Finding Relief From Anxiety in 2020 - Emotions Part 2

all right who's ready for a confession from your pastor the confession um i'll tell you very honestly that i know jesus i love jesus i faithfully follow jesus but i still battle with overwhelming feelings of anxiety wish that wasn't the case i don't know how anxiety would hit you or not but in this more complicated season i find myself often waking up around two in the morning with this massive weight of the workload and my mind will often lock in on all of the responsibilities and all the things that i have to do and i'll find myself in the middle of the night fighting just to catch my breath trying to calm my spirit and overcome with very real sense of panic and anxiety to be clear i do know jesus i love jesus i'm faithfully following jesus but even as a pastor i battle with very real very deep anxiety chances are there are some of you that you might be able to relate maybe even unfortunately more this year than ever before because everybody knows that 2020 is the longest year in history it's like 17 years in one yeah i don't if you've thought forward but i can guarantee you 2020 is going to become an adjective going forward right people can say don't you go 20 20 on me okay you're acting so 2020 right i can just feel it coming because it's like the longest year it's just like crazy season everywhere you go and it's no wonder people feel so anxious i mean introduce this mysterious virus that spreads like wildfire that shuts down the entire world disrupts everything that you've ever known as normal add to it massive economic fears and racial tension and political divisions and biased news and a bunch of you all freaked out posting all your conspiracy theories online there's no wonder that people feel anxious and lonely and unsettled and searching for something that feels normal calm and peaceful in fact i read an interesting statistic that it's according to the national center for health and it contrasted the emotional state of people in july of 2019 compared to people in july of 2020 what difference would one year make well according to this study in july of 2019 8.2 percent of adults showed signs of anxiety disorder eight point two percent fast forward one year and in july of 2020 36 of adults showed signs of anxiety disorder in this message series called emotions we're looking at some of the emotions that jesus endure some of that he expressed today i want to look at anxiety and as we do i want to just start by acknowledging that anxiety is very very complicated anxiety it can be physiological it can be emotional it can be situational anxiety can even be spiritual and so when we talk about anxiety what i want to do is i always want to take a holistic approach meaning you might want to see a doctor who might help you with your diet or might give you supplements or could give you medicine that could be very helpful you might want to go to a counselor to deal with your anxiety we want to take a holistic approach the only area i'm qualified to talk about is spiritual and so while we're going to take a holistic approach today i want to speak from a spiritual perspective into a very real emotion so many of us are enduring today i want to look at how jesus dealt with anxiety so as we talk about anxiety as a christian it kind of raises the question like if i feel anxious did i fail god am i letting god down am i not living by faith is it a sin to be anxious i want to say very very clearly it's not a sin to be anxious anxiety is a little bit like anger anger in itself is not necessarily a sin anger can lead to sin in your anger the bible says do not sin just like anger anxiety can and often does lead to sin but feeling anxiety in the moment doesn't mean you've let god down in fact it might surprise you when you look at the son of god jesus and objectively observe what he endured many people would say that jesus had extraordinary anxiety as he realized what he would have to endure as he looked ahead to the suffering the price he would pay as he would give his life for us on the cross in fact what i want to do today is i want to look very specifically at how jesus responded to anxiety what's interesting whenever jesus felt anxious you know what he did he did what my 15 year old daughter joy does he started talking joy just talks and talks and talks and talks whenever he whenever anxiety rose up jesus talked back he had something to say whenever he felt anxious and what i want to do is i want to look at how he wrestled with and overcame anxiety and we're going to show you three different places three different things to talk to from the life of jesus in mark chapter 14. how do you find relief from anxiety the first thing we see jesus do is something you may want to do number one you may want to talk to your friends whenever you're feeling overwhelmed whenever you're feeling anxious whenever you're feeling a heaviness or a weight it's really wise to talk to godly spiritual or helpful friends in fact i'm going to give you the context of jesus's conversation um in mark 14. this was after the last supper and he was with his life group that's what it was it was his disciples his closest friends and judas one of his 12 had slipped away to go and betray jesus you can only imagine jesus knew that the hurt and anxiety that would um would cause and then jesus went with three buddies to the garden of gethsemane to pray and we read this in mark 14 verse 32 the place they went to it was called gestamine which means the crushing and jesus started talking to his friends and he said to his disciples sit here while i pray and then he took peter james and john the three of them along with him and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled the son of god jesus who is perfect and never