were 332 00:17:06,780 --> 00:17:08,780 when you messed up at 12, 333 00:17:08,780 --> 00:17:09,780 at 16, 334 00:17:09,780 --> 00:17:10,780 at 20, 335 00:17:10,780 --> 00:17:11,780 at 30, 336 00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:12,780 at 50, 337 00:17:12,780 --> 00:17:16,780 and if you're still messing up at 70 or 75 or 80, 338 00:17:16,780 --> 00:17:18,780 the enemy of souls loves to tell you 339 00:17:18,780 --> 00:17:20,780 that that's your identity. 340 00:17:20,780 --> 00:17:22,780 And if you have ever experienced 341 00:17:22,780 --> 00:17:24,780 a conversion in your life, 342 00:17:24,780 --> 00:17:26,780 a coming around to Jesus 343 00:17:26,780 --> 00:17:28,780 and accepting His grace, 344 00:17:28,780 --> 00:17:31,780 Satan loves to tell you, 345 00:17:31,780 --> 00:17:33,780 no, not yet. 346 00:17:33,780 --> 00:17:38,780 You are still the same unforgiven you. 347 00:17:38,780 --> 00:17:42,780 Paul is telling us that our identity 348 00:17:42,780 --> 00:17:47,780 is no longer what was before we came to Christ, 349 00:17:47,780 --> 00:17:51,780 but our identity is now wrapped up in Christ 350 00:17:51,780 --> 00:17:53,780 and the glory to come. 351 00:17:54,780 --> 00:17:57,780 And so when those anxiety causing thoughts 352 00:17:57,780 --> 00:18:00,780 come to bear that God has not forgiven you, 353 00:18:00,780 --> 00:18:03,780 that you are still the same wretched man 354 00:18:03,780 --> 00:18:05,780 that you once were, 355 00:18:05,780 --> 00:18:08,780 Paul is exhorting and encouraging to forget that 356 00:18:08,780 --> 00:18:11,780 because you are now in Christ 357 00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:13,780 and you have a goal. 358 00:18:13,780 --> 00:18:15,780 That goal is heaven. 359 00:18:15,780 --> 00:18:17,780 That goal is heaven. 360 00:18:17,780 --> 00:18:19,780 That goal is eternity. 361 00:18:19,780 --> 00:18:21,780 That goal is the forever presence 362 00:18:21,780 --> 00:18:23,780 with a God who loves you, 363 00:18:23,780 --> 00:18:25,780 delivers you, strengthens you, 364 00:18:25,780 --> 00:18:27,780 and sustains you from now 365 00:18:27,780 --> 00:18:31,780 all the way until forever then. 366 00:18:32,780 --> 00:18:34,780 That's who you are. 367 00:18:34,780 --> 00:18:37,780 Are you pressing toward that goal? 368 00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:43,780 Are you looking for the blazes along the way? 369 00:18:43,780 --> 00:18:46,780 I like that picture because the Bible tells us 370 00:18:46,780 --> 00:18:49,780 that when you've come to Christ, 371 00:18:49,780 --> 00:18:54,780 you are blessed with the fruits of the Spirit. 372 00:18:54,780 --> 00:18:57,780 You are given gifts of the Spirit. 373 00:18:57,780 --> 00:18:59,780 There is a change of heart. 374 00:18:59,780 --> 00:19:02,780 He says he will recreate that heart that is in you. 375 00:19:02,780 --> 00:19:05,780 There is a change of attitude, a change of priorities. 376 00:19:05,780 --> 00:19:07,780 Other people notice it in you. 377 00:19:07,780 --> 00:19:11,780 Take that as a sign that you are on the right path. 378 00:19:11,780 --> 00:19:13,780 As you progress along the way 379 00:19:13,780 --> 00:19:15,780 and you read the Word of God, 380 00:19:15,780 --> 00:19:17,780 and you see, okay, I'm supposed to grow, 381 00:19:17,780 --> 00:19:19,780 and I'm supposed to pray, 382 00:19:19,780 --> 00:19:21,780 and I'm supposed to commit my life 383 00:19:21,780 --> 00:19:23,780 and do studies with other people 384 00:19:23,780 --> 00:19:25,780 and share and witness, 385 00:19:25,780 --> 00:19:31,780 mentally you can go blaze, blaze, blaze. 386 00:19:31,780 --> 00:19:33,780 As you become a deeper student of the Word of God 387 00:19:33,780 --> 00:19:35,780 and you get into the prophecies, 388 00:19:35,780 --> 00:19:39,780 Daniel and Joel and Revelation 389 00:19:39,780 --> 00:19:43,780 and the Word of God points out the markers along the way 390 00:19:43,780 --> 00:19:47,780 telling us that we're getting closer to Christ's return. 391 00:19:47,780 --> 00:19:50,780 When you see that happen in the community, 392 00:19:50,780 --> 00:19:52,780 your life, nations abroad, 393 00:19:52,780 --> 00:19:56,780 the movements of leadership, et cetera, 394 00:19:56,780 --> 00:19:59,780 rather than getting caught up in the weeds 395 00:19:59,780 --> 00:20:01,780 and saying, woe is me, 396 00:20:01,780 --> 00:20:04,780 it's all out of my control, say, praise God, blaze, 397 00:20:04,780 --> 00:20:06,780 Jesus is coming soon. 398 00:20:06,780 --> 00:20:10,780 That goal is creeping ever nearer. 