Anxious For Nothing | Max Lucado

[Applause] i love your pastor you do too and i love this church may god's richest blessings to be upon you it's a great great honor i bring you greetings from san antonio texas and uh they are so happy when i travel i've been there since uh 1988 and they're telling me that as i get older my sermons are getting longer in fact just a few weeks ago a gentleman got up right in the middle of one of my sermons and he started walking out can you believe that i said hey where are you going he said well i'm going to get a haircut i said well why didn't you get one before you came in he said i didn't need one before i came in [Applause] we're not too bright down there in south texas i told the church a few well it's been a few years ago i told the church i won't be hanging around after the service today because i'm going to catch a flight i'm going to uh manhattan so as soon as the sermon was over i hurried out went to the parking lot one of our ladies at the church chased me down and she said pastor did you say you're going to manhattan i said i did she said could you say hello to my son while you're there and i said it's a short trip and that's a big city give me his contact information let's see what happens she said that's the problem we don't we don't know where he is we've lost contact with him i said well then how can i say hello to him she said well i'm thinking you might just bump into him i said that's not gonna happen you don't just bump into somebody she said you never know keep an eye out for a guy his name is john dunn i said i'm not going to just run into somebody named john dunn she said you never know keep an eye out well wouldn't you know walking down a main thoroughfare and over the entryway to a building were the words done in bradstreet and i thought that guy's name was john dunn so i walked in i went up to the receptionist and i said ma'am can you tell me do you have a john here [Laughter] she said we do down the hall first door to the right so i went down the hall and there was a i walked through the door and there was a gentleman stepping out of the stall i said sir can you tell me are you done he said i am i said then call your mother you didn't like that joke did you steve they're kind of hard to please so these three pastors are sitting in a fishing boat something about the mood at the moment caused one of them to say i've never really confessed this but i gotta tell you brothers i have a gambling problem in fact a lot of the church money i've lost gambling the second pastor said well as long as we're confessing i've got a bit of a drinking problem nobody knows about it but sometimes those trips i tell the church i'm going to study wow those two pastors wait for the third to speak up but he doesn't say anything he just sits there fishing finally they looked to him and said pastor we're confessing our sins anything you want to get off the chest he said well i will say this i struggle a lot with gossip and i can't wait to get off this boat [Applause] you like that one better didn't you we are really enjoying being here and god's richest blessings on the campus can i ask your indulgence on something i would typically when i go speak at a church shake as many hands pray with as many people as possible but you know what happened to me two weeks ago i came down with shingles and this is not a joke have you ever heard of shingles does that happen in indiana boy it sure happened in texas and i got to tell you i've got enough juice to get me through the sermon but i got a hydrocodone waiting on me in the hotel room so if you'll forgive me as soon as we're done i'll just slip out okay lord jesus have mercy upon us now as we open our hearts as we open your word let your blessings please be upon pastor steve and sandy what beautiful wonderful hearts what a great work they do and have done forgive our speaker his sins are many help us to see jesus just jesus through jesus we pray and all god's people said it's 2 30 in the morning and you can't sleep you toss and you turn you pound your pillow you adjust the blankets you roll to this side and then the other nothing works everyone else leaps your spouse has taken up residence in dream land the dog is curled up at the foot of the bed everyone else sleeps but you in six hours you'll be walking into a new job new office new chapter new season new world you'll be the rookie on the sales team you're wondering if you made the right decision the hours are going to be long the competition is severe besides you're 23 years old right out of college starting your first job you're 33 years old two kids to feed in the family to care for you're 43 years old latest victim of downsizing 53 years old not the ideal age to change careers you're 63 years old what happened to retirement plans and time with the grandkids and here you are starting over regardless of the age the questions fall like hailstones will i make enough money will i make any friends well i have a cubicle well i'll be able to learn the software program the sales pitch while i'll be able to find my way to the bathroom thoughts rage through your mind like a like a tornado through a kansas wheat field suddenly you feel a pain in your neck and a new strand of anxiety takes over oh no it's it's cancer just like granddad i'm gonna have to have chemo how will i endure chemo and a new job will the insurance cover chemo your mind is restless the