What's Holding Your Mind Back

Well, many experts would say that some of the most life-altering pain that you experience isn't circumstantial pain, you know, the kind of pain that hits you hard and overwhelms you in a moment but eventually passes. Most experts would say that it's not the pain that hits you hard and you get through, but the most life-altering pain is the pain that God could heal, but you've learned to live with it. It's the anxiety that you tend to normalize and think, I'm just an anxious person, and I'm always going to battle with anxiety. It's the bitterness that you justify because of what they did. You just think, it serves me right to be angry with them. It's the exhaustion that you rationalize and you think, it's always going to be this way. I'm always going to be overwhelmed. I'm always going to be trying not to burn out. It's the pain that you used to fight against, but you've grown to just accept it. And what's interesting is the very thing that used to feel off, something that you didn't want, starts to feel normal. The thing that should have been temporary sometimes actually becomes your identity. And this is the point at which in our study that things could get a little bit uncomfortable. And I want to tell you why. Because God wants to bring healing in your hurting mind. He wants you to experience the grace of Jesus, the power of Jesus, the truth of Jesus, the truth that sets you free. But eventually, healing actually requires movement. And sometimes the most loving thing that Jesus can do isn't just sit with us in the pain, but the most loving thing he can do is to call us out of it. And today we're going to look to him and believe that he will. Would you pray with me? God, we need you. Our world needs you in a time of stress and turmoil and questions and hurting and pain and fear and anxiety and depression. We look to you, the source of truth, the giver of life. We pray for your presence, your power. We pray for your healing. We believe, God, that your word will minister to us and your Holy Spirit will bring healing. We ask for it in the name of Jesus. And all God's people said, amen. Online, if you agree, type in the comment section, amen. We are in the message series called Heal Your Hurting Mind, based on our new book that just came out, Heal Your Hurting Mind, biblical hope for anxiety, depression, burnout, and the emotions that no one talks about. I am humbled and overwhelmed at the response that a lot of people are saying the message is speaking directly to them and bringing hope and healing. What we're covering today is different from what's in the book. And I want to give you just a little bit of a review of where we've been in the message series. And so we can build on it today. If you're with us week number one, we learned we're body, soul, and spirit, that we're different parts, that salvation

is instant, but healing takes time. Spiritually, you can be saved in a moment, but it takes time for your mind, your will, and your emotions to be healed. Week two, we learned that a hurting mind isn't a broken mind, but it's healing in progress, that there's progress and God is working in our lives. Today, what we're going to do is look at the truth that most of the time, Jesus asks you to meet His grace with your faith. Most of the time, Jesus asks you to meet His grace with your faith. And I say most of the time, because Jesus can heal instantly. And sometimes He does heal instantly. But most of the time, you're going to see that He shows up as grace, and grace initiates, and then faith participates. Let me say it again. We're going to go somewhere with this. Grace initiates, and faith participates. We're gonna look in John chapter five today. I want to give you the context. In John chapter five, there was a man that was unable to walk for 38 years. I want you to let this sink in. Not 38 days, not 38 months, for 38 years, this guy was struggling. And some of you can probably relate. There may be some area of your life, some burden, some problems, some pattern you've been dealing with for way too long. Years ago, you used to Think I can overcome this, but now maybe you just think this is just the way that I am. It's not circumstantial pain, but it's the pain that's just become normal. And so Jesus asks this guy a very direct question and forces him to confront a place that he's been stuck for a long time. I'm gonna read you the word of God from John chapter five, starting in verse one. Scripture tells us this. Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, which is covered by five covered colonnades. Here, a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