399 00:20:10,780 --> 00:20:12,780 That's the goal that we're straining towards. 400 00:20:12,780 --> 00:20:15,780 So then it is in that context where he can say, 401 00:20:15,780 --> 00:20:17,780 brothers, join in imitating me. 402 00:20:17,780 --> 00:20:21,780 Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example. 403 00:20:21,780 --> 00:20:22,780 We should look to him. 404 00:20:22,780 --> 00:20:26,780 Our citizenship is in heaven, he says. 405 00:20:26,780 --> 00:20:30,780 And then he can say, rejoice in the Lord always. 406 00:20:30,780 --> 00:20:33,780 And again I say rejoice. 407 00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:34,780 Your identity is in Christ 408 00:20:34,780 --> 00:20:36,780 and you're moving towards a goal. 409 00:20:36,780 --> 00:20:37,780 Rejoice. 410 00:20:37,780 --> 00:20:40,780 Let your reasonableness or your gentleness, 411 00:20:40,780 --> 00:20:43,780 your meekness be known to everyone. 412 00:20:43,780 --> 00:20:47,780 Be a witness of how Christ has changed you. 413 00:20:47,780 --> 00:20:53,780 And then do not be anxious about anything. 414 00:20:53,780 --> 00:20:56,780 If you do feel some anxiety coming, 415 00:20:56,780 --> 00:20:59,780 he has a help for that. 416 00:20:59,780 --> 00:21:05,780 You can do anything by prayer and supplication. 417 00:21:05,780 --> 00:21:07,780 Now some might think that those are complete synonyms. 418 00:21:07,780 --> 00:21:09,780 They're not really. 419 00:21:09,780 --> 00:21:14,780 Prayer is a more general application of addressing God, 420 00:21:14,780 --> 00:21:17,780 conversing with your Creator. 421 00:21:17,780 --> 00:21:25,780 Supplications are direct, specific, pointed. 422 00:21:25,780 --> 00:21:28,780 You are pressing those into the throne of God. 423 00:21:28,780 --> 00:21:31,780 A supplication would be, Lord, 424 00:21:31,780 --> 00:21:34,780 I fear I'm about to be fired 425 00:21:34,780 --> 00:21:37,780 because the economy has turned. 426 00:21:37,780 --> 00:21:39,780 How can I provide for my family? 427 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:41,780 I'm getting a little anxious about that 428 00:21:41,780 --> 00:21:44,780 and who can fault a person for feeling that way? 429 00:21:44,780 --> 00:21:45,780 Take that. 430 00:21:45,780 --> 00:21:47,780 That's a supplication. 431 00:21:47,780 --> 00:21:48,780 Name it. 432 00:21:48,780 --> 00:21:53,780 Lean into God's graciousness with that supplication. 433 00:21:53,780 --> 00:21:58,780 The anxiety is more than I can overlook at this point. 434 00:21:58,780 --> 00:22:00,780 Lord, provide. 435 00:22:00,780 --> 00:22:01,780 Take care. 436 00:22:01,780 --> 00:22:02,780 Sustain. 437 00:22:02,780 --> 00:22:03,780 I need it. 438 00:22:03,780 --> 00:22:06,780 I need the peace. 439 00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:08,780 If you are concerned about an illness 440 00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:13,780 or an ongoing struggle with a temptation, 441 00:22:13,780 --> 00:22:17,780 maybe you feel shame with your anxiety. 442 00:22:17,780 --> 00:22:19,780 Well, in your devotional life, 443 00:22:19,780 --> 00:22:21,780 in your studies, and in your prayers, 444 00:22:21,780 --> 00:22:25,780 don't just, Lord, help me with my temptation. 445 00:22:25,780 --> 00:22:26,780 That could be a generic prayer, 446 00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:30,780 and it's good that we pray that in some settings. 447 00:22:30,780 --> 00:22:32,780 But if the anxiety is really getting to you, 448 00:22:32,780 --> 00:22:41,780 take it, name it, press it into God's presence. 449 00:22:41,780 --> 00:22:45,780 Yearn for the deliverance from the anxiety. 450 00:22:45,780 --> 00:22:48,780 Desire that a God who created you 451 00:22:48,780 --> 00:22:50,780 and shaped you and formed you 452 00:22:50,780 --> 00:22:53,780 and knows your feelings and your thoughts and your burdens 453 00:22:53,780 --> 00:22:54,780 knows you. 454 00:22:54,780 --> 00:22:56,780 He cares about you infinitely more 455 00:22:56,780 --> 00:22:58,780 than the birds of the air, Jesus says, 456 00:22:58,780 --> 00:23:01,780 or the flowers of the field. 457 00:23:01,780 --> 00:23:08,780 Christ did not hang on a cross for the pine tree. 458 00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:12,780 Christ sacrificed all, and He gives all for you 459 00:23:12,780 --> 00:23:16,780 because you are of infinite value to Him. 460 00:23:16,780 --> 00:23:21,780 Press in your needs and your cares and your concerns. 