When The Mind Attacks

1st Peter, chapter 5 verse verse 5. I want to do a a short series. It's going to be for a couple of weeks. I think it's has it on the screen. If we can back up one, hope for the heavy heart, this month is National mental health month in our nation. And I believe that mental health is something that the church largely tries to ignore, okay? As best as we can and it's something that we don't talk about a lot, you know, some on some cases. Rightfully so you don't want everybody to know that you suffer from some type of mental mental health or maybe you take medication for that. I always like to, I always enjoy laughing with my father because he has his problems as we all do. And and so, his doctor has given him some medicine to help him take the edge off, okay, if things and help him kind of, cope with things without giving you all his business, you know? And, and he calls that I'm not calling that. But he calls it his nut pill and because it keeps them from going nuts, okay? And he's forget to take my night pill, and we're like, no, please take your nap pill and I'm not laughing at anybody who takes one. If you want to know the truth, I take 12 And I have a counselor that I see on a regular basis. So there's nothing wrong with taking care of your mental health, as much as it is your eye Health, your body Health, your physical health, every part of your body that God made was fearfully and wonderfully made. You look around this room and there's people with glasses and none of us think that they have a lack of faith or something's wrong because oh my goodness, they have to wear glasses.

Because it's a medical fix for something. When your eyes aren't working. Well, sometimes, glasses, help, and mental health, is that exact same way. There is help there. So if you're in a position that you think you have an issue or if you're in the position that, you know, you do and you're being treated for it, then I just want to give you a little bit of encouragement that I believe that God gives hope for a heavy heart and that there's something so this week and not next week, I think next week, if I remember correctly, this is Pentecost Sunday. If I'm not wrong, could be but Blues. The Pentecost Sunday and I have a special message for that. I'm in the net in the last week. We're going to talk about, hope for the heavy heart again. Who's going to be two messages on what the Bible has to say about mental health? OK, and you might think, why do we talkin about this? God's word doesn't talk about mental health. I talked about it a lot. It talks about it a whole lot. We're going to find that out. First Peter chapter 5. We're talking about things today like anxiety, okay. I'm not going to ask you, to raise your hands, but if you have that cuz that's made may be private in your world. How about exhausting? I'm not talking about. You're just tired from A Hard Day's Work. It's just you're exhausted and you're exhausted all the time and you can't seem to get on top of that exhausted. It's just there. What about that? Battle inside of you that just constantly rages, you know I mean it it you don't tell anybody about it. Nobody really knows but everybody can see something but we're nobody really knows what it is. And it's that battle that thing that you're fighting on the inside and maybe it's the hide emotions. Are, you know, I don't know what it is. But just that balance I think that many of us even in this small room with small crowd today. I think a lot of us to deal with stuff like that. A lot of people that are watching Online deal with mental illness or the battles inside or exhaustion or anxiety or over stress load with first Peter, begins to talk about that way. It says, in the same way you who are, younger must accept the authority of the elders and all of you dress yourselves in humility. As you relate to one another for God, opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. 46s. So humble yourself under the mighty power of God, and at the right time, he will lift you up. There's a lot of things to be said about the word, so humble yourself. So humble yourself under the under the power almighty. God, number 7, give all your worries. I love this. Give all of your worries, all all your worries to and cares to God because he cares about you. Isn't that good? Give Them All to him. I like that. Don't y'all? Give them all to him because he he really cares. He keeps up with The Sparrows. Y'all listen. If he knows how many hairs are on your head, I reckon if I can use that word, I reckon he must really care about us. Yeah, I mean, you really cares. Anyway, Versa 8 stay alert. Stay alert. Turn the person beside you. If you have someone say stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, your great enemy, who is your great enemy. Yeah, it's it's not your wife or your husband is not your in-laws. It's not your mother-in-law, okay. It's not your father-in-law. The enemy is the devil, okay, keep Rose around like a roaring lion. He's not one. He's like one looking for someone to devour. Okay, verse 9 says this. Another one of my favorite verses stand firm, Stand firm. If there's ever been a time in our world that we need Christians to stand with some backbone, it's now we need to stand firm. In a time when it would be easy to be very spineless, but it's a time to stand firm and not be afraid to stand up for what you believe there are some bullies out there that think would they say? This is everybody's going to line up with it but you just stand firm with what you believe in him. Stand. Firm in that when the enemy throws things at you and comes against you, whether it's in anxiety or stress or whatever he brings do, you just stand firm against him were talking about your enemy and be strong in your faith. Be strong in your faith. Would you say that with me? Be strong in your faith? He says, remember that your, your family of Believers all over the all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. Is that funny but sometimes we think we're the only one or that we have it worse than anybody else. Come on. You know, if you ever done that cuz I know I have I thought surely there's nobody else hurting like I'm hurt that nobody else really. I'm the only one, the devil has singled me out and come to 233 Carlisle Street. I'm the one who's got the worst life I have the longest days. I have the hardest nights. You know what I'm saying? He said, hey, there's people all over the world are suffering just like you man. All right.

