God Satisfies My Anxious Heart
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
If you remember from last week...We all seek after what we thirst for. The question is what does your soul thirst for? Do we thirst for the less satisfying things of this world? OR Do we thirst for the ultimate, soul-satisfying God of the universe?
Transition from . This is an application of the message of
If you remember from last week...We all seek after what we thirst for. The question is what does your soul thirst for? Do we thirst for the less satisfying things of this world? OR Do we thirst for the ultimate, soul-satisfying God of the universe?
Now today I want to address an application of to our life and talk about the topic of Anxiety and fear. It is a universal struggle. We all deal with it in our lives to some extent. Some more than others. And, just to be real, I feel like I’m on the “more-than-others” side of the spectrum. I don’t worry about a lot of things. It’s more of a focused anxiety that can hang around for long periods of time. I say this so you other worry-ers don’t thing that I’m coming at this from a It’s-so-simple, I’ve-go-it-conquered,-why-can’t-you-get-over-it perspective.
I want to address Anxiety as the Bible uses it. If you turn in your bibles to and put your finger in , Matthew’s parallel passage, we will see that in both passages Jesus starts the instruction, “Do not be anxious” with the word “therefore”. Therefore, do not be anxious. The word therefore is pointing us back to a previously stated reason or basis for the instruction. Let’s read both.
is used because he is basing his words to the disciples, and to us, on a reason stated just before these words. Let’s read both.
“So is the one who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God. Therefore do not
be anxious about your life....” And , “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. Therefore do not be anxious about your life....”
Notice first that Luke speaks of “treasures” and Matthew speaks of “loves” and “devotions” and that you can only have one ultimate treasure and only one ultimate love. You can’t have more than one. It just doesn’t work that way.
From this observation we can see then that anxiety comes when we take our seeking eyes and thirsty soul off God as our treasure and our highest love and try to put at least one eye on what we value in the world.
From this I take it that anxiety comes when we take our seeking eyes and thirsty soul off God and try to put at least one eye on the world, or what we value in the world. And we question, “How is this going to work? What if they don’t like me? What am I going to eat? What am I going to wear? What if this happens? What if that doesn’t happen?”
Anxiety, as the Bible uses it here, is result of being half-hearted toward God and valuing, treasuring, loving the things of this world. They become our “concern”. Those things become what we “care” about. How we get them. OR How we keep something from happening that we don’t want. In fact the gk word means to care about or be concerned about something. It carries the idea of having a distracted view. That is, trying to have one eye on one thing and the other eye on another thing.
So Jesus is instructing us with the words...
1. Do not be anxious about your life.
1. Do not be anxious about your life.
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.”
“do not be anxious about anything...”
English Standard Version Chapter 12
And he said to his disciples, f“Therefore I tell you, gdo not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
24 hConsider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. iOf how much more value are you than the birds!
25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his jspan of life?3
26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,4 yet I tell you, keven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, lO you of little faith!
29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor mbe worried.
30 For nall the nations of the world seek after these things, and nyour Father knows that you need them.
31 Instead, oseek phis5 kingdom, qand these things will be added to you.
32 r“Fear not, little sflock, for tit is your Father’s good pleasure to give you uthe kingdom.
33 vSell your possessions, and wgive to the needy. xProvide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with ya treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
34 zFor where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Do not try to have your eyes on God and on earthly things. You can’t do it. You will love one and hate the other. Keep your eyes on God. Don’t care for or be concerned about your life.
Now what exactly does that look like? Does it mean we just give up, camp out in front of the TV, and eat ice cream? I wish! But no! It means live life with both eyes on God. Work hard with both eyes on God. Love your wife, your husband with both eyes on God. Go to the grocery store with both eyes on God.
The answer is simple yet it is hard to do. Because we have good reasons to be anxious, don’t we?! As some of you know I process things rather slowly so I started on these two messages weeks ago. Of course last weeks message seemed to fill up those weeks leaving me this week to prepare this message. I studied, wrote pages of notes, gathered my thoughts, then stared at a blank page with a blank mind. How was I going to put this all together? Cried out to God to give me his words. And nothing. Blank. And I had to have certain things done by Friday so the office people could do their thing.