461 00:23:21,780 --> 00:23:23,780 And then do it with thanksgiving. 462 00:23:23,780 --> 00:23:24,780 Thank God that He hears you. 463 00:23:24,780 --> 00:23:26,780 Thank God that He loves you. 464 00:23:26,780 --> 00:23:31,780 Thank God that even in the midst of what might seem like a mess, 465 00:23:31,780 --> 00:23:34,780 if you pause and pray through it, 466 00:23:34,780 --> 00:23:37,780 God will bring to mind things that you can be thankful for. 467 00:23:37,780 --> 00:23:41,780 I am cranky at the price of eggs right now. 468 00:23:41,780 --> 00:23:43,780 I'm cranky. 469 00:23:43,780 --> 00:23:49,780 The ones that we buy are now about $9 or so for 36 of them. 470 00:23:49,780 --> 00:23:51,780 It started out at about $1.88 471 00:23:51,780 --> 00:23:54,780 when we were consistently getting them. 472 00:23:54,780 --> 00:23:57,780 I praise God I have eggs to eat. 473 00:23:57,780 --> 00:23:59,780 There are many people who go hungry 474 00:23:59,780 --> 00:24:01,780 or they have a meal a day, 475 00:24:01,780 --> 00:24:02,780 or in other parts of the world, 476 00:24:02,780 --> 00:24:06,780 they'll have a meal every other day. 477 00:24:06,780 --> 00:24:10,780 I praise God that I get to pay $9 for my eggs. 478 00:24:10,780 --> 00:24:11,780 I don't like it. 479 00:24:11,780 --> 00:24:15,780 I am thankful for it. 480 00:24:15,780 --> 00:24:18,780 And then we can expect that the peace of God 481 00:24:18,780 --> 00:24:20,780 that surpasses all understanding 482 00:24:20,780 --> 00:24:25,780 will guard our hearts, our minds, in Christ Jesus. 483 00:24:25,780 --> 00:24:28,780 I don't know how it happens. 484 00:24:28,780 --> 00:24:31,780 My testimony is I've experienced it in my own life, 485 00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:35,780 and I'm sure there are others who could perhaps echo this. 486 00:24:35,780 --> 00:24:40,780 At times, the storm was heavy, and it was difficult. 487 00:24:40,780 --> 00:24:43,780 And you couldn't explain it. 488 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:47,780 But the banking account that should have gone red 489 00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:50,780 always stayed black, and the math never added up. 490 00:24:50,780 --> 00:24:52,780 Those basic needs. 491 00:24:52,780 --> 00:24:57,780 There were times when I should have been afraid or angry, 492 00:24:57,780 --> 00:25:01,780 and you just go, God's got it, 493 00:25:01,780 --> 00:25:04,780 and I don't know why I feel this way. 494 00:25:04,780 --> 00:25:07,780 I'm thankful in those moments. 495 00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:10,780 But we want to be careful. 496 00:25:10,780 --> 00:25:13,780 We want to be careful because some might be tempted 497 00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:17,780 to either feel or tell others 498 00:25:17,780 --> 00:25:21,780 that if you are struggling with anxiety, 499 00:25:21,780 --> 00:25:24,780 if you do have a reoccurring depression issue, 500 00:25:24,780 --> 00:25:28,780 if you feel the blues more than you care for, 501 00:25:28,780 --> 00:25:31,780 if you don't know how to get over that hump, 502 00:25:31,780 --> 00:25:34,780 and maybe it's affecting relationships, 503 00:25:34,780 --> 00:25:38,780 your eating habits, your sleep time, 504 00:25:38,780 --> 00:25:43,780 all of these different ways that anxiety and fear, 505 00:25:43,780 --> 00:25:47,780 depression, mental health concerns interrupt life, 506 00:25:47,780 --> 00:25:49,780 and then you read these verses and you say, 507 00:25:49,780 --> 00:25:51,780 God, I'm doing these things. 508 00:25:51,780 --> 00:25:55,780 Maybe my faith is not strong enough. 509 00:25:55,780 --> 00:25:58,780 Or heaven forbid someone look at you and say, 510 00:25:58,780 --> 00:26:02,780 you are not yet a full disciple if you are still struggling with your anxiety. 511 00:26:02,780 --> 00:26:04,780 Pray harder, pray longer. 512 00:26:04,780 --> 00:26:07,780 Wax philosophically or with soaring rhetoric. 513 00:26:07,780 --> 00:26:09,780 Use these and those in your prayer. 