Less Anxious - Overthinking

We will have communion at the end of service today.

What is Anxiety

An automatic, emotional response to a real or imagined threat.

We are not talking about clinical anxiety. Some people have a medical condition, they have chronic anxiety.

Some people have situational issues where there is too much going on, and for a time, they need assistance in navigating complex situations they cannot handle on their own.

If you need to please speak to a medical professional. I am not a medical professional. I am a pastor. I can hopefully talk to you about what the Bible says.

What is the goal?

By miracle, medical, or practice, we seek wholeness that comes from the Lord.

The goal is to become less anxious. We cannot remove anxiety because we cannot remove every threat, real or imagined. We live in a constantly changing and evolving world filled with other people. Things will come at us, and our goal should be to become less anxious and be more like Jesus. Reducing anxiety is almost a byproduct of becoming more like Jesus.

We should not allow situations to determine who we are or how we act.

In Week one we spoke about our role in our inner dwelling. Week 2 we pressed into the idea that voices matter, who gets to speak in our dwelling. Last week Pastor Howie spoke about peace in our hearts. The center of our home.

This week we will talk about overthinking. Overthinking more than maybe anything else sits in the imagined part of anxiety. We are going to be in 1 Peter 5:6-10 this morning.

Overthinking

I want us to think about getting ready to leave the house. You have been home taking care of things and now you are ready to go out. You want to hang out with some friends, maybe you are going on a date, maybe you are going to go to a movie.

You get dressed, you get ready and you sit in the car deciding where to go. You pick a destination and then can’t decide on the best route. You think about possible accidents or detours on the way. You change your mind and decide to go somewhere else only to do the same thing all over again. Overthinking often leaves us in the garage never actually able to leave our dwelling.

Thinking and planning are good, overthinking can be crippling.

We can overthink for so many reason and we can’t cover them all but some include

It can be the way we are wired. We can be wired to think about possible outcomes, to be risk mitigator. That is a good thing done rightly.

It can be because of comments or comparisons on Social Media.

It can be because we used to not think about things and now the pendulum has swung the opposite way.

It can be a medically related issue. People with ADHD or Clinical anxiety have a really hard time with overthinking.

It can be because of past failures and not wanting to repeat.

It can because of childhood abuse.

It can be because you are feel like you are failing in some area of life.

There are so many reasons we can overthink but by God’s grace we are not left helpless we can do something about it.

There is a difference between knowing a problem is coming and preparing for it. So much could change. Some problems are so many steps away that we debilitate ourselves worrying about them.

There is a difference between knowing an area needs improvement or that something is wrong and getting stuck in the garage of your mind.

Overthinking is an unhealthy use of a good thing.

Overthinking is focusing on what if, instead of what is.

Overthinking can also be a spiritual attack or it can be a product of living in a broken world or it can be bad habits.

This morning I want us to look at 1 Peter 5:6-10. I believe this passage tells us a few things we can apply to overthinking. How we can redeem the good thing of thinking and planning.

1 Peter 5:6–10 CSB

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world. The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

Be Humble

1 Peter 5:6 CSB

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,

Humility is partly about understanding we do not know it all and we cannot think it all. We do not know everything. We cannot map out every possible route to a destination. There is so much we do not know.

Have you ever had a plan. You knew what you wanted to say, accomplish, or do. You had it all mapped out and then it went nothing like you planned?

Eph 3:20 tells us,

Ephesians 3:20–21 CSB

Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

I have learned, and am still learning to be honest, that if God can do more than I can imagine than my overthinking is still not able to comprehend what He is able to do.

Continual trying to map out every conversation.

Trying to figure out the money is going to come from.

How the healing will occur.

How the conversation will go.

Where will the sign be

None of this touches even the bottom of the hem of His robe. He is so far above me. He is so much more creative than I am. He has so many more resources than I do. My overthinking does not come close to what God can think.

So why am I wasting my time overthinking a situation. Instead I need to have faith and trust Him. He is God and we are not.

Humility puts us in proper alignment with God and ourselves. This helps our overthinking.

Cast our Cares

We cast our cares on Jesus.

1 Peter 5:7 CSB

casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

The word in Greek is epiriptō (epi rip toe) and it means to throw or put upon. We take our burdens, our cares, our anxiety, our overthinking, and we put it on Jesus because He can handle what we cannot.

Let’s think of overthinking like a burden, care, or worry. It is heavy. It has weight and that weight is pulling us down. It is taking a lot out of us. The Bible tells us to take things like this and put them on Jesus because while we cannot carry them, He can. While it is too heavy for us, it is light for Him.

If He can hold the stars He can hold our worries.

When we understand that God loves us. That we are loved to our very core. Our most important identity is we are loved by God. That Jesus loved us enough to die on a cross for us then we can give Him our overthinking and anxious plans.

If we trust Jesus for salvation can’t we trust Him with our worries?

How silly is it that we can trust Jesus with our souls but somehow our problems require us to figure it all out?

We watch out for the attacks of the enemy

1 Peter 5:8 CSB

Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Peter tells us to be sober minded or thinking clearly.

We understand that the enemy is prowling around and we watch out for this. We should not be caught unaware. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Cor 2:11 that we are not ignorant of the enemies schemes. We know his tactics.

If you are in a battle, or a sporting event, you train for the opponent you are going to face. You study film, you learn their moves, you study how they will attack. We do the same thing in the spiritual war. We know he will bring temptation that is specific to us, so we learn about him and us in order to fight well.

