Finding Joy When You Struggle With Anxiety | Sandals Church

hey man how's it going bro it's all right just smoo your foot and all be good I need some space though okay well your elbow just it's just in my way dud did you put on deodorant this morning my armpit smells better than your [Music] breath how you doing what's your name Mark oh hey [Music] no thank you good afternoon welcome to sandel church listen our vision is to be real and we want to talk about a very very real issue today the issue of anxiety you say why would you talk about anxiety when you're talking about happiness and here's why because often times the very thing that's robbing us from happiness is our anxiety and let's just be honest man people struggle with anxiety some of you are anxious because we're going to talk about anxiety that's just how real it is so just relax okay I know if you have anxiety that's almost impossible but just relax and know this I'm not here to make you feel worse today I want you to feel God and we want to invite God into this process Jesus says this come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest for your souls learn from me learn how to live lightly and freely learn The unforced rhythms of Grace those are the words of Jesus and I just want to pray those words over you so whether you have anxiety or someone that you love has anxiety let's pray for you or for them as we move into this sermon so let's just bow our heads let's close our eyes and let's ask ask God to speak to us today have hely father we are anxious people Lord we have anxiety because Lord we're human and so we ask Lord for your divine presence Your Divine wisdom and your truth father bless us today with a feeling and sensation of Peace no matter how chaotic our lives are God help us to not have guilt about anxiety but give us peace about why we have anxiety and the help us to understand the reasons for it we pray this in Jesus name amen so how can you find joy when you struggle with anxiety number one simple anxiety is normal it's normal do you know why you have anxiety cuz you're alive you know when you're not going to have anxiety when you're dead right that's why it says rip on your Tombstone rest in peace okay anxiety is simply an exaggeration of caring how many of you guys care for people raise your hands your hand should be up right if you don't you need Jesus desperately so we have anxiety when we care when something matters when we we care about our kids we care about our marriage we care about our finances we care about a friend when someone or something that we love we feel is in danger or we sense maybe something's wrong we have anxiety and that's just a reality of life I remember when my wife was giving birth to our third kid our son something unusual happened that didn't happen with the first two my wife had complications so if you've never been through this process it is very very anxious process it just is your wife the person that you love your partner is up there giving birth it's a very very dangerous scary thing and they monitor two heartbeats they monitor the mom's and the kids and my wife when she was having a contraction and was pushing out our son every time she would push her heart rate dropped and my son's heart rate dropped and guess what happened every time their heart rates went down where do you think my heart rate went up and I became extremely anxious and before you know it more medical professionals are in the room more doctors more nurses and guess what they're talking about do we need to cut her open and do a C-section right now and it made me anxious and here's why I love my wife I love my son and I couldn't control the outcome and that's why we're anxious we are anxious when we care about something and we can't control the outcome and what's the reality okay you can't control most things if you don't believe me try to control your life this week just here's a project this is free control yourself control yourself put a piece of cake in front of you and just go don't eat it don't eat it right what are you going to do you're going to eat it you're going to give in because it's difficult to control ourselves so anxiety is normal it is I had anxiety this week when I wrote this message on anxiety how hilarious is that right it just happens it's something that happens when we care about something why I care about you I care about your anxiety I care about God I care about God's word and I don't want to screw up a message on anxiety because some of you may never come back so I care and and how you receive it is outside of my control and so what did I have to do I had to turn over control of the messages to God and say God I need you to be in this process so anxiety is normal now a lot of Christians especially religious people are not very helpful when it comes to the issues of anxiety many of you who grew up religious people see anxiety as weakness they see it as sickness and they see it as shameful and I want you to know that it is normal if that you don't ever have anxiety there's something probably wrong with you okay it means you don't care and that's not good so anxiety is normal but it can become unhealthy how does it become unhealthy when it becomes exaggerated and debilitating when we can't live our life when we can't function when we can't go outside exaggerated anxiety is very very unhealthy and very very debilitating but often times guess what exaggerates anxiety the fear of it so we're afraid we might be getting anxious so