514 00:26:09,780 --> 00:26:11,780 Then God will hear you. 515 00:26:11,780 --> 00:26:15,780 Maybe that's what's keeping you back. 516 00:26:15,780 --> 00:26:19,780 Can you imagine, can you understand 517 00:26:19,780 --> 00:26:23,780 how you could get trapped in a rut 518 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:26,780 and think of a failure as a Christian 519 00:26:26,780 --> 00:26:30,780 if you start to say, I'm anxious and I'm not sure, 520 00:26:30,780 --> 00:26:33,780 but I'm also praying and maybe I failed God 521 00:26:33,780 --> 00:26:36,780 or maybe he stepped away from me. 522 00:26:36,780 --> 00:26:40,780 Can you understand how that could be a trap? 523 00:26:40,780 --> 00:26:45,780 Sadly, there are people who have promulgated the idea that 524 00:26:45,780 --> 00:26:50,780 if you are anxious about literally anything in your life, 525 00:26:50,780 --> 00:26:53,780 even the understandable ones, 526 00:26:53,780 --> 00:26:59,780 that means you are a faithless, struggling pseudo-Christian. 527 00:26:59,780 --> 00:27:04,780 I would like to dispel you of that thought today. 528 00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:06,780 That's a tough life we live. 529 00:27:06,780 --> 00:27:10,780 There is an enemy who wants to see us in despair 530 00:27:10,780 --> 00:27:13,780 and confusion and hurt 531 00:27:13,780 --> 00:27:17,780 and not looking for the light in life 532 00:27:17,780 --> 00:27:22,780 but only focusing on the dark, the shadows. 533 00:27:22,780 --> 00:27:26,780 So what are some ways that we can practically 534 00:27:26,780 --> 00:27:30,780 consider what to do with our anxiety? 535 00:27:30,780 --> 00:27:32,780 I'd like to share a few. 536 00:27:32,780 --> 00:27:35,780 We will go through these semi-quickly. 537 00:27:35,780 --> 00:27:37,780 It's not an original list. 538 00:27:37,780 --> 00:27:41,780 You can find some good helps if you look. 539 00:27:41,780 --> 00:27:43,780 Be mindful, some are better than others. 540 00:27:43,780 --> 00:27:47,780 If you're wanting to take notes, this is a short list. 541 00:27:47,780 --> 00:27:51,780 We start with, if you're fighting anxiety or concern 542 00:27:51,780 --> 00:27:54,780 or whatever the case may be, 543 00:27:54,780 --> 00:27:57,780 as a Christian, one who acknowledges God, 544 00:27:57,780 --> 00:28:00,780 first and foremost, let God be God. 545 00:28:00,780 --> 00:28:03,780 Too many of us believe that we can shoulder the burden ourselves 546 00:28:03,780 --> 00:28:06,780 and muscle through on our own, 547 00:28:06,780 --> 00:28:09,780 and we can just do it. 548 00:28:09,780 --> 00:28:12,780 God has said, my peace I will give you. 549 00:28:12,780 --> 00:28:14,780 I will send you a comforter. 550 00:28:14,780 --> 00:28:18,780 Take my yoke upon you, for my burden is light. 551 00:28:18,780 --> 00:28:22,780 There is so much cooperation when it comes to what we struggle with, 552 00:28:22,780 --> 00:28:26,780 and God longs to be a part of it. 553 00:28:26,780 --> 00:28:32,780 Let him be God, and don't try to ask him to get out of your way. 554 00:28:32,780 --> 00:28:34,780 Let God be God. 555 00:28:34,780 --> 00:28:39,780 The Spirit produces fruit in our lives, not us. 556 00:28:39,780 --> 00:28:44,780 We are participants, but we let God be Lord of our thoughts, 557 00:28:44,780 --> 00:28:47,780 including those anxious ones. 558 00:28:47,780 --> 00:28:50,780 Pray that he help you get them under control. 559 00:28:50,780 --> 00:28:52,780 Let God be God. 560 00:28:52,780 --> 00:28:58,780 Number two, view anxiety as an urgent signal to act. 561 00:28:58,780 --> 00:29:03,780 Sometimes our body responds with anxiety in a way that tells us, 562 00:29:03,780 --> 00:29:06,780 not that we are struggling with a spiritual weakness, 563 00:29:06,780 --> 00:29:09,780 but rather that it's an emergency sign. 564 00:29:09,780 --> 00:29:13,780 Something is off in our life that needs our attention. 565 00:29:13,780 --> 00:29:17,780 And so rather than always trying to repress anxiety, 566 00:29:17,780 --> 00:29:24,780 maybe take time to consider it and exercise a little introspection in your life. 567 00:29:24,780 --> 00:29:29,780 What could be causing this that maybe needs my attention? 568 00:29:29,780 --> 00:29:32,780 It could be there as a benefit. 569 00:29:32,780 --> 00:29:35,780 Feelings are not always our enemy. 570 00:29:35,780 --> 00:29:38,780 Sometimes they can be a help. 571 00:29:38,780 --> 00:29:42,780 Paul is warning us not to be anxious. 572 00:29:42,780 --> 00:29:46,780 In other words, a state of long-term existence. 573 00:29:46,780 --> 00:29:48,780 In anxiety. 574 00:29:48,780 --> 00:29:51,780 But if you have moments of anxiousness, 575 00:29:51,780 --> 00:29:57,780 it might be your body telling you, let's look for a cause. 576 00:29:57,780 --> 00:30:01,780 Which leads us to number three, which is to get to the roots of anxiety, 577 00:30:01,780 --> 00:30:04,780 not merely the symptoms. 