Untitled Sermon

Overcoming Addictions in Christ

Worry, Anxiety, and Fear, Shortcuts back to addiction (Lesson 10)

Do you ever struggle with anxiety?

· Worry, anxiety, and fear are probably the most common problems that people face, and they tend to drain the life out of you.

Corrie Ten Boom talked about the destructive force of worry when she said, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."[1]

· Its destruction starts like a small trickle through the mind and cuts out a channel until it becomes a wide canyon, and all other thoughts drain into it.

Over the last ten weeks, we’ve talked about how to Overcome Addictions in Christ.

· I’ve shown you that your choices, responses, and emotions are coming from your heart which is why Proverbs 4:23 tells us, Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

o As you continue to follow God’s Word about how to do that, the Holy Spirit will help you Overcome Addictions in Christ.

However, last week I cautioned you that there are some shortcuts back to addiction.

· These are problems that you’ve likely been dealing with by covering them with your addiction.

o Last week, I talked with you about bitterness and unforgiveness.

Today, we’ll learn how to deal with worry, anxiety, and fear so this doesn’t become a shortcut back to addiction.

Everybody struggles with worry, anxiety, and fear from time to time, but some people seem to have mastered the art of being overcome by this terrible trio, and that adds fuel to the fires of your addiction.

· However, the good news is that in Christ, there’s hope so that worry, anxiety, and fear don’t drag you back into addiction.

First, it’s important to understand that at the heart of fear, worry, and anxiety, you’ll find an uncontrolled thought life.

Six thought addictions that intensify anxiety.

Chicken-Little Syndrome: The sky is always falling, and the worst possible scenario has come to be.

· This keeps a person in constant panic and unable to think through solving problems rationally.

Run-away Thinking Bug: This is meditating on what can be, might be, or possibly will be.

· This person is trapped in fear and feels powerless to do anything to help their situation because they’re so focused on speculating about what might happen.

Debilitating Desires: You’re not getting what you want, when, and how you want it.

· Getting what you want is the most important thing; when you can’t, you become anxious and angry.

Eeyore Virus: Something terrible happened in the past, so only bad things will ever happen. This also includes constantly reevaluating every misstep, mistake, and problem in your life.

· This person becomes overwhelmed by life because they’re convinced they’ll fail at anything they try.

Superman Sickness: Carrying the weight of the world, believing that you must bear every burden, right every wrong, and clean up every mess.

· This person is convinced that they must be in control of everything, and anxiety begins to well up inside them when they're not.

Prophetic Gut Infection: Believing your “gut” or intuition predicts the future. You have a “feeling,” but no rational evidence, and you begin to act as if your feeling is reality.

· Your problem is made worse if you also believe you can read people’s minds. You know what people are thinking about you, and you live according to this “reality.”

· This person refuses to live in truth and internally fights battles that don’t exist.

It’s important to understand that all these “thought addictions” come from your heart and that God’s Word will help you overcome these problems if you only trust God by obeying the Bible.

The biblical prescription for anxiety, <Philippians 4:6-9>.

(v.6) “Be anxious for nothing”[2] Anxiety isn’t just a feeling that seems to be out of control.

· Anxiety is a refusal to trust God and insist that you be in control. -This must be repented of.

This doesn’t mean that we do nothing.

1. Pray and give thanks (v.6-7)

“but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

a) “prayer and supplication”are talking to God and making your requests to Him.

· God is entirely in control of everything, so what do you have to fear if He is your loving heavenly Father?

Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

b) “with thanksgiving” reminds you of what God has done in your life already.

· This helps to reframe your thinking away from the overwhelming nature of the problem in front of you by placing it in the context of God’s care for you in the past.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

· Trusting God relieves your heart of burdens you cannot bear, and He is trustworthy.

Isaiah 25:4 “For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.”

2. Guard your thoughts (v.8)

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Our mind gives us the ability to reason, think, and communicate.

· God gave it to you so that you could know and draw near to Him and meditate on His promises, and yet isn't your mind the very culprit that engineers the anxiety?

a) The virtues listed are simple to understand and serve as a filter to cleanse our thinking.

The Bible teaches that the source of our anxiety and fear isn't circumstances but rather our minds.

· Our thoughts are untrue, corrupt, wrong, dark, ugly, indecent, inferior, and worthy of condemnation.

o This isn't to say that every thought fits into that description; however, sin has broken our ability to think clearly.

b) Meditate on the truth.

For you to grow in Christ, rightly understand life, circumstances, and eternity, and overcome anxiety, your thoughts must change.

i. You’re not trading a lousy thought for a good one. (This isn't the power of positive thinking.)

ii. The Holy Spirit must supernaturally renew your mind as the “Word of Christ richly dwells in you.”

· Romans 12:2 tells us that this is essential.

o "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

· 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us this is a spiritual war, and the primary battleground is the space between your ears.

o "We are destroying speculations, and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

What you're meditating on is not only adding gas to the fires of your anxiety but also preventing you from experiencing the peace God offers.

· When that happens, your addiction seems like the easiest way out, which is why anxiety is a shortcut to addiction.

3. Practice your faith(v.9)

“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Living out your faith daily is how the Bible teaches us that we Overcome Addictions in Christ.

Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”