what do we do we get more anxious so just accept it you're a human being you're not perfect there's a reason Jesus talked about anxiety to his disciples do you know why they were human and so are you so let's take a look at this passage Philippians 2: 25-28 now just make a note this is the very same guy who said never be anxious okay this is the same guy that said you should never be anxious and you're like oh my gosh what do I do when I see a scripture that says never be something and then the guy who wrote that scripture expresses that he's struggling with that very same thing this is what I want you to write in your notes there's a difference between the ideal and the real what are we striving for the ideal what do we have to live with the real and there are differences and people that go nuts go nuts when they can't bring the ideal and the real together when you can't make it perfect you're going to go nuts and if you struggle with that watch last week's sermon because we talk about the joy of imperfection so he says I thought it necessary to send to you a papadias if you're looking for a name that will give your children anxiety I would would name your kid a patis right never name your child after something that sounds like an infection amen don't do that you're looking for a good Bible name I wouldn't go with aitis okay Bad Name write this down good guy good guy bad name good guy aphodius my brother and fellow worker and fellow Soldier your messenger and minister to my need he has been longing for all of you and has been Circle this word distress this is a Christian okay distress is just simply another word of saying I was anxious I was worried distressed because he heard that you heard that he was Ill indeed he was ill and he almost died why because bad things happen to good people and that's a whole another message but listen what he says but God had mercy on him not only on him but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow I am more eager to send him to you therefore that you may Rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be circled this this word less what anxious so here's what my sermon is going to be about how you can be less anxious I don't think you can never be anxious unless we rip out all your emotions we rip out all your feelings and we turn you into a robot okay computers are not anxious because they're not human they just deal with the facts as human beings we deal with a thing called feelings and it's okay guys it's okay feelings they're not they're not always dangerous and so we need to deal with that so as long as I'm feeling I'm going to feel anxiety so anxiety is normal next I believe that anxiety is an invitation from God you know where I think anxiety comes from anybody ever been anxious and not known why I hear that all the time I don't know why you know what I think that is I think it's your soul I think your soul is knocking at the door hey idiot hey something's got to change here this isn't working and let me tell you this you're your anxiety will never go away unless you change it will never go away you can't keep everything the same and accept God to change everything it doesn't work it doesn't work anxiety is an invitation from God first Peter says this give all your worries and cares to God why because God cares about you now some of you may be anxious because you aren't loved in your family you're not cared for I'm sorry I can't change that but listen God cares about you you matter to God he sees you he wants to hear your problems you matter to him and here's the thing we can go to God with things that concerns us and we should do that so anxiety is an invitation to do what number one to talk with God through prayer that's what prayer is prayer listen to me Christians stop saying stupid things listen to me prayer is not a conversation I hate it when Christians run around saying I was talking with god listen if you're talking with God like that then you need to write a book because if God's talking to you we need to hear from you and we need to hear what he's saying the primary way that God talks to us is through his word the extraordinary way that God talks to us is through prayer prayer is not a conversation parents teach your children this don't teach them that prayer is a conversation because guess what they're going to ask why doesn't God talk back prayer is not about you hearing from God prayer is about God hearing from you that's its primary purpose now don't send me an email cuz you've heard from God great yay you yay you okay let's not give everybody else anxiety who doesn't hear from God because what that makes people feel like is they're doing it wrong the purpose of prayer is for God to hear from you and he wants to hear from you he wants to be in relationship with you but listen to me for those of you who want to hear a word from God why would God give you a new word when you haven't been obedient to the old one why why why why would God waste his time giving you a new word when you're not obedient to his word everything God's want you to heard is already in his word it's the inspired word of God and we can trust it we don't need a new word until we've dealt with the old word so we got to talk with God through prayer so this is what Paul says don't worry about anything write this that's the ideal okay what's the real we worry about what everything what do we worry about single people am I going to be single friend forever what are we worried about married people am I going to be married forever what do we worry about married people am I going to have kids what do we worry about people with kids why do we have kids okay what do we worry about when we work when do I get to retire what do we worry about when we were retired what am I going to do now for work we worry about everything we're never going to stop that's the ideal the real is you need to be less anxious you need to word work towards less worry how do I do I worry less how do I worry less well this is how you do it don't worry about anything instead right this is about changing your life instead pray about everything how many of you guys would say that you're experts at worry raise your hands anybody experts okay parents you you're an expert having children induces worry why because they have one goal every day and that's to die you never have to tell your children put a fork in you know the socket you don't have to do they oh I'm going to electrocute myself you know you never tell a children put a knife in your hand and run you don't tell them to do that they just do that automatically right okay so having children is anxiety inducing having a job is anxiety inducing being on the 91 freeway right anxiety inducing so we have anxiety don't worry about anything instead pray about everything all anxiety and worry is is an opportunity to pray my daughter was in Southeast Asia last month I couldn't talk to her email or contact her for 3 weeks I was unable to contact her okay white girl in Asia think she stands out right not only that young attractive white girl in Asia and as a dad guess what I worried and so you know what I did all the time every time I would worry I prayed I'd pray with my wife I even would pray with my kids sometimes I was driving I would tell my 14-year-old we're going to pray for your sister right now and when I say we I mean you seriously the second I felt anxious the second I felt worry I would pray because here's the reality what can I do for my daughter in Southeast Asia nothing in my best ability I could probably be there in 36 hours what am I going to do in 36 hours what can God do he can already be there he's already there we live in a stupid culture okay this is what non-religious people say my thoughts are with you what the heck is [Laughter] that man is isn't that weird what if I run into you and I'm like you know it's weird I've been thinking about you why you think stop think don't be thinking about me right okay we're going to do a little exercise I'm going to send you my thoughts and I want you to know if you feel better ready what it do nothing do you know why guess what our thoughts can do nothing guess what God's thoughts can do everything think about this do do you know do you know why that all creation exist do you have any idea cuz God did some thinking he thought and you exist think about that he thought and you exist you think and you get screwed up okay don't send your thoughts I don't want me in your mind you know what happens in there don't put me in there so don't don't send me your thoughts send me your prayers okay so we all say thoughts and prayers anybody ever been to a hospital and seen a thinking room it's a prayer and meditation room and do you know why you have a prayer and meditation room in a hospital because every single bit of research that has ever been done by Christians and non-christians proves prayer helps listen to me how many of you guys have Kaiser for insurance raise your hands if you do okay Kaiser not a Christian institution okay not like lomalinda not like a Baptist hospital or Methodist hospital do you know that at Kaiser if you request a chaplain they are legally bound to send you one why because the government as screwed up as our government is knows a chaplain helps think about that even our government acknowledges prayer helps a meditation room a prayer room helps we don't have thinking rooms that's what we're doing in the you know in the hospital and we're doing too much thinking and it's stinking thinking and so we need to pray that's what we need so don't worry about anything instead pray about everything tell God what what you need what you need God I need I need help in my marriage I need help in my finances God I need help in my anxiety whatever it is that you're struggling with whatever it is that you're worrying about turn it over to God and underline this thank him for all he's done you want to change your attitude you got to learn to get good at gratitude one of the reasons we're so negative is we never say thanks ever a couple years ago I took a flight from Los Angeles to Munich Germany all by myself I can't remember why I was on the airplane by myself but I was and so in my group from La was an African-American church gospel choir I'm like why are you guys going to Germany they were going to Germany 150 of them on this airplane to compete in a gospel singing competition in Germany I'm like I'm pretty sure you guys can out sing the Germans that's just my that's just my opinion so I get on this plane right with all these black people many of them have never flown so it's me one white guy a bunch of black people from literally uh Southeast Los Angeles and Germans you ever met Germans they're a little uptight I'm not judging but they're a little uptight we have ways of dealing with you right that's who they are so I get on this aircraft you got all these uptight Germans it's not a judgment it's just an observation you got all these Germans and I got all these black people many of them who've never flown in their lives they were a little what anxious so the airplane starts moving down you know it's one of those big planes where the wings start moving and it makes you nervous and I was sitting next to this big black woman and she just [Music] starts before you know it all over there everybody you know and and literally the Germans like I don't know what's happening I you know freaking out then we go up into the air and it's like can I get an amen you know and we're just woo everybody everybody just singing and celebrating and the Germans are like Isis is taking over the plane what just happened so then we land in Germany we land every single black person you know what they did I got to talk to the pilot well done my brother well done and they were just like woo and this German guy's like I don't know what's Happ everybody thanked the pilot do you know why cuz we were on a rocket surrounded by metal with jet fuel and we made it nobody says thank you anymore nobody does it's one of the greatest flights ever I mean they broke into song when we landed it was awesome okay you know what the problem is you do all the worry on the front end and you don't do any gratitude on the back end think about this the next time the doctor says ooh we got to take a look at that what are you going to do until those results come in you're going to worry worry worry worry worry and then you find out you're okay and you spend one second thanking God what if you flipped it what if you spent a couple of seconds worrying and a whole lot of time thanking God say thank you God how many of you guys are alive right now raise your hands did you thank him today this is the day the Lord has made and he let you live in it right do you know why you're alive today cuz God didn't kill you see if if I kill you it's murder if God kills you it was your [Laughter] time think about that some of you going to worry about that now okay so here's the recipe for Less anxiety don't worry about anything instead pray about everything tell God what you need thank him for all he has done Circle this word then then you will experience God's Peace So if I'm worrying about everything everything not praying about anything never thanking God am I going to have peace no so the way that I lower my anxiety is instead of focusing on my anxiety I focus on God I tell him what I need and here's what I do is I thank him for all the things that he's done in my life which reminds me something very important God hears me this is why we need to remember answered prayers because we forget we forget what God has done it must be frustrating to be God because we only go to him when we have problems we never go to him when he's done something amazing then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand do you know that scientists don't understand how or why prayer Works they just know that it does this is why you can have a hospital run by an atheist and they'll still have prayer rooms they'll still have chaplain they don't understand it it doesn't make any sense it just works his peace will guard your hearts and Minds as you live in Christ Jesus an unguarded heart or mind is open to anxiety so when you pray let me challenge you to think about prayer this way number one you got to believe that Jesus can do it this is what it means when it says pray and don't doubt you got to believe God can Jesus says this all things are possible With God all things with God even dead people can rise nothing is impossible with God nothing you got to believe that he can next you got to hope and pray that he will now here's where some Churches get screwed up they take the believing that God can and they assume that God will and this is why a lot of people run away from the church there's no such thing as naming and claiming and you know why God's God you're not God is Not Your Pet who answers every call you have a lot of Christians have God in themselves flipped you think God's supposed to come when you call let me tell you something you're supposed to come when he calls and it's backwards you got to believe he can and hope and pray that he will and next last point you got to trust his will which means this you got to trust his decision over your desire do you know why do you know what your desire is going to be every single time every single time you're going to desire that your loved ones don't die that your marriage doesn't fail that your finances are never strapped you're going to you're going to desire every single time that you avoid pain look around the world how does that work you got to believe that God can hope and pray that he will and then trust his decision do you know why God's God and you're not anybody ever pray and ask for something that years later you're like oh thank God oh thank God I went to my high school reunion saw a girl that I prayed for I knew knew she's the one thank God she was not the one man I was mad at God when he didn't give her to me I was like God thank you for your decision right we've all prayed for stupid things next anxiety is an invitation from God to change my life my lifestyle you know how many times I hear people say this at church I am anxious and I don't know why you know what that tells me a lot of things need to change if you can't pinpoint the one thing it probably means you need to change everything and this is why we go to doctors and counselors and we don't get any help because what needs to change is everything which by the way when Jesus calls for us to repent the Greek word is metano which means to change the way one thinks lives and acts everything about you must change for you to come to Jesus that's what the word metano means turning away from self in all ways and turning to God listen God didn't screw up your life you did that on your own I got to change my lifestyle I want you to ask one question four different ways if you're battling anxiety I want you to do the work ask yourself this question do I need to stop or start doing something when I was 35 years old I had my first panic attack I hope you never have a panic attack I literally thought I was going to die I would never have said I struggle with anxiety prior to the age of 35 years old I had this panic attack I liter literally thought I was dying I wasn't dying you know why you know what that means sometimes we feel things are true and they're not when you have a panic attack you feel like you're dying but you're not you know why sometimes feelings lie but what it was was God knocking at the door of my soul saying you need to trust me I had to stop doing some things there were some behaviors some patterns in my life that I had given myself over towards and I had to turn from those things I had to stop doing some things listen to me single people if you're having sex outside of marriage you are sinning against your soul and your soul is going to let you know stop asking God to bless your relationship when you're sinning in them you see you can lie to yourself but you can't lie to your soul your soul is honest with you even if it affects your body some of you have some addictions and some sin some Behavior some patterns some friendships some of you need to change your work your world some of you are striving for money when God's called you to strive for him and you need to switch things up and God's not going to change your anxiety until you change your life some of you need to start doing something you know one of the things I didn't do I didn't work out I I had stopped working out for 10 years I ate whatever I wanted to eat and you know it's amazing when you eat crap you feel like it and I changed my life I had to man I exercise at least 5 days a week you know why not because I'm strong but because I'm weak that's why exercise is a positive way for me to deal with my anxiety you see all of us deal with our anxieties most of us not in positive ways is there something I need to start write this down scattered lives increase anxiety and spiritual habits release anxiety here's a shorter way to say it structure binds anxiety one of the reasons you feel anxious is because your life is out of control what do you do then you bring self-control to your life here's the primary way in the Book of Genesis God says six days you shall work one day you set aside for rest and relationship with me I'm just going to convict everybody right now the average sandaly attends church 1.7 times a month do you know what that means most of you miss church three times a month and you wonder why your lives are anxious when you are violating the most basic principle of rest so what you want God to do is you want God to not have his Commandments apply to you and create a special subsection for you and this is what Jesus said Jesus says the Sabbath was made for man man was not made for the Sabbath in other words God didn't create this so that we would worship this idea of rest he created it because we need it we need it and some of you guys on your days off you're more busy than you are when you work what are you doing and you wonder why you're burned out you wonder why you're anxious maybe the reason your life feels like it's out of control is because it is and we wonder do you know that the fastest growing group of people in America today that are struggling with anxiety are our children kids today are struggling with anxiety in in incredibly literally epidemic amounts and guess what guess what they're being taught at school you're a total Cosmic accident you live on this molten rock we call earth that is covered with tectonic crust that moves and Shakes and good blow up at any moment as we rotate around a thermonuclear bomb called the sun sleep tight Timmy and we wonder why our kids are so anxious we've forgotten the beauty and wonder of God and nobody attends church anymore and even the people who call themselves committed Christians aren't that committed listen to what Paul says he says keep putting into practice Circle that word practice like if you grew up Catholic you've heard this word are you a practicing Catholic you know let me translate are you a hypocrite or not that that's what it means why because a lot of people call themselves Catholics but don't ever go to church well guess what Christians a lot of people call them sandites but they don't attend either you need to learn to practice your faith you need to learn to exercise your faith and the beginning steps the baby steps the basics are gathering together once a week for the purpose of worship I was talking with a gal in the lobby and this is what she says she says I I just don't know if I can come to church anymore I said why she said every time I come all I do is cry from the beginning to the end you know what I said maybe this is the only place where you feel safe enough to express how you truly feel don't stop coming if you cry but come more often I don't know if you know this it's okay to do two Services we're not going to like charge you double like you can