578 00:30:04,780 --> 00:30:06,780 I just need to feel better, 579 00:30:06,780 --> 00:30:11,780 but maybe there's a cause, again, that needs your attention. 580 00:30:11,780 --> 00:30:15,780 When does your anxiety surge in your life? 581 00:30:15,780 --> 00:30:21,780 Are you a type A workaholic who needs to cut back from 70 or 80 hours a week 582 00:30:21,780 --> 00:30:25,780 down to, for you, a manageable 50? 583 00:30:25,780 --> 00:30:28,780 Maybe that will help alleviate some of it. 584 00:30:28,780 --> 00:30:36,780 Are you away from a family or a friend, your community support group, for too long? 585 00:30:36,780 --> 00:30:39,780 And you need to reconnect with those who can help support you. 586 00:30:39,780 --> 00:30:43,780 Get to the root of it, not just the symptoms. 587 00:30:43,780 --> 00:30:48,780 That would be like if you had a terrible toothache, 588 00:30:48,780 --> 00:30:50,780 and the infection had gone to the root, 589 00:30:50,780 --> 00:30:55,780 and you thought you could only take a Tylenol each day to help ease it. 590 00:30:55,780 --> 00:30:58,780 Maybe you need the root canal. 591 00:30:58,780 --> 00:31:00,780 So take care of the causes. 592 00:31:00,780 --> 00:31:08,780 Number four, and this is important, get professional help. 593 00:31:08,780 --> 00:31:12,780 There has been, for too many years, in at least our society, 594 00:31:12,780 --> 00:31:17,780 and the studies show, especially for men struggling with this, 595 00:31:17,780 --> 00:31:22,780 asking for help is a hurdle that they often don't try to get over, 596 00:31:22,780 --> 00:31:26,780 a breach that they often don't want to step across. 597 00:31:26,780 --> 00:31:33,780 Get professional help if your anxiety is stemming from something that is big, 598 00:31:33,780 --> 00:31:37,780 deep, hurtful, traumatic. 599 00:31:37,780 --> 00:31:41,780 There is nothing shameful, wrong, unchristian, or a lack of faith. 600 00:31:41,780 --> 00:31:47,780 If you go and talk to a professional, a licensed counselor, a psychologist, 601 00:31:47,780 --> 00:31:52,780 a psychiatrist, someone who has a wealth of experience and information 602 00:31:52,780 --> 00:31:57,780 that can help you in addition to your disciple walk with Christ. 603 00:31:57,780 --> 00:31:59,780 Seek for it. 604 00:31:59,780 --> 00:32:05,780 This also is a way some people need the medication. 605 00:32:05,780 --> 00:32:08,780 If that's you, that's okay. 606 00:32:08,780 --> 00:32:10,780 But you can't get it by coming to your pastor. 607 00:32:10,780 --> 00:32:12,780 We can pray. 608 00:32:12,780 --> 00:32:15,780 We can see what the Word of God has to say. 609 00:32:15,780 --> 00:32:21,780 But if you are in need of a medication to help you through or help you with, 610 00:32:21,780 --> 00:32:23,780 you have to seek that professional help. 611 00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:25,780 And we want to encourage you to consider that. 612 00:32:25,780 --> 00:32:29,780 Number five, set healthy boundaries. 613 00:32:29,780 --> 00:32:35,780 Too many times anxiety is caused because we don't have healthy boundaries in our life. 614 00:32:35,780 --> 00:32:38,780 Defined like this, at least one way, 615 00:32:38,780 --> 00:32:43,780 a boundary shows where one person ends and another person begins. 616 00:32:43,780 --> 00:32:48,780 It could also be where your personal life ends and your professional life begins. 617 00:32:48,780 --> 00:32:52,780 Healthy boundaries can cover a whole range of things from our relationships 618 00:32:52,780 --> 00:32:56,780 in our family and our friends and our church, 619 00:32:56,780 --> 00:32:59,780 but also to our professional environment. 620 00:32:59,780 --> 00:33:03,780 Again, that's 70 and 80 hours versus 40 or 50. 621 00:33:03,780 --> 00:33:06,780 Do you take a vacation if it's offered you? 622 00:33:06,780 --> 00:33:11,780 Are you able to decompress when you come home from work? 623 00:33:11,780 --> 00:33:17,780 Or do you carry in your briefcase and all the emotions of what's been piled on 624 00:33:17,780 --> 00:33:19,780 and you go to bed with it still? 625 00:33:19,780 --> 00:33:21,780 Healthy boundaries are a good thing. 626 00:33:21,780 --> 00:33:26,780 The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4.23 to guard our hearts. 627 00:33:26,780 --> 00:33:32,780 Maybe you need to say no to people, no to things, no to whatever it is, 628 00:33:32,780 --> 00:33:40,780 and start saying yes to a little bit of self-care and positive people in your lives. 