My Anxious Spirit | Let It Go Two | Rick Atchley

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Welcome to the Hills Feature, Rick here. I want to greet our online family. And if you're in person at one of our four campuses in Dallas or Keller or West Fort Worth or North Richland Hills, I'm really thankful you've chosen to spend part of this rainy morning with us. And I hope your summer is off to a great start. Now, I'm going to ask you, as we begin, to indulge me and celebrate with me because I experienced two significant anniversaries this past week. Yesterday, June 6th, my wife Jamie and I celebrated 45 years of marriage together. And I think that's something to celebrate. And I just got to say, Hills Church, you hit the jackpot when it came to pastors' wives. She has been a blessing to this church. She is consistently kind, compassionate, a committed follower of Jesus. And I'm convinced the only reason the elders have kept me this long is because they do not want to lose her. Another significant anniversary was this past Thursday, June the 4th. And on June the 4th, 1989, I preached my first sermon as the teaching minister of the Hills Church.

That's 37 years I've been your pastor. And I want to say thank you. It has been a joy, but it's also an appropriate time to tell you something. I don't have 37 more years in me, okay? I just don't. I'm going to give you the best I've got as long as I can ride this ride. But I want to thank you for 37 beautiful years. And especially for the way you've loved my family. I know a lot of pastors that work for churches, they would not attend if they didn't work for that church. And that's not true of me. I would have come to this church and brought my children if I didn't work for this church. My children have been blessed by so many people in this church who've poured into them. And I had a special thrill about a month ago. We were having Next Gen Sunday and my youngest, Matthew, attends the Dallas campus with his beautiful wife, Jill, and my two precious grandbabies. And they asked Matthew to preach as someone who grew up in this church to talk about the importance of loving the next generation. And he did. And I thought he did a fabulous job. And he thanked a number of people, some in this room, who were examples to him as he grew up here. And he took a moment and he thanked his mother and father. He rightfully thanked his mother for her constant witness of

faith and love in his life. And then he took a moment and he thanked me. And he said, I grew up in a home where my dad was the same at home as he was at church. I grew up with a dad who lived what he preached. And it was so humbling to hear your own son say that. But you know what? It wasn't totally accurate because the truth is I'm a better preacher than I am a father or a brother or a neighbor. I preach about a way of life that is way better than the life I actually live. And you should be glad that that's true. Now think about it. What would I talk about if I only preached about problems I don't have? To my knowledge, there's only three sins in Scripture I know I haven't committed. I haven't murdered anybody. Although Jesus said if you have hate in your heart to a brother, you murdered him in your heart. I haven't committed adultery, but Jesus said if you lust in your heart, you've committed to adultery in your heart, and I've never been drunk. That's not bragging. That's just the truth. So think about it. If I'm only allowed to preach about struggles I don't have, you're going to get 42 sermons a year about don't get drunk, and I don't think we want that. You're in this series called Let It Go. Stop carrying baggage God doesn't want you to have, and the truth is my shoulders are just as sore as yours.

I've carried a lot of baggage that I'm trying to let go, just like you, and that includes anxiety. In fact, if I'm totally honest, I'm a little anxious about preaching about anxiety because anxiety is such a huge problem in our country. It is the number one health crisis in America, number one for women, number two for men after drug and alcohol abuse, which I think is how men cope with anxiety. We did a series on mental health three years ago, and I did a survey in the church. Would you share any mental health challenge you've gone through? 2,500 people participated, and by far the largest challenge we face is anxiety. 70% of members of our church said in the last year I went through at least one season of overwhelming stress, and it is more prevalent than it's ever been among young people. The data shows this, but all you need to do is ask any friend of yours that is an administrator, teacher, or school counselor who's been at it for 30 or 40 years, and ask them, are kids more anxious today than when you began your career? Just last month, 62% of college grads reported feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Even such baggage has just become normalized in our culture, but should it be normal in the kingdom? Our text today is going to be in Philippians chapter 4, and I'm going to start with one phrase of one verse, and it's short, and it's really hard to miss the point. Paul writes, do not be anxious about anything. And some of you are thinking, well, thanks, pastor. Now, I have one more thing to be anxious about. And so, let me give the text some context because I don't believe that all anxiety is sinful. God created us with nervous systems. You and I are divinely designed to experience appropriate anxiety to meet certain legitimate challenges. For example, if I'm walking through tall brush looking for my lost golf ball, which I do on occasion, and I know some snakes could be in that brush, I'm going to walk gingerly. I'm going to be a little anxious where I put my foot. You have a child who suddenly develops an extremely high fever, and you need to take them to the hospital.