Verse 10 in his kindness. God's kindness. God has called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. Thank God for that. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore support strengthen you and he will place you on a firm foundation in his kindness God called you to share in the Eternal means eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus but the second part so after you have suffered for a little while cuz you're going to go through a time of suffering you probably will in fact but after you've done that he will restore support and strengthen you. That that's a promise from God so however you are doesn't mean you have to stay that way that you may go through a season of that. But there's also going to be a season that used to be looking for a restoration support and strength. Okay, that's exciting. Isn't that exciting to y'all? I think it is and he will place you on a firm foundation. If you ever just felt like, I just can't get on my feet, everything I stand on, kind of falls apart Hill, Place me, he's going to support me, he's going to restore me, he's going to strengthen me, he's going to place me on a firm foundation and incest and verse 11 kind of sums it all up. Puts it in a nice bow ties. It gives it to you because now all power to him forever. Amen. All power to him forever. Because how is all that going to happen? Not in your strength knot, in your doctor strength, but in his power because he holds all power in his hand, somebody say, Amen to that. That's, that's, that's worth green. With in the First Kings. We're not going to read the whole chapter but maybe you could read it when you get home. Another great story of somebody dealing with some emotional, maybe mental health. Things read out on your own 1st, Kings chapter 19 but here's the big idea mental battles, mental battles are real. They are real battles that people face. You may say what you're just nuts, you're just crazy. Well, I might be okay, but the fact of the matter is mental battles are real. It is a real thing for a long time. Most pastors would have never stood in front of their congregation and said I take medicine for mental health, they would have never said for goodness sake that they see it. Counselor, what's wrong with him? Is Jesus, not enough? No. Absolutely. He is. And I also see a primary care and also see a heart doctor and also see unfortunately gastrointestinal doctor Yeah. It says here middle battles are real there. Real thing. But God God remember him is present in all of those things. He's an ever-present. God he's there. He's part of that. Just as much as he would be, if I had some kind of a medical disease, God would be there for me. What do you not? Well, if I'm having mental issues, God's going to be with me. And the good news is God's going to be with you when you go through, those kind of things. I read this story this week. I think maybe we'll help several years ago, a newspaper article newspaper, story, carried, an article about a man who was so consumed with fear and anxiety. That he became convinced that you made charcoal here, but it if it's real someone was hiding under his bed every single night. Did y'all ain't did any of y'all ever do that? Listen, I used to get down on my knees beside my bed, not to pray, but to make sure he wouldn't under there. And sometime if I didn't look, I would just hop up in the middle of the bed. I had a I think a full size bed tomorrow and I would lay right in the middle of the bed. So that if he happened to reach his hands up or on the bed, he couldn't reach me there in the middle. Is well that was my hope anyhow. I don't know if you've done it. I've done that maybe a time or two, but like last night or something, but even beyond that, you know, that's not true. I'm not getting on my knees beside my bed cuz I probably still be there. But anyway, so consumed with, with fear and anxiety, that he became convinced that somebody was hiding under his bed, every single night. Eventually, the anxiety became so severe that he sought professional help. I'm going to get it, got serious. I'm, I know, we kind of chuckled about it, but it really got real to him. And four months, he attended counseling sessions, the story sad. And that the counselor helped talk him through his fears and tried to manage the Panic that would so grip him at night time when he would go lay down. Because it was again, a real thing. One night, he stopped showing up for his appointments, he stopped going to see his counselor and several weeks later. The story says that the accounts were unexpectedly ran into him and he asked him, hey, why did you stop coming to see me? That's a fair question. And the man Smiles are going to love this. Okay, this man smiled and said, my brother cured me in one night. One night, he cured me, the counselor said, tell me how the man said he cut off the legs to my bed.

