Men face the greatest challenge as far as anxiety is
concerned. Because of the dependency syndrome of women upon men, women normally
do not suffer as much with anxiety except the trends among women seem to be
increasing in our modern society. We are to leave one day at a time.
What
then is anxiety and how do we handle it? Anxiety is a feeling of worry,
nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an
uncertain outcome. It is also a desire to do something, typically accompanied
by unease.
In Psalm 118, God gives us instruction on how to trust in
Him through difficult times. One
powerful verse is Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the Lord has made; we
will rejoice and be glad in it.”
In this verse God is showing us how to win the war against anxiety and
discouragement. Anxiety steals our peace
and fills us with fear and uneasiness of mind, while discouragement flattens us
out emotionally. We feel like doing
nothing for the Kingdom
of God. We become disheartened and want to give up.
At times when discouragement swells up and threatens to
overwhelm me, I feel like just saying, “.Just leave me alone.” Have you ever felt like that? You know you care, but you do not want to
care. Thank God, it does not happen
often, and, thank God, He gives us wisdom on how to win the war over both
anxiety and discouragement.
Let us look at what God is saying so that we can glean truth
from it in our war with anxiety. We
must remember, “This is the day which the Lord has made.”
1.
I
must recognize that God is the author of my life.
I am not a mistake or the result of a chance happening. God made my life and your life. Read with me Acts 17:24-28, noting the key
verse 26.
"The God who
made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live
in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he
couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make
him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth
hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after
God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't
play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in
him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: "We're the
God-created.'(MSG)
It is time for us to recognize that God made us just who we
are and God knows what is best for us.
God has a plan and a purpose for our lives. If we have difficulty, God gives grace for
that difficulty in order to strengthen us for the tasks ahead of us. We can complain and blame life and be angry
at God. When we declare, “This is the day which the Lord has made,” we are
declaring that God is the author of our lives.
2.
We
are also declaring that God is in control of our lives.
This is the next step beyond recognizing that God is the
author of our lives. God is working in
me, and God is working around me in my circumstances. Anxiety and discouragement come in when we
begin to believe that God has stopped being in control and that things seem to
be out of control. In Philippians 4:6-7
it tells us,
“Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and
praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before
you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good,
will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ
displaces worry at the center of your life”.(MSG) “
Anxiety comes when we become afraid that somehow God is not
doing His job and that we must now step in with our understanding and handle
things so they will not be out of control.
The Bible tells us that there is a better way. We must pray and trust God to work, and we
must pray with thanksgiving. Anxiety
comes when we struggle to recognize the sovereignty of God in our lives. We could say that anxiety is a sovereignty
question. Who is going to solve this
question? Who is in control? Can I trust God with this problem? When we declare, “This is the day which the
Lord has made,” we are declaring that God is in control of our lives and of
this day. Sometimes anxiety comes when we begin worrying about more than just
this day. When we begin to think of all
the “what if’s” that could happen, anxiety begins to win the war. God’s plan is for us to take each day as
sufficient for God to handle. When we
add multiple days together, then, anxiety increases.
Look at what Jesus said about fighting anxiety in Matthew
6:25-34.
"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows
that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the
clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the
food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes
you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to
a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him
than birds. "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten
taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion--do you
think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk
out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but
have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best--dressed men
and women in the country look shabby alongside them. "If God gives such
attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even
seen--don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for
you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so
preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't
know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and
how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.
Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns
will be met. "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will
help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”(MSG)
Over and over, Jesus reminds us that God cares about us and
that God has not forgotten about us.
Jesus’ answer for anxiety was simple.
We must put God first in our lives, seek after God’s righteousness, and
everything else will take care of itself because God is watching over us. Notice how Jesus began verse 25, with the
word “Therefore,” and then follows that by telling us not to worry. Jesus is
telling us that much of our anxiety and discouragement comes as a result of
trying to serve two masters. Either God
is in control, or fear is in control.
Either God is in control, or discouragement is in control.