only light in your room are the lights that come from that clock that tells you every minute is passing with less and less of a chance of getting a good night's sleep you cover your head with a pillow and you feel like crying what a mess what does all this anxiety mean all this trepidation all this restlessness all this insecurity what does it mean simply this you're a human being it doesn't mean you're emotionally underdeveloped it doesn't mean you're stupid doesn't mean you're demon possessed doesn't mean you're a failure doesn't mean that your parents failed you or vice versa and this is important it doesn't mean you're you're not a christian christians battle anxiety jesus battled anxiety for heaven's sake in the garden of gethsemane he prayed three times that he would be delivered from the cup he was about to be given his heart pumped with such ferocity that the capillaries broke and rivolets of crimson streaked down his face he was he was anxious but he didn't stay anxious he entrusted his fears to his heavenly father and he completed his mission with faith and he will help you do likewise there is a pathway out of the valley of fret and god used the pen of the apostle paul to sketch the map rejoice in the lord always he wrote again i will say rejoice let your gentleness be known to all men the lord is at hand be anxious for nothing 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 through christ jesus finally brethren whatever things are true whatever things are noble whatever things are just whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely whatever things are of good report if there is any virtue if there's anything praiseworthy meditate on these things a person would be hard pressed to find the passage of scripture more practical and relevant to this day and age would you not agree americans don't agree on much these days that's why we were surprised a couple of months ago when according to a usa today survey conducted at the latter part of 2021 9 out of 10 americans agree that we are having trouble staying sane it's all we can do to keep our heads on straight political chaos the pandemic on certainty about the economy and the future the journal of the american medical association cited a study that indicates an exponential increase in anxiety and depression people of each generation in the 20th century were three times more likely to experience depression and anxiety than people of preceding generations three times how can this be cars are safer than ever we regulate food and water and electricity gangs do prowl our streets but most of us don't live under the danger of imminent attack yet if worry were an olympic event the united states would win the gold medal our college kids are feeling it as well in a study that involved more than two hundred thousand incoming freshmen students reported all-time lows and overall mental health and emotional stability one psychologist robert leahy pointed out that the average child today exhibits the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient of the 1950s kids have more toys clothes opportunities than ever but by the time they leave home they're wrapped tighter than egyptian mummies we're tense and we're paying a price for it to see the consequences of anxiety just read about half the ailments in any medical textbook do not fret wrote the psalmist in psalm 37 and verse 8 it only causes harm amen arm to our necks our backs our bowels our jaws anxiety can twist us into emotional pretzels it can make our eyes twitch our blood pressure rise our heads ache and our armpits sweat anxiety ain't fun so what can we do i certainly don't mean to leave the impression that anxiety can be waved away with a simple sermon from a guest preacher in fact for some people for many people god's healing will include the help of therapy and or medication and if that describes you please you're not a second class citizen let god's ministry come however god ministers most of us however would benefit greatly from a good dollop of philippians chapter 4 verses 4 through 8. i think this passage from the book of philippians provides wonderful spiritual tools for overcoming anxiety be anxious for nothing wrote the apostle cut us some slack here paul we want to slay aren't you asking a lot how about just be anxious on every day but thursdays but the apostle paul doesn't seem to give us any room to wiggle be anxious for nothing not a zilch zero is that what he wrote well not exactly he wrote this phrase in that active tense in greek which implies an ongoing state it's this life of perpetual anxiety that the apostle paul is walking us away from he could have written and we could translate it do not allow yourselves to be caught in a state of perpetual anxiety the presence of anxiety is unavoidable but the prison of anxiety is optional and so the apostle offers here some ideas on how to win the war on worry and to help me remember these ideas i've turned them into a handy helpful little acrostic c-a-l-m [Music] you want to know how to stay calm the apostle says first of all celebrate god's goodness celebrate god's goodness rejoice in the lord always again i will say rejoice boy he comes at us with both pistols doesn't he exclamation points repeating it rejoicing the lord always again i'll say rejoice listen to me locato rejoice you want to deal with anxiety don't meditate on the mess meditate on your master it does you no good to ponder