04.11.2010 How to be Spiritually and Emotionally Healthy

04.11.2010 Grace Summit Sermon - How to be Spiritually and Emotionally Healthy from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

04.11.2010 Grace Summit Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

SermonAudio

A survey I came across
30% rated their level of stress as extreme
50% stressed that they couldn’t meet their family’s basic needs
80% of Americans are stressed by the economy and financials
Medical research has estimated that 80% of illnesses are caused by stress.
$7,500 per employee on stress related compensation claims

Over the past several months, we’ve looked at several topics and books – most recently the book of Galatians…but over the next few weeks, we’ll do something a little different:
How to be spiritually and emotionally healthy
Anxiety – what the Bible says about anxiety
Next week: Anger
Following week – Sorrow/Depression

How to deal with these from a Biblical standpoint.
There are a couple of basic, well-known and familiar verses on this.
Lord, help us – now as we’ve worshiped You – to hear a message from You – that You would speak to us out of Your word – help us to know You and follow You better. In Your Name we pray.

This will be very practical over the next few weeks
Philippians 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God
There it is! It’s that simple! But if only it were that simple! Our tendency is to be anxious and fearful of the future.
What Paul does here – he gives some helpful advice – some practical application of how to deal with the anxieties of life. Today, I am looking at basic anxieties – not dealing with those who deal with chronic anxiety – This is my disclaimer – if you are in that situation where you suffer from chronic anxiety that grips your life and you can’t get out of it – I would suggest that you need help and I encourage you to get the help you need. That is really important – you CAN learn how to handle the difficulties and stresses that come into your life – but for some, you may need some regular counseling.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God
Let’s look at this in its context – the Book of Philippians is about conflict – conflict creating stress in a church among people. Conflict from outside – circumstances that make life difficult – like economic circumstances – but there is also internal conflict – relational conflicts inside of the church.
That is common – outside pressures – like a job, and internal pressures – like a family situation – and they are dealing with both of these.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
That is the last thing you want to do when your life is under pressure. It seems flippant. As he leads into how to deal with anxiety – our tendency is to think that anxiety ends when the circumstance changes. But guess what? Oftentimes, the circumstances don’t change! You don’t get the job you want and your finances still struggle.
This isn’t just a “Be happy” –like the old song – Don’t worry, be happy – but rejoice IN THE LORD. Focus on WHO GOD IS – and WHO He is to you. When you are in a stressful situation – step one is to focus on Who God is and how He relates to you. He is your protector – Who is concerned about all the things you care about. You have to believe that God loves you and is concerned about the things you are concerned about.
5 Let your (gentle/humble) forbearing [spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is near.
When we get in pressure situations, our tendency is to want to manipulate and control. You know how it is – you begin thinking – this is not working the way you want it to work – How can you manipulate the circumstances (in your marriage or whatever) to make sure your needs are met? He is saying – don’t do that! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all – let your patience – Look at life through your spouse’s perspective. See their needs above your own.
Whenever anxiety comes up, God talks about humility. Pride is taking control of life myself. With pride comes anxiety.
Rejoice in the Lord, Have a humble and gentle/forbearing spirit – is that your way? Is that what you are known for?
Then v. 6 – be anxious for nothing – then he gives some instructions what to do:
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In prayer, we need to plead with God – not a formal prayer or a respectful prayer – it is a supplication – a cry out to God – to plead with God – that God might change things. That is okay – to beg God for these situations. TO make everything known to Him.
And the peace of God…
As these things come in – instead of your first reaction to be to manipulate and control – to be willing to yield yourself to His care – to make your request known – there is this peace – something that is not natural – not a technique, but comes from God. It guards our heart and mind – our emotions and our will – and it keeps us spiritually and emotionally healthy.
1 Peter 5: 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.
When God opposes you – it is like He has His battle armor on – but to the humble, He gives grace.
God connects anxiety with humility. When we humble ourselves and allow God His position in our lives –
We have been going through Samuel in our men’s time – and it is amazing how often they tried to manipulate God. When you give that up – it causes stress and anxiety – if you give God full reign – it is scary – to allow God to have control in every area of your life. There are things we want to make sure end up the way we want them to end up. That is what he is discussing here. In casting our anxiety upon Him – it is because He cares for you. You can only live like this when you believe that God cares about every aspect of your lives. God loves you and has your best in mind. He knows what the best is.
In Samuel, Israel wanted a king – they were always under attack and wanted a king like all the nations of the world – God said, you don’t need a king – and they said yes we do – and God said, OKAY.
Ps. 55: 22 Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shake
Cast your concern – as far away as possible – throw those concerns on God – Let HIM carry the burden. God said HE will carry the weight. That is where the burden and anxiety come in. When we cast our anxiety on Him – we give Him the entire right to decide. That is the hard part.
Matt. 6 – the other really famous section on this – the Sermon on the Mount…
25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, [as to] what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, [as to] what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?
Food and clothes are pretty basic. If you don’t have those two, you are in pretty bad shape. Maybe you should be a little worried. I could imagine – if it were, don’t worry about what car you drive – that is another issue – but clothes and food? What do you value? There is something more valuable. He takes the basic necessity of life – and says, that is not what is most valuable. Man shall not live by bread alone. God always takes the core necessities – but that is not where it is found…
26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and [yet] your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
Yesterday I was out doing some work – and our neighbor asked us to watch their daughters – and the dad was going to cook something on the grill – he opened the grill – but somehow – a bird had built this extravagant nest in the grill. The engineering was amazing! They are just birds – they don’t sow!
27 "And which of you by being anxious can add a [single] hour to his life's span?
Do you understand what God values? He values YOU. As important food and clothing are to you – that is how important you are to God.
28 "And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.
Anxiety changes nothing – worry/anxiety – changes nothing. Say you have a big exam coming up – does worrying help? No. It makes it harder to study. It changes nothing.
30 "But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is [alive] today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, [will He] not much more [do so for] you, O men of little faith?
There it is. Faith. God is more concerned about you than He is about dandelions – or lilies – and He takes care of them. Every year they come back and grow. If He sees to these details, how much more will He care about the details of your life?
31 "Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' 32 "For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
He understands – He is more concerned about your concerns than you are. Do you believe that?
33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
This is a popular verse – focus on what matters – when we understand that God cares about our every detail, we are able to focus on the things that really matter. What is that? The Kingdom of God. This is not talking about heaven. He is talking about doing God’s work/will/His way – NOW!
Jesus – in the Lord’s prayer – on earth as it is in heaven. Making a priority in this world what is a priority in heaven.
. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. [Each] day has enough trouble of its own.

This does not mean that you don’t plan. Planning is good. But there is a difference between planning and executing a plan. If you’ve lost your job, you need to make a plan – and then execute that plan. He wants us to do the plan – but to not worry about the results. All the things that COULD happen – yes, we need to deal with the real circumstance that is upon us – but not to worry about the things that we don’t know.
If you listen to the news – you could worry about a lot of things. It is impossible to know the future – so you need to focus on living in the present.
If that is a struggle –
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
Anxiety begins in the mind – so you need to learn to focus on good things. For some of us, It might be helpful to take a fast from the news.
I saw a study – there are some Americans who can’t go an hour without checking their email – it is like a constant need to know everything. We need to learn to dwell on the good things – it is the dwelling of the mind. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind.
One more verse –
Isaiah 26: 3 "The steadfast of mind You wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.
My mind could think about everything it could – but I need to turn and trust in God – trusting that God loves us and is more concerned about us than we are about ourselves.
Let’s pray…