Anxiety is Bad

Anxiety is the most predominant form of mental illness in our country, plaguing both young and old, showing up as post-traumatic stress syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, even phobias and generalized anxiety disorder.

We all deal with anxiety in one form or another from time to time, particularly in times of extreme stress or life-change.

Stress is a reality of life.

As Vince Miller has noted, “Culturally, we are a nervous wreck, and no one is immune to it.”

According to a 2019 poll of 2000 Americans 3/4 majority admitted to being stressed out.

The study, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of LIFEAID Beverage Co., found that over half of us are currently stressed out by work (51 percent).

Thirty-seven percent said a health issue is presently giving them fits, while over a third of Americans (35 percent) pointed to their partner as a big current source of stress in their life.

Over one in four Americans say their work commute is currently stressing them out, with nearly a third (29 percent) saying social media causing them distress.

Another third (32 percent) say climate change is currently stressing them out.

Two in three Americans (67 percent) say they’re so stressed right now that it’s causing them to be less productive at work.

To top it all off, the average American spends almost $1,000 per year directly attempting to feel less stressed.

Anxiety and stress are constant problems. But one of the top causes of stress is money troubles. According to the APA's latest Stress in America survey found that:

72% (or 243 million) Americans reported feeling stressed about money at least some time in the prior month.

As we continue our series on God verses money, today we are going to look at how though Giving is Good, Stress is Bad, and we’re going to look at the ultimate cause of stress, and Christ’s prescription to combating it.

Anxiety and Worry are Sinful

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul has addressed some pretty heady topics, the Philippians, like Paul, had been under constant persecution, and attacks from theological heretics who attempted to draw them away from the gospel.

Paul, like the Philippians, had been defamed by his adversaries, persecuted by authorities, and faced hunger and want, and yet, he begins this section with a call to rejoice.

We are called to rejoice in the Lord always. To rejoice means to be joyful, to be merry. So Paul is urging these believers who are in the midst of great stressors, suffering, and persecution to be joyful always.

But the question we must as is, “How do you expect me to be joyful in the midst of all of the stressors, and anxieties of life?”

First off, we must ask is it sinful to be worried?

Well, the answer is yes and no.

If by worry you mean concern then this is a common part of life. We all deal with it. To go through life and never be concerned or worried would be insanity. When a spouse says she’s leaving, or the bank account is zero, or the doctor says it’s cancer, all of these are valid concerns.

A concern is an instance where an issue arrests the attention of an individual making him care and feel distressed.

But it becomes sinful when it begins to control my thoughts, my life, and causes me to doubt the goodness of God.

Worry is when an individual feels uneasy or anxious about something or someone to the point that it freezes them or controls them.

This is sinful.

Matthew 6:26–28 ESV

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? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,

For Jesus, and for Paul, such anxieties, such moments of a loss of control are sinful. Why?

Worry and Anxiety are a failure to recognize God’s Good Presence

By being anxious or worried, we reveal our lack of trust in the goodness of God.

I know this is hard for us to hear. We don’t like to hear this, especially in our over-medicated, over-permissive culture, but according to scripture anxiety is a sin against God.

So how do we live a joyful life?

Recognize

The first way Paul notes for us to overcome anxiety is to recognize God and his goodness.

Look at v. 5.

Philippians 4:5 ESV

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

In this verse, Paul notes that we are to let our reasonableness or gentleness be know. And we do this by recognizing the nearness of God.

The word for recognize is “engys”. This word means nearness or imminence.

The word is used by Jesus in speaking of the end times in Matthew 24

Matthew 24:32–33 ESV

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

Notes that Jesus uses the word to describe how the signs should prepare us for the coming of the Lord.

Jesus points to the fig tree as an example of our expectation of the coming of the Lord. He is in essence saying that when we "see all these things,” the signs of the times, such as wars and rumors of wars, “you know that he is 'engys'".

Paul uses this same word here. He is saying, “because God is near” Because he is imminent. Because he is present, don’t be anxious.

When I allow myself to be anxious, I am doubting the presence of God.

In essence we are saying “I believe God is with me, I believe God is near. I believe that he cares for me but not really.”

Anxiety declares to the world that we really don’t believe what scripture says about God.

Scripture time and time again speaks of God’s goodness and provision.

Ephesians 1:3–4 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

1 Peter 5:6–7 ESV

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

We must recognize that God is good, and put our faith and trust in his ability to handle our lives and our problems.

Rejoice

The second thing we are to do to overcome worry is rejoice. We first must recognize who God is and what he has done and promises to do for us, and then we must rejoice in it. Its no wonder that in a letter written to persecuted Christians by a suffering apostle like Paul that he writes as he does in Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5–10 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

This verse is a proclamation of rejoicing in who Christ is! If we are going to overcome worry then we must replace our mourning and our moaning with joyful praise.

How do we rejoice?

By prayer and petition with thanksgiving we present our request to God.

Jesus teaches us that God cares about our problems and that instead of worrying about those things we cannot change, we should instead cast those cares upon the Lord.

Thanksgiving is one of the most powerful cures for anxiety. Better than prozac is reminding ourselves of who God is and what he has done.

The problem is our minds are our greatest enemy. Our minds convince us that we must do more. That prayer and trust in Christ is not enough. That we must hold onto our fears, our worries, our anxieties.

But Praise is one of the prescriptions to worry:

Psalm 121:1–2 ESV

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 40:1–3 ESV

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

So Paul is proclaiming to the Philippians:

In the midst of persecution - Rejoice in the Lord.

In the mist of trials - Rejoice in the Lord.

When your neighbor attacks you - Rejoice in the Lord.

When your friends abandon you - Rejoice in the Lord

When you family disowns you - rejoice in the Lord

When your wife leaves you - Rejoice in the Lord.

When your job is gone - Rejoice in the Lord.

When the spot is cancer - Rejoice in the Lord.

Why? Because the Lord is near, and he knows of your need and he is “the shade on your right hand…the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (Psalm 121:5,8)

REORDER

When we praise God something amazing happens. Our problems are put into perspective. The problem with worry is that worry often makes a giant out of a gnat. I’ve seen it in the life of my family often.

I’ve been there. Something is missing, or some deadline is coming up, or some problem is looming and I anxiously worry about it.

But when I praise the Lord and cast my cares upon him, my problems get put into proper perspective. When I remember how he’s seen me through past trials and past issues, my confidence in his provision grows.

Our sinful hearts seek to drive us from God, but God calls us to lean closely into him.

It’s not the problem goes away. But when I properly put God over my problem then my anxiety drops and I am actually better equipped to handle the problem then I would be if I was frozen in fear and anxiety.

Paul promises that if I recognize God’s goodness, and rejoice in the Lord God promises “the peace of GOd that surpasses all understanding”! This is the promise of scripture.

RESTORE

Finally, scripture notes that the peace of God will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians is that as we trust the Lord in all things, including our finances that we receive the peace of God and that peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When my focus is on my financial woes, or problems with work or school that leads to worry and anxiety, but when I clearly see God I am safely in his hands.

Paul illustrates this at the end of this letter:

Philippians 4:10–19 ESV

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Paul had a guarded heart not because he had a great life but because he had a great God.

That’s why he could do all things Through Christ, he could be brought low, he could abound, he could have plenty, he could have want, He could be beaten, he could be praised, he could be excepted, or he could be rejected but in all things he had peace because he had such a great God.

When we recognize the greatness of God, then we can do all things.