your problem it does you no good to ruminate on your struggles rejoice in the lord the more you look at god the more your problem is brought down to its proper size as the psalmist said i will lift up my eyes into the hills from whence comes my help my help comes from the lord who made the heaven and the earth do you see the intentionality in the words i will lift up my eye we get to choose where we look we get to choose where we look i will lift up my eyes unto the hills you gain nothing by setting your eyes on the problem but you gain everything by setting your eyes on the lord was this not the lesson that the apostle peter learned on the stormy sea of galilee he was a fisherman he knew what those 10-foot waves could do to small boats maybe that's why he volunteered to climb out of the boat when he saw jesus walking on water through the storm and he cried out lord if it's really you command me to come to you on the water and jesus said come and peter left the boat and walked on the water to jesus but when peter saw the wind and the waves he became afraid and he began to sink as long as his eyes were on the master he could do the impossible but when his eyes were on the storm he sunk like a stone rejoice in the lord are you sinking like a stone today could it be because you're looking in the wrong direction i wish you could have met my dad he was a west texas mechanic in the oil field shaped like a radiator block of a guy had a great laugh and he had a nightly ritual that i've never seen imitated by any other person first of all he loved buttermilk and cornbread is that just a texas thing you've heard of others it's not that bad i'm not into it myself but hey he loved it and every night he would meander into the kitchen after the two boys were in bed after his wife was in bed he would meander in his tank top and his long underwear into the kitchen and there he would pour himself a glass of buttermilk and he would crumble up some cornbread and he would sit there and scoop it out with a spoon does that make you hungry we lived in a small house three doors front door back door garage door and he would then rotate walk through the house checking all the locks loudly enough that we could hear the click click click click click click and then he would stand in the center of our small house and he would bellow the house is safe you can sleep now dear friend god has brought you here so he as your heavenly father can tell you the world is safe you can rest i know the news says otherwise i know the paper says otherwise i know your friends say otherwise but let me tell you your heavenly father is running the show and as you inhale him you can exhale hope would you receive that i believe right now the spirit of the lord is talking to somebody and he just wants you to know the house is safe and nothing is going to pass through you that doesn't first pass through him i have no inclination to believe that god loves cornbread and buttermilk but i do believe he loves you and he doesn't need to check the doors indeed he is the door and nothing will come your way apart from his permission the scripture says this in first timothy chapter 6 and verse 15. god is the blessed controller of all things the king over all kings and the master of all masters if he sustains all and controls all don't you think he has authority over this situation that's keeping you awake at night what about his mercy is god's grace great enough to cover all of your sin yes there is no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus you can rejoice in his sovereignty you can rejoice in his mercy that's step one face god before you face your fears then you'll be ready to number two ask god for help the apostle says let your requests be made known to god fear triggers either prayer or despair choose wisely god said call on me in the day of trouble psalm 50 and verse 15. jesus said ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you there's no uncertainty in that promise no perhaps or possibly will jesus states unflinchingly that when you ask he listens so ask ask and when anxiety knocks on the door of your heart would you say jesus can you answer that please reduce your request down to a statement and present your request to your heavenly father pray like jesus who said give us this day our daily prayer engage in specific prayer engage in promise based prayer the scripture says let us then approach god's throne of grace with confidence the path to peace is paved with prayer the path to peace is paved with prayer the old testament prophet said put the lord in remembrance of his promises and keep not silence isaiah 62 and verse 6. god told isaiah and he tells you put me in remembrance let us contend together isaiah 43 and verse 26 god commands you to remind him of his promises so when you have a problem find a promise with which you can face your problem and make a prayer out of it lord did you not say you would walk me through the valley of the shadow of death lord did you not say that you would walk me through the waters lord did you not say that you would never leave me that you would never forsake me find a promise that fits your problem and then just build a prayer around it these prayers touch the heart of your heavenly father and activate activate the response of angels to your presence miracles are set into motion will your prayer the answer to your prayer come overnight it might then again it might not