sinned was deeply distressed and troubled i like the way the message which is a devotional translation actually translates verse 33 it says of jesus he plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony i wonder if any of you have been in a place like that recently it's just like a sinkhole of of the beating hard to catch a breath sense of darkness and panic all around you he sank into this dark hole of dreadful agony well why did he do this well jesus was god in the flesh and he knew the horror of what was about to come even though he was completely innocent he was going to be arrested then tortured and die death by crucifixion the most painful and completely humiliating way possible to die even worse jesus was perfect he was sinless and he was about to become sin as the sacrifice for sins so if you can imagine he's never sinned he's always enjoyed perfect fellowship and communion with his heavenly father and he was going to become name it rape abuse hatred violence racism envy lying lust and the list goes on he was going to become that holiness becomes filthiness the one who never sinned became sin and because of it his father who he loved and always walked with had to turn away because of the holiness of god he could not look upon that and jesus would cry out perhaps the most painful of all the suffering my god my god daddy where are you why'd you have to turn away why have you forsaken me and in the middle of that kind of sinkhole of emotional agony watch the honesty that jesus has with his friends you ever notice how nobody lies like christians you know what i'm saying like it's like i call it like praise the lord voice you're like how you doing praise the lord i'm fine how you doing glory to god i'm great you know i mean even if you're not like you know faking it sometimes you're like hey i'm fine yeah how are you doing keep on keeping on whatever i mean watch jesus with this just raw complete transparent honesty to his friends here's what he says he says guys my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death in other words i ache so much on the inside i don't know if i can survive it that's what jesus said he said would you please just stay here keep watch i need you more than i can describe he talked to his friends i believe that one of the biggest reasons that so many people are battling with anxiety today you're feeling anxious because you're lacking community i honestly believe it there's so many people that you're feeling unsettled you're you're scared to death you're vulnerable to whatever the latest rumor of bad news is because you're lacking godly encouraging uplifting spiritual building community from the body of christ in fact i'm guessing it's going to take years of study to look back to this season just to get an accurate picture of what quarantine and isolation has done to the emotional psyche of a whole generation because if you go all the way back to the beginning of the book the bible the word of god in the very opening story god says it's not good to be isolated it's not good to be disconnected because it is not good that people be alone in fact who is jesus the the incarnation he he is god with us emmanuel in other words like god didn't just like shout his love from heaven but he showed his love on earth he came to be with us it's the power of whiff it's just the body of christ and that's why the number one most common thing i've heard from people who came back to church after months of isolation when they walked into the building they just were overwhelmed with emotion just started crying and person after person said i had no idea how much i missed just being with our people there's something about the presence of god with your friends you weren't created to be alone it's a little bit like the difference between praying for and praying with i love it when people pray for me and i love to pray for you but there is a difference than when you pray for me and we pray with each other you can post something on my social media and say pray for me and what i promise you is if i see it i will pray for you and you can know that you can know oh craig prayed for me and that's special but if we put on masks and we put on gloves because we're going to be safe and smart and not put ourselves and if we hold hands together and you don't just pray for me and i don't just pray for you but we pray with each other there's something about experiencing the presence of god with his people jesus the sinless son of god says to his friends i need you and he talks to them he says this is crushing me i don't know if i can make it through this will you guys just sit here close to me will you pray for me my soul is overwhelmed it feels like i can't make it please please just pray for me if you're feeling anxiety the first thing you can do is you can do what jesus did you can talk to some godly people you can talk to your friends the second thing you can do is you can talk to your father not just your earthly father but deidra you ever notice how deeper gets excited all the time just in case you're watching online and you hear come on just so you'll know that's deidra who's helping me preach from the front row and you can talk come on deidre you can you can talk to your heavenly father let me explain to you this way um i don't know if um if this creates anxiety in you but it does in me um you ever hate when the little red light goes off in your car and you get the little exclamation point which i found that means my tires are low and i'm thankful that's all it is or you get the check engine light ah okay what does that little light mean well the little red indicator light isn't the problem what that light is is it's a signal that there's something wrong and you would be wise to take your car to the manufacturer