just tithe once it's fine listen to me sometimes you need to hear it again you need to hear it again I never read a book I love once ever if I really love it as soon as I end it guess what I do I start it over because if it speaks to you why wouldn't you read it again and if God speaks to you why wouldn't you come again why wouldn't you sit here because God is going to speak to you listen to me God speaks he's real he wants to take away your anxiety he wants to lessen it but for that to happen you got to show up right Jesus said come to me he didn't say stay there he said come to me come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest for your souls but you got to put things into practice you got to discipline your life and let me just tell you this how on Earth are your family and friends going to respect your time with God if you don't am think about that all your family all your friends they're going to plan every single thing on your time for worship why they don't worship God but you do you know what you need to tell your friends your family your boss hey I'll be a better employee I'll be a better uncle I'll be a better husband father son or daughter I just got to have my time with God I'll be there but I'll be a a little late because God's got to come first do you know where I'm going to be when I'm on vacation if it's Saturday or Sunday do you know where I'm going to be no matter where I am in the world I'm going to be with God in a church with Believers listening and you know why it's not cuz I'm super faithful it's because I know I'm not you you know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. the same thing I do every morning reading the Bible and it's not because I need to know more it's because I need to be changed more it's not about information it's about transformation I learned a long time ago I need time with God it's not about being super holy it's about admitting to the fact that you're super needy and that's okay I need God in my life I need God in my marriage I need God in my finances I need God in my anxiety I need God and the only way I get God is when I come to him look guys he's already moved it's your move next I got to stop or start believing something Jesus says this can all your worries at a single moment to your life and if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that what's the use of worrying over bigger things look worry and anxiety is normal but it's not helpful it's just not I mean worry isn't going to make you live any longer you know what the research shows it actually makes you live less and that's sad for some of you the only time you're going to be at peace is when you're dead change that by letting God change your life so I got to change my lifestyle do I need to stop or start doing something do I need to stop or start believing something next anxiety is an invitation from God to seek help from others you know what makes anxiety worse time by yourself you know that people that are afraid of going outside you know they never get better when they stay inside you don't don't if you never leave your house you'll never Escape your prison that's the reality the worst thing in the world that can happen to you is for you to be alone with your anxiety let me ask you do your anxious thoughts get better or worse when they stay in your head man right anybody ever feel like you you're nuts like you're just like oh man you know the best way to get perspective on what whether or not what you're feeling is true or not is to share it with a friend the Bible says this worry weighs a person down but an encouraging word cheers a person up you need people in your life who can say yeah that's nuts that's nuts cuz some of you moms you're worried if you let your kid out of your sight for one second they're going to be kidnapped and I don't know if you know this but there are children in the world who play outside and they're okay not my kids they will never have fun ever I'm going to make sure that they live forever in a miserable fashion right some of us have these thoughts we have these fears right one time we lost our son in the airport and he was on my hip my wife's where is he where is he's like he's he's right here he's little he's down here literally she had a P attack in the airport he was attached to my hip literally Mom I'm right here seriously talk to a friend oh my gosh I'm just so worried I'm just so upset you know what talk to people who've made it through it yeah we experienced that yeah we have problems in our marriage yeah our kids are nuts yeah right so talk to a friend next seek out a minister at church now let me just be honest one of the reasons so many of you want to talk to me when I'm in the lobby is because you've heard God through me but understand this you don't need me what you needed was God who spoke through me God has gifted me to speak but he's gifted people in our church to minister to sit with you to pray with you people who are wise people who are trained and what you don't need is a conversation with me what you need is a conversation with a minister at the end of the service my prayers aren't any more anointed than theirs we worship the same Jesus so some of you need to come forward some of you need to give your lives to Christ some of you need to change everything about your life and you just need to come forward and say that out loud and do you know what increases anxiety stuffing it do you know what releases It sharing it sharing it next see a counselor