Everyone is challenged by fear and anxiety sometime in their life.
I attempted to outline my thoughts on Wednesday and then again on Thursday but I was totally uninspired. Took a walk Thursday evening in desperation for something to come to me, praying the whole way that God would open the faucet and let His words flow and battling my anxiety with every step (What if Sunday comes and I have to stand up here and have nothing to say, just blank pages?!). I was battling these thoughts by applying what God had shown me in the text, but I still felt a knot in my stomach. A friend of mine just happened to text me as I began my walk and promised to pray for me. God had not forgotten me. I knew my words would not do. I needed God’s words.
We have good reason to be anxious!
It was Friday morning, 5:30 am, God showed up. He had turned the faucet on. Words flowed. But the battle was real! Be gentle with your anxious friends. The answer may be simple—trust/pray, but it is not easy.
Jesus, however, doesn’t leave us hanging with a cold command. He supports it with warm and wonderful bedrock.
2. The purpose of your life is bigger than your life.
2. The purpose of your life is bigger than your life.
v23 give the ground or reason.
“For Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”
Notice the word “for”. “For” works like to word “because” giving you the why or the reason or the basis for something. Here it is giving the reason we should not be anxious about our life, about the horizontal. And the reason is, “Life is more than food.” Take that in. See how massive that statement is. Life is more than food. Everything else in this passage supports or firms up this foundation that Life is more than food.
Now in this country we don’t worry about food or clothing in the sense that “I’m worried whether I’m going to eat today or not.” Our concern is more like “I can have anything I want, What and I going to eat today.” But think about what Jesus thought to make an example of…food, clothing, the essentials for survival. You have to have food and drink and clothes to survive but Jesus is saying, don’t be anxious about these things or any other thing because Life is more than food.
Worried about your sermon? Life if more than the sermon.
Worried about your diagnosis? Life is more than healthy bodies.
Worried about your marriage? Life is more than your marriage.
Worried about your wayward child? Life is more than your wayward child.
Not that any of these things are unimportant. They just can’t be most important.
Jesus said, Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. .
It’s only when God is our priority, when both eyes are on Him, can we rightly see and relate to our circumstances and loved ones.
Life is more than “fill in the blank”. What is it for you?
Now when Jesus says, “Your life is bigger than your life” what else is there?
Your life is bigger than your life.
There’s God!
There’s God!
And from the message last week we have to ask, “Is God enough?” If all earthly loves were taken away, your job, your approval from others, your spouse, you kids, your friends, your toys, your health, would you say, My Lord, and My God.?
The One who loves grasshoppers like you, values you!
God values you.
God values you. v24b
b “Of how much more value are you than the birds!”
God loves the birds so much that he acts on their behalf. Birds! And not just any birds but ravens or crows. Like the ones that live in the trees around my house in the spring and make all kinds of racket every morning and evening! I even had one that chased me every time I came outside. God loves them! And if God loves them how much more value are you to God than the birds?! God values you. Not because there is something intrinsic in you or because you have performed well. No, God just loves you. He has chosen to place his love on you.
God provides for you.
“Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.”
And v 27, Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin...
“But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown in the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”
The ravens don’t plant food. The ravens don’t go out to harvest the crop. The ravens don’t store their food in barns. And yet they don’t worry about their next meal. Why? God! God feeds them. If God feeds ravens, don’t worry. God will provide for you.
And the lilies don’t stress about how they look. They are not worried about what to wear? Why? God! God clothes them more beautifully than Solomon in all his treasures. If God does that for grass which is just fire fuel, how much more will He do it for you.
He knows what you need. V 30b “and your Father knows that you need them.” God is not unaware of your situation. God is not wringing His hands helplessly hoping you can figure it out. God is there. He is able. He knows what you need. He loves you and will provide for you.
He knows what you need v30b
Yes, you work, but it’s God who causes it all.
Why is our life bigger than our life? Because there’s God. And...
