All Our Anxieties - Part 1

in touch the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley next on in touch all our anxieties part 1 anxiety is not just the mere emotion sometimes it's a very painful emotion and sometimes unless dealt with can become very destructive in a person's life yet all of us know what it means to feel anxious and we feel anxious about different things for example you're sitting on the expressway this traffic has stopped absolutely dead you've been late twice this week already on your job and you know this is going to be bad news if you walk in again this morning late you heard on the radio that stock market fell 500 points yesterday and all of your savings are there not only that you just been to the doctor the deck couple of days before and you didn't get any very good news you discovered that there were drugs in your son's room and you suspect that maybe your daughter is pregnant you think it'll make you anxious that make you anxious all of us have anxiety for different reasons in our life and yet in spite of that God knows how to handle all of our anxieties no matter what they may be and so as we think about it and think about what Jesus said about Jesus said a lot about it in fact in the Sermon on the Mount for example of the hundred and eleven verses ten of those verses deal with the very idea of anxiety and he tells us how we're to handle it so I want you to look if you will beginning in this 25th verse of the sixth chapter of Matthew he says 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 bodies that what you shall put on is not life more than food and the body than clothing 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 and which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his lifespan and while you anxious about clothing observe how the litters of the field grow they do not toil nor do they spin yet I said to you that even Solomon and all of his glory did not clothe himself like one of these but if God so raised 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 old men of little faith do not be anxious then saying what shall we what shall we drink with what shall we clothe ourselves for all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek for your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things but seek he first he says the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things should be added to you therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow but tomorrow will care for itself each day has enough trouble of its own amen we'd all agree to that with me each day has enough trouble of its own well it's interesting that Jesus would spend

this much time talking about anxiety because oftentimes we think about the days in which he lived were quiet they didn't have jets they didn't have automobiles that have radios TVs they didn't have all the noise makers that we have today and probably we would think that they didn't have all the diseases that we have today and all the things that go on that cause anxiety and they didn't have a stock market and they didn't have the newspapers to get the news like we do and so we think well how in the world could they be so anxious why would they have that kind of anxiety well because things in those days were far different than oftentimes we think they are and when you look at this very word anxiety the word is a little Greek word in the remnant which really means distraction that is when a person is anxious they become distracted when a person is anxious they begin they or they have begun to experience an emotion in their life that causes or is the result of some sense of not just insecurity but uncertainty that's going on we become anxious when we become very uncertain about something we hear bad news or we find ourselves in a circumstance that we don't know exactly what to do next especially if it's some threatening circumstance if we even perceive that it could be threatening or dangerous we oftentimes become anxious and so three times in this passage Jesus says do not be anxious in fact in the verse 25 he tells us not to be anxious and then he asked the question about anxiety in the verse 28 and then he says in verse 31 do not be anxious and then if you'll notice he says in verse 34 don't be anxious but he also says each day has enough trouble of its own and he says says, for tomorrow will care for itself. And he just translates, the translators translate that word care, it's the same Greek word, anxiety. And so over and over and over again, Jesus says, don't be anxious, don't be anxious, don't be anxious, because he knew that he was talking to people who were very anxious about their life. And so his concern here is to encourage them not to be anxious. Now, you say, well, but what about the times when you and I get blindsided with something we don't expect?

We hear some very, very difficult news, some news that's very heart-rending, and in those moments of something that's threatening us or our family, in those moments, do you mean to tell me that I'm not to be anxious? Let me put it this way. There are times when suddenly we hear something that oftentimes we may at that moment become anxious if we don't know how to respond, or even if we do, it may be so overwhelming, at least we experience anxiety for the moment. It is not a matter of never experiencing anxiety, it is what we do with it. Will I let that dominate and control me, throw me into depression, or cause me some other physical problem, or will I have myself a pity party, or will I recognize what is happening and respond in a godly fashion? We do not have to live in anxiety. Doesn't mean we won't have troubles, heartaches, burdens, difficulties, trials, things that we can't figure out and things we can't fix, but even in spite of that, he says we do not have to live in anxiety. Now, each time he says we are not to live in anxiety, what he does, he takes a different aspect of nature to bring the truth to our hearts. So what I want us to do is to look at this passage in the light of he says,