but you will overcome you will overcome and having done so you can do this you can leave your concerns with god first you celebrate your heavenly father then you ask the lord for help and then you leave your concerns with god let god take charge let god do what he is so willing to do guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus you leave your concerns with him just leave them with him have you ever taken something to an appliance repair shop to be repaired maybe a toaster or a vacuum cleaner maybe it quit working and you tried to fix it but you had no success so you took it to a specialist you explained the problem and then what did you do raise your hand if you offered to stay and help him fix it did you bring a sleeping bag and throw it out on the floor and say i'll sleep here and watch you work you left it with him the arrangement is uncomplicated you let him fix it take your problem give it to your heavenly father and leave it with him leave it with him it's no longer yours to carry no longer yours to carry and when the devil stirs your memory about that problem say well you're gonna have to talk to god about it because i left it with him raise your right hand please and repeat after me i hereby resign as ruler of the universe doesn't that feel better it was never your job anyway god does not need our help he does not need our counsel he does not need our advice we leave it with him then knowing that we all of a sudden have all of this brain space available because we're not thinking about our problems anymore all of that space can be occupied with gratitude here's what the apostle says but in everything by prayer and petition by prayer and supplication with what thanksgiving with thanksgiving let your requests be banged on to god did you know that anxiety refuses to share the heart with gratitude did you know that anxiety refuses to share the heart with gratitude when anxiety sees thanksgiving walk in anxiety walks out my friend jerry has taught me this he's 78 years old and he regularly shoots his age on the golf course if i ever do that i'll need to live to be a hundred his dear wife ginger battles parkinson's disease and what should have been a wonderful season of retirement has been marred by multiple hospital stays and medication and struggles many days she cannot keep her balance and most days jerry stays by her side and on the rare occasion he does get out to play golf he has to provide a caregiver but he always has a smile he always has a joke and he always beats me in golf one day walking down the fairway i said how do you do it jerry really how do you do it i think i'd be bitter i'd be resentful but you're so light-hearted how do you do it he said well every morning i sit on the bedside with ginger and i say ginger do you want to sing a hymn and every morning she says yes and i say what do you want to sing and she says why don't we sing count your many blessings take a moment and follow jerry's example take a moment what blessings have come your way today what blessings any friends good health enough provision to drive a car to come to church warm bed and which to sleep do you have some blessings as you list your blessings do you not notice the trepidations begin to slip out the door the quickest way to deal with anxiety is gratitude gratitude the more grateful the heart the less anxious the soul as you look at your blessings you will see anxiety slip out one heartfelt thank you will suck the oxygen out of the world of worry so say it often take your mind off your burdens and count your blessings now when you aren't focused on your burdens you have sudden availability of some brain space so use it for gratitude but then also and then lastly meditate on good things just meditate on good things and the apostle gives us a pretty good list here it takes up a paragraph finally brethren whatever things are true whatever things are noble whatever things are just whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely whatever things are of good report if there is any virtue if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things don't let anxious negative thoughts take over your mind meditate on good things anxious negative thoughts did you see what i just did a-n-t a counselor told me that once he said most people who struggle with anxiety let those little ants anxious negative thoughts just creep into their brain and take over their thoughts but the apostle says meditate on good things one of the toughest days of my life found me in a diner in dalton georgia i was 19 years old and i was a week into my first summer job of college i was a thousand miles away from home and i was spending each night in a salvation army shelter where the night before an inebriated guy on the bunk above mine had rolled over and thrown up if homesickness were water i would have been soaked to the bone on the promise of new sites and fast cash i had taken a job and joined up with two friends to sell books door to door my friends quit and went home during sales school i was all alone so i went out my first day into the field and i made a discovery that i wish someone had told me before i left and that is people don't like door-to-door salesman did you already know that hello i'm max slim hello i'm max slim this went on all day and the second day was not any better around noon of the second day i pulled my car into a diner and i took my bruised ego in and i sat down