You're going to be anxious for your child. Or maybe we've had a terrible ice storm, and the word is don't get on the street unless you absolutely have to, and you absolutely have to. I hope you're anxious. I hope you're going to drive carefully and not carelessly because you recognize the threat. You see, anxiety can be a form of care. Now, let me show you that in the Bible. The man who said, don't be anxious about anything wrote the church in Corinth about how we're all members of the body. We each have our part to play. And he said, there should be no division in the body. But its parts should have equal concern for each other. Hold on to that word, concern. Then his next letter to the same church, he's talking about some of the struggles he's had as an apostle. And he says, besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern. for the churches. So we're supposed to have concern for each other. A leader should have a concern for his church. That word, concern, is the exact same Greek word Paul used when he said, don't be anxious about anything. So there is a kind of nervousness, or we could call it an anxiety, that's simply an authentic expression of our love for other people.

And the world doesn't need the witness of a phony faith that pretends like you don't have a care in the world. You should if you love people. Not all anxiety is sinful. And let me add, not all anxiety is willful. Life is hard, and life is often unfair. And some among us carry baggage they did not choose. And that includes those who live with diagnosable anxiety disorders. An anxiety disorder can have a physiological cause. Some people are just born with extremely high levels of cortisol, the fight-or-flight chemical. There can be other kinds of chemical imbalances in the body that can make a person anxious. And these people don't need to be judged. They need to be loved, and they need the help and care of a physician.

And then some anxiety disorders are rooted in emotional and psychological trauma. And it needs to be explored with a competent Christian counselor. When we had our mental-health series, I said, then I'll say it again. At our church, we believe medicine and therapy are graces of God. And we should always show compassion for people who have mental-health challenges that they did not choose to have. But now we come to the part of the sermon that makes me anxious. Because if I'm gonna be faithful to the biblical witness, then I have to insist that much anxiety that our culture has normalized should be exorcised in the kingdom of God. In other words, it should be cast out. What I'm saying is that much

of the anxiety that we carry, it doesn't need medicine. It doesn't need therapy. It needs repentance. And I get this diagnosis from the great physician himself, Rabbi Jesus. And so Jesus is preaching a sermon to people much like us, only they probably live closer to the poverty level. They really did live in a time where wondering what you were gonna eat or drink was very real. He's preaching to them, and he deals with this question. Should anxiety be a normal way for me to live? Listen to King Jesus. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. There's not life more than food and the body more than clothes. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap

or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more viable than they? Can any one of you, about worrying, add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow, they do not labor or spend, yet I tell you they're not even Solomon, and all his spender was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes which is here today and tomorrow or is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be

given to you as well. Okay. It sounds to me like Jesus is saying, you have the same anxious spirit that pagans have. have, and you need to let it go. Because much of the anxiety that we accept as normal is simply rejecting faithful for fearful. Now, Jesus is not surprised that pagans worry all the time. Think about it. If you don't believe there's a God, you're just a random accident. Or if there is a God, he's mean and hateful. If that's what you believe, of course you're gonna worry all the time. The future looks really scary. But at no time does Jesus believe that fear should trump faith if you call yourself a child of God. What Jesus is addressing is this life that is paralyzed by always asking, what if? He's rebuking a way of living that willfully fixates on things in the future that we want to control. We talked last week about how we have to let go of control. Now, if you get to that place, I don't control the future. I can't just order the life I want. You get to that place, you got to make a choice. So if I'm not in control and I look at the future, am I gonna be faithful or am I gonna be fearful? And Jesus insists if you're a child of God, you can't control

outcomes but you can control your outlook. The Bureau of Standards says that you could be in this dense heavy fog like it covers seven city blocks 100 feet high. You can't see anything. If you could condense all that moisture, you would not feel a drinking glass with water. That much blurriness over something that has so little substance. And Jesus says, that's what's worries doing to you. Something with so little substance is completely blinding you to the reality of life in the kingdom of God. And he's pretty blunt with his assessment. He says, first off, it's not helpful. Have you made your life one hour longer constantly worrying? Just the opposite. There's a reason we say people are worried sick. It can shorten your life, it can't make it longer. The only return you're getting by worrying about tomorrow is a loss of peace and joy today. But Jesus has an even bigger problem. Not just that it's not helpful but Jesus says it's not faithful. That worry is no small deal because trusting God is such a big deal. I want you to hear this. Trust is God's love language. When you live constantly paralyzed by anxiety, what are you saying about the character of the God that you claim to worship? If this God can't take care of your present concerns, why do you think he can take care of your future salvation?

How you look at a future you can't control says volumes about what kind of view you have of God. Listen to Peter. Cast all of your anxiety on him because he cares for you. You notice how Peter connects what you do with anxiety with what you believe about God. In the message it says, live carefree before God. He's most careful with you. If we can be honest, too often there's a spiritual dimension to the anxiety that we need to confess and address. Some of us don't need a break. We need a breakthrough. Now, struggle's inevitable. Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble. Struggle is inevitable. But Jesus says worry is optional. Jesus says when worry knocks, you don't have to open the door. And when worry speaks, you can talk back. And that's what the man who said, don't be anxious about anything, said you should do first. By the way, he wrote that from prison. So he's got credibility to talk about living without anxiety. And he said, the first thing you need to do is talk back. Look what he says at the rest of that verse. Don't be anxious about anything. You've been in every situation. By prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. So the first thing he says, do you want to let go of anxiety? You're tired of carrying it around.

It's such a burden. You want to let go. First thing he says, pray about anything. He said, pray in every situation. And every situation in the Greek means every situation. Say, well, pastor, some of the things I worry about, they're just so small and petty. You know, everything to God is small. Think about that. You don't bring anything to God that he says, whoa, that's big. I don't care if it's a car payment or a cancer treatment. It's all small to God. Prayer is a way of remembering that tomorrow has a master. It's connecting us to the goodness and the greatness of God, something pagans don't do. Arthur Brooks is a New York Times best-selling author of many books. And in one, he tells a story about a young woman in college full of anxiety like so many students are. And she's got to take a science class. She's not a science major. She doesn't care about science. She has to take one class for her degree plan. She picks an astronomy course, and she goes every week. And for 90 minutes, she learns about galaxies and nebula and billions of stars swirling around. And she reported she would always leave class feeling relieved. I'm a speck on a speck. In other words, she realized, I'm part of something that's so

much bigger than me. And she understood trying to make me the center of the universe is not a recipe for joy. And the psalmist said that centuries ago. When I consider the heavens, the moon, and the stars, and the handiwork of your hands, what is man that you're mindful of him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have clothed him with honor and glory. Yes, you're a speck, but you're a beloved speck. I mean, the one who made the universe knows how many hairs are on your head right now. See, what prayer does is it lifts the fog so that we can get a better view of who this God is that actually runs the universe. Now, I've never been in your prayer closet, but I can tell you one prayer I know you've never prayed. You have never prayed, oh, God, I am so worried about this, and I know that you are, too. Corrie Tidman had a friend who said she would say, Corrie, when I'm really nervous about something, I go and I stand in front of the mirror, and I say, this problem is just too big for you to handle, and it's too big for Jesus, too. And then she says that would make me smile, and I'd feel embarrassed. Maybe you should try that because I don't want you to live like a functional pagan. Seriously. You may have the Bible app on your phone. You may occasionally listen to worship music in your car, but if you live constantly afraid of tomorrow, you are living like

someone who doesn't believe that there's a God who cares. You have a God you can talk to. He's a good Father. I like how it says in the message, let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers. We're gonna do that next Sunday, every service, every campus. During our worship time, our elders are gonna get some oil. They're gonna stand in different places in each room, and we're gonna have a season of healing prayer. I want you to come. Are you worried about your health, relationships, your walk with the Lord? Let's pray. Let's do exactly what the Bible says. Let's talk to God about everything. But when you talk, remember this. The second thing Paul says, you wanna let go of worry? Give thanks in everything. You can pray about anything, but you give thanks in everything. Rejoice in the Lord always, has no expiration date. We can't control tomorrow, but we can choose to acknowledge our blessing today." So he says, you pray to God with thanksgiving. In 1 Thessalonians 5, he says, always be joyful, pray continually, give thanks whatever happens. This is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus. He's not saying you have to give thanks for everything. He's saying that you can give thanks in anything

if God is who you told your kids He is. God is great and God is good. And when we give thanks to God, when we magnify God, what's happening? We're not making God bigger. What we're making bigger is our capacity to see how trustworthy He really is. So I mentioned last week, my wife and I had a long battle with infertility. It led us to adopt our precious son, Michael, and our precious daughter, Morgan. And then eight years after that specialist doctor told my wife, you can never have a baby, she got pregnant. Matthew was born, a miracle from God. And when she came to tell me that she was pregnant, a faithful man would have rejoiced and praised God that he heard and answered the prayer we had prayed thousands of times. But I was a fearful man. I thought we were past that stage of life. I had my life planned out. We had a house with three bedrooms and I began to think thoughts like, I'm too old to be a dad again. We don't have enough money for a third child. I'm not proud of this, I'm being honest. I did not give thanks in everything. It was two weeks later and it's a Sunday morning and I'm about to preach and we're praising the Lord, thanking Him for His goodness in our worship.