now, hear the thing, listen, these are the things that cause anxiety within our lives. Now, while he will not mention express ways, while he will not mention your job and so forth, the principles are the same. So I want us to look at these verses and listen to what he says here in light of this. Look, if you will, beginning in verse 25. He says, now, here's one of the reasons you and I oftentimes allow ourselves to become anxious. Verse 25, for this reason, I say to you, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, what you shall drink, nor for your bodies to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food in the body than clothing? When he speaks of life here, here's what he's referring to. He's referring to our total being, that is our physical being, our spiritual being, our emotional being, that is our entire life. He says, we don't have a real good reason to be anxious. He says, don't let your life become one of anxiety. He says, look in verse 26, look at the birds of the air. They don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Now watch this, are you not worth much more than they? What is his first reasoning for our anxiety? One of the primary reasons we live in anxiety is because, listen, because we have a poor sense of our self-worth.

Listen to what he says, he says, are you not worth much more than they? He says, if your heavenly Father, listen, if your heavenly Father thinks that much of birds, that he would give them such ingenuity and such an instinct to be able to operate the way they do, what about you? Doesn't he care more about you than that? Yes, he does. Why are we anxious? Because we have such a poor self-image of ourselves, and it's a subtle thing, we don't even realize what we're thinking. And yet oftentimes people will say, well, you know, I know that God loves me, but how could God be, how could he be interested in these little simple things of my life? For example, you know, something happened this week, and my car wouldn't start. Surely God isn't interested in my car. Yes, he is. Well, you know what, my water pipe busted. He's not interested in that. Yes, he is. Well, and so we just go on and on with the things. We think God isn't concerned about. Let me ask you a question. If God is concerned about birds, is he not concerned about every aspect of your life?

It is our poor self-image. Sometimes the result of growing up in a home where oftentimes there was child abuse. Sometimes because you grew up in a home where you were criticized, deeply criticized, until they absolutely tore your self-image apart. Oftentimes it's because of guilt over past things that we think, well, God, how could you care for me? How could you love me? When I look at my past, Lord, how in the world could you be interested in all of these things in my life when these things are so true and looking at yourself and being critical? Sometimes it's because you think, well, Lord, how in the world could, how could you care about me when I don't feel significant? I don't have a significant job. I'm seemingly, I'm a nobody in this world of five billions of people. Why would you be concerned about me? Because he loves every single one of us. And one of the reasons that lots of people just live in anxiety, you see, anxiety is a way of life. Anxiety and worrying and fretting and caring and pity parties. and being fearful, and fear and anxiety are very closely linked together. Those, many people just live in anxiety. Fear of the uncertainty about tomorrow's

and what's gonna happen and things that could possibly happen. They live in that. Not understanding that the heavenly Father understands, cares, and that they're worth more than birds and all the other creatures that God has created. He cares for us. He loves us. He is concerned about all the things that concern us. And so he said, look, if the Father, if the Father cares for birds, are you not worth much more than they? And you see, the heavenly Father loves us with an unconditional love. He is personally interested in every single thing that concerns us. So he said, one of the first reasons that people live in anxiety is they just don't think God seemingly cares and they don't seem to have a concept of God that is proper, that he is a heavenly Father. The second thing he noticed, you'll notice here what he said. He said a second reason that people live in anxiety is simply this. They attempt to change things. Look, they attempt to change things. They listen, they cannot change. They attempt to change things in their life

that they have no control over. Look at this. And which of you, verse 27, by being anxious can add a single cubit to his lifespan? Now, that oftentimes is translated cubit 18 inches, which means that somebody that's trying to think in terms of I wanna be 18 inches high, I don't think that's what that means. When he says lifespan, he's talking about lengthening life. He says, now, why be anxious over how long you're gonna live? Now, let's face it. We live in a society that is absolutely consumed with longevity. How long can we live? And you'll read magazines and you'll hear the latest scoop on the television, latest scoop on longevity of life, how to prolong life. You know what? Nobody can prove any of that. Because the simple issue is that you can't prolong your life. God's given all of us a set time to live and you and I can't make it go any further. Now, I met a lady, I've met two Sundays in a row here. She's 90 years of age and talking about what she can do and so forth. And if you ask her, why do you think you've lived so long? She can't tell you that. Why?

Because God has just seemed fit to give her a long life. Now, today we think if we take a handful of vitamins every day and if we drink pure water and if we get enough rest and we exercise 20 to 30 minutes a day, at least four days a week, and we eat at least five green vegetables a day, that we're gonna live forever. Now, I believe in all those things, try to do as much of that as I possibly can. But you know what? Not in order to live longer, but listen, to enjoy it while I am here. And see, the quality of life is one thing. The quality of life and the productivity of life is one thing, but making it longer, nobody can lengthen your life. God has given all of us a life to live. And so what is he saying here? He's saying, you know, people are very anxious about things that they can't change. But listen to what he said in this third part now. He says, here's the third reason that you and I live in anxiety. Because we have, we fail to trust God. Listen, we fail to trust God to meet our needs. And if we don't trust Him, what are we gonna do? We're gonna be anxious. And so think about how the Lord Jesus, how He works in your life and how He provides for you. And He says, if He will do that,

if He will do that for flowers, how much more would He do that for you? Now, He says, oh, ye of little faith. The truth is, watch this carefully. Anxiety is no more than unbelief in disguise. That's what anxiety is. Something comes that makes us feel very uncertain and very threatened. And so what do we do? We become anxious, we become worried, and we either get depressed or we become scared about what the possibilities are, the things that could happen. This is not to belittle difficult, trying times that people go through. But here's what He says. He says, it's futile to be anxious about it. We don't have to be anxious about these things. He says, because what I wanna tell you, He says, is that the Heavenly Father is caring for you. Now think about this. All of us who are believers have done what? We have looked at the Word of God, and we've looked at our life, and we've said, one of these days, I know I'm gonna die. The Bible says that Jesus Christ went to the cross and paid my sin debt in full, and that if I receive Him as my personal Savior, that means that when I die, I know I'm gonna be absent from the body,

present with the Lord, and so that my whole eternal future, I am going to trust in the hands of my Heavenly Father who promised to forgive me of my sins and to save me, and one of these days, take me home to heaven. Now He says, now wait a minute. It doesn't make sense for me to bet my whole eternal future on a God who has promised to do for me after I die something I have no control over, and at the same time, not trust Him. daily, today, for something I need. If I can't trust Him today for some material need or some circumstance, why do I think I'm gonna trust Him and how can I trust Him for my eternal future, which I have absolutely no control over, when I won't trust Him for something that I least can get my hands and my fingers in and do something about it? He said, why would we believe that God is not trustworthy? Now, here's the sin about anxiety. Here's what it's all about. When I am anxious before God and I allow that anxiety to capture me and dominate me and begin to control my life, what am I saying? I'm saying, first of all, God, I don't trust you. It's a slam against God's integrity and a slam against God's promises and a slam against God's character. Do you mean to tell me that the God who said, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, does he mean that or does he not? Because you see, as I say again, and I said again on purpose, anxiety is simply unbelief in a camouflaged emotional term.

But the truth is, it is unbelief. God, I know that's what you said, but somehow I'm not sure you will do exactly what you say. Well, look at the fourth reason, if you will, and notice what he says here, beginning in verse 32. He says, now, for all these things, listen, for all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek. Now, when he talks about Gentiles, usually what he's referring to is those people, for example, who are not Jews or sometimes he just means other people out there who are unbelievers. He said, now, look, he said, now, all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. The truth is, our heavenly Father knows that you and I, he knows what we need before we need them and he's never come up short. But what does he say? He says, listen, there's one of the reasons people live in anxiety, is this reason. They, listen, they attempt to find contentment and security in life following the world's pattern. Now, what does the world do? How does the world operate? Here's how the world operates. The world operates on the basis of material things. He says, you're not going to find joy and peace and happiness in that. One of the causes of anxiety is simply that, and that is following the world's pattern.

When it doesn't work for them and is not going to work for us and it is, listen, it's foolish for us to follow their pattern when we have the resurrected Christ living on the inside of us moment by moment, day by day. This is the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who's made us the promise that every single need we have, he will meet and he's not going to come up short. Then what do we have to be anxious about? He's promised, listen, he's promised that we have his Word that he will meet every single need. Therefore, he says, you look at the world and you follow their pattern, how foolish. It's empty, it's void, it's not going to work. Then listen to what he says. Now, he sort of turns this around and he turns into a positive statement. He says, but look, verse 33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that you are anxious about, he says, shall be added to you. What is one of the primary reasons? Look, one of the primary reasons for anxiety is misplaced priorities in our life. Here's what he says, now watch this, this is so simple. He says, one of the reasons that people are anxious is because their priorities are out of order. He says, now this is the way you're to live. When he says, seek ye first, not second, third, fourth, or fifth seek ye first the kingdom of God. What does he mean by the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is not some geographical, some political

entity, but he's talking about the rule of Christ in our life. He says, seek first, that is, first of all, make this your priority, submit your life to the Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. Secondly, allow him, allow him to do what? To create his godly character in your life. Allow him, listen, submit yourself to him and allow him to conform you to his likeness. Now, does that mean, for example, that if you surrender your life to the Lord and you allow him to conform you to his likeness, that you won't ever have any desires? No, it doesn't, doesn't mean that. Does it mean that you'll just have anything and everything in your life? No, it doesn't mean that. He said, you'll never want for anything. Now, here's the key, watch this. When you and I are walking in the will of the Father and we allow him to conform us to his likeness, who do you think controls what we want? He does. Aren't you glad that you don't have everything you've ever wanted in life? Amen, say amen like you mean it, amen, that's right. Because if you'd have gotten some things you wanted, you'd probably be dead and gone by now. God protects us, but listen. He says, when you seek the rule of Christ in your life, that's first, and you want to be conformed to his likeness, he said, look, you tend to that, don't worry about,

you don't have to worry about all these other things. I'm gonna give you, provide for you exactly what I know you need and what I want you to have. What an awesomely, listen, liberating, freeing experience to know that God the Father assumes responsibility, listen, he assumes responsibility for the things in life that we need and what we desire. Now either Jesus Christ told the truth or he lied. If he lied, let's shut the book, close down the church and forget it. But if he told the truth, listen, how foolish, how foolish and empty and vain, what a failure we come up to be when we don't put his rule in our life, his character in life is number one, that's number one. Does it mean we'll always succeed at it every day? No, does it mean we won't sin? No, but listen, conforming us to his likeness, what is he doing? Conforming us to his likeness, he is sending into our life those things, difficulties, hardships, trials, good things in life, doing what? Focusing our attention upon him, sifting and sanding out our life, those things that don't belong there, whatever they may be. Here's what happens, as the years go by and God conforms us more and more, what does he do? He gets deeper and deeper and deeper,

we see things never seen before. And what does he do? He goes all the way down to the bottom of our heart, as we say, scraping up stuff that we've never seen before. What is he doing? Conforming us to the likeness of his son. Here's what Jesus said. He said, if you make your first priority, if you make it your first business every day, if the number one on the top of your list is today, I submit to the lordship of Jesus in my life. Today, I want him to conform me to his likeness, whatever it takes. Here's what he said. You and I don't have to worry or be anxious about anything else in life, no matter what. Now friend, would you not agree? If that's the truth, and it is, that it is very foolish for us to put anything else in life first, other than Jesus Christ. Amen? Now listen to what he said. Then he moves on down and he says in this next verse, therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself, or the same word in the Greek is anxiety. He says the same, he says, tomorrow is gonna have enough anxieties of its own. Each day, he says, as he would say, each day, he says, has enough trouble of its own.

Now, what's the cause of anxiety here? Trying to live in tomorrow, today. Probably, that's one thing I have to deal with every day, because people who are goal oriented and people who want to see things accomplished and planned, it's real easy for us to live in tomorrow. And I know that's one thing I have to deal with personally, I want to live in tomorrow. Not that I'm afraid of tomorrow or anxious about it, but I wanna do something today to be sure we got things moving tomorrow. And so sometimes we can get over tomorrow, which we should not do. And so he says, now, one of the things that creates anxiety is attempting to live in tomorrow, today. When he says, we have enough going on today that we shouldn't be trying to live in tomorrow. Now, you and I both know this, that the call of God in our life will never call us to go somewhere that his grace is not sufficient to take care of us. So therefore, whatever God has called us to do in life, and I think about sometimes young men who are called to the ministry, and they say, well, you know, how am I gonna ever be able to preach two or three times a week for the rest of my life? I remember one young pastor saying to me, you know, when I hear you talk, he says, it scares me to death to think

that I have got to come up with enough sermons for the next 50 years. That'd make anybody anxious. In fact, it'd make you anxious if you had to come up with one next week sometimes. And so that's not even the issue. You see, here we are living in tomorrow. Well, suppose tomorrow this happens. Suppose my house burns down tomorrow. Suppose I have a wet wreck tomorrow. You know what? You and I could have a nervous breakdown right here in this place if we get into enough of tomorrow and all the possibilities of the things that could happen. But what are we doing? We are focusing on earth, materialism, and things, not on the Father. Why don't we think about the Father who says, I will care for you, and I will watch over you. I will watch over you. You're going out and you're coming in, which is his way of saying, I'm going to take care of you all the time. Trying to live in tomorrow today creates all kind of anxiety. And well, somebody says, well, suppose, you know, suppose I don't make enough grades and I can't. Get in school and suppose, I won't get this job and suppose this and suppose that.

Well, you know what, what's our first priority? Working on tomorrow or listen, today. Lord Jesus, I want to live in your will today. I want you to conform me to your likeness today. I'm gonna trust you. Listen, not only for tomorrow, but for all of my tomorrows, because you know what? The God of today is the God of tomorrow. Now, here's the thing we forget and it's so easy to forget this, watch this. Now, I've done this so many times. Let's say this is the beginning of your life, end of your life. How does God see it? Just like that. He sees from the beginning to end. He sees every single detail. If he's omniscient, he knows everything about every single thing. Therefore, I couldn't even possibly come up with something that would catch God off guard. I couldn't possibly think up anything that he's not already prepared for. If you and I are living in the grace of God, the grace of God, listen, the grace of God has already provided every single solitary thing we need, no matter what. So what happens? We live in anxiety because we don't think we are worth it. We live in anxiety because we try to change things

that we can't change. We live in anxiety because we don't really trust him to do what he promised. We live in anxiety because we find ourselves out there chasing the world's principles of trying to find peace and happiness and contentment and joy, it's not out there. And we find ourselves anxious because somehow we have other priorities. I ask you again this question. Can you honestly say that the priority of your life is to walk in submission to the will of our Lord, allowing him to conform you to his likeness and to use any tool he chooses to do so? There is a written, divinely written guarantee that if I'm willing to do that, and that's my heart's desire, failing as I may, my Father has made me an eternal promise that he will provide every single thing we need. Now, he says one of the primary reasons we live in anxiety is because we're trying to live in tomorrow, today we can't do it. Now listen to this. Somebody pass this on to me. I was regretting the past and fearing the future, and suddenly my Lord was speaking. He said, my name is I am. He paused, I waited, he continued. When you live in the past with its mistakes and its regrets, it is hard, I am not there, my name is not I was. When you live in the future with its problems and fears,

it is hard, I am not there, my name is not I will be. When you live in this moment, it is not hard, I am here, my name is what? I am. Absolutely wonderful. Not I will be, not I was, I am. So what good reason do I have to be anxious? Not a single good reason. So what is my response to be? Father, today, I just want to, I submit myself to you. I want to walk in your will with the power of the Holy Spirit. I want you to conform me to your likeness, whatever it takes to do that. You know what he says? Don't worry about anything else. Don't be anxious about anything else, because I assume full responsibility. Listen to this, not only for your needs, but every desire of your heart that fits into my plan for your life. Father, we bless your holy name for being such a loving, sweet, and kind, and generous, and gracious God who loves us enough to become involved in the simple little things in life that most folks would think are unimportant. You know what's important to every one of us. And so I pray in Jesus' name that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of people who are not Christian,

who are unsaved, to realize that you're a loving father who is willing to forgive them of their sin, willing to come and live on the inside of their life, and willing to give them life at its very, very best. And we pray this in the Savior's name. Amen.