I wish my parents would have did that a long time ago. It would have made life, so much easier for me, for sure. So sometimes the things tormenting us and our minds are really real, and although that when you really think about it, that's really unrealistic. Okay, but in our mind, it's really real. It's a real fear or will torment and it, sometimes it really becomes a real torment to a. Sometimes, they are the most exaggerated things, the most exaggerated things that fit you almost. If I, if, if you, if you heard somebody say what they struggle with you, when you're almost wanted charcoal, I mean like a man being afraid of what's under his bed. I mean, come on.

Do you know any is kind of funny like people that are afraid of dentist on? Come on. Very few people died having their teeth cleaned but to me the probability is great.

Yeah, it is funny but it's a person it's real. I'm not saying you're wrong for laughing because someone make me chuckle to how about this one about a year-and-a-half ago and I was at the Hanover Hilton, that's the Hanover Hospital.

visiting somebody and we went to get on the elevator and to go up to the floor, all of a sudden, Melody stepped in and in front of me cuz I let the lady go first into that dungeon and

And I went to walk on it. Julie, I don't know what came over me, but the spirit of halt came up on me and I just like, stop like a mule looking at a new gate and I'm like, I'm not getting on that elevator. Well, how you going to get to the fourth floor? You know, I'm not walking the stairs because then I would be a patient in the hospital.

So I just leaned against the counter, you know, the little octagon thing they have down there and Melody and I just talked to. So what are we going to do? Is sit just talk to me for a minute, I'll be all right. I don't know what happened. I was just walking and I was setting. I went to take a step on something said, don't do it. I don't know. Who said it, I don't know where it came from a place in my ear, but all the sudden, I mean, I drove that elevator maybe hundreds of times before it ever bother me. But today, this day it bothered me, and I told the little receptionist or whatever you call that lady that I said, No, this is embarrassing to tell you. I'm 62 years old. I was only, I was only sixteen and a half then. So I hadn't reached maturity full maturity yet. And I told the lady there, I said, would you call security? And she said, you need a security guard. I said yes. And I mean, I really did this. Honestly, you can ask Melody. I called him and he came and he said, can I help you? I said, yeah, I would you ride with me on that elevator, cuz we're going to the fourth floor and he said, yep. And then, once I got on there Marlin, I could not have been more embarrassed cuz I knew he was going to say, what do you do for a living? I'm a man of God. I'm a man of faith.

Except when it comes, elevators. I got on there and I tried to talk so he wouldn't talk and when I get nervous I just talk I just want to tell you everything. Get me nervous, I'll tell you I'll tell you everything. So I'm just talking to this guy. I know that this is really embarrassing. My poor wife probably I don't know what she's doing. I want to look at what she's probably head and hiding her head in shame cuz her grown husband, you supposed to be the man of the house. Here is a chicken to ride an elevator to the hospital. Real Steel. I know it's funny. I'm laughing with you, but to me, it wasn't funny. My blood pressure was up, my I was I was not sweating profusely, but I had that cold sweat, you know, I mean, my cheeks were red. I can feel them. I mean, I was worked up. I was, I had full-blown panic going on and I told this guy said I just feel better. He said, can I ask you, why you feel better with me on here? I said what? Cuz I figure you're here and you're like a you know, a rent-a-cop bro. You know what, whatever you call that security guard, whatever you call him and I said you have a radio. So if we get stuck in here, then you can probably radio for help and they're a lot more apt to come get you out, then what they might need to come get me out. And I believe that crazy story. I think they would be in a hurry to get anybody out, but at that moment, they wouldn't have come and got me, but they would have come and got him. So, I need him in their kind of hold him, hostage until I get out of their elevator. It's, it's totally exaggerated. Craziness has been when we got ready to leave. I got in the elevator like it was no problem. I just walked in didn't bother me a bit. Just mail it and I down, we went, I was fine. It was just crazy. I know where the attack came from, but it, it's exaggerated. Now, what I just told, you may have seemed silly, it was real, it was real to me, but it was just as it was an attack, sometimes the attacks are spiritual. Attacks are emotional attacks are fear fueled attacks, our imaginations, but regardless of where they come from, Mental, health battles are real. And sometimes there are a lot bigger in a lot more complex than the silliness that I've just told you right there. In fact, if we're honest, too many of us know what it feels like to lay awake at night, playing in our minds. What if some what if scenarios over and over and over again in our on our minds? We know what that's like just to keep going over the impact. Jesus said, in Matthew 6:25, talking about emotional health he says do not worry. Do not worry. It is. It is almost like a command. It wasn't in the top 10. You're the Big Ten Commandments, it's not there. But it says, do not worry. Then why is it so easy to worry and so hard to have peace. Because our enemy does not want us. Living in peace and Trust. Our enemy wants us living in fear and dread and worry. So that question matters because anxiety has become one of the most defining struggles in our generation. If you, and I lived another 25 or 30 years or fifty years, we would read back in history when this generation, this. Of time became some of the most anxiety-filled people in society. Drugs, for those kind of things are at an all-time high right now, because so many people are dealing with that.