Here is an example of how this plays out in our world
today. You find out there is a good
possibility that you are going to lose your job. You begin to think about your family. The bills must be paid. What if this and what if that? Anxiety comes when we have trusted in more
money or a more secure source of money as the answer to our problems. In reality, your job was never your real
source, was it? Was not God the one who
gave you that job long ago and has continued to help you do your job? So anxiety comes when we forget who our
master really is. Winning over anxiety
comes when we can know that money has nothing to do with our security or
happiness. Winning over discouragement comes when we believe God is working
good in our lives in all situations.
3. I must recognize that God is in control of my life and that He is working His plan for my life
Therefore, I will rejoice in Him every day. There is no doubt that praise is a key to
overcoming anxiety and discouragement.
Since anxiety brings with it a desire to “do whatever we have to” in an
effort to fix things, praise seems too simple and rejoicing seems too
happy. If we want to give up, we do not
feel like praising God.
Let us look at an example in Numbers 20:9-12.
Moses took the staff
away from GOD's presence, as commanded. He and Aaron rounded up the whole
congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: "Listen, rebels! Do we
have to bring water out of this rock for you?" With that Moses raised his arm
and slammed his staff against the rock--once, twice. Water poured out.
Congregation and cattle drank. GOD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you
didn't trust me, didn't treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two
aren't going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them."(MSG)
Here we see that Moses became filled with anxiety and anger at the people. Moses was disappointed in the people because
they had failed to honor the Lord so many times. The times added up until this point when the
people complained about a lack of water again, and he just let them have
it. Several times Moses became
discouraged because of the constant rejection of God’s ways by His people. Several times Moses wanted just to give in
and give up.
Moses was so discouraged because of the way things were
going that he asked the Lord just to kill him and get it over with. Have you ever felt like this?
The reason we do not want to rejoice in the day the Lord has
made is that we are too busy being anxious, too busy working on the solutions,
too busy trying to handle things in our own way, and too busy being frustrated
that things are not working out like we wanted.
God loves it when we rejoice in Him every day because it signals that we
have surrendered that day to Him. We
rejoice because we are not in charge of that day. God is.
Praise God, He is in control and He is in charge. God tells us to remember His faithfulness, to
bring it up, and to recount all He has done for us.
Have you been fighting anxiety and discouragement? Let us go back now and read Psalm 118
together. Psalm 118:1-29
“Thank GOD because
he's good, because his love never quits. Tell the world, Israel,
"His love never quits." And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,
"His love never quits." And you who fear GOD, join in, "His love
never quits." Pushed to the wall, I called to GOD; from the wide open
spaces, he answered. GOD's now at my side and I'm not afraid; who would dare
lay a hand on me? GOD's my strong champion; I flick off my enemies like flies.
Far better to take refuge in GOD than trust in people; Far better to take
refuge in GOD than trust in celebrities. Hemmed in by barbarians, in GOD's name
I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Hemmed in and with no way out, in GOD's name
I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire,
they hemmed me in; in GOD's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt. I was right
on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when GOD grabbed and held me. GOD's my
strength, he's also my song, and now he's my salvation. Hear the shouts, hear
the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? "The hand of GOD has turned
the tide! The hand of GOD is raised in victory! The hand of GOD has turned the
tide!" I didn't die. I lived! And now I'm telling the world what GOD did.
GOD tested me, he pushed me hard, but he didn't hand me over to Death. Swing
wide the city gates--the righteous gates! I'll walk right through and thank
GOD! This Temple Gate belongs to GOD, so the victors can
enter and praise. Thank you for responding to me; you've truly become my
salvation! The stone the masons discarded as flawed is now the capstone! This
is GOD's work. We rub our eyes--we can hardly believe it! This is the very day
GOD acted-- let's celebrate and be festive! Salvation now, GOD. Salvation now!
Oh yes, GOD-a free and full life! Blessed are you who enter in GOD's name--
from GOD's house we bless you! GOD is God, he has bathed us in light. Festoon
the shrine with garlands, hang colored banners above the altar! You're my God,
and I thank you. O my God, I lift high your praise. Thank GOD-he's so good. His
love never quits”!(MSG)
Let us bind our worries and our anxieties to the altar and
let Him take them. I believe as men we can take the lead in this area. Our
lives are more important than the things we are anxious about.. Take care and
trust God for everything.
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