629 00:33:40,780 --> 00:33:49,780 Number six, seek joy over a spiritual obligation. 630 00:33:49,780 --> 00:33:59,780 The desire to be actively engaged in spiritual practices is good. 631 00:33:59,780 --> 00:34:09,780 I encourage it. Pray, journal, study, read, whatever the case may be. 632 00:34:09,780 --> 00:34:16,780 But if you begin to look at your discipleship experiences and activities as a checklist 633 00:34:16,780 --> 00:34:23,780 where you need either so many or so long, otherwise you are, again, failing God, 634 00:34:23,780 --> 00:34:27,780 I would like to encourage you to rather seek the joy in those practices 635 00:34:27,780 --> 00:34:31,780 rather than just the accomplishments of the practices. 636 00:34:31,780 --> 00:34:33,780 Does that make sense? 637 00:34:33,780 --> 00:34:42,780 If you are more fulfilled for you by prayerfully considering a Bible verse 638 00:34:42,780 --> 00:34:45,780 that also has a coloring page with it. 639 00:34:45,780 --> 00:34:47,780 I know that's a thing right now. 640 00:34:47,780 --> 00:34:50,780 I am not wired that way. Maybe you are. 641 00:34:50,780 --> 00:34:56,780 Take the 15 minutes or the 10 minutes or whatever is healthy in your life 642 00:34:56,780 --> 00:34:59,780 and pray about the Bible verse. 643 00:34:59,780 --> 00:35:04,780 Lord, what can I learn from this while you're coloring in the photo of the birds 644 00:35:04,780 --> 00:35:06,780 or the roses or whatever it is? 645 00:35:06,780 --> 00:35:09,780 Find joy in it. Engage in something that you like. 646 00:35:09,780 --> 00:35:16,780 If you are not an avid writer and journaling and putting things down on paper is not for you, 647 00:35:16,780 --> 00:35:22,780 don't try to make it for you because then it will be a drudgery and a chore 648 00:35:22,780 --> 00:35:27,780 rather than a joy that's uplifting when you come into Christ's presence. 649 00:35:27,780 --> 00:35:36,780 Pray, read, study, do all of those things, but seek the joy over simply the sense of obligation. 650 00:35:36,780 --> 00:35:40,780 Number seven, I love this one, pursue Sabbath. 651 00:35:40,780 --> 00:35:44,780 I don't know exactly when it started. 652 00:35:44,780 --> 00:35:48,780 In my childhood, I think many of us could remember if you stayed up late enough at night 653 00:35:48,780 --> 00:35:50,780 and you were watching the TV, the signal turned off. 654 00:35:50,780 --> 00:35:55,780 Do we remember that? Snow or colored bars or something like that would come on? 655 00:35:55,780 --> 00:35:59,780 At some point, they just changed that with only infomercials. 656 00:35:59,780 --> 00:36:06,780 And then now you have countless channels on countless platforms running 24-7. 657 00:36:06,780 --> 00:36:09,780 Businesses are open all the time. 658 00:36:09,780 --> 00:36:14,780 I mean, how many I know I have, I've driven into the Hobby Lobby parking lot on a Sunday going, 659 00:36:14,780 --> 00:36:22,780 surely they are open and they're not. But we've become so accustomed to the 24-7 activity level 660 00:36:22,780 --> 00:36:27,780 and mentality that Sabbath is needed. 661 00:36:27,780 --> 00:36:33,780 Well, one, it's baked right into creation and it's baked right into the weekly cycle. 662 00:36:33,780 --> 00:36:37,780 If you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you will find that on the seventh day, 663 00:36:37,780 --> 00:36:42,780 God rested, blessed it, sanctified it, set an example for us, 664 00:36:42,780 --> 00:36:45,780 and then told us to do likewise. 665 00:36:45,780 --> 00:36:53,780 So if you start on Sunday, which is the beginning of our week, and you count seven, you get to Saturday, Sabbath. 666 00:36:53,780 --> 00:36:58,780 Don't worry about your schoolwork. Don't worry about your work work. 667 00:36:58,780 --> 00:37:03,780 If you've got party planning to do, set it aside for those 24 hours 668 00:37:03,780 --> 00:37:11,780 and invest more in your relationship with your Savior, your spouse, your family, your friends, your church family. 669 00:37:11,780 --> 00:37:17,780 We want you here. We love you. And we want you to to be present with us on Sabbath. 670 00:37:17,780 --> 00:37:24,780 But guard those hours and take a deep breath and enjoy it. 671 00:37:24,780 --> 00:37:29,780 Sabbath can also be take your vacations. 672 00:37:29,780 --> 00:37:36,780 If you have them and you're able to take them, even if it's a staycation, you're not going into work. 673 00:37:36,780 --> 00:37:45,780 You're staying at home, but maybe you get to do a home project or you get to just sleep in without the alarm clock. 