You mentioned, just the other day on the, on the news, they mentioned the virus. As if it was a new virus, that's actually been around for a long time and I don't want to get political, but men are not a ton of emails and phone calls. But people said, okay, pastor, what's this? What's going to happen here? And I'm like, I don't know, I just heard the story to the best thing I can tell you is turn the TV off.

The gods going to take care of it, whatever happens God's going to take care of it. He got us through everything else. You know, he didn't leave you this far to drop you. So Jesus says, do not worry recent studies in America show that anxiety is now the number one mental health, struggle in America, they estimate from the story. I read 40 million, adults each year are dealing with some kind of mental health in America. It's anxiety, it's Panic. It's emotional exhaustion. It's burnout. It's hopelessness is an intrusive thought and many people almost feel like they're ashamed to talk about that when it comes to church and I don't think it should be that way. I hear you guys. My back is hurting. My bursitis, is hurting my left knee is hurting, my back is hurting. My ears are, you know what I'm saying? But we don't talk about things that are mental health things in church because there's a stigma there and I don't think it should be Saturday. People, many people feel ashamed to talk about that in church with the Bible. I hope after this beef. Two weeks are going to find. The Bible is not silent about mental Battles Through scripture. We see all kinds of people dealing with mental battles, middle fights battling emotional pressure. How about David? Okay, we can go into it. Sometime and talk about David, David, dealt with those kind of things. How about Elijah Elijah dealt with those kind of things. Jobe, don't you think he dealt with some mental stuff going through? The things, that he, that he went through. How about Peter? I think Peter went through some things. I think Jeremiah went through some mental health issues, that everybody everywhere is Maybe. Suffering from some of the same things. You are like, it just said in scripture, you're not the only one. So, I want you to hear this clearly even strong Believers can have weak moments and suffer with mental health issues. I'm talking about. The people that can quote more scripture than you even knew was in the Bible. I mean, they can quote everything, they knew what the pastor preached on for the last year-and-a-half. They're just a perfect little Christian, but it they can struggle with things like this. I want to give you five points super quick that I think, and I hope and pray will help you in this battle because I believe there's people in this room struggling from that very thing. And I believe that there's hope for the heavy heart. Number one, the mind can become a Battlefield. The mind can become a battlefield. The first thing I think of when I think Battlefield is Joyce Meyer, I think she wrote a book. The Battlefield of the Mind. Probably, some of your friends had booked but the mind can become a battlefield and it probably will 1st. Peter 5:6 says this. So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God. And at the right time he will lift you up and honor. Give all your worries and cares to God because simply he cares for you. Peter was riding there to suffering. Believers, if you study that scripture and study what was going on? It wasn't Believers, had everything going perfect in their life. He was studying our speaking rather to suffering believers, they were scattered believers. They were all over the place and they were persecuted. Believers, not to Peter's talking to, you say, he's so humble yourself under the mighty power of God. So, these were not comfortable Christians sitting in Easy circumstances. The other words, everything wasn't going perfect. In their little world, they were things, they were dealing with things, they had real. Reasons to feel anxious stuff was happening. Okay, things were going on the enemy. Understand something very well about you. If he can control our thoughts, if he can get in our mind, he can influence our direction. If he can control your thoughts, he can influence your direction. And then that affects what we do as a local church because our direction is be messed with because he's controlling our thoughts, he's got us thinking, thoughts that we don't necessarily need to be thinking, that's why mental illness battles are so intense because it's the control of the mind, it's the control of the direction of a Christian. Use remember if he controls your mind, he controls the way you move and you won't move the way that God wants you to move because you're being controlled by an outside force. Is that makes sense. So the battlefield is not not always in your house, it's not always your job, it's not always your finances. The battlefield is in your mind often times. It's in the mind. So, sad truth, I want you to get his your thoughts. We either feed your faith or your thoughts will feed your fear. One way or the other, your your thoughts, the things you think will either feed your faith and it will grow. Your faith will grow or your thoughts will feed your fear and your fear will become even bigger. We are getting anything out of this so far. So the enemy loves exhausted Minds. Can I say that again? The enemy loves exhausted Minds because exhausted might struggle to process truth correctly. Let me prove this to you when you get so tired. You're like I'm so tired. I'm so worn out. I can't even think anymore. Baby has anybody said something like that? I know I do I know Melody. That sometimes it's just like, okay I'm just beat I can't think anymore. So the enemy loves that. He loves that exhausted and he's just pounce as you That's exactly what happened to Elijah in 1st Kings chapter 19, he was just, he was just so exhausted, that's why things like having a Sabbath in really taking a day to rest or important. And the first thing we think is we can't do that. There's no way we've got too much to do and that's the line that the enemy wants you to believe because he wants to keep you exhausted. So now he's got you believing that you can't take time off.