One who had been an invalid for 38 years. And when Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he'd been in this condition for a long time, Jesus asked him, do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to the man who had been sick and hurting for 38 years, get up, pick up your mat and walk. And the word of God says, at once the man was cured. He picked up his mat and he walked. I'm praying that today for some of you, you will have the faith to meet the grace of God. And maybe in a moment, maybe over time, that whatever was holding you back will be healed in the name of Jesus. And you can get up and whatever's been holding you down, you will walk out of it for the glory of God. A big prayer and we have a big God. If you believe it, say amen. Amen. Let's build the context so you'll make sure you really understand what's going on. Jesus was in Jerusalem for a festival and then he takes this detour. And interestingly enough,

he doesn't go to a temple where you might think, but instead Jesus goes to a pool and the pool is called Bethesda and it has five colonnades. Now Bethesda in the Greek actually means house of grace. So Jesus goes to a place called house of mercy or house of grace, where there's this pool covered by five colonnades. It's interesting like, why would John tell us there's five colonnades? Well, in the Bible, numbers often mean something and five is the number of grace. Anytime you see five, it generally represents grace. So Jesus goes to the house of grace covered by grace. And you may say, well, what is grace? Grace, some people say is God's unmerited favor or they'll spell it grace, G-R-A-C-E. They'll say it's God's riches at Christ's expense, G-R-A-C-E. It's the unmerited blessings and favor and forgiveness of God. In other words, we don't earn God's grace. We don't deserve God's grace. How is it that you're made right with God? The Bible says it's not by works, not by religious efforts. In other words, you can never on your own, in your own power ever be good enough for God, but you are saved by grace through faith. Grace initiates and faith participates. Grace initiates, God initiated for God to love the world that he sent his one and only son. Grace initiates, faith participates.

You're saved by grace through your faith, believing that Jesus is enough. Not by works, not by being good enough, not by joining a life group, not by giving money to the poor, not by giving money to Santa Claus, ringing the bell in December, but by grace through faith. So if you've been changed, if you're in Christ, if your sins are gone, if you've been made new, you're saved by grace through faith. You're here by grace. You're forgiven by grace. You're chosen by grace. You're called by grace. And Jesus asked you to meet his grace with your faith. Grace initiates, faith participates. This is gonna... Get rich, you better get ready. Jesus is at the house of grace with five grace colonnades and sees a man, hadn't walked for a long, long time. He's just kind of used to being stuck and hurting. And Jesus asked him what seems to be an unusual question. What does Jesus say? Hey, you've been sick 38 years. Jesus says, hey, do you wanna get well? Now, let's take a little vote just for fun. All of our live search locations, those of you online, I want everybody to participate. This guy's been unable to walk for 38 years.

Do you think he wants to get well? Raise your hand if you think he does. Raise your hand if you think he doesn't. Good. Online, you can say, yes, he does. If you say no, he doesn't, someone will argue with you because people are very argumentative online and they're probably already arguing about something. And so that'll give them something else to argue about. Like, you think this guy wants to get well? Of course he does. I mean, obviously he does. I mean, it would change his life. I mean, if you can imagine, the only thing he can do is beg and he can't work, can't make a difference, couldn't, if he has kids, he can't chase his kids. He couldn't, you know, of course he wants to. This is like an easy question to answer. But Jesus says, do you wanna get well? And the guy doesn't say, of course, yes, please help. Please help, now. I've been praying for this. I've been waiting for this. This is exact, no. Do you wanna get well? Instead of saying yes, the guy makes an excuse as to why he can't get to the pool. Watch what he says. Sir, Jesus says, do you wanna get well?

The guy says, verse seven, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Now, if you don't know the whole context of this, you may say like, why did the guy wanna get in the pool? Was it summertime and he wants to suntan, you know? No, there's a backstory to this that's really interesting. There was a belief that an angel would come down and stir the waters. And whenever the angel would stir the water, the tradition or belief was that the first person to get in the pool would be healed. And so when Jesus says, do you want to get well? He doesn't say yes. He explains why he can't get to the pool. And before you sit back there and give him the Christian judgment, before we judge him, which is kind of what I wanna do, we have to realize that we often sound just like this guy. We do, I know I do. Do you wanna get better? Ah, I tried and it didn't work. I mean, you know, that's just the way I am. I mean, this is my body type and it's just my desires. I mean, you know, my dad struggled with it, my granddad struggled with it. And besides, you don't understand what I've been through. And we make our excuses.

