The Nature Of This Beast

Take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. You follow as I begin reading in verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, 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 in Christ Jesus. Furthermore, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things. And the God of peace will be with you. Let's pray. Father, help us now as we look into your word, as we think about this issue, that you would help us to think clearly. Help us now, because Father, we want to be those who obey the commands of Christ. and as these commands come to us through all of scripture we pray that you would help us to think to ponder to reflect on how we might change and then to cry out to you for grace so that we will to that end father i pray that this would be the beginning of our thinking and reflection that would lead us to this change help us in our understanding now we pray in Jesus name Amen Roger couldn keep his boss Frank happy about anything Frank seemed to avoid him He seemed irritated at him all the time Nothing he did was right.

He complained about the fact that Roger's projects were late. He kept piling on more work. But Roger couldn't afford to lose his job. He thought, what happens if I do lose this job? We won't be able to make the mortgage payments. How would Julie handle that?

Would our marriage even survive? He had to keep his job. He began reviewing all his work. In his lunchtime, in his free time, he would look over his work, calculating everything again. He reread every email Frank had sent him in the last month. What were the tone of them?

Was that a veiled threat? Is he hinting that my work is subpar? He went over the latest project with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everything met specifications. He began to wonder if he could pull off the next project and whether he could get it done by the required deadline. He spent the rest of the day trying to work and worrying about everything that might possibly go wrong.

What if my boss isn't happy with the reports I prepared for the big meeting last week? What if I made a calculation error? What if I end up costing the company thousands of dollars? What if that mistake gets me fired? When he got home that night, he was exhausted. His head was killing him.

His muscles were tight. He couldn't focus on his family as he sat at the dinner table. Julie asked him what was wrong, and he said nothing. It was just a hard day at work. But his mind kept spinning with thoughts of Frank and his work and his firing and all that might happen to him. Does that sound familiar to any of you?

Madeline swallowed the lump in her throat and braced herself because she knew what was coming next. She could handle this at home, but now she's in the middle of the grocery store. Her heart was beginning to race and she was having difficulty breathing. Her mind was racing. Her vision was getting blurry. She wanted to get through the checkout, but she knew she wasn't going to make it.

So she headed and ran to the back of the store in order to find the restrooms there. But it was getting worse Everything was closing in on her She was afraid and she didn know why She was getting lightheaded and her toes and fingers started tingling Was she dying or was she having a heart attack or what She made it into the restroom and started throwing up Then she just sat down on the floor and cried What's wrong with me, she thought. Why am I such a mess?

What am I so worked up about? After a bit, she dragged herself to the car, got home, crawled into bed and slept for the next three hours. Now that may be, those two stories may describe some of you. some of you have have spent hours and hours and hours your mind racing all over the place trying to think of everything that might go wrong what you might have to do about it some of you maybe i don't know maybe you've even gotten to the point of of madeline where you have what's called a panic attack or an anxiety attack does that describe anything you've experienced maybe you've never had a panic panic attack but your mind goes wild thinking of the what ifs you've been so anxious that you're totally distracted and find it hard to do anything but obsess over those things that you think are important.

Some of you right now are so trapped in anxiety, your mind is running in all those directions that you have a hard time even listening to this sermon. In fact, you've missed so many sermons because you've been thinking about what might happen Sunday afternoon or what might happen tomorrow. I'll bet some of you have missed half of the sermons that have been preached here because your mind is just running all the time and thinking about tomorrow.

Today I want to help us get an understanding of this beast that we call anxiety or worry. Of course, you know, this is something close to my heart. This is something that, frankly, I have to battle. There were days, years and years ago, when it was a losing battle. I can thank God now that it isn't so much a losing battle. Well, it's not a losing battle.

I can say confidently by God's grace, he's taught me a lot in this area. And I have learned. And my life is so much better. But let's talk about this, shall we? Let's try to come to grips with this beast called anxiety or worry. First of all, let's understand what anxiety is.

Let's understand what anxiety is. Now the idea of anxiety can get pretty jumbled. Is it an emotion? Maybe it's thoughts. Maybe it's just thoughts. Maybe it something physical or a brain defect At least that what most people are telling us today It hard to untangle all that because it seems like we are spirits and body combined and sometimes it's hard to separate the physical and the emotional and all that.

But I believe that we can begin to untangle that, because Jesus tells us that everything we wrestle with begins in our heart. Look over at the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark. This is a key text in trying to understand everything that we face. All the sins, all the things that show themselves in our lives. Jesus gives us some very clear direction about what we need to do and where we need to start untangling all this.

Mark chapter 7. You remember this is a discussion the Pharisees are after him because he's not following the rules to be cleansed from defilement. And Jesus says this in verse 14. And he called the people to him again and said to them, hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him. But the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? since it enters not his heart but his stomach and is expelled. Thus he declared all foods clean. And he said, what comes out of a person is what defiles him.

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and they defile a person. now what Jesus is saying here is that everything that we experience starts in the heart everything that shows up on the outside starts on the inside starts in the heart let me say something about the heart and again I know you've probably heard this a hundred times but some of you have not heard it so let's cover all our ground here heart is the control center of our lives heart is the inner man The Bible calls the inner man of our lives. All right?

The heart is not this organ, and it's not just our emotions. In the Western world in which we live, we have come to equate heart with emotion, right? And so when we send a valentine, it's in the shape of a heart, right? In the Eastern mind, in the mind of the Hebrews, emotions were centered in the intestines. So if you can imagine that, sending a valentine in the shape of a large colon, I think that would be interesting, wouldn't it?

Nevertheless, the heart is more than emotion. In the Bible, the heart's the control center. The heart is where you think. The heart is where you decide things. The heart is the center of your emotions as well. But it's more than that.

It's your allegiances. It's where you value things. It's where you worship. It's all of those things. all the things that go on on the inner man that make you do the things you do, that's the heart. That's what Jesus is talking about. And he says that all the sin that comes out begins with your thoughts, your allegiances, your loves, your desires, all the things that are within the heart.

And so what Jesus says to us immediately here is, if we're listening, is you cannot blame your anxiety on the outside things. You cannot blame your anxiety on circumstances. It starts in the heart. Certainly, the circumstances can tempt you, but they do not determine you. What determines you is the set of your heart. And so we have to understand that anxiety begins in the heart.

And you cannot blame your circumstances for your anxiety. Sure, there's plenty of things to be concerned about. But the fact that you worry and obsess is not the result of the circumstances. It's the result of the setting of your heart. So we have to come to grips with that. Now, what we need to see, I believe, is what exactly is anxiety?

Let's begin with this idea. And I think this is right. It's not original with me. It comes from another biblical counselor. His name is Bob Kellerman. Good guy.

Love Bob. Bob talks about vigilance. And I think he really on to something here biblically Vigilance This is the God ability Vigilance is the God ability for the purpose of guarding protecting keeping safe watching over We are vigilant When we vigilant we guarding When we vigilant we protecting When we're vigilant, we're keeping something safe. When we're vigilant, we're watching over something.

Vigilance urges you to act quickly in response to a threat. Right? Vigilance urges you to act quickly in response to a threat. It's a proper concern. Vigilance is a proper concern for the well-being of others and for the advancement of God's kingdom. I love what Bob says.

He says it motivates us to tend and befriend. what does he mean by that to tend we vigilance helps us to tend the things for which the kingdom stands that is we it motivates us to tend those things for which god gives us responsibility right for which god gives us responsibility um if i'm outside and i see someone walking across the field and he's got a rifle in his hand and he's walking straight towards me he's not walking out to the woods to go deer hunt and he's walking straight towards me vigilance is going to say wow this may be a threat i need to do something right i'm responsible here for protecting my family so it's it um it motivates us it motivates us to tend and befriend tend those things for which god gives responsibility befriend helping others looking after the well-being of others okay if I'm a shepherd I'm supposed to be vigilant I'm supposed to be looking after what's good for you and to be and to watch out for the threats that might approach you so it's it motivates us to tend and befriend but here's the deal sin corrupts everything and sin corrupts vigilance so that it turns into anxiety sin corrupts vigilance and turns it into anxiety. Anxiety is vigilance out of control. It's out of control.

Vigilance makes you into God warriors Anxiety takes God warriors and makes them into warriors It corrupts the whole idea of vigilance Anxiety then scans the horizon continually looking for threats anticipating threats concerned about the what-ifs and what might happen. Always looking. It's like being in a perpetual state of alarm. Right? You know what?

I know some of this is hitting right home, even though I can't see your faces because of those masks. I know that for some of you, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The rest of you, you're just probably saying, okay, that's interesting, I need to get this down. But for some of you, this is making lots of sense. Bob says, we scan the horizon constantly, fearfully, but without ever taking action or responsibility and without clinging to God.