One chapter earlier from 1st Kings chapter 19, Elijah was calling down fire from heaven. I mean, I don't know if you've ever done that, I never have. Maybe he wanted to like Scott, send the fire bowl to burn their head, all their hair off. Their head off with just their hair.

And now mr. Elijah the great man of faith and power. He's hiding under a broom tree. Asking God to let him die. Who are the Capital, One chapter one, flip of a page one number next in a book and Elijah goes from this great man of God to this man, trembling under a broom tree. Thank God, I'm just let me die. Isn't that crazy? It kind of makes you chuckle, but it's real. This is a real story, a tired person can misread everything and you probably will. A tired person. A text message. Feels a pensive. You read everything into that message that he could you wouldn't dare take it. It's surface value. A problem feels impossible, huh? You read that post on somebody that put their business on Facebook and they're in your reading in your life with that? I think they were talking about me.

You know what to say? Because you're thought that's what you do. When you're tired, when you're exhausted, you read things into things. Nobody was thinking about you. You need to humble yourself. You're thinking more highly of yourself than you should.

A delay feels devastating. Like, what this should happen quicker or or exhaustion. Distorts our perception because we're so tired. We can't see things in as they are in reality. We just see this mixed-up picture and we become fearful or afraid. So, here's the application for part. One of her. Number one, I need to move on. You got a guard what feeds your mind guard, what feeds your mind. You got to watch what you let in. Not only do you have to be careful who you hang out with and who you be friend on Facebook, but you've got to be careful of the friends that they have on Facebook or the friend that your friends have that you talk to, you may need to say snip-snip to some relationships. Just like there's a friend button on Facebook and I know some of you aren't on Facebook. I'm aware that there's an unfriend button. If you don't want them to know that, you've unfriended them. Just follow them and you'll never see their stuff again. I don't know y'all go home and then print me today.

You got a guard would feed your mind, you got a guard and if it all you're putting in, I got to have told you in the last year I used to love to watch Fox News. I would just kind of keep it on Just for noise in the room. And all of a sudden I was just kind of, always, always down always depressed. And I'm like, what am I feeding? Because whether I'm listening or not, I'm hearing it. I finally just oftentimes we set and you just the TV off cuz I don't want to hear it. If I want to know what's going on I'll turn it on when I'm through. I'll turn it off.