and i ordered a hamburger and i felt sorry for myself as i was paying my bill i spotted a display of of magnetized rubberized truisms little slogans maybe you have won or have seen them you can buy them and affix them to your refrigerator or your stove and there was one that was shaped like a lemon and as i begin the quote you'll be able to finish it the quote said when life gives you a lemon you have the same little rubber lemon don't you i know the slogan is worn out it's folksy it's corny it's homespun but somehow in my 19 years i'd never heard it and i needed to so i bought that little thing i took it out to the car and i have fixed it to a metal strip on the dashboard of my 1973 plymouth duster and whenever i got discouraged i would just rub my thumb over that little rubber lemon and remind myself i can make myself miserable or i can make myself some lemonade now you know people still slam doors and i still wondered what in the world i was doing so far from home but i survived i was 19. you know i turned 67 a couple of weeks ago i'm closing in on 50 years since that day half a century has passed and much has changed but you know what has not life still gives lemons it does of course my prospects of a miserable summer are nothing compared to some of the lemons that you've been handed and i'm sorry i'm sorry last sunday at church i visited with a single mom three kids pulling at her from every direction all single-digit age she hadn't heard from her husband she said max i can't remember when i've had a good night's sleep life gives lemons a few months ago i received a call from a friend a former neighbor of ours who was about to have to take the car keys away from her dementia-ridden husband in better days he was a pilot and now he can't drive a car life still gives libens i need to return a call to a friend who's going through a divorce and he is honestly convinced he'll never be happy again life still gives lemons life gives lemons to old people to young people life gives lemons to bad people to good people life gives lemons to all people life comes with lemons but you know what my friend we don't have to suck on them [Applause] many years ago ago i wrote this resolve in my journal today i will live today yesterday has passed tomorrow is not yet i'm left with today so today i will live today relive yesterday no i will learn from it and i will seek mercy for it and i will take joy in it but i won't live in it the sun has set on yesterday the sun has yet to rise on tomorrow worry about the future to what game it deserves a glance nothing more i can't change tomorrow until tomorrow today i will live today i will face today's challenges with today's strength i will dance today's waltz with today's music i will celebrate today's opportunities with today's hope today may i laugh listen learn in love and tomorrow if it comes may i do so again in his fine book the dance of hope bill fry who has passed on into heaven retired episcopalian priest in san antonio in that book he tells a story about growing up in georgia and as a 12 year old boy his summer job was to pull stumps out of the ground the purpose of that was to turn those stumps into fire kindling that could be used later in the year he remembers on one occasion his father driving off to work as he went out to a particular stump and he worked all day on that stump and he could not get it out of the ground he used every tool at his disposal and he pushed and he pulled that he pushed and he pulled and he was covered with sweat and finally his father came home his father parked his car his father walked to the field his father walked over to bill where bill was working and bill was just pulling and tugging on that stump and still couldn't get it out of the ground the father sat on another stump and watched his son work until finally the father spoke up and said bill i think i see your problem and bill said what and the father said you're not using all your strength oh that caused bill to erupt dad i've been working all day i'm exhausted i've used all my strength and the father said no you haven't and the boy said yes i have and the father said no you haven't asked me to help you for some of you this business of dealing with anxiety has deep roots please forgive me if i'll leave the impression that it can be dealt with easily i do not mean to do so but i do mean to encourage you on behalf of your heavenly helper who is saying to you i'll help you in the anxiety that has marked your days thus far need not mark them from now forward there is a new day awaiting you my friend and in the name of jesus christ the king of kings the miracle worker we declare over you fresh healing fresh hope fresh strength your heavenly father here to help you strengthen you and to guide you and to lead you into a life in which you can honestly say i'm anxious for nothing gracious heavenly father now have your mercy upon all who hear these words you be the speaker and you please do what only you can do and that is bring healing from top to bottom from inside out do the work you can do please we declare and pray in the name of jesus christ and all god's people said

Channel: Northview Church

Views: 1,483,211

Keywords: Northview Church, Northview, Steve Poe, Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Lafayette, Indy North, Indianapolis

Id: 3gJkZpu6mgw

Length: 42min 40sec (2560 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 25 2022