if you need to see a counselor see a counselor you know who sees a counselor me why I have to deal with you that's that's not the only reason right okay these churches that are opposed to counseling I think are opposed to wisdom why would God not want you to seek a professional opinion of someone that can speak into your life objectively how is that not helpful I mean seek a Christian counselor there are plenty of them find one it's your life we pay for everything except our own psyche right I mean you'll buy a new car oh 50 bucks for counseling spend 50 Grand on a car and you won't spend 25 cents on your mind what what's wrong with you see a counselor there's nothing wrong there's no shame in that some of us need to talk objectively with a professional who who is trained to help us navigate our thoughts cuz often times we fail to understand that what causes mental illness often times is trusting our feelings over the facts you know how many times I I've met with a young woman in our church who says this I I just feel like I'm ugly I'm like well I have eyes and you're not but she doesn't believe me she believes thoughts have people that say I don't matter I don't mean anything I'm not lovable I'm not likable I say things well if you were if that was true why would I spend any time with you you see often times we trust our feelings over the facts and so we need a counselor to help us sort through feelings and facts because and if you are mentally disabled in some way you have to learn to not trust your feelings right because our mind can create a person that we're talking to that's not there so we need others sometimes to help us see who's there and who's not that's just the reality next take medication if needed now I'm not talking about pot some you like I KN why I love this [Music] church sermons are so intense look okay don't go to some CD shop you know and get uh a prescrip ion from some guy who got a certificate medical license off the internet go to an actual doctor work through the process talk to a friend include ministers talk to counselors and then listen if you need to take medication real medication okay there's no shame in that but understand this medication won't fix you I'm not a psychiatrist and I'm not a medical doctor but here's what I understand from the research that all medication does is make healing possible that's it that's it you must do the hard work of feeling better the medicine simply allows you chemically to heal but you got to make changes you got to do the work okay how silly would it be if I said I'm going to take steroids but I'm never going to work out and I expect to be buff all I'm going to get is zits amen that's it bunch of zits and hair and weird places that's what's going to Happ happen but I'm not going to get buffed what do I have to do I have to actually exercise so the so the steroid can actually benefit and accomplish my goal so if I need some chemical boost in an area all it's going to do is provide a pathway for me to exercise and actually get well all medicine is is a cast it's not rehab you have to go through rehab you have to do the work listen you didn't become anxious in an instant and you won't become unanxious in an instant it requires changing the way you think and feel about life and that requires work listen I love you guys God loves you he has a plan for your life I don't believe anxiety is a bad thing like I said I think it's a good thing it means you're alive it means you care it becomes bad and ugly when it becomes exaggerated and it Bec comes debilitating But anxiety is the result of not knowing and not knowing makes life worth living right movies are no fun when you know how they end part of the joy is going through the story enjoy your story God has blessed you with the story and there's going to be some tension there's going to be some worry there's going to be joy and We Know How It ultimately ends we just don't know how we get there it's going to be be good so trust God in this process and don't let anxiety Rob your joy Let It Be an invitation to Joy and when you feel anxious say oh wow God wants to get a hold of me think of anxiety as a text from God that says hey OMG what are you doing that's all it is what are you doing come talk to me put the phone down let's chat but anxiety is a reality of life and the goal of Christianity is to lessen its power on you and increase God's power in you that's the goal remember last week it's not about perfection it's about Direction give yourself Grace and let his grace be real for you let's pray Heavenly Father God I love everybody here and I just ask through the power of your Holy Spirit God for every person who's anxious every mom every dad every husband every wife every single person father young and old all of us God help us to be less anxious by trusting in you Lord bless us with the power of your presence and help us Lord to discern when we are anxious that that's the moment we need you and father for those who need to come forward and have someone pray over them God give them the courage help them not to have any anxiety about coming forward but help them to assume that your peace is waiting we pray this in Jesus name amen [Music] n

Channel: Sandals Church

Views: 18,013

Keywords: sandals church, love, anxiety, depression, pastor matt brown, life advice, how to deal with anxiety, how to deal with depression, God, Jesus

Id: 1A0HIckU_bA

Length: 43min 44sec (2624 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 26 2017