You got a guard that and sometimes that Garden is other Christian voices to, you got to make sure the Christian voices, you have a really teaching scripture. Just don't assume because they call themselves a Christian that everything is right. You got a guarded. You've got to set a watch over your brain. You don't want trash in cuz trash in trash out, fear and fear out, anxiety, and anxiety out. All right. You got a limit voices that fuel fear. You may need to stop hanging out with some people because every time you're around them you walk away more fearful than what you were like. It wouldn't do good for me to go to the hospital with somebody who's afraid to ride in an elevator. Neither one of us would ever get anywhere. We just stay on the ground floor.

I don't know why. I just said that just a joke. we got to spend more time and God's word, then we spend in panic driven media and that's what our new system does today. It is panic driven media. I enjoy watching Fox News from time to time but even the music you can tell a lot about movies like with jaws in the NFL ever, watch Jaws

You can tell by the music when he's going to get B. I don't know why that person in the water. Didn't hear that. That Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt. That tells me there's a shark coming.

And he just keeps on swimming. Why don't you hear the music? It's the same thing with this is funny, but it's the same thing with our life, you all. It's the same thing. We've got to watch the voices and the media that we allowed to come in to us. We read it. We hear it. We see it all the Worlds at War, what's going to happen if this happened. What, what if this is another virus, what if this is water, water water, water water, and before long, we were scared out of your ever-loving mind. And we're like, God, where are you crazy? You just, you're listening too much too crazy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say, I promise, okay, I didn't mean it. Like I said, it We got to spend more time and God's word. How about that? How about reading? God's word God tells you how it's all going to end up in. There is some scary stuff going to happen before it's all over. So why are you so fearful it has to happen. We have to go to a One World Government. We have to go to a one-world money system. We have to go there working towards It. Don't Panic, it's got to happen. Let It Roll Tater chip.

Alright. Alright, don't normalize constant. Mental chaos. Don't just think. Well, it that's just the way it has to be because that's just life. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't have to live in that Cesspool. You don't have to live there. You don't have to point number two, man. I got to hurry. I got eight minutes left. Point number two. Anxiety. Grows when we carry. What belongs to God. Anxiety grows when we carry, what belongs to God 1st. Peter 5:7, we already read It. Cast. All your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Give it to him, just give it to Jesus anxiety. Is it a problem that you saw? If it's a weight that you exchange, Me read that again. Are you? Then you need to walk home with that anxiety. Isn't a problem that you saw. I need to figure out why I have anxiety. I need to get rid of the anxiety. Know, you need to exchange the exoti for the only God can give you. You don't need to deal with that anxiety. Don't need them. Negotiate with the anxiety. You need to exchange that you need to give it to God, and God will in return. Give you his peace. You believe that the world, the word cast there with this cast, all your anxiety on him. It means to throw up on forcefully. So you don't just say here, got here thinking, why would I want to give God that? Because he asked you to, he says, cast all your anxiety on him, whose him God himself, cast all your cares and it says, forcefully. Probably just throw it. Can you do that with me and you just throw it, just throw it? Just get rid of it. You don't think I do hear it is a delicate thing. That sounds really cute but I don't know if that'll really work. Have you tried it?

Yeah, cuz when people tell you I just you know I just don't know if that'll work. What have you really tried it? So, if you want to come, take your head back out of a little bit. So this is not dropping a fishing line in the water, gently into the water, it's throwing the rock. It's, it's forcefully. Doing that every time exoti returns, it becomes another opportunity to throw it back on God. And when he comes back to you, just say God I give you this unfortunately throwing this to you, it's kind of like playing an e over. I'm throwing it over. I don't see where it's going. I don't know what you do with it. I don't care what you do with it. I just know that I'm not supposed to carry it and I'm not supposed to have it, Peter connects, anxiety, and you mail it to me for a reason because they decided he often grows when we believe that. It all depends on me. That's what anxiety, and you starts to grow up. I've got to figure this out. I've got to make this happen. I've got to get over this. I've got to fix this it. How about this one anxiety grows when I have this mentality that I must fix this? I have to be the one to fix this or I must control this. Cross that are control, freaks. I must carry this alone, nobody in the family, can really understand what I'm going through. But I have to carry this soap. You know how my brothers and sisters and Mom and Dad. They just don't get it five to carry this alone. Oh, you don't have to carry it alone. You choose to carry it a lot. So you can carry anxiety when you carry way, but you were never meant to carry anxiety. In fact, if you look at the word anxiety, I love this. I should have put it on the screen right in the middle of it is now that I look at it. It really is because anxiety is all wrapped around you. I, I think I worried I fear. So I live in turmoil.

