Overcome Anxiety with Peace

This week we will be in Matthew chapter 26 and we will discuss anxiety and overcoming anxiety with peace. This is something that America in gerneral spends massive amounts of money on every year. The financial burden of anxiety in our country is 42-46 Billion a year. You heard that right. Between medications, therapy, alternative medicines, Americans spend 42-46 billion a year trying to overcome anxiety. Today I will do my best to address this from a biblical and spiritual standpoint. Before we dive too far in I want to make one thing perfectly clear. We live in a fallen world and there are some in here or online that struggle with anxiety and depression that is the result of imbalances in chemicals and hormones in your body. You live in a daily and constant struggle and you pray for God to deliver you from anxiety. I cannot in good concience tell you that this message is going to heal you of that anxiety or depression. I do not want you to leave this message and feel like less of a christian because you struggle with a physiological situation that is a result of a fallen state of the flesh. Please do not stop taking medications you are on or go to extremes to try and prove faith. If God so leads you to do those things please consult your doctor before you ever attempt something of that nature. What we will address is not the physiological side of anxiety today. We will address the spiritual side of anxiety. So I want to read the scripture first then I want to have a bit of a discussion before we really get into the meat of today. Lets start with Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So lets start with a Question. Does anyone in here know what the term Hermanutics means? Hermanutics is the theory and methodology of interpretation. So there is a method with which we should utlize when we read the scriptures. Most people these days open their Bible and begin reading and they take no mind to the context of the original scripture. They take no time to understand the purpose and intent of the original letter, the timeframe and the recipients of the letter. This causes us to overlook and misrepresent some major factors in the scripture. So let’s have a Bible class here this morning. In the scripture that we just read what do you believe to be the most important word. We will put the scripture back on the screen. I will tell you that the most important word for us to start with is in verse 25. What do you think it is? Therefore is the most important word. Anytime you see the word therefore. Stop reading, go back a few scriptures and get the understanidng of why that therefore is there. For us this morning that therefore takes us back to verse 19. If we continue where we are at we will misrepresent what the scripture is telling us. For most in here when we read 25 through 34 we herar Jesus telling us, well just don’t worrry. Some of us who have heard three little birds by Bob Marley get that instant song in our head. Don’t worry about a thing, Cause every little thing gonna be alright. This though is not the purpose and extent of what Jesus is telling his followers. To understand the full scope of overcoming anxiety, you must first have the proper scope. So lets jump back here to verse 19 and lets read 19 though 24.

Matthew 6:19–25 ESV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So what Jesus said is First you must have the correct spirit and mindset then you can overcome anxiety. So here is what we will do this morning with this scripture. We are going to look at the Mindset to overcome anxiety. Then we will look at the result of overcoming anxiety. This morning I want you to first take a moment to ask God to open your heart, mind, and spirit and to allow His spirit to lead you to a place of understanding in this scripture. We can often times look at this scripture and struggle in feeling as though we are making the best of our faith. We will see this morning though that if we do not have the correct mindset to begin with, overcoming anxiety is impossible. Let’s pray.

The Spirit and Mindset of overcoming Anxiety

Matthew 6:19–25 ESV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Jesus tells his followers that they must have this mindset and spirit of not being tied to this world. Jesus did not mention anxiety yet, He says look, lets lay a proper foundation here. You cannot be a person that has their mind set on things of this earth. You must be a person who see’s and understands that the things of this earth are temporary and are going to fade away. Understand that whatever you value and desire, that is where you will spend your time and efforts on. Jesus then moves on and says look. First don’t lay your treasures here. Then He says the eye is the lamp to your body and if it is healthy you will have light in your entire body but if your eye is bad you are full of darkness. If the light that is in you is darkness then how great is the darkness. This sounds like something Yoda would say. Are you a fan of Yoda quotes? Here is my favorite Yoda quote

"NO. TRY NOT. DO. OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY." - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Jesus is telling his followers here that the light that they have is infact darkness. We have beomce unclean and are like dirty rags.

Isaiah 64:6 ESV

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

What Jesus is getting at here is that our outlook on things is tainted and it is wrong. We go around believing that after we are saved we have the right mindset. Let me ask you something though. When you hear people give their hearts to Christ, do you hear them say God, teach me how to give all my things away and to walk away from the things of this world? No often times the prayer is God, as I honor you please bless me with more stuff. God please bless me with the things I think I need. Even the light in us is darkness, how great is that darkness that blinds those who have no light? The Jesus goes on and He says. You cannot serve two masters, you will love one and hate the other, You cannot serve God and money. Before Jesus gets into the idea of overcoming anxiety He is triyng to get the believers mindset and spirit right. What Jesus is doing here is providing a roadmap and directions on how to overcome anxiety. We often times spend so much time on verses 25-34 becuase those are what work for us right? 25-34 well those will benefit me so that is what I want to read. The problem though is that you cannot ever achieve verses 25-34 until you apply verses 19-24. Have you ever heard of putting the cart before the horse? Do you know where it comes from?

In the 19th century Germany and the 20th Century France there were vehicles that were built to be pushed by a horse and not pulled by a horse. It was not a great design. The Horse was meant to see where it was going and to pull the cart of occupants safely though the path of travel. When the horse was placed behind the cart they found a few things. First the Horse was blind to the dangers ahead. Some 12 accidents were reorded of horses pushing themselves and the occupants of the cart directly into obstacles and going off the side of cliffs. When the horse could not see where he was going it lead to danger.