God takes pleasure in giving
“…it is your Father’s good pleasure to give...”
There’s a Kingdom!
There’s a Kingdom!
Don’t be anxious about food and clothing. Don’t worry about those things. Don’t fix your eyes on earthly things because there is a reality that our physical eyes can’t see. There is a Kingdom, a spiritual realm that is more real than what we can see and touch, that the Sovereign Lord is establishing. In fact don’t we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Seek His kingdom v 31
So instead of worrying about the horizontal, seek God’s Kingdom!
v 30 “All the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
“Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”
His Kingdom is far superior than your little kingdom. It’s the Kingdom of God and He wants to give it to you!
Know that God takes pleasure in giving you the Kingdom
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
You don’t earn it. You don’t work for it. God gives it to you, not begrudgingly, but it gives God great pleasure to give it to you, for your enjoyment. says, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
And notice the little words fear not.
No stress, no anxiety, no worry. Simply fullness of joy and pleasures forever. That’s what God wants to give you.
The gk word for fear is our word phobia. Jesus is gently calling his vulnerable little flock to fear not because our Father takes pleasure in giving you His kingdom.
Life is more than food! There’s God! There’s a Kingdom! And...
Your anxiety has no power to accomplish anything.
Your anxiety has no power to accomplish anything.
Your anxiety has no power to accomplish anything v25-26
“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”
“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”
v 25 is a rhetorical question. “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” What is the obvious answer? No one! No one is able to add a single hour to his span of life by being anxious! Yet, according to Jesus, this is such a small thing! So if being anxious can’t do a small thing like that, why be anxious about the rest that is out of your control?!
Life is more than food, We have God and His Kingdom and there is no power in anxiety to accomplish anything, so don’t be anxious about your life.
This leads us to point #3 and the question is there any place for fear, anxiety, worry, concern in the Christian life? And my answer is a qualified “yes”.
3. Adjust your Focus--Narrow view and Wide angle
3. Adjust your Focus--Narrow view and Wide angle
It is OK for a moment to see certain circumstances and be concerned about them, even anxious and worried. But the qualification is that you can’t stay there. If your focus is narrowed for the moment on a particular distressing circumstance it is only natural and right to be concerned, or to worry, or to be anxious about it.
“And, apart from other things there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” Same gk word as in .
Again we see the same gk word in where Paul says, “I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.”
And we see the gk word phobia translated fear in when Paul says, “For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.”
“For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.”
The same Paul who said “be anxious for nothing” was anxious for all the churches, and feared that some churches might have been somehow lured away by the tempter from faith in God.
It’s ok, for a moment, to have our lens narrowed and focused on something and feel the desperation of it and our own inablility to change anything about it, but then to widen our lens and see God, see His kingdom. It’s good for us to see our inability and to see God as able to deal with it and wise enough to deal with it as it ought to be dealt with, not necessarily as we want. Remember, it’s not our kingdom or will, Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be Done.
Look at Jesus how moves from the narrow focus to the wide angle in
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? (That is all Narrow focus. Then he puts on the wide angle lens and says) But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”
(Jesus goes from the narrow view to the wide angle.)
You see how Jesus set his circumstance in the bigger picture of what his Father is doing? He put himself in his Father’s hands to do as he willed.
Feel the weight of your broken relationship, your broken body, your broken circumstance, that’s ok, but don’t get swallowed up. Let it move you, drive you to your knees, to come to the Father with open hands. To do as He wills.
(Jesus goes from the narrow view to the wide angle.)
4. Look Up, not Out.
4. Look Up, not Out.
If we are to move forward in faith in this broken world and not be anxious about our life we must look up, no out. There are all kinds of dangers when we take our eyes off God and fix them on the horizontal.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Here’s what can happen if we are Looking Out and not up.
[Looking Out]
[Looking Out]
We could forget God and believe the lie that it was our efforts that accomplished it.
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’”
If we look out and not up for what we need we may think that what we received came from sources other than God.
Lesser satisfy-ers are not the source
For their mother has played the whore;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,
and I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
She shall pursue her lovers
but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
but shall not find them.
