http://bible.com/events/7047267
Afraid Not: Anxious for Nothing
“Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Fear screams, Get out! Anxiety ponders, What if?”
Max Lucado
The United States is considered by many the most anxious nation in the world.
While many of us can identify with anxiety in so many ways, God’s Word gives us a clear command and a clear promise:
The command:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
-The command is not to be anxious, but rather to pursue relationship!
-We overcome anxiety by turning to God in relationship, which is what prayer is really all about.
The promise:
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7
-For some, there is an incredible peace that comes instantly. -For others, this is a peace that comes one step at a time, one moment at a time. As they pursue relationship, as they turn to God, moment by moment they walk in peace.
Bottom line:
Our circumstances never have the power to give us peace
What is your role in regards to the anxiety and fear you face?
Our Focus
-our focus becomes distracted, distorted, or clouded by so many others things
-our expectations
-we fill our hearts and minds with so many things that create faulty expectations for ourselves and for others around us
-we embrace “bad theology” where we expect that we wont face opposition
-our thoughts
-we entertain a toxic mindset about our circumstances and the people around us
-we replay negative thoughts about ourselves repeatedly, which leads to shame
-our words
-a distorted focus will ultimately come out in our words and in our actions
-we give voice to things that are not of God, creating storms of destruction
Psalms 16:8 ESV
1 Peter 5:7
Other Texts For Study & Reflection:
Lamentations 3:17-26
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV
Psalms 37:8 NIV