So faith is not denial that. It's not happening because it's really happening. Faith is surrender saying I don't have to carry this. There's a difference. They're worried doesn't come it doesn't empty tomorrow. I love this quote from Corrie Ten Boom. Worry does not empty tomorrow of Sorrow it empties today of strength. You just don't have the strength to find. So, here's the application, for point to name, the burden, honestly. Tell God what it really is. No. Sometimes we try to make things pretty, to God. So we just need to tell her. This is what I'm struggling with. He already knows. He knows what you're thinking. Anyhow, so we got a name that burn. We got to pray specifically, instead of generally, we often times will guy just take things out of his nose and pray. What it really is Call It by what it is. As silly as it is. I give you that fear of going in small confined places. I don't think that that's a God. God didn't say, I'm going to watch this. We're going to have a good laugh, Angels, let's make Kevin afraid of tight places. Watching when he walks up to this elevator, he's going to bulk like a mule. I don't think the heavens didn't their jokes off of me. So God, I give that to you if it keeps me from my Kingdom Business, My Kingdom Business was to go to the Hanover Hilton to pray for somebody that was sick so that they could recover that was embarrassing ambassador from another kingdom. And all of a sudden this fear is keeping me from my kingdom business. It's bigger than what you imagined it really is We have to practice releasing control daily. It won't just happen. Just once I did that, once it didn't work. Will do it again. Knock and keep on knocking seek and keep on seeking. Keep going after replace Panic, Thoughts with scripture. Find yourself scripture that you can quote, the God's not given me a spirit of fear, or timidity, for those of you. So, I'm just too shy. Didn't give you that, you might have developed that, but God didn't give it to you. I gave you the bonus of a lion, he put the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit available to you. How dare you say you're timid? When you got him on the inside of you, the holy spirit's, not some kind of a week Tiptoe Through the Tulips. Holy Spirit. Oh, I'm a little bit shy as you pick your daisies and hop on point of a three exhausting changes. How you see everything? Exhaustion changes, how you see everything. So Elijah gives us the perfect. Give me Liza gives us the perfect recipe for emotional collapse. Here it is. I'm going to give you a recipe. Some of you ladies, have some of you meant like the cook to, here's the perfect recipe. If you want to write it down for depression, you already. All right, here comes number one. You need two cups of wearing yourself out.

Two cups of wearing yourself out. I mean, wear yourself out, slap silly. Just go and go and go, and go and go and do wear yourself out. You need 3/4 of a cup of shut people out. Isolate yourself, so you need. Number one was wear yourself out. Number two, was shut people out. Number 3, you need a half a cup of focus, only on the negative.

And the last ingredient is you need one pint of minimizing God.

Now, here's what you do. With all those things, you can buy them into one bowl and you blend lightly not hard. Just blend it all together, stick it in the oven and here's what you're going to have a massive case of depression. Because you wore yourself out you shut people out. Y'all still with me, you focused on the negative, you focused on everything possible that could go wrong and nothing that could go right. You've ruled got out, you've tied his hands but you want to pray and ask him to move but you don't really believe he can't cuz you've already told what the outcome was going to be. It's probably going to be this way. That's what you're believing for then what you're speaking with your mouth you have a problem with making a confession positive for God but you don't mind having a problem. Making a positive confession for the devil. I'm probably going to get worse. I'm probably going to die from this.