And so this guy wants to go to the pool to get healing, but every day he has an excuse that keeps him on the porch. Let me say it again. We're gonna build on this. He wants to go to the pool for healing, but every day he has an excuse that keeps him stuck on the porch. And I wanna say just very lovingly without any judgment, that as your pastor, I wonder how many of you do something similar. Like you wanna get better, but you stay stuck hurting on the porch. And when I tell you I get it, I get it. Because the porch is familiar. The porch is comfortable. The porch feels safe. It may not feel good, but it feels normal and you're used to normal. The pool requires movement. The pool requires change. The pool requires faith. The porch allows you to sit in what you know and rationalize the pain. The pool forces you to confront it. And so if you look at this, this poor old guy for 38 years chose the pain he knew over the healing that was possible. And there are some of us, we do the exact same thing. We just kind of rest and excuse the pain

that we've experienced for so long instead of continuing to seek. Jesus for the healing that is possible. I don't know what it would be for some of you, but it's some wrong mindset that you know is wrong, but you just keep on repeating it over and over again. Some habit that you know you shouldn't do, but you rationalize it and you keep doing it. Maybe it's just your schedule. You do too much, you do too much, you do too much. You know you're doing too much. You're burning out. You're not taking a Sabbath. You're emotionally exhausted. You push it beyond what you have the ability to do, and you continue to do it, running on fumes and just say, this is just going to be my life. Some of you, it's like negativity that has become so normal to you, you have no idea how miserable you are and how miserable people are around you. Critical of everything that this, Christians, that, politics, this, that, yeah, yeah, and you don't see how your critical spirit is poisoning your soul. For some, it's angry. I'm just mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. Always got a short fuse, and you justify it because she did that,

he did that, and they're not, and no one does, and I'm the only one. You just live in anger. For some of you, the pain has been so real for so long, you just numb it and rationalize the addiction or the unhealthy coping mechanism. For some of you, it's just you're hopeless. You could put your hope in the one who is hoping good, but you tried that, it didn't work the first time, and so you just try to get through another day. That was me. I was the one who thought it's always gonna be so hard that I'm always gonna hurt, always, and I'm just stuck on that porch. And so I wanna just ask you, like, very pastorally, as someone who loves you dearly and deeply, is there something broken in your life? Is there something that's holding you back? Is there something that is not God's will for you that you've just learned to live with? You used to fight it, and now you just accept it. And don't hear me asking, hear the Spirit of God asking you with love, with grace, do you want to be well? Do you wanna be well? I want you to think about this. The paralyzed man thought if he could get to the water, he'd be healed, but he couldn't get to the water. Think about some of the names of Jesus. What is Jesus called?

Jesus says, I am the gate, I am the good shepherd, I am the door, I am the vine, I am the branches, I'm the lion, the tribe of Judah, I'm the alpha and the omega. What's one of the metaphors of Jesus? One of the metaphors of Jesus is he's called the living water. If you taste of him, you'll never thirst again. And watch this, the man couldn't get to the water, so the living water came to the man. And today, there are those of you, you need to know that grace is initiating, the living water is coming to you. Grace initiates, faith participates, and grace is asking you, do you want to get well? And I told you that was me. I was in a bad place. Some people say, Craig, thank you for your transparency. It's not like transparency, it's just the way it is. I mean, I'm not, this isn't courageous, this is just, I was in a bad place, worked myself into a corner and didn't know the way out. And so I started working with Dr. Chappell, and we worked for a long time, and I kept saying like, what do I have? What's my problem? Give it a name. And he was very hesitant to give me a diagnosis. Probably was a year or so before he said, okay, I'm gonna give you a diagnosis, but I don't like to.

And he said, you have severe occupational burnout. What'd he tell me? Now I'm gonna ask you a question. Is a diagnosis good or bad? And the answer is, it depends. It depends. A diagnosis is good if it helps you to understand the problem and points you toward healing. But a diagnosis is bad if you let it define you. And this is a very, very. very big problem in culture today, and I'm gonna push on it. And if you get mad at me, you're probably the one who needs to hear what I'm about to say. What's happening today is there are so many people over-identifying with a diagnosis, and a diagnosis, which is what they struggle with, but not who they are, starts to become their very identity. They'll put it on their social media bio. I am blah, blah, blah, and here's my diagnosis. And I wanna say, yes, mental health issues are real. Anxiety is real. You open up the news today, and you see what's going on in the world today, and it can bring anxiety on the healthiest of people. Depression is real. Burnout is real. But if you focus nonstop on what's wrong,

you generally get worse and not better. And so Dr. C helped me understand that I'd been for a long time emotionally living in fight or flight, fight or flight. And I had flooded my body, and this is the medical part of it, and that's why I wrote the book with him. I talked the spiritual part, and he talks the really smart doctor part, because that's not me. And he said, you flooded your body with the wrong chemicals, the stress hormones, and I had trained my body into anxiety. So he wanted to help me change the patterns. Some of you, you gotta change the pattern. You gotta get off the porch. You gotta stop being stuck on the porch. And the first thing he told me, I thought was so dumb, I told you last week, we're gonna work on breathing exercises. I'm paying you to teach me to breathe. I've been doing that for decades now, but I want you to breathe differently. Breathe in, breathe out, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I thought, that's dumb, and so I didn't do it for a while. And he said, I also want you, this was my assignment, it would not be for you, but for me, he said, I want you to do something adrenaline-inducing, something that's thrilling, that feels dangerous.

Jump out of an airplane, climb a mountain, race motorcycles, race a car, something adrenaline-inducing. And I thought, that's dumb. You want me to become a breather with a hobby? I'm hurting, and you want me to go drive a car really, really fast and breathe while I'm doing it. So I told him, Dr. C, that's stupid. Like, yeah, I got a severe occupational burnout, give me something deep, give me something good. And he said, you got three options. Option one is don't listen to me and continue to struggle. Option two, fire me, hire someone else, start over, work for a long time, and get to the same place. Option three is humble yourself, do something different, and get better. Here's what I want you to know. It's probably no surprise. I can be hard-headed at times. Bull-headed, stubborn, whatever you want to call it. It's probably a spiritual gift. If it is, I've got a double dose of it. And I pushed back. I said, this is dumb, this is dumb, this is dumb. You have no idea how hard I pushed back. And the reason I pushed back is because I was stuck on the mat, under the porch on the mat. In my mind, I just thought, it was like fear and probably a weird combination of pride. Oh no, my job, my calling is so important.

It's always gonna be really, really hard. It's always gonna be really hard. And it might be so hard, it's probably gonna kill me one day. And I just can't do anything about it. And so I was both afraid of it and maybe even proud of it because it's so special, important, and hard. And I was stuck on the porch. And I learned, he said, do this, do this, do this. I resisted, I learned that what you resist the hardest is often what you need the most. And wherever you push back today, no, Craig, you don't know. You're just a dumb preacher. You don't know my life. Wherever you push back, the hardest is often exposed as what you need the most. So I'll do your dumb breathing exercises. And I started breathing. And guess what? I started to get a little bit better. And then I started taking flying lessons six years ago or so. And I started getting a little bit better. Slowly, by God's grace and small steps of faith, by his grace and small steps of faith, I started to get better. Grace initiates and faith participates. Grace initiates and faith participates. You're in the presence of God right now.

He is here. The power of the Holy Spirit is here. Grace is initiating to some of you, telling you, you can be well. You can be well. Grace initiates. Faith participates. The guy in our story, he did what I was doing. He did what some of you are doing. He stayed on the porch. But I want you to know. Do you notice is the grace that covered him started to cripple him. You can stay in grace so long that what once was a covering becomes a crutch. This guy was comfortable with grace, but it was grace without faith. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. God has grace for you. For every single one of you, God has grace for your problem, but he never intended for his grace to enable our dysfunction. And so that's what I wanna tell somebody here, and I want you to hear it, I want you to feel it deep in your bones. You are not your diagnosis, and your diagnosis is not you. You are not your addiction, and your addiction is not you.