So, sin corrupts that vigilance. vigilance now, scanning the horizon, or anxiety scans the horizon all the time, looking for threats, anticipating threats, thinking about what if, what happens, and so forth. Anxiety is also vigilance minus faith in God. Have you noticed that your worries tend to imagine a future without God? now you worriers out there you know I'm you know I'm speaking truth right now when we worry about the future when we're scanning the horizon when we're thinking about the what ifs and and what might happen and what we're going to do if that happens it's almost entirely devoid of God it is always if he does this I'll do that if he says this I'll say that if this happens then this is my response.

And on and on it goes. God is absent. God is absent. Life gets smaller. And our mission to trust Jesus and love other people gets lost amid all those future preparations that we're making for the what ifs. The mission that we have today gets lost.

Ed Welch writes, Worries can be born in the past, live in the future, and invade the present. They focus our attention on things over which we are relatively powerless. And they take our attention away from the mission that is right in front of us That the nature of anxiety It vigilance minus faith in God It's the idea of taking protection into our own hands.

It's doing what we think or arranging what might happen in a way so that it happens the right way, but it's almost always without God in the picture, and it always takes our attention away from the mission that God has given us for right now as it gets lost in everything that we're thinking about in the future. Anxiety is the attempt to control something we are powerless to control. it's it's trying to control something that we are powerless to control look at Matthew 6 now Matthew 6 in Matthew 6 beginning in verse 19 you all the way to the end of the chapter you have the classic passage on anxiety and worry and one of the things that Jesus says is in verse 27 And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? You see what he's saying?

You're trying to control something over which you are powerless to control. Anxiety at its very heart is trying to control something that's impossible to control. So, that's anxiety. Anxiety is vigilance corrupted. It's vigilance corrupted and leads us to this perpetual state of alarm. Right?

Constantly scanning the horizon, imagining a future without God in it, trying to take control of something over which we are powerless. Well then, we need to understand the heart of anxiety. now again Jesus has told us it all begins in the heart James reiterates that look at James chapter 1 James chapter 1 beginning in verse 12 blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown life which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted I am being tempted by God.

By the way no one says that out loud. No one may think of it in those words. But this is how it comes out. God's put me in a situation where it's impossible not to sin. That's what he's talking about. Right?

I'm worried. Why? Because God's put me in a position where I'm just overwhelmed. No, God doesn't do that. For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Notice what James says, just like Jesus. Our sin starts on the inside, and it starts with desire. I want you to think of it this way. Here is you, all right? Here is me, and here is Becca.

We have the exact same environment. All the same things are happening around us. Why is it that I'm consumed with worry, and she's as calm as everything? Aren't we in the same circumstances? Aren't we facing the same temptations? Yes.

What's the difference? She has a different heart than mine. My heart is saying, oh man, I want peace and I want control. And that desire, as James says, connects with those various temptations, produces anxiety. All right? Now my wife is surrounded by the exact same temptations, but why isn't she worrying? because her heart is, well, God will take care of us.

You follow? It's the setting of your heart that determines the sin that shows up. Yes, you're surrounded by temptation, but the desire that you have connects with those temptations and produces sin. All right? And so we have to see that all sin starts with desire or starts with an idol of your heart, something that you've given your allegiance to. And that same thing is true with anxiety.

Listen, desire is always whispering in your ear and saying, do this, there's a payoff. And someone might say what What the payoff with worry Right I mean I can see the payoff for if I have a desire for this sexual sin the payoff is pleasure right What kind of payoff is there with worry Let me tell you what it is When I worried, I had worshipped the idols of peace and safety and control. I wanted an easy, peaceful life.

I had an idol. My allegiance was given to a life that said, I will go into my office, I will read my books to my heart's content, I will write sermons, I may even write some other things, and it will be a good life. but then there's a knock on the door and that whole piece is disrupted now I don't have any time to read books I've got to go to somebody's house between two warring parties and try to get them together I don't want that I want a nice easy life of studying and teaching and then there was the idol of control. If I think about this thing that might happen, right, this meeting that's coming up, if I think hard enough about it, I'll be able to come up with some way of protection, of control.

I'll be able to control it. Those were the desires, and here's the payoff. Desire is saying to me, that desire for control is saying, if you worry, you'll gain control. That's the payoff. by the way just as a footnote you can put this as a footnote in your notes ephesians 4 24 says that all desires are deceitful it's one of the ways we can combat sin the desire at the root of our sin is always deceitful which is to say your those desires that are driving you to do something sinful those desires promise you something that will never deliver guess what the more I worried the more peace and control I got right now exactly the opposite there was less peace and there was absolutely no control in fact some people say you ought to stone warriors because they're false prophets you know why because you can worry about a thousand things and when that thing happens what you're worried about never all the things you thought about none None of it comes true it all comes out different Right Not always but most of the time So you have this desire in your heart This desire promises something all right And so because it promises something you give yourself to the sin of anxiety or worry.

My desire for control and peace said to me, if you worry about that meeting next week, you'll probably stumble on to a solution or a strategy that will protect you, that will give you control. Anxiety says to you, if you let your mind run incessantly, you'll come up with a solution. You'll come up with a strategy. If you let your mind just run, run, run, run at a frenetic pace, somehow it'll stumble on a strategy or it'll stumble on some kind of solution to what you're worried about.

Of course, it never does. But that's what that desire is saying to you. Worry about it. You'll come up with a way of controlling it. so anxiety begins in your heart with desires what does you what is your anxiety telling you what does your anxiety tell you that's the question you need to ask now could could there be other desires at the root of anxiety other ones other than peace and control absolutely the Bible shows us some, and we can look at a few here, but let me just say this.

There are lots of things that can drive your anxiety. I have found, as I've talked to people for 34, 35 years, I have found that control is a biggie when it comes to anxiety. That's kind of a big one. But there are other things. The Bible mentions other things. Look at 1 Peter 5 for a moment.

I want to explore just a few things that can drive anxiety in order to help you see that when you ask yourself the question, what's my anxiety telling me? You can see that there are several things. There are different things that can drive your desire. Here's one, pride. Pride can drive your desire. First Peter chapter 5 verses 6 and 7.

Humble yourselves Therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Now pride can drive your anxiety How so You know as I read this text at first it a little puzzling In the midst of suffering Peter is writing people who are suffering here right And he tells them to humble themselves under God's mighty hand, casting their anxieties on him. What's the connection?

I can see the part where when I'm suffering, certainly I get anxious and I want to I need to cast my anxieties on God but he connects it to humility why is that what is that connection I'll tell you why because in the midst of suffering we typically have the attitude of I don't deserve this I don't deserve this so I need to do something about it and for some people that means worrying all right and so what God says is humble yourself under the hand of God and this is an expression from the Old Testament where the hand of the mighty hand of God Deuteronomy the mighty hand of God will deliver you from your slavery and from your suffering so he says humbly submit to the mighty hand of God wait for him to deliver you and he will deliver you and exalt you at the appointed time but until then what cast your anxieties on him. So humble yourselves. Do you know what?

Ingratitude can drive your anxiety. Ingratitude can. Look at Philippians 4. Back in my worry war days, when I was really struggling, I was taught, and we'll look at it next week, this passage in Philippians 4 as how I need to combat worry. And I noticed something really interesting here. Notice what it says in Philippians 4, 6.

Do not be anxious about anything. By the way, that one really hit me hard. Don't be anxious about anything. I remember one time years ago, someone, and I won't go into all the details, but we had a discipline case that we went through and the person threatened to sue the church. for what we did. And I can remember standing in my backyard and saying to myself, someone is threatening to take us to court and you're telling me I shouldn't be worried about that.

The answer was, well, it's right there. Don't be anxious about anything, right? No, not even that. All right, so let's go on. I don't want to miss the point here. He says, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Now, I can see the prayer. I can see the supplication. Lord, I'm worried about this. Please help. But what's this about Thanksgiving? Why should I pray with Thanksgiving?

Why is that there? And it dawned on me. You know why it's there? Worriers can never be grateful. It is impossible for a worrier to be grateful. You say, why?

Because at the heart of your worry is this. God, I do not like the circumstances you have put me in. I have a better idea. This is the life I want, not this one. I want this life where all that that's tempting me to worry, all that is gone. This is the life I want, not that one.

What do you call that? That's ingratitude. God tells us in the midst of worry when we're praying we're to be grateful can you be grateful for the circumstances you're in yeah yeah you can if you know that God is at work and God's up to something good you can be grateful when you know that God is for you and never against you even in that situation you can be grateful but ingratitude will drive anxiety you hate your lot in life at this moment you're not thankful to God for it you want something else here's another one perfectionism or legalism can drive your anxiety it begins with our relationship with God look at Romans chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 Romans 5 1 and 2 Therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God Now notice, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and that faith has brought us into this sphere of grace. we have obtained access to that grace which is to say because I've been justified declared right with God he has said you are not guilty all the sins you've committed have been cleared from the record why? because you have trusted Jesus for the payment and Jesus has given you the record that you need the righteousness that you need therefore you're justified with God you're no longer under his judgment And now you stand in a sphere of grace where God will always relate to you by grace, never by how you are doing.