A pastor. We don't believe in that confession stuff. You don't you just confessed. Okay, well let me go on, that's not my message in the next still works today. We're living in a culture that is overworked over-stimulated, emotionally isolated spiritually distracted. That's the culture that we live in here. If you don't want to live with anxiety and those kind of mental health issues, there's only one thing you can do. And that is don't wear yourself out rest. Don't shut people out all the times when we get into trouble, we run into hard times, we say I call and say, hey, we miss you at church or I just have a lot going on and just needed to stay at home man when you got a lot going on, that's the time to press send.

That's the time. Don't forsake this, your assembly together, especially as you see, the day approaching me. And that's what time you need to get in church, or I had a headache. I thought I better stay at home. How about I have a headache and come to church and get the elders to pray for you and get rid of the headache. I don't know. It's just a thought. We have never been more connected digitally. Why we become more, disconnected or isolated emotionally? Oh, we're all connected with through this. I'm not against this. But we are very connected through Facebook through text, message through Facebook Messenger, through Instagram, Direct messages through Twitter, through Linkedin, through this just goes on and on, and on, but he mostly. When was the last time you went and had lunch with somebody or you had coffee with somebody up, you might just send them a text, we're digitally connected, but we're isolated emotionally and then we're isolated. The devil begins to attack us, you get that this has become, what was a great tool for evangelism has now become something that we use as a divisive measure against other people at times. I don't know. I think I'm preaching better than what y'all are here. And I don't know. I got to hurry, though.

We don't need to make permanent decisions from temporary emotions.

Elijah said, I'm the only one left, but he was, he was wrong. He was not the only one left, it was his perception, but he was wrong depression. Often lies to us with things like, nobody really cares. Nobody cares. Nothing will change, huh? Come on now. How about this when you're alone? You're alone. There is no more future. There's no future. Things will never get any better our feelings or our are not always facts. Our feelings are not always the facts just because you're feeling that and it seems right to you doesn't mean that that's right. Well, they didn't talk to me much this morning. I think they're probably upset with me to really Maybe they were just busy doing something else like you were, or maybe they're going through something to. Are you following me when are you getting them? It's lies that we believe from the enemy. I got to hurry up location for Point. Number 3 is this. Don't isolate yourself. Don't isolate yourself. Talk talk to trusted people. He may not want to talk to just everybody but talk to trusted people rest before burnout destroys your perspective. Just say I've got your the thought of tried for years guys to take a day off. I absolutely love what I get to do as a pastor and I don't love every day if some days are harder than others, okay? But for the whole man, 99% of the time, I love what I do, I have absolutely love what I do. Answer to take a day off, David is not necessarily a fun thing. I want to do this. Why why do I want to take off from what I love to do because I need to take off. And I need that, I've been doing this 32 years and I need a, I need a day off every once in awhile. So I said, okay we're going to work on Monday is a day off, we tried it didn't work. It's okay. We're going to work on a half a day, Monday, until 1 in the day. We can do whatever we want to do. If we want to lay in the bed and sleep till 1, that's what we do. I don't answer phone calls, I don't make text, I do what I want to do. If I want to do it, when I want to do it, Melody does the same thing. I don't get breakfast and she gets to lay in bed and it's it's okay. You know what? I'm playing with you there. You follow what I'm saying? We just do what we want to do and it can I just be honest with you, it is so hard. Inevitably Diane appointments will show up between 8 and 1 on Monday. I'm like, who made this appointment? What was the only time that week? They can talk, but it's too bad. I'll have to wait till the next week. If it's an emergency today and I'll be in emergency next week, too. If somebody died they're dead. We can wait another week to talk about it. I'm playing, I'm being facetious there. Do you understand what I'm saying? We've got to find time to not isolate herself to talk to trusted people to rest before he destroys our perspective. With got to find that time it. And yes, it's hard. I understand. Last one is learn to recognize emotional warning, signs, early, when things are affecting us. We learn it early before. I got a response to broken, people is not rejection. God doesn't reject you. And I'm sorry. The church is not rejecting. You either. That's your perception. This may be my favorite part of the story. God did not come to Elijah with condemnation at first. When we love to do that with people that are going through things, well, you should stop doing there since you should come to church more often and you should do this or do you want. I'm saying, you should do whatever where we and we get these things, but here's what I did with Elijah at school, God fed him. The first scene is he gave him food, don't you? Love that? He went to Cannes and got him some chicken.