(This was the most convicting and sobering of the sessions -- the one for which I am the most thankful:)
Anxiety ought to have no place in the life of a Christian. The Christian life is not a carefree life. But we can have a steady confidence in who God is and what He has done for us.
Martin Luther said of temptation that you can't stop the birds from flying around your head but you can prevent them from building a nest there. The same is true of anxieties.
You can allow yourself to be crippled by the cares of a thousand tomorrows -- or you can fight them off.
The Number One reason to fight anxiety is because it is sin. We are commanded NOT to do it over and over again in Scripture. Nurturing anxiety is blatant disobedience -- and obedience is crucial in the Christian life. If we do what God forbids, cherish what God says to forsake, we are not following what He says. We will not progress until we see sin as sin.
Why do we excuse this sin of worry? There are commands in the Bible that, if we are honest, make us say: Surely you can't be serious? There are things we hear Jesus say that make us incredulous. Things like: Give thanks in all things; Do everything without grumbling and complaining; Rejoice and be exceedingly glad when someone speaks ill of you for the Lord's sake; Call it all joy when you fall into various trials.... The list goes on.
But we must understand, He is serious about these things. God's commands do not come with an asterisk: Honor your husband except when he is a jerk. There is no escape clause because of circumstances or background. We are to be people who say: Speak Lord for your servant is listening. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. I can obey what you tell me to do.
2. We are to fight anxiety because it is fundamental to our Christian identity. Christians are called "believers." Why? Because they believe things. Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness. The just shall live by faith. For we walk by faith and not by sight. Believers walk in accordance with what God has revealed. We are not called skeptics. We are born again by assenting to Truth. But assenting to Truth is something that we do all the days of our life. We are to be marked by a strong, confident faith. When God speaks, we believe it.
When we give over to fear and anxiety, we give over to doubt, not belief. "For we KNOW..." That is faith.. that is the heart and mind saying that whatever happens, this I know. The point is WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE, what can you believe? God will be faithful to every promise He has made. It is God's promise in Philippians 4 to give you peace of mind.
3. Anxiety is contrary to our experience. "I have not seen a righteous man forsaken." We have confidence in the refrigerator, it's always cold and we never expect that it won't be. Has not God proven his longsuffering faithfulness to me even when I disobeyed, even when I haven't asked? He who did not spare His son, will He not graciously give us all things?
We trust the refrigerator, why not God? In light of who God is and what He has done, to harbor anxiety passes all understanding.
4. Anxiety makes God out a liar and a fool. Anxiety in the heart says to others that God cannot be trusted-- that is what our lives proclaim. We are saying, "My situation has bound God's hands." If you despair and angst over the future because of a, for instance, a child's horrible upbringing, you are saying: "I guess God's hands are bound, there is no hope."
Do we believe God is sovereign? Nothing confuses, confounds Him or takes Him by surprise. Do we believe that? Let's not make God appear untrustworthy.
5. Anxiety ignores one of the basic truths of Christian experience: Our lives WILL be full of difficulty. God has promised it. You should be shocked if there are no trials, if you are having an easy time. Our culture is so easy. We expect everything in life to be instantly made better. We expect pain-free, prosperous lives of ease. Do not be anxious about things God NEVER promised you. We live in a cursed world. When we strive to labor, we find thorns.
6. Anxiety is thoroughly unproductive. Matthew 6:25 asks which of you by worrying can change anything?
If worry only leads to harm, shortens life, causes you to distrust and dishonor God, causes you to be unproductive instead of solving your woes -- and if prayerfully leaving things, trusting the sovereignty of God, believing His promises, embracing His unfathomable love for you ensures peace that passes all understanding -- why don't we always go there?
This is the struggle we have as God's people . If we are given over to the sin of anxiety, then that does pass all understanding.
Anxiety ought to have no place in the life of a Christian. The Christian life is not a carefree life. But we can have a steady confidence in who God is and what He has done for us.
Martin Luther said of temptation that you can't stop the birds from flying around your head but you can prevent them from building a nest there. The same is true of anxieties.
You can allow yourself to be crippled by the cares of a thousand tomorrows -- or you can fight them off.
The Number One reason to fight anxiety is because it is sin. We are commanded NOT to do it over and over again in Scripture. Nurturing anxiety is blatant disobedience -- and obedience is crucial in the Christian life. If we do what God forbids, cherish what God says to forsake, we are not following what He says. We will not progress until we see sin as sin.
Why do we excuse this sin of worry? There are commands in the Bible that, if we are honest, make us say: Surely you can't be serious? There are things we hear Jesus say that make us incredulous. Things like: Give thanks in all things; Do everything without grumbling and complaining; Rejoice and be exceedingly glad when someone speaks ill of you for the Lord's sake; Call it all joy when you fall into various trials.... The list goes on.
But we must understand, He is serious about these things. God's commands do not come with an asterisk: Honor your husband except when he is a jerk. There is no escape clause because of circumstances or background. We are to be people who say: Speak Lord for your servant is listening. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. I can obey what you tell me to do.
2. We are to fight anxiety because it is fundamental to our Christian identity. Christians are called "believers." Why? Because they believe things. Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness. The just shall live by faith. For we walk by faith and not by sight. Believers walk in accordance with what God has revealed. We are not called skeptics. We are born again by assenting to Truth. But assenting to Truth is something that we do all the days of our life. We are to be marked by a strong, confident faith. When God speaks, we believe it.
When we give over to fear and anxiety, we give over to doubt, not belief. "For we KNOW..." That is faith.. that is the heart and mind saying that whatever happens, this I know. The point is WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE, what can you believe? God will be faithful to every promise He has made. It is God's promise in Philippians 4 to give you peace of mind.
3. Anxiety is contrary to our experience. "I have not seen a righteous man forsaken." We have confidence in the refrigerator, it's always cold and we never expect that it won't be. Has not God proven his longsuffering faithfulness to me even when I disobeyed, even when I haven't asked? He who did not spare His son, will He not graciously give us all things?
We trust the refrigerator, why not God? In light of who God is and what He has done, to harbor anxiety passes all understanding.
4. Anxiety makes God out a liar and a fool. Anxiety in the heart says to others that God cannot be trusted-- that is what our lives proclaim. We are saying, "My situation has bound God's hands." If you despair and angst over the future because of a, for instance, a child's horrible upbringing, you are saying: "I guess God's hands are bound, there is no hope."
Do we believe God is sovereign? Nothing confuses, confounds Him or takes Him by surprise. Do we believe that? Let's not make God appear untrustworthy.
5. Anxiety ignores one of the basic truths of Christian experience: Our lives WILL be full of difficulty. God has promised it. You should be shocked if there are no trials, if you are having an easy time. Our culture is so easy. We expect everything in life to be instantly made better. We expect pain-free, prosperous lives of ease. Do not be anxious about things God NEVER promised you. We live in a cursed world. When we strive to labor, we find thorns.
6. Anxiety is thoroughly unproductive. Matthew 6:25 asks which of you by worrying can change anything?
If worry only leads to harm, shortens life, causes you to distrust and dishonor God, causes you to be unproductive instead of solving your woes -- and if prayerfully leaving things, trusting the sovereignty of God, believing His promises, embracing His unfathomable love for you ensures peace that passes all understanding -- why don't we always go there?
This is the struggle we have as God's people . If we are given over to the sin of anxiety, then that does pass all understanding.
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