what is anxiety anxiety is a signal alerting you that it's time to pray it's time to take what's on your mind to god in fact paul said this paul told the philippians he said don't be anxious about anything but in everything with prayer and petition you take your request to god in everything you pray in every situation you pray in other words if it's big enough to worry about oh it's big enough to pray about what's on your mind what's on your heart take it to god if you're worried about your marriage pray about your marriage if you're worried about the economy pray about the economy if you're worried about the election pray about the election if you're worried about your job pray about your job if you're worried about a decision you have to make oh my gosh there's so many options and what should i do and i pray about those decisions if you're worried about your kids going back to school are they going to go on monday and tuesday or on thursday and friday or we don't know and now i'm a homeschool parent and i didn't choose this pray about your kids until if you're worried about somebody getting sick pray about it if you're worried about you getting sick but not really about the virus but getting that thing shoved up your nose to tickle your brain and may come out the other side of your head pray about it if it's on your mind it's on god's heart if it's big enough to worry about it's big enough to pray about what is anxiety it's a signal alerting you it's time to pray jesus talked to his friends he also talked to his heavenly father we see it in verse 35 going a little farther he fell to the ground what did jesus do he just cried out to god and prayed that if it's possible that this hour might pass if there's any other way god let's do it that way right abba father he said everything is possible for you take this cup from me please i don't want to suffer this way here's what i love about jesus's prayer is this just honest it's honest it wasn't like memorized in fact i think one of the bigger mistakes we make sometimes is by teaching our kids just to pray memorize prayers then the ones we teach them dear god in heaven who came up with some of their prayers we teach them you know the first prayer i prayed terrifying prayer now i lay me down to sleep i pray the lord my soul to keep if i should die before i wake up i pray the lord my soul to take who came up with that prayer to teach a four-year-old you might die tonight and if you do someone's gonna take your soul you better ask it to be god because it might be the other side take in your soul where you don't want to go who came up with that who thought that was a good idea jesus doesn't pray to some god is great god is good whatever prayer he cries out from the depths of his soul and that's what god wants from you just to on peter said to cast your cares upon him just to let him have it because god cares for you you might just cry out to god i don't know how and i don't know what and i don't know if i can take this anymore i promise you god would rather you be honest and unleash on him than be some kind of fake hypocrite and just to walk away he's big enough to handle the hurt in your soul he already knows cast your cares upon him there's something healing about telling god when you're afraid and when you're doubting and when you don't understand and when you're even upset the way things are he can handle your honesty father things are falling apart i'm finding it hard to trust you right now i can't even catch my breath why why couldn't you when i why didn't you i know you could and you didn't god where are you what's going on why are you allowing this to happen i'm trying to trust you but i'm finding it really difficult right now that kind of honesty jesus says hey if we can do it another way my soul is being crushed right now i know what's coming and i don't like it god i'm just telling you if there's any other way god i'm begging you can we do it another way what are you doing it's two in the morning you can't sleep again the shortness of breath they feel like the world is closing in on you just talk to some spiritual friends and love each other experience god with others who know jesus like you you talk to your father honestly and from the heart and the third thing that we see jesus do is when you're feeling anxious you talk to your feelings you talk to your feelings i got a question everybody be honest does anybody else have like whacked out jacked up wayward feelings every now and then type it in the chat just type in i'm crazy sometimes i'm crazy sometimes right yo people they're like saying hey you know follow your heart trust your feelings don't do that listen if i follow my feelings i'll be in jail by two o'clock you know like don't follow your feelings you know you are not your feelings your feelings are real and your feelings are important but your feelings are not always true what you want to do is you want to tell your feelings you don't get to lead me you talk to your feelings you you speak truth to your feelings what do i mean you just tell your feelings you ain't a boss of me okay just because i feel that doesn't mean that it's true you know that because sometimes you worry about obsessed about things that never ever happen you're gonna talk to your feelings about your faith and that's exactly what jesus did watch what he did in verse 36 he said abba father he said everything's possible for you take this cup for me that's what i want that's what i want but then i'm going to tell my feelings yet not what i will but what god will okay what did jesus feel like he did not feel like suffering he never woke up saying i want to be rejected i want to be abused i want to be falsely accused i want to be physically beaten i want to be stripped of my clothes and hang naked and