674 00:37:45,780 --> 00:37:51,780 Take those breaks from a busy life in your prayer practices. 675 00:37:51,780 --> 00:38:00,780 If you are feeling anxious or stressed, that is not often the time to consider longer, more complicated prayers. 676 00:38:00,780 --> 00:38:11,780 Simplify. If you are dealing with anxiety or an anxious feeling about things in your life and you are bringing your prayers to God, 677 00:38:11,780 --> 00:38:18,780 I would suggest simpler prayers, right to the point, shorter, fewer words. 678 00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:25,780 If we think about when Peter was walking on the water and he took his eyes off Jesus in the middle of that storm and he started to sink. 679 00:38:25,780 --> 00:38:31,780 That was a three word prayer. Lord, save me. 680 00:38:31,780 --> 00:38:37,780 If you find yourself sinking into the waves of a storm, simplify your prayer. 681 00:38:37,780 --> 00:38:47,780 The Holy Spirit knows exactly what you mean, and he will take that with all of what you need right to God in a better way, 682 00:38:47,780 --> 00:38:50,780 surely than you could ever express yourself. 683 00:38:50,780 --> 00:38:58,780 Simplify it. Take that stress off of a wordy or lengthy prayer and bring it down to something. 684 00:38:58,780 --> 00:39:02,780 Perhaps a little bit more helpful. 685 00:39:02,780 --> 00:39:04,780 Number nine, paying attention to your body. 686 00:39:04,780 --> 00:39:15,780 Anxiety can often present itself with stomach aches, shakiness, distracted thoughts and inability to focus, struggle remembering things, 687 00:39:15,780 --> 00:39:22,780 irritability, sleeping in more. You don't want to get out of bed, whatever the case may be. 688 00:39:22,780 --> 00:39:24,780 Pay attention to it. 689 00:39:24,780 --> 00:39:29,780 Again, that may be your body telling you that you need to address something. 690 00:39:29,780 --> 00:39:35,780 We know that as our society has become ever increasingly active and more stressful, 691 00:39:35,780 --> 00:39:49,780 we have likewise a similar increase in heart disease and hypertension in probably even like bad indigestion or heart stomach reflux and so on. 692 00:39:49,780 --> 00:39:55,780 Those could be signs that maybe you need to cut something out of your life. 693 00:39:55,780 --> 00:40:03,780 Find those healthy boundaries. Are you praying? Are you sharing with a loved one who can then support you? 694 00:40:03,780 --> 00:40:08,780 Number ten, turn your eyes to the present moment. 695 00:40:08,780 --> 00:40:14,780 Jesus did counsel us back in Matthew 6 to not worry about tomorrow. 696 00:40:14,780 --> 00:40:18,780 Today has got enough going on. 697 00:40:18,780 --> 00:40:28,780 Take your cares about today before God and trust that he who was, is and will be is already there tomorrow. 698 00:40:28,780 --> 00:40:33,780 He's got that. Let God be God in those moments. 699 00:40:33,780 --> 00:40:45,780 You could overburden yourself today about something that you have zero control over because that's tomorrow. 700 00:40:45,780 --> 00:40:52,780 I also wanted to add, it's not on this list, but it did occur to me, number eleven. 701 00:40:52,780 --> 00:41:01,780 In the United States of America, we are rather individualistic. Some say hyper individualistic. 702 00:41:01,780 --> 00:41:11,780 That has led us in some part to being the nation that we are in our history, that has in some part led us to be a strong working force and so on. 703 00:41:11,780 --> 00:41:21,780 It has also meant that the temptation to again go it alone in these times of challenge and anxiety makes it that much harder. 704 00:41:21,780 --> 00:41:30,780 I would like to add a number eleven and say find a community that will support you in your need with what you're going through. 705 00:41:30,780 --> 00:41:36,780 And community can be anything. Community can be as simple as one trusted individual. 706 00:41:36,780 --> 00:41:46,780 One person that you can share and they will listen and they will wrap their arms around you, cry with you, hear your stories, pray with you. 707 00:41:46,780 --> 00:41:51,780 Be there if you really need it in those emergencies. 708 00:41:51,780 --> 00:42:00,780 Maybe community is a little bit broader, a small group, a collection of ladies or men that you can also do the same thing. 709 00:42:00,780 --> 00:42:07,780 And in that community, you know that three cords are not easily broken. 