Jesus did not lead off with the conversation of overcoming anxiety, He lead off with the idea of being a faithful follower of Christ and caring more about eternity than our earthy treasures. Why is this so important? Well to fully describe this I need to jump a little ahead to go back a bit. Eventually Jesus will tell his followers to not be anxious about anything and to trust that God can handle things. In order to trust that God can handle things and that God will protect them though, they must care about what God cares about. Let me give you a biblical example. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 3 and read this with me.

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

In this scripture we find the Devil presenting to Adam and Eve, what? He presented to them this idea of something that benefited them now. They wanted full knowledge. They wanted understanding now. They did not want God to hide from them anything and so what did they do? They disobeyed God because their hearts and minds were set on things of this earth. Because the Devil was able to take their eyes off of Holy and Godly things he was able to convince them to disobey God. When the devil can get us distracted by the things of this earth he can draw us into disobedience to God. Are you living a life focused on the heavenly things? We often times believe that we are focused on heavenly things. What does the scripture say about this idea of storing up treasure in heaven?

Matthew 19:21 ESV

21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Mark 10:21 ESV

21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Luke 12:33 ESV

33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

1 Timothy 6:18 ESV

18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

Hebrews 11:26 ESV

26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

Proverbs 15:16 ESV

16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it.

Proverbs 16:8 ESV

8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.

The scripture is not telling us to not have money. It is not telling us not to earn things and to enjoy life. It is telling us not to allow those things such as money and posessions to be our driving force. When Adam and Eve focused on what they wanted they sinned. When we focus on things that we want we will often times sin. This concept that Jesus is teaching here a spiritual concept of seeking God first. Make the Father and His Glory first. When you have the correct mindset and spirit then you can move into overcoming anxiety. This leads us to the second part of today. The result of overcoming anxiety.

The Result of Overcoming Anxiety

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Jesus says that if we will focus on what honors God we will have no anxiety. We will not have stress. How can that be? How can it be that if we focus on Honoring God that we will find ourselves in a place of overcoming anxiety? Let’s look to scripture to answer this for us. Let’s go back to Genesis with Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:5–17 ESV

5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

What is the thing you notice about this Scripture? Here is what I noticed. First God created Adam. After creating Adam here is what most of us would have expected. Adam, go and build the garden I want. Is that what Scripture said? Nope that is not what Scripture said. After God created Adam it says that God Himself planted a garden and placed Adam in it. When all things were Heavenly by design Adam did not have to work by the sweat of his brow and the pain of his hands. Adam was able to live contently in the Garden with all that he needed and it was provided by God. Look now at the stark contrast after Adam chose to chase what he wanted and what he thought benefited him.

Genesis 3:17–19 ESV

17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Adam went from a place of being provided for to having to provide. When Adam was focused on God, God provided. When Adam focused on himself and Eve focused on herself and they sought selfishness, they went from a place of being provided for to a place of needing to provide. You are saying Ryan, what does this have to do with Matthew. Lets bring all of this together now. Go back to Matthew 6 verses 19-24. Jesus is telling his followers that they must return to a pre Genesis 3 mindset. They must focus on their relationship with the Father and desire to walk daily with the Father. He tells them this because if they are not willing to get to that point they will never be able to overcome anxiety. Do you really want to overcome anxiety? If so you are going to have to get to a place where God is the first and most important in your life. Pleasing God, honoring God, these must be the primary tenents of your life. Many pastors will preach verses 25-34 and they will get people on this mindset of just don’t worry. God will take care of everything. There is a major first step though. That first step is saying in all things I will not seek my own selfishness I will seek the glory of God. Verses 19-24 are there for a reason and it is to allow you to get to a place of defeating anxiety? We must return to a Genesis 2 mindset and abandon the Genesis 3 curse. If we chose to live in a life of selfishness and chasing the things we want, we are chosing to live in anxiety. Jesus is telling his followers that anxiety, it is a choice. You can choose selfishness and the things of this earth and it will lead to anxiety. You can choose to seek God and His kingdom and if you will do that you can trust that God will take care of you. What are you going to do? You are being presented today with the ability to truly defeat anxiety. How can you defeat anxiety? It is not by just chaning your life and doing yoga, eating better, exercising, having a schedule. All those things may help but if you are inherantly seeking selfish things you will never defeat anxiety. If you will lay down selfish things and will seek God and His Kingdom you can return to a Genesis 2 place where God does all the work and He supplies all your needs.

I love the movie bridge of spies with Tom Hanks. It is based on a true story and in it a man is accused of being a Russian spy. Tom Hanks is tasked with being this guy’s lawyer. This guy does not speak much but there are three major interactions in the movie with Tom Hanks and the russian spy. In each of them this man displays the life that each of us can display if we are willing to put God and His kingdom first in our lives. The rest of the world will look at us and ask us if we are worried about things. We will be able to answer like this man, watch this clip.

Therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life. If you put God first, He will honor you. If you put God first, He will take care of the rest. If you put God first you can lay your head down at night and rest, you can find comfort, you can find peace. When the world is asking, are you not going to freak out? We can respond, will it help? Putting the will of God first, brings us through the furnace, it brings us through the lions den, it brings us beyond death and into eternal life. Jesus was not telling people to simply not worry about things and just trust it would be ok. He was telling them to seek God first and to seek His will and to trust that if you honor God, well He will take care of everything else. If you want a life of freedom it does not come with more money, it does not come with more things, it does not come with a nicer car, or a bigger house. It comes when you are willing to walk away from all of those things to honor God. It does not mean that you cannot have those things, it means that those things cannot be your God. Are you ready to experience what God has for you?

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”