You are not your unhealthy mindset, and your unhealthy mindset is not you. Don't stay stuck on the porch. With grace and truth, Jesus said to the man, get up, pick up your mat and walk. You've been there for 38 years. Don't stay stuck. At once, the man was cured. He picked up his mat and walked. At once, when grace initiated and faith participated, the healing power of God met the man in that moment, and at once, he stood up on the very mat that had held him hostage and walked away. Stop believing the lie that this is just the way you are. Stop believing that you cannot overcome it. Stop believing that you are stuck there. Stop staying stuck on the porch. Could the guy not walk? He couldn't walk. Factually, on his own, he was unable to walk. It was a fact he couldn't walk. It may be a fact that you're exhausted and doing too much. It may be factually true that you feel anxious. Whatever the fact that tells you you can't or you're not, I wanna tell you right now, your faith speaks louder than facts. How do you heal? Jesus asked you to meet his grace with your faith. Grace initiates, faith participates.

Stop stalling. Stop believing the lie. Stop waiting. Stop making excuses. What do you do? What's your next step? Very, very simply. You ready? Do what you can. And trust God to do what you can't. Do what you can. Do what you can. Do what his word says to do. Can you pray? You can pray. Can you breathe? You can breathe. You've been doing it for a long time. You can seek God. You can take whatever the next step is. You can meet with a pastor. You can confess your secret to your life group. You can join a life group. You can start the plan. What do you have access to? What do you have access to? You've got access to the living word of God, which never returns void, powerful and sharp. You have access to wise counsel. You have someone sitting next to you

who you may have never met before that might have the prayer of faith who would love to pray for you today. You've got access to community and mentors and people who will love you, accept you where you are, but love you beyond where you are. You've got the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. If you're in Christ, it's dwelling within you today. You may struggle right now. You may be hurting. Yes, guess what? Who'd Jesus come for? Not the healthy, but for the sick. He came for those who needed Him. So He's coming for you today, asking you, do you want to get well? Don't stay stuck on the porch. Tell your problems, I'm not staying down. By faith, I will be well. Jesus can heal you. Jesus can heal your hurt. Jesus can heal your marriage. Jesus can heal your addiction. Jesus can heal your depression. Jesus can heal you of your trauma. Jesus can heal you of whatever you've learned to live with. Yeah. So just decide today, just like I did. My calling is too great.

My God is too good to stay stuck on the porch. By faith, I'm gonna pick up the mat and step toward healing. The same God that saved your spirit. is faithful to restore your soul. In Jesus' name, don't stay stuck. Get up, pick up your mat, and walk. Holy Spirit, we ask that you do a work in us today. We believe that you're here, you're present, and that you desire to bring healing. We ask for healing in the mighty name of Jesus. Here's what I want you to do, if you would. You can look up here, I'm gonna do a look up, look down, look up, look down, it's gonna be one of those times. Okay, so what I want you to do, if you will, is go ahead and just take your hands, and if you're comfortable doing this, just make a little fist like this, just like this, kind of a double fist. In a moment when we pray, we're gonna turn them this way. I want you to start like this, and I want you to think about whatever's been holding you back, the addiction, the anxiety. And I know with what's going on in the world today, it's heavy, today, like today, it's heavy, anxiety. Maybe for you, it's the shame. I want you to give it a name, the shame, the anger, the bitterness, the burnout, the comparison. Give it a name. For me, it was hopelessness. I'm stuck, I'm always stuck.

I want you to imagine grasping what you've learned to live with that God wants to heal you of. And then I'm gonna pray, and then when we say we release it, what I want you to do in that moment is just like, by faith, we're gonna turn our hands and we're gonna release it. So I want you to visualize just kind of what it is. Pretend like you're gripping it, because that's what I did. I was holding on to hopelessness. And Father, because you're here, because you're good, we believe that you're initiating with your grace. You came with grace and truth, with grace that you love us, grace that accepts us, truth that sets us free. And so God, we believe that because you're here, that healing is here, that the power to change is here, that you can renew our minds, you can heal our hurting soul. God, we thank you that salvation is instant, but sometimes healing takes time, so we need healing, God, in your presence and by your power. And God, as your grace initiates, here it comes, by faith, we release it to you. We release it by faith, we release it to you. And God, we believe just as the man was healed at once, that there are those would be healed at once. For others, it may be a process. But God, your grace is here, and so we meet your grace with our faith, believing you can, God, heal us, and believing that you will heal us.

