Why You’re Still Anxious (Even Though You’re Trying to Trust God)

I'm glad we're together today in this space. My name is Mark Cummins. I'm the pastor at Church of Hope. And if you're a regular attender, welcome. So glad that week after week, we join together in this space. And if by chance, this is your first time, I'm really glad that we're beginning our friendship today. Understand that this broadcast literally goes around the world for free. See, we believe that life's at its best when people discover hope in Christ. There are people who give generously so this broadcast can be reached across every continent. If you've never given, I would invite you today to give. You can go to our webpage, hopeinOcala.com and drop down on the giving bar and give a one-time gift. Or you can give generously beyond just today. And if God's blessed you, help us as we give hope around the world. But for now, I want you to open up your heart and your mind. Let Jesus speak to you. Because what I believe is that when we open up our minds and let Jesus speak to us, life doesn't become perfect and all the problems don't go away, but you experience His presence in you, with you, and for you. Open up your heart. Let Jesus speak to you today. Peace.

Dive into God's Word. I didn't wanna teach this today, okay? This week on Monday and again on Wednesday, I said, PMC, I think you should teach this. I had four different drafts of this message and all four are in the garbage because they were too safe. I struggle with what we're about to talk about. Hi, my name is Emily and I am a warrior. Now, I want to say that I'm a warrior with an A, but I'm a worrier. I worry about what I'm gonna wear, if my hair looks too frizzy. I worry if I locked the door, blew my candle out, if my camera system is still working. I worry if I'm gonna be accepted, if I'm gonna be liked. I worry if I'm gonna hit my financial goals. I mean, I worry. Did you know that 60 to 67% of Americans worry daily significantly? I mean, we're talking about the economy, war. If AI is taking over the world, a health crisis, a betrayal, significant worry. But I wonder about all the little worries in our lives. Like if you unplugged your curling iron this morning, or if you're gonna be late to work, or what about if your alarm clock actually will go off for that important meeting? What about all the little things?

My guess is that 67% of us who worry, that would increase pretty quickly. You see, we all want security. We all want peace. Yet somewhere along the way, we've learned that in order to be secure, we just need to get ahead. So we hustle, we work harder, we try to over prepare, we overthink. We think if I can just be needed, then maybe nothing bad will happen. Nothing that I need to worry about. Yet in all of our hustling, we end up carrying worry that was never meant for us to carry. Worry, it's a lot like sitting in a rocking chair. You sit down and at first it feels pretty comfortable, and you're rocking