ashamed i want to pay some price for a crime i didn't commit i want to be misunderstood i want to be despised i want to feel physical pain and emotional distance from my god he never said that speak to your feelings tell your feelings the truth whenever you start to feel like well maybe god doesn't love me you say no no no no no no the truth is god is love for god so loved the world for god so loved me that he gave his one and only son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but would have eternal life whenever you feel like i just feel like i'm all alone and nobody really cares no no no no no there are people around me god has given me the right people and my god will never leave me he will never forsake me whenever you start to worry about finances oh my gosh you know there's more month left than money you just tell yourself no my god is my abundant provider he will meet all of my needs according to his glories and riches whenever you feel like i just can't go on you just tell your feelings no i can do all things through the risen christ who gives me strength i i am not a victim i am an overcomer by the blood of the lamb and by the words of my testimony what did jesus do with his anxiety he he talked to his friends his spiritual support system he talked to his father and he cried out to god he talked to his feelings some of you you got to tell your feelings get in line i want you to align with my faith i'm not letting you drive me you're not the boss of me i'm leading you back to my faith here's what's the truth although i feel it it may not be true you're gonna talk to your feelings what did jesus do he talked to his friends he talked to his father he talked to his feelings and guess what it worked like it really worked it worked think about it what did jesus do he stumbled into the garden almost unable to stand under the weight of soul crushing anxiety he talked to his friends he talked to his father and he talked to himself and when the soldiers came to arrest him when they beat him mercilessly when he faced an unjust trial and was executed with excruciating pain and the shame and humiliation on a cross what did he do he said no man takes my life he was resolute he was strong he was full of faith he was determined he was unshakeable no one takes my life i choose to lay it down when he was hanging on the cross and the creation was at its worst mocking and spitting upon the creator god in the flesh jesus looked up to his father and said father please forgive them for they don't even know what they're doing and he said it's finished i did what you sent me to do into your hands father i commit my spirit and he gave his life what jesus did worked how do you deal with anxiety honestly it's the same way that i've been dealing with the anxiety that i felt because i do love jesus i follow jesus but i've still been dealing with anxiety so i've been talking to amy every day been talking to mike and diane i've been talking to scott i've been talking to pack i've been talking to pastor steven furtick i've been talking to my friends i've been talking to my counselor i've been talking to god in some conversations that might make you blush pastor really yeah really i've cried out to him and i've told my feelings you know the boss of me same spirit that raised christ the dead dwells within me i can do all things through christ who gives me strength god has given me everything i need to do everything that he's called me to do i've been crying out to god been talking to my feelings and my friends have helped bring me strength paul said this paul said from a roman prison to the philippians in chapter 4 verse 6. he said don't be anxious about anything we could put some words in there for you i don't know what it would be don't be anxious about the virus is that too big to say don't be anxious about the election don't be anxious about the future don't be anxious about the decisions your child is making or your marriage but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to god and watch this watch this the very same thing that jesus experienced and the peace of god which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus those of you that need the peace of god would you just stand to your feet right now all of our churches if you're watching online you might stand up in your bedroom stand up in your living room it is the peace of god that will guard you it is the peace of god it's not your peace it's not the peace of this world that means the world can't give it and the world can't take it away you understand that even when your soul feels overwhelmed with anxiety there is no storm god can't bring you through there's no obstacle god can't help you overcome there is no enemy that our god cannot defeat and there is no heartache that our god won't heal his name is jesus his name is jesus get ready to sing it church get ready to see you when i say jesus the very mention it shatters the darkness and it calms my soul when i say jesus even a whisper breaks through my doubting church till all my fear is gone his name is jesus cry out lift up your hands lift up your voices and worship the name above all names his name is jesus

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 60,479

Rating: 4.9379845 out of 5

Keywords: Craig Groeschel, Sermon, Life.Church, Lifechurch, life church, life church sermons, craig rochelle, groeschel craig, church sermons 2020, emotions, anxiety, anxiety relief, how to deal with anxiety, stress relief, stress, relieve stress, relieve anxiety, get rid of anxiety, dealing with anxiety, how to reduce anxiety, how to get rid of anxiety, reduce anxiety, stop anxiety, control anxiety, managing anxiety

Id: u8fbRdVzdJk

Length: 29min 25sec (1765 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 23 2020