And God, so by faith, we tell you thank you for your goodness, your power, your healing, your truth, your mercy. We're at the house of grace, believing that grace is initiating, meeting your grace, God, with our faith. Bring healing today, in Jesus' name we pray. With nobody looking around, continue just to add it to your prayer. Some of you, you've been trying to heal your mind without surrendering your heart to Jesus. And I just wanna remind you that healing of your soul starts with salvation of the spirit. If you don't know where you stand with God, I wanna remind you that you're never made right with God. You're not saved by being good enough or by trying harder. You're saved by grace through faith. God initiated, he sent his one and only son, Jesus. Who is Jesus? The lamb of God, that's one of the metaphors, the lamb of God. Who was slain for the sins of the world. Jesus died on a cross and God raised him from the dead so that anyone who calls on his name would be saved. You're not saved by your good works, but by grace through faith. Here's what's happening. If you're feeling drawn to God, that's his grace. That's his loving kindness drawing you. What happens?

Grace initiates, faith participates. And you simply believe that his work is perfect. His work is enough. And when you call on him by faith, he forgives your sins. He makes you brand new. At all of our churches, those who say, I need that. I sense his grace. I need his forgiveness. I want to be new. I want his healing. Grace is initiating. Now your faith participate. You're saved by grace through faith. By faith today, we repent of our sins. By faith, we call on the name of Jesus. By faith, we believe he hears our prayers, forgives our sins and makes us new. Today, those of you who are being saved by faith, lift up your hands high right now and say, I give my life to him. Right back there, right over here, over here. Praise God for you. Over here, others today say, yes, I give my life to you. God bless you, brother. Others today say, yes, Jesus, I surrender. Right back up here, right back over there. Praise God for you. Ah, praise God. Online type in the comment section, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus.

By faith, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. Would you pray with those around you? Heavenly Father, forgive my sins. Thank you for grace. By faith, I give my life to you. By faith, I ask you to forgive me. My life is not my own. Fill me with your spirit so I could serve you day in, day out. Heal me by faith. Thank you for new life. You have all of mine. In Jesus' name I pray. Can you worship big today? Worship big, worship big. Woo! Hey, it's Pastor Craig and Amy Groeschel with Life.Church. And if you just made the decision to give your life to Christ, this is the most important and life-changing decision that you'll ever make. And all of heaven is celebrating right now because of your decision, and we're celebrating with you too. That's right. And we want you to know that God sees you. He's with you and He loves you. He has a purpose for your life. And incarceration, it doesn't define you. It doesn't confine you because you are free in Christ. You are new in Him.

Chains have been broken today. And so as a follower of Jesus, God wants us to be on this journey together. And I want you to know you don't have to do this alone. And that's why we, as your church family, we're here for you and we want to help you grow in your faith and find your next steps. So first of all, just keep joining us for church every single week and worshiping through the Pando app. We're so thankful that you're here. When we draw close to God, He draws near to us. And so I would also encourage you, read God's Word if it's available to you. And as you do, just start to pray and invite God into every single aspect of your life. And then if you feel led, you might even share your decision with somebody else. There might be a family member or a friend, and they're going to want to hear your story and your spiritual journey. We'd love to hear it as well. And you can send us a letter if you'd like to. The address is on your screen, and our team will write back to you and help you grow in your faith with Jesus. And so we'd love to mail you some content about who Jesus is and help you grow in your relationship with Him now that you've chosen to follow Jesus. That's right.

And God's plan for your life, it's greater than anything that you could ever imagine. In fact, Ephesians 3.20 says, God is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. Trust Him with your whole life. You will see Him work in ways you have never thought possible. Congratulations on this decision. We are your family, and you're part of the family of God.