And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and I remember exactly what He said. Rick, has there ever been one day that you could not put food on the table for your babies? Has there been one day that you could not put clothes on their back? Has there been one time when they were sick that you could not get them some medicine? If I have been faithful to you in the past, why are you afraid I will not be faithful in your future? And it was a kind but needed rebuke from God. I put my hands in the air and I began to praise as loud as I could praise. I repented on the spot and I filled my heart with thanksgiving. I let go of the worry and I picked up the joy. And here's what I learned. Worry doesn't like staying in a heart full of worship. If you're gonna worship God, worry's gonna say, you know what, I think I'm gonna leave the house for a little while, come back later. Worry and worship just don't like to stay in the same house together. And I learned that if you give voice to your present blessings, you will silence future fears. Remember, struggle's inevitable, but worry is optional. Do you want to let go of worry? Take up prayer and praise. Pray about anything. Give thanks in everything.

And then finally, think about good things. Paul has one last piece of advice. He writes, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. I have a theory on why anxiety among young people is worse than it has ever been. Because they're the first generation that has constant access to negative and scary news and to things that are just outright lies. And they can pour this untruth and this toxic thinking 24-7 into their mind. Playlists that are so. untrue. But here's a rule I want you to remember. There's a principle in the Bible called sow and reap. And nobody gets to ignore that principle. Nobody's exempt. You cannot constantly sow toxic thoughts in your mind and reap a non-anxious presence. You can't fix an anxious heart until you fix your mind on that which tomorrow cannot threaten. When I was a little boy, five or six, it was time to learn to swim, but I was afraid of the water. My dad took me to a public pool in Waco, Texas, and he got into the water, and he said, Ricky, jump to me. That's how I learned to swim.

It wasn't that the water was less scary, it was that my dad was more trustworthy. I had history. My dad never dropped me. If my dad was near me, I was safe. And I overcame fear because I had a greater confidence. You get to choose your playlist. You get to decide what you're gonna put into your mind every day. You don't have to let the enemy interpret your feelings and your fears. Listen to the prophet Isaiah. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. The songwriter put it this way. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. See, anxiety is real, but it doesn't have to be yourself. Pray about anything. Give thanks and everything. Think about good things. And here's what Paul says will happen. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. This is a promise a pagan will never understand or experience. What Paul is saying is this, that there's a kind of fear we can let go, and there's a kind of peace we can let in. And notice he didn't say peace from God. He said peace of God, God's peace.

The very serenity of God can be downloaded into our hearts. And that's what happened to me that day when I was worshiping God and heard that word. And I put down the fear, and I picked up the joy. I'm gonna be honest. I still preach it better than I live it, but I live it better than I ever have before. I'm getting healthier. My shoulders aren't as sore from that bag as it used to be. I know from experience it is possible to live where anxiety might be an occasional guest, but God's peace is a permanent resident, that living supernaturally is normal. Do you believe that? Or maybe I should ask, do you believe that could be true for you? Because God is ready to help you let go of the fear and grab hold of his love. So, I'd like you to bow your heads, and what we're gonna do for the next few moments, I wanna lead you in a time of prayer where we practice what Paul said we should do. We're gonna start by praying about something right now that worries us. Don't pray about some global crisis. I'm talking about something very personal in your life. Just talk and tell God about it. Okay, next thing. In the midst of this thing you're thinking about right Now, you find something to thank God for. You pray with thanksgiving. There is a blessing in the midst of it that you need to acknowledge.

Okay, finally, this will be the hardest thing. Behind that anxiety, there's a lie, a lie that's not speaking what's true about God. Ask the Holy Spirit to expose that lie, and you tell God, I don't believe that. That's not true about you. Here's what is true about you, and I'm declaring it right now. So God, we're trying to be obedient. We're trying to do what the scriptures say, the scriptures inspired by your own spirit. We're telling you what we're worried about. We're admitting that there's a blessing even in the situation we're worried about. And we're declaring, God, that you are great and you are good, and we are not going to let lies about you keep us in the fog. And now, God, keep the promise. You said you would give us peace, a peace that can sustain us in the midst of hard things. We don't want to live like pagans. We don't want to live like people that don't even know about a good God. And so, Father, send your peace. I'm praying for miracles right now in our church. I'm praying for the supernatural. I'm praying, Father, that living like this becomes the new normal. Keep the promise, God. Do what you said you'd do, and we pray this in the powerful name of Jesus, amen.