Anxiety

We are going to start out today with a little survey. You don’t have to raise your hands or shout out your answers because these questions are personal. I just encourage you to do some quick reflection and dig deep when I ask them.

The first question is,

1. How many of you experience anxiety on a daily basis?

2. How many of you experience anxiety from school or work-related activities?

3. How many of you experience anxiety from family related issues?

4. How many of you lose sleep because you are experiencing anxious thoughts?

5. How many of you would say that anxiety takes away the joy that comes from everyday life?

Many of you may have answered yes to one or more of these questions. If that is the case, it evident that anxiety is present in all areas, and at all times in our life. Before we explore what Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, we must first establish what anxiety truly is.

Thankfully, God created us with a built-in anxiety that does actually benefit us in a lot of cases, such as when an intruder breaks into our house, or we run into a bear in the woods. If it wasn’t for that God-given anxiety, we wouldn’t realize that running into a bear might be a slight problem, and we’d probably get mauled by that bear.

Often times in these types of situations, anxiety produces a physical response in our bodies. We might experience this when we get clammy hands before an exam. Or when we sweat before a sporting event. Maybe our heart’s start to pound out of our chests before we ask someone on a date. All of these are very normal, physical effects of anxiety.

My heart starts to beat quickly and I get clammy hands, but the Lord also blessed me with the incredible ability to throw up when I get anxious. I remember one time when I was a sophomore in high school, I had a really unfortunate experience when I got anxious and did not make it to the bathroom.

I want to preface this story by saying that before these events took place, one of my friends had a graduation party that I attended that morning. If you’ve ever been to a grad party, you know how much food there is. So my stomach was packed full of buffalo chicken dip, green bean casserole, and some barbecue ham sliders.

After the graduation party, my girlfriend at the time was going to pick me up to take me to a family reunion. She was my first real girlfriend, and meeting the family is always a big deal. You know you want to make a good impression on the parents, the grandparents, the aunts and uncles, and especially the older brothers. Because of that, the nerves were high and my stomach was upset.

I wasn’t old enough to drive at the time, so she was going to pick me up and drive me there. I got the text that she was pulling into the driveway, so I excitedly walked out and got into the car. We said our hellos and she backed out of the driveway and started down the street. I kid you not, 30 seconds down the road, I threw up everywhere, all over the car. There were ham sliders on the seat, green beans on the dashboard, chips on the floor, and buffalo chicken dip in her hair.

Like me in my girlfriend’s car, anxiety can have many physical effects that can change the way we live our life.But as much as it might be physical, anxiety is just as much a spiritual battle. This is the bad, attack from the devil, type of anxiety that sucks the joy out of life, causes us to lose sleep, and become frustrated or irritable for very little reason.

As we see in the fruit of the spirit, peace is a part of that. The fruit of the spirit is not love, joy, and anxiety. We can also see that anxiety negatively impacts much of that fruit. Anxiety impacts, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and even self-control. Based on that, we can see that there is an aspect of anxiety that is not from the Lord, but that comes from our spiritual enemy.

We know that joy comes from the Lord. So anything that takes away that joy is a scheme from the devil. Ephesians 6:12 reads, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Anxiety is one of the devil’s favorite schemes and it is often times a spiritual force of evil to eliminate the joy, peace and pleasure that comes from the Lord.

In one of the best tools to fight anxiety in Scripture, Paul, in Philippians 4, explains how to fight against that spiritual battle.

Philippians 4:6-7 reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Let’s break these verses down in order to see how Paul instructs us to handle anxiety.

First, Paul commands us not to be anxious. Obviously this is much easier said than done. So how do we do that?

Paul says that we should do these things in every situation. It doesn’t matter how big or small or light or heavy a situation is, Paul says that should pray through it all.

So what do we do in every situation? That is where Paul explains that we should pray to, petition, and thank the Lord. In all situations, we should approach God in prayer, petition Him, and thank Him for what he has done.

When I pray about something I’m anxious about, I often start that prayer with thanking the Lord for who He is and what He has done. I use Philippians 4:6 as a format for prayer when I am anxious and have a request for God. It’s important to note that Paul didn’t say, “Present your requests to God and then maybe thank Him for some things.” Paul instructs us to thank God and then present our requests to Him.

What is the result of prayer, petition, and thanksgiving?

God’s peace, which is beyond anything we can understand, which will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.

Give me a show of hands, whether it was in a worship service, in creation, or somewhere else, how many of you have ever experienced a peace that was beyond your understanding?

That is the type of peace that comes from the Lord. The world could be burning around us, family could be suffering, friends hurting, and we could be going through a trial, but Jesus can provide a peace that doesn’t make sense. When we walk through dark times, the world expects us to be anxious. But Paul says that it is God’s peace that will guard our hearts and minds. Not our own peace, not the world’s peace, not a peace that comes from comfort or any other worldly pleasure. It is a peace from Jesus.

Once again, Paul didn’t say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but turn to whatever makes you feel better and it will be alright.” He says that the peace of God, will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus.

We must recognize that Jesus is the ultimate provider of peace.Not ourselves, our friends, food, sleep, social media, or anything else in this world. We should turn to Jesus.

In John 14:27, Jesus says, “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.”

In the midst of anxiety, by prayer, with petition and thanksgiving, ask Jesus for that peace. He offers it. Ask Him to guard your heart and your mind. I encourage you today, turn to Jesus. The provider of peace. The prince of peace. And the one that will guard our hearts and our minds. All we need to do is ask.

Let us close in prayer: