Hope for the Anxious Heart

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night overwhelmed by what needs done the next day? Do you find it hard to get to sleep wondering what lies ahead? Do you get panic/anxiety attacks or have moments where you feel frozen by fear or worry?

Recently I was talking with a friend about similar issues and have recognized some of these instances in my own life as well. This has lead me to thinking more about this topic of anxiety focusing on what it is and then, what we can do about it.

What Is Anxiety?

The New Testament uses the same word for both "worry" and "anxiety." Some of the ways lexicons define it are, "care for, be concerned about, be anxious, be overly concerned about, be worried about, think earnestly upon, to be disturbed, annoyed in spirit,  distracted" [1] [2] [3] I think those cover the spectrum well. Anxiety may be demonstrated in outward actions like sleeplessness, inability to breathe, nausea, depression, apathy, frantic working. However, these are only the results of where anxiety starts. It begins in my heart. As I dwell upon circumstances, the future, other things that I or others expect of me, unfulfilled desires and hopes I have, all of these can lead me to having an anxious heart, … IF not partnered with a trust in God.

How Do I Deal With Anxiety?

There is a somewhat popular thought that stress and or stressful situations are bad for you because they can help produce anxiety. The answer given to this supposed problem is to not be in those situations. This idea is great in theory, but completely impractical in real life. If you have a job, drive your car in traffic, buy food at the grocery store, or in any way interact with people or things, you will find not everything goes your way and life gets stressful. We as Christians are called to be in the world thus it seems we must understand a different way, God's way, for functioning well in it through times of stress and anxiety. Scripture gives us very helpful answers to this.

Phil  4:6-9 (NASB), "6 Be anxious for nothing, 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, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 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, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Paul gives 3 actions and 2 promises in this passage helping us deal with anxiety…

Action 1: Pray

Paul says that as anxious thought and feelings come into our thinking we should bring them to the Lord. Peter states it, "casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Pet 5:7). Bring your desires, fears, questions, concerns to the Lord. Paul adds, do so with thanksgiving. How do I pray in desperation with thanksgiving? It means recognizing who God is as the all powerful Creator, Who loves and cares for you and will only work for your best (Rom 8:28). Understanding Who God is and trusting Him should drive us to thankfulness and praise in our time of worry.

Promise 1: The Peace of God

God states that as we bring our anxiety and worry to Him, He will give us His peace. Not just a peace that is temporary or just dulls the feelings, but a peace beyond what you or I can comprehend. This peace guards us from fear and worry and allows us to rest. It guards are whole being that we not still fret. When is the last time you waited before the Lord with your anxiety till you were given His peace?

Action 2: Think Rightly

Our anxiety always stems from a wrong view of God. We look at the circumstances and situations around us and rightly assess we are ill-equipped for the task ahead. We recognize our weak, feebleness, but instead of turning to God we keep our eyes on ourselves and we despair. We don't see God for Who He is. We forget He is the sovereign Creator and we fear. Paul tells us to combat this thinking instead of focusing on ourselves or our situation, we are instead to primarily focus on our God. He is the epitome of the list of things to think upon. As we think rightly about our situation, ourselves, and our God, suddenly our hope is restored.

Action 3: Act

Paul continues, prayer is a necessary start, right thinking is key to combating hopelessness, but the process of overcoming anxiety is not complete until we act in faith upon the promises we have dwelt. Paul says we are to practice… regularly do these actions. Rather than being frozen by fear or apathetic to outcomes, God calls us to act in obedience to His desires. It may not be fun or easy. Start by simply determining, what is the next thing I need to do. You don't need to have all your plans figured out or even know the end of the path your on necessarily. Often you just need to step. After taking the first step, take another, and another, and another. God will graciously allow you to persevere.

One other note on this, notice this is in the context of community both Paul's relationship with the church walking with and before them, and their relationship with each other. You don't have to do this alone. Bring it to others. Ask for their help and encouragement. Walk in obedience with others.

Promise 2: The God of Peace

You see what Paul did there? I love the play on words! Not only do you get the peace of God from dealing rightly with your anxiety, you also, ultimately get the God of peace! As you walk with the Lord bringing your concerns to Him, thinking rightly about Him, and walking in obedience to Him you start having true joy and relationship with Him. Your time and focus get taken from the creation futility and instead are transferred to walking with the Creator. How blessed we are as God's children!

Practical Suggestions

These are just some helpful thoughts/tips I put together and would suggest for you as you start the process and dealing with anxiety:

·       Take time to do a prayer journal bringing your thoughts to the Lord on a daily basis

·       Memorize Philippians 4:6-9

·       Read Matthew 6:25-34 to see how Jesus talks about this as well

I will close with Paul's words to the church in Philippi, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:2).

Phil Smith, Youth Minister

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[1] Friberg, Barbara, Timothy Friberg, Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (electronic edition: Baker Books, 2000).

[2] Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (New York: Harper and Bros., 1897).

[3] Thayer, Joseph Henry, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 4th ed. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, [1889] 1901).

Live in Illinois (or Wherever) for the Gospel

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with some church leaders who are ministering in a difficult environment. I won’t go into all the details of what they shared with me, but essentially these are brothers and sisters whose lives are in danger because of their love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the dangers they face are partly due to policies enacted or at least tacitly encouraged by their government.

I asked them how they planned on responding to these dangers. “We are going to stay here and do what we always do. This is normal. We are here to share the gospel.”

What a great understanding of purpose...and a perspective that those of us in Central Illinois would do well to adopt. The temptation to want to leave Illinois due to frustration with leadership in Springfield or a poor economy is understandable. The failures of our state leadership are overwhelming. No other state in the union has mangled their budget this badly.

But our brothers and sisters in hard environments are not the only ones who have been called to a certain place to share the gospel. God didn’t call us to live in Illinois for the glory of our pocketbook. Our placement here is not ultimately about sound fiscal policy.

Yes, we should seek and pray for wise decision making on the part of our leaders. Yes, you need to be able to financially provide for your family and yourself. No, it is not inherently sinful to move out of the state.

But here are three encouragements:

First, understand why you are in Illinois in the first place. You have not been placed in Illinois so that you can become financially wealthy. God’s greatest desire for you is not that you would build really big barns (figuratively or literally, my farming friends). God has placed you here to be an ambassador proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to a community that desperately needs Him.

Second, stay in Illinois for the sake of the gospel. Don’t trade temporary trinkets for eternal treasure. Yes, your taxes may (will) be higher here than other places.

So what?

If you can’t stay focused on your gospel mission because of higher taxes, what are you going to do when true suffering comes? As long as the door for gospel ministry is open…exploit it!

Finally, leave Illinois for the sake of the gospel. My prayer is that God would call some in our church to leave our community. But I don’t want this to be about fleeing a community with which you are disgusted. I want you to run to places God is calling you because you are passionate about sharing Jesus Christ with others who need to hear about His work on the cross and worship Him!

Pastor Daniel

Our Freedom in Christ Jesus (adapted from Colossians 1-2)

Grace and peace to you our brothers, you saints of God, we give thanks for you.

Your hope laid up in heaven waiting, the gospel message bearing fruit.

By God’s grace continue walking in a manner worthy of Him.

Praise Him for His kind deliverance from death and darkness, the power of sin.

Extol the One who grants salvation, the image of the invisible God.

He’s the firstborn of creation, He’s reconciled us by His blood.

We must continue in the faith, shifting not, but stable in,

The gospel hope, which we have heard, proclaiming Christ, He’s coming again!

Abounding in thanksgiving, yes, we who’ve received the Lord,

Walking in Him, built up in Him, but my brothers be forewarned,

There are those who’d take you captive by the cunning craft of man,

Those who hold onto tradition, the grace of God don’t understand.

For in the body of our Lord dwells all Deity,

And in Him we find our fullness, He’s o’er all authority.

Though at one time we were dead in trespasses and sin,

We’ve been forgiven, been made alive, yes, we’ve been raised with Him!

Christ, the One who set aside, the debt we could not pay,

This He took and to the tree did nail it on that day.

A public spectacle He made of all His enemies,

Tri’mphing over all of them, by grace we’ve been set free!

So, don’t be bound by regulations your freedom is in Christ.

The Head who holds His church together, our liberty, our life.

Blake Gerber, Discipleship Minister 

Some Thoughts from 1 Peter

I have been slowly making my way through the book of 1 Peter in my recent time with the Lord and have found a number of verses that have challenged me in my thinking so I thought I share them and my thoughts with you.

1:13 - Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter has just finished discussing our future salvation and calls us as believers to 3 actions…

1) prepare your mind – mental preparedness at least for me can take the hardest work. It is not enough just to do some good things, my mind is to be set toward thinking & acting like Christ.

2) keep sober in spirit – not getting distracted with a focus on the inner man. What does my heart and mind dwell upon?

3) fix your hope – even now in this present life, even in sufferings like Peter is discussing, my eyes are to look ahead to my future hope and take heart. I live for eternity

2:9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

God has chosen me to be His child, but for what? To be like Israel was called to be, His representative. I'm to rejoice in what He has done for me and shout it from the rooftops that all may know my great Savior and King!

2:11 - Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

"This world is not my home, I'm just passing through." I have an eternal home and as such live and work for its betterment and currency. I'm not to get distracted by the allurements of this life. As a matter of fact, those allurements may actually seek to kill and attack my very soul. The things that seem to satisfy me the most in this life may actually be what take my life. My hope & joy must be found in Christ and my eternal home. All other hopes will distract and rob me of my true joy.

2:14 - and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Wow! What love! All my sin is paid for and gone! I am free! … but at a great cost. My freedom was purchased with the purpose that I now pursue righteousness. I'm not here for me or freed for my desires. I'm His and here for His purposes and glory. The Suffer Servant has taken my place of punishment to give me His place of peace. Hallelujah!

3:15 – but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

John 3:16 for apologetics =) … 2 major takeaways… 1) I'm called to set apart (sanctify) Christ as Lord in my heart. There is a choice I make on a moment-by-moment basis. Will He rule and reign or will I seek to take back my crumbling kingdom? 2) There should be a hope in me and people around me should see it. Do I ask and interact with God in such a way that His goodness and thinking about Him and eternity shine through in my daily life, actions, and conversations?

3:18 - For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

A beautiful picture of our Savior… "the just for the unjust." The one who was perfect and deserved nothing but sheer bliss in the eternal presence of the Godhead, take the place of guilt and damned sinner, me, bearing my sin and my punishment and my death. Why? To restore me to God. For some reason, God chose to have and make possible a relationship with worthless me! Amazing!

4:11 - Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Peter is stressing that each individual in the church has been gifted and is called to serve in the church. How encouraging that their very actions of service come from God Himself. What hope we have to persevere in giving of ourselves to the love and care of the body when God is the one supplying all we need to do it! Notice the end result of this too God the Father and Jesus are glorified, not just by our work, but in our recognition that outside of God's powerful help we would be unable to care for His church as He desires… it's all Him!

5:2-3 – shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

"shepherd," "voluntarily," "with eagerness," "proving to be examples." I am so thankful for the elders God has placed in our church! Men who love and care for God's flock with gentleness seeking to meet all our needs. Guys who do so of their own volition and do it excitedly because they love the Lord and us, His people. Men who lead us well and point us to what Godliness, husbanding, fatherhood, and manhood look like in a very confused and confusing world and culture in which we live. May the Lord guard and keep each of them to the end!

5:6-7 - Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Humbling myself = casting my anxiety on God. It is pride that causes me to keep my worries and hold on to them, self reliance that keeps me from bringing my burdens to the King. My hope is in me to fix my issues… no wonder I am worried. Exaltation only comes after humbling and humbling is not something done to me, but something I am to do and seek. … It comes from looking rightly at God. "mighty hand," "He cares for you." As I remember these truths I should come boldly and gladly and… humbly to throne. That the all powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe loves me and cares for my small problems … How could I not bring them to Him and how foolish I must be to keep things from Him.

These have been some of the thoughts bouncing around in my head over these last few weeks. Hope some of them were helpful or connected with you!

Keep looking to Him!
Phil Smith, Youth Minister