710 00:42:07,780 --> 00:42:11,780 Whereas one is much more susceptible. 711 00:42:11,780 --> 00:42:18,780 In community, I want to add and include a church community, a church family. 712 00:42:18,780 --> 00:42:29,780 We are all sons and daughters of God and we all recognize that we are walking a difficult life, but we are all striving towards that same goal. 713 00:42:29,780 --> 00:42:39,780 We at the Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist Church desire and strive to make this a loving, supportive community of believers. 714 00:42:39,780 --> 00:42:46,780 And we want that to be a reality and we want others to know that that is available here for them. 715 00:42:46,780 --> 00:42:53,780 And whether or not you're finding it here or somewhere else, a church family, a church community is a help. 716 00:42:53,780 --> 00:42:59,780 And I would encourage you to find it where possible. 717 00:42:59,780 --> 00:43:07,780 We are not going to get away completely from the anxieties in our life. 718 00:43:07,780 --> 00:43:17,780 Thorns and thistles, stumblings and challenges are going to be here until Jesus comes to take us home. 719 00:43:17,780 --> 00:43:29,780 Know that your needs, God is not only aware of them, but when you have placed your first priority in the heavenly kingdom, 720 00:43:29,780 --> 00:43:33,780 the assurance is He will take care of your daily needs. 721 00:43:33,780 --> 00:43:37,780 So you don't have to be anxious about that. 722 00:43:37,780 --> 00:43:47,780 You also don't have to be anxious about the path you are traveling or the goal you're going towards so long as your eyes are focused on Jesus. 723 00:43:47,780 --> 00:43:58,780 He was victorious in conquering death and living the life as the second Adam and overcoming the prince of this world. 724 00:43:58,780 --> 00:43:59,780 That's our goal. 725 00:43:59,780 --> 00:44:01,780 He's our King. 726 00:44:01,780 --> 00:44:03,780 That's our focus. 727 00:44:03,780 --> 00:44:08,780 And along the way, look for those markers that tell you you are on the right path. 728 00:44:08,780 --> 00:44:19,780 You don't have to be anxious for your goal and your direction when you are looking to Jesus with joy and thanksgiving. 729 00:44:19,780 --> 00:44:29,780 And then finally, when you are faced with those anxieties because they do happen with prayer and supplication, press into God's presence. 730 00:44:29,780 --> 00:44:31,780 Bring your cares to Him. 731 00:44:31,780 --> 00:44:36,780 He wants to hear them and he wants to bring a peace that surpasses understanding. 732 00:44:36,780 --> 00:44:48,780 Add your thanksgiving with your prayers, trusting by faith that He hears, He loves, and He will sustain you not only now, 733 00:44:48,780 --> 00:44:53,780 but all the way until He takes us finally home. 734 00:44:53,780 --> 00:44:54,780 Let us pray. 735 00:44:54,780 --> 00:44:57,780 Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your care for us. 736 00:44:57,780 --> 00:45:05,780 We thank you that it wasn't just starting our lives and then leaving us alone, but you are invested in each one of us. 737 00:45:05,780 --> 00:45:13,780 Lord, as so many people are struggling with depression and thoughts of harm to themselves or to others, 738 00:45:13,780 --> 00:45:21,780 as people are unsure how they are going to get through the next day or hour or week or whatever the timeline is, 739 00:45:21,780 --> 00:45:35,780 Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit in a special, unique, and powerful way would come into the lives of people needing peace and comfort, support, and healing. 740 00:45:35,780 --> 00:45:43,780 We pray that you would show and reveal yourselves to those who are seeking relief from this world's cares. 741 00:45:43,780 --> 00:45:53,780 We pray that if there are those of us who can be of some help, that you would grant and bless us discernment and wisdom, 742 00:45:53,780 --> 00:45:58,780 the right words, and a caring and listening attitude. 743 00:45:58,780 --> 00:46:07,780 Lord, may we be a people that are known for support and unity and love and service. 744 00:46:07,780 --> 00:46:15,780 And Lord, I pray that you would do all of these things not because we are worthy, but because you love us so much. 745 00:46:15,780 --> 00:46:20,780 And you have said that you will do them when we seek after you. 746 00:46:20,780 --> 00:46:24,780 So we pray for that promise to be carried out in our lives today. 747 00:46:24,780 --> 00:46:38,780 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.