From Anxiety to Peace

It is no secret that… anxiety is on the rise.

In fact, it is growing rapidly within our nation… specifically after the Covid 19 pandemic season.

It is effecting adults and children alike. It is something that disrupts the ability to live a normal and joyful life.

People are worrying more… and living in less peace.

And you can hardly blame them! The world is rapidly changing. I find myself saying, “I thought I’d never see this in my lifetime” more often than not.

We are facing storms and mountains that I never thought we would ever face. This is true even in regard to the words that Jesus spoke detailing what the last days would look like.

And worldwide calamity aside, people on a personal note are facing many challenges: higher prices, lower pay, bigger bills and smaller bank accounts. Health concerns are on the rise, moral values are shifting, division is breaking families apart...

Anyone a bit… anxious yet?

I don’t bring these things up to try to trigger you… Lord knows we have enough trying to do that to us on a daily basis!

We all know what worry and anxiety feel like… but do you know that God does not desire for you to live in worry and anxiety?

This evening, we are going to get in these altars in a few moments and pray for… PEACE. Peace over ourselves, peace over our communities, and peace over this world.

Yes… it is possible to witness and to live in the craziness of this world and still have… peace. The reason this is possible is because our peace is not from anything of this world, our peace comes from the One who spoke this world into motion.

Listen, the mountain of anxiety blocks many from peace today. This is NOT what God wants for you.

God wants you to experience a peace that surpasses all understanding. What does that mean? God wants you to know peace… even when it doesn’t make sense to feel peace.

Maybe a person is in the middle of a tense situation but instead of feeling worried or fearful, they feel peace. Per the surrounding circumstance, that doesn’t make sense! Shouldn’t that person be stressed out and losing their minds? How can a person experience peace in such a time as this?

GOD IS THE ANSWER. GOD WILL GIVE YOU PEACE.

Jesus flat out tells His followers DO NOT WORRY.

Uh… okay. easier said than done, right? WRONG. Worry is a choice… a choice to look inward instead of upward.

To be clear, I am not speaking of clinical cases that are chemically induced and so forth. I am speaking of our ability to entertain or turn off worry.

Worry is a choice that focuses on our abilities and resources instead of God’s power and authority. Look at Jesus’ familiar words in Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25–34 NIV

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? 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.

Jesus hits every need: food clothing, basic survival needs. And He makes clear that all is provided by who? By God.

“Time out, pastor, those things are available to me because I have a job that puts money in the bank that puts a roof over my head, food on the table, and clothes on my back.”

But God has given you the ability to work, the command to steward, and the increase in your wallet. These are blessings from the Lord… and we SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT.

So tonight we focus on moving from worry to peace… from anxiety to joy. God wants to change your mental health tonight… but it will require a choice on your behalf. You will have to choose God over worry.

First, What is Worry?

The word Jesus used in this text for worry is merimno which means to be unduly concerned. It means to harbor excessive concern about things… often things that are beyond our control.

When translated from Greek to Latin, the word used has an interesting connotation:

The word suggest choking… or strangling. Two things that will eventually rob a person of life.

If left unchecked, a person will slowly suffocate from whatever it is that is causing the problem.

Worry or anxiety is something that will grow like a weed in our hearts, and strangle us to the point of unfruitfulness.

So if we know the dangers of worry, where does it come from? How can we guard ourselves against it?

Worry comes from a few different places.

One - worry comes from misguided perspective.

Consider this: the lesson Jesus gave in His Sermon on the Mount just before this one, talked about storing up treasures in heaven instead of treasures on earth.

Most worry or anxiety can be traced back to… fear: the fear of losing something important to us.

In order to conquer that fear, we take action by exhausting ourselves trying to figure out ways to protect that which we love or treasure.

If we fear poverty, we work to earn and store money.

If we fear sickness, we work to protect our health.

If we fear losing a relationship, we smother that relationship with attention.

In the middle of that lesson that Jesus gave, He said some very important words:

Matthew 6:21 NIV

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Your heart will lead you to pursue what you treasure most.

A second source of worry is unconfessed sin.

Sin does nothing but destroy a person from the inside out. If we deliberately violate God’s commands, we experience a general sense of uneasiness and conviction.

Deep down, we know we cannot keep living like that.

One of two things will begin to happen.

We fear the sin will be uncovered. We fear… we will be caught.

We fear God is going to turn His back on us, remove blessing from us, or love us less.

That sin will act as a constant point of worry in our lives. It opens the door for the enemy to bring in more fear. In fact, it opens the door for yet another cause of worry.

Three: Satanic attack can also be a basis of anxiety.

The enemy is looking for ways to attack you tonight. But do not let that worry you… for as long as you stand in Christ, the enemy’s attacks will fail.

But the moment we begin to slip… and to listen… to what the enemy might say instead of what God is saying… we begin to fear.

The enemy is a master of implanting a few words that can cause great worry.

Words like… What if? Whats like… What about? Words like… If only.

What if God doesn’t provide?

What about all the details that must be accomplished?

If only I had more of this or that I could see how this would be possible.

The enemy will do everything he can to shut down your faith.

So how do we battle these causes tonight? By listening to the words of the Bible instead of the words of the enemy.

Listen to the Word.

First, Jesus gave us clear instruction in His lesson on worry.

Matthew 6:33 NIV

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Before you seek earthly treasure such as money, relationships, prosperity, big houses, large lands, full cupboards, lavish closets, etc… SEEK GOD FIRST! Seek Him in two ways.

Seek His kingdom. Seek His presence. Seek to be a part of what He is doing.

Seek His righteousness. Seek His ways. Trust in His truth and understanding.

Before you listen and get strangled by the words of worry trying to take hold of your heart… do what Jesus said to do.

Secondly, follow the instruction found in Philippians 4:4-11

Philippians 4:4–11 NIV

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. 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. 10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

It starts with praise, it moves to prayer, it continues to thoughts, and results in peace.

First, give praise to God. No matter what you are facing, give God your highest praise.

Secondly, pray about - don’t worry about - pray about what lies ahead. Present your request to God.

Third, change your stinking thinking! Stop focusing on what is bad, and focus on what is good!

Lastly, receive God’s peace and assurance!

That is exactly what we are going to do this evening as we get in these altars. We start with praise and worship, move to prayer, allow the Spirit to change our minds, and receive God’s peace. This all happens as we seek first His kingdom and righteousness. I believe God is going to give you exactly what you need!