That is to say, he's not going to throw you out of the family. He's not going to bring his judgment down on you. Right? We have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Well, some of us are anxious because have I done enough to appease God's wrath? And the answer is no, you've never done enough and you'll never do enough.

Jesus did it all and he has appeased the wrath of God. And now you stand in this relationship of grace with God where he's always for you and never against you. But that bleeds out into our normal life. Roger may be thinking, have I done enough to please my boss? What does that grow out of? Have I done enough to please God?

Or is God going to help? Roger may be thinking, am I going to lose this job because I haven't done good enough for God? Right? But any kind of perfectionism, I haven't done enough. And so there's this constant anxiety that says there's more to be done. There's more to be done.

There's more to be done. You could do so much more. Right? That becomes part of our life. Here's another one. You know what else drives anxiety? choosing lesser things over greater things that can drive anxiety turn over to mark chapter four this is the you know the the parable of the one who spreads the seed on the different soils in the last part of verse 18 through verse 19 here what we read They are those who hear the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word The cares of this world, the desires of things in this world choke the word.

The cares and anxieties of the world choke out the better life of the kingdom. I'm choosing to be concerned about lesser things than greater things. For example, anxiety will flood my heart or will flood me if in my heart I'm more concerned about my reputation than the glory of God. Choosing the lesser over the greater. if I'm concerned about my reputation and what people think of me and that becomes really important guess what I'll be an anxious person did I do enough I don't like the way that person is looking at me did I do something that was does he think less of me you see where I'm going with that you know what it's like but if I'm just concerned about the glory of God I don't have to worry about anxiety right and you say I'm going to glorify God it doesn't matter what people think of me I'm just going to be faithful how about the comfortable life versus self-denial if I want a comfortable life the really nice comfortable middle-class life where I have a nice house I've got two cars maybe three maybe two cars and a truck and you know everything's nice I don't have to worry about anything versus the life of self-denial.

I'm not going to spend my money on that stuff because I need to be helping other people. What do you think causes anxiety? How about control? I want to control so I can protect me as opposed to the providence of a faithful God. Right? If it's up to me to control in order to protect myself, that's going to produce anxiety.

But if I choose the greater good, I'm going to trust the providence of a faithful God. That's a whole lot different. Here one last thing and there more there could be more but here one last thing that i think would drive anxiety unbelief no news there unbelief certainly drives anxiety matthew 6 verse 30 jesus said in the middle of that whole section on worry but if god so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not much more clothe you oh you of little faith unbelief will certainly drive anxiety remember anxiety imagines a future without God anxiety exposes unbelief you may say that you believe that God is good that God is faithful and that God is sovereign but anxiety functionally denies all those things.

It's functional atheism. I say I believe all those things, but I'm functioning as an atheist when I am worried, unbelief. So there can be many other roots to your anxiety, so ask the question, what is my anxiety telling me? I'm serious now. Go home this afternoon and say, sit down with a pen and some paper and answer the question, What is my anxiety telling me?

What is it telling me about my heart? What is it telling me about my loyalty and my allegiances? What is it telling me I want? Ask the question, what is my anxiety telling me? Now here's the last thing we want to talk about. Understand what anxiety does.

I'm just going to give you three things here. What anxiety does. let's look at Luke chapter 10 here's a case study of an anxious person by the way this is the case study of an anxious person who is choosing the lesser thing over the greater thing and because of that there's anxiety Luke chapter 10 verse 38 now as they went on their way Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house and she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching but Martha was distracted with much serving and she went up to him and said Lord I'm going to go rebuke the Lord now and she went up to him and said Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone, tell her then to help me. Lord, you have authority to tell my sister what to do, but not so much as I can't rebuke you.

I think that's kind of interesting. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her. Here's what I would say one of the main things anxiety does. anxiety distracts you. Anxiety distracts you. You see that Jesus says to Martha that she's distracted because she's anxious about so many things and thus she's missing the most important things.

Again, how many of you have had the privilege of sitting at Jesus' feet Sunday after Sunday only to miss what he has for you because your anxious mind is distracted with the problems of tomorrow. You sat at Jesus' feet. You've been where he is as the word of God is open to you, but you've not heard him because you are thinking about tomorrow. Again, anxiety gets us so lost in the future that we forget God's mission for today.