Then she shall say,
‘I will go and return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than now.’
And she did not know
that it was I who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
which they used for Baal.
“…For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’
And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.”
If we look out and not up we may Lose the very thing we are trying to preserve
Lose what you are trying to preserve
“So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”
If we look out and not up we will be anxious and troubled about so many things and not see the one thing that is really necessary.
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Mary sat at the feet of Jesus as he shared his heart with them. Martha’s spiritual vision was distracted to the horizontal. She put the house prep, or we could say, hospitality, higher on the priority list than Jesus. This has to get done first. Instead she should have looked up, like Mary. That was all that was necessary. Surrender before service. Meeting with the Savior before making the bed.
So, like Mary, let’s look up, not out.
[Looking Up]
[Looking Up]
If you look up and not out, that is, if you look to God your Father who takes pleasure in giving you the kingdom, where your soul finds satisfaction in God alone, you may experience mistreatment and miss out on this world’s treasures but you will end up with greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt.
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
And if you look up into His eyes and trust Him with your circumstances you may end up loosing everything but receiving a Better possession and an abiding one
Better possession and an abiding one
“But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward.”
And if you look up and not out, you will happily set all your accomplishments aside for something better, for a Surpassing Worth.
Surpassing Worth
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
a “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
When you set all you love in this world next to Christ and you see Christ as a surpassing worth, then you are looking up and not out.
And looking up and not out means that when you pray for a solution to a circumstance but you receive trouble instead, you won’t be defeated but More than Conquerors
Better and More than Conquerors
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.”
“…If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Well, lots of people! or similarly we read, “What can man do to me? These rhetorical questions have an obvious answer. No one or Nothing. But wait a minute. Lots of people can do a lot against me! So it “No one or Nothing” the answer the author intended? Here’s what I think the authors intended. “Who can be against us? No one that matters. What can man do to me? Nothing that matters! Life is more than food! I have God. I have his Kingdom!
v 35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”
...v 35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”...v 37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
v 37 “No, in all these things e are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
When we look up and not out we can be assured that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus!
5. Prayer is not a pill--Trust Him
5. Prayer is not a pill--Trust Him
Prayer is Not a Pill. Your anxious circumstance is not solved because you prayed. The mechanics of prayer doesn’t solve anything. God is not a robot. You can’t push the prayer button and have God work a situation out just the way you want.
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Phil 4:6
The active ingredient in prayer must be faith. Do you trust God with your marriage, with your children, with your health, with your life? Do you trust Him? Do you trust Him enough to let him deal with the situation as He sees fit? Because many times we pray and we think God didn’t answer. That’s because we expect that God has to answer our prayers the way we want rather than trusting that He knows better what we need.
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Now there is nothing wrong with asking God to work a certain way, We should! But then we must trust ourselves, our situations to the faithful and wise God to accomplish His will.
So pray. But in your prayer trust. And if you trust enough to leave the situation in God’s hands, you will experience an unexpected and illogically peace that will keep your heart and mind safe from anxiety.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanks giving let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
“But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
“Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
God is your burden carrier. Lay it on Him. Don’t carry it yourself. Trust Him with it. The result may not be what you hoped for, but He will not allow those who keep their eyes on Him to be moved. You are standing on bedrock.
6. Living for God and His Kingdom frees you.
6. Living for God and His Kingdom frees you.
From anxiety To demonstrate that God is your soul-satisfy-er
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. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luke 12:33-34
To demonstrate that God is your soul-satisfy-er
Don’t hoard, sell.
Don’t worry about your life—food, clothing. Loosen your grip, Give to others, God knows what you need.
,
“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. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
,
Hold lightly to the things of this world
Keep your eyes on the Lord
Your life is more than food
So don’t be anxious about your life.
Amen.
Amen.
It is well lyrics
And far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can’t see
And this mountain that’s in front of me
Will be thrown into the midst of the sea
And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And through it all, through it all
It is well
And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And through it all, through it all
It is well
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name
The waves and wind still know His name
And it is well with my soul
it is well with my soul