Learn the tactics and fight well. If there are certain things that trigger your overthinking change it.

Some people have asked why I shaved my head again. I started shaving my head about 20 years ago. We had an associate pastor who had a brain tumor and so the youth group guys all decided to shave their heads. Being in charge with another guy I could not let my little soldiers shave their head and not join. Well my hair rebelled against me. It has never grown back right. About a year ago I decided to grow it out again. It was ok, not perfect but ok. However, I was always wondering how it looked. I was so self conscience of it. I would wear a hat. I wanted to be careful of the angle I was seen in. It was constantly on my mind.

Why was I doing this to myself? Why was I doing something that lead to overthinking and worry? I cannot talk about these things without doing something about it. So I shaved my head again, and no more overthinking about my hair.

It was in part a spiritual battle and a natural one... If there are certain things that trigger your overthinking, change it.

The enemy and my flesh cannot attack there anymore.

Unfaced truth becomes the enemy’s weapon

If we are not willing to learn the truth about ourselves and do something about it, the enemy will use it against us.

Resist

1 Peter 5:9 CSB

Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

We are called to resist, or stand against the enemy and overthinking. Literally take a stand. Stop being the victim and resist. You are not powerless.

Romans 8:11 CSB

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. We are not helpless. We have power from the Holy Spirit to resist.

I was raised on punk and grunge music. I love to resist. Fight the power!

We can resist. When the overthinking starts we need to say no. I won’t go there.

We have a way out by God’s grace and God’s power.

Rest

Some things we just cannot do anything about so we must rest in God’s strength. This is really a thread that runs through the whole thing. We are going to dive into the book of Ephesians next year and this will be a central theme. We are all times resting in Christ’s strength.

1 Peter 5:10 CSB

The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

We are in a fight there is no two ways about it. Let’s not pretend we are not. We can get hurt because it is a real fight. The Bible does not pretend we won’t get hurt or suffer. Its a battle.

Soldiers who go to war understand that they can be injured. It’s part of the deal but here is thing no one gets out of this life without getting hurt. So will we do it alone or in Christ. I would rather fight on the side I know is going to win.

Why are we so surprised if life gets hard? God might not be making it happen, but He is not absent either.

When we are caught in overthinking God is not absent He has given us a way out. He promises to be with us.

But what does Peter tells us?

God will restore us, so we rest in Him.

I want to be clear that none of this easy. It is not a magic formula that just changes everything. It is not that it is easy to do but it is doable.

Pastor Howie talked about this last week. We must learn trust in the Lord and rest in the Lord.

Bring it to the Light

Overthinking often causes more anxiety than the problem itself.

We are going to dive into some of this next week but the way we overcome is often by bringing things to the light.

I cannot stress it’s at all in-service next week. I understand some people cannot like Miss Ruth who watches faithfully online. Some people are not here in the area. They’re part of our online community. That is but if you can be here next week, it your benefit because what you will see online will not capture everything that is happening in this room.

Drag if you have to kicking and screaming. When the thoughts overtake you bring them to Jesus.

So often we overthink something, we have built up a narrative in our heads and then when it does not go the way we expect we are caught off guard or we shut down because it did not go the way we planned for it it in our one sided conversation or solo event planning session.

We must learn to catch our thoughts and submit them to Jesus.

Practical Application

What is hard when it comes to overthinking is the topic is almost as big as anxiety itself. I cannot possibly address everything. What I hope to do is give some tools that l will help.

Prioritize External Communication

Prioritize open, honest, direct communication if another person is involved. Ideally if another person is involved in your monologue talk to them. Sometimes for whatever reason that is not possible. Whether it is unsafe or maybe you are just not ready. At a minimum try to find an uninvolved third party.

Practice internal clarity

I am feeling X and it is making me think Y or I am thinking Y and it is making me feel X.

Practice Humility

Recognize that you do not know every possible outcome and rest in God’s omniscience.

Practice Community

Overthinking happens inside our heads. Whether it is worrying about an outcome, thinking about a conversation, worrying about a real or perceived failure, the whole thing happens by ourselves in our heads. Practice community.

Talk to someone else and invite other safe or sharpening voices to speak.

Pray

Turn your overthinking into prayer. When you catch the thought, whenever that it is, turn it into prayer. If it’s 10 minutes or 60, if it is 1 day or 5 days move it to prayer. Lord, I need help here.

Psalm 139:23 NLT

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Faith in Action: Faith in God changes how I think.

Communion

Psalm 139:23 CSB

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

Krystal Notice

Announcements

Jersey Sunday next week. Football is kicking off so wear your favorite jersey next week. If you don’t like football or have a football jersey wear another type.

Trunk or Treat is scheduled for 10/28 You can sign up for trunks on the church center app and we can start bringing in candy.

As many of you know, Krystal Russell has faithfully loved, taught, and poured into our kids and families here at Journey for the past eight years. She has made the decision to step down as our Children's Pastor, effective immediately.

We want to deeply honor and bless her for the incredible footprint she leaves behind.

There is nothing wrong, this is just a normal part of church life; seasons change. She has also left us a detailed list of what is upcoming and everything we need to know to keep things running smoothly.

If you have questions please reach out to myself, Howie, or the leadership team.

As a church family, our immediate response in seasons like this is to stop, pray, and rest. Let’s take a moment right now to pray for Krystal, her family, and the next season God has for them, as well as for our kids' ministry.