And that's exactly what happened with Martha. anxiety distracts you here's the second thing anxiety consumes you you know what i'm talking about you can't sleep at night you think and then when you're when you when you're the whole next day you're thinking about the what ifs all day long and if you do find some sleep when you wake up what's the first thing on your mind? The very thing you were worrying about. And in those few moments when you're not worried and you catch yourself not worrying, you start to worry that you're not worrying about something.

Hey, I know what that's like. I've been there. Isn't it? You worry yourself there. Don't have to acknowledge anything. But you know what I'm talking about.

There are those few times when you're driving down the road and you're looking around and you're enjoying the scenery and you're thinking it's a beautiful day and then all of a sudden the thought occurs to you I should be thinking about something right now I should be worrying about something Yeah that right That how it gets So worry consumes you Anxiety consumes you It distracts you. It consumes you. And then the last thing I want to say to you, anxiety can drive you to despair.

Anxiety can actually drive you to depression. There's a proverb about that. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 25. anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Now listen, can I tell you something? In the 30-some years of counseling that I've done, I would say to you that about 90% of the people that have come to me with depression, listen, 90% of those people are anxious.

They're where they are now because they were anxious for a long time. And that anxiety drives them to depression. I know that. I have been there. I can tell you of mornings laying in bed, thinking about what's going to happen in the next two days, consumed with that all night long, waking up in the morning and saying, I don't want to get out of bed. This is so overwhelming, I just don't want to face it.

By God's grace, I got out of bed. Right? I was thankful for that. But I see where that goes. I can see where that goes because anxiety presents a world to you. Again, a world devoid of God as you look to the future.

That it becomes so overwhelming that you don't want to face it. And if you don't face it, you just start down the spiral. You don't face it. You stay where you are. and then you start worrying about the stuff that you haven't gotten done because you didn't do it, but you feel less like doing it and down the spiral you go until you end up in despair. Anxiety can do that.

Anxiety makes one lose hope because life looks overwhelming. Is there any hope in all this? you know this week I want to tell you what anxiety is and what it does to you and so forth next week let talk about what to do about it but I don want to leave you here I don want to leave you here thinking oh wow this is great Thank you I got more to worry about this week now Well, let's go to one more passage that will at least give us a stepping stone into what we're going to talk about next week. 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians chapter 1. By the way, if you think that the turmoil that you feel in your mind is something that no one else has ever felt, let me show you a man who has been there. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 8. for we do not want you to be ignorant brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself indeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Paul and his co-laborers faced some afflictions that were so deep and so difficult that they got to the point of despairing of life. The mental pressure was so extreme. Listen, the mental pressure was so extreme that he and his co-laborers were utterly burdened beyond their strength that they despaired of life. Have you been there? The Apostle Paul's been there.

The mental anguish, the mental pressure was so great that it was like a sentence of death had been passed on you. So what good can come from that? What good can come from that? Well, we're reminded that God graciously orchestrates our circumstances in order to strip us of self-reliance. Listen, anxiety is the epitome of self-reliance. anxiety is the crown jewel in the crown of self Anxiety constantly says I must do something I can do something And so our mind takes off in a million different directions because we're relying on ourselves for the control, for the protection, for the reputation, whatever it is.

I say to you, anxiety is the crown, is the crown jewel in the crown of self-reliance. And God wants to get us to the place where we set our hope on God alone. not, not on God changing our circumstances, but our hope is anchored in the immovable truth that God is for us and not against us in Jesus. And he wants to strip us of our self-reliance so that that is where we go and to direct us to discipline ourselves, to discipline our minds to look to Jesus.

Hope delivers you from the crippling effects of anxiety because hope is anchored in the immutable truth that God is for you in Christ. Is there hope in all this? Absolutely. Absolutely there's hope. We do not have to be chained. by our anxieties and our worries. Not if we have a God who works for us in Christ.

There is real hope. I'm looking forward as God shows us that way, out of self-reliance and into that hope. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for opening our eyes today. Would you help us now, even this week, and for the entire week following now, to pray that you would start revealing to us how we can put our hope in you alone, and not... In our circumstances, not in anything, but the God who reveals himself in Jesus, whom he raised from the dead to promise us that ultimate deliverance comes through Jesus.

Help us, Father, even before we look at it and study it, help us to begin this week just searching the scriptures for these ways that are hope and reliance is in you alone in Jesus. And help us to gather again next week anticipating the marvelous grace that you show us in your word, grace that frees us from the slavery of anxiety. Thank you, Lord, for your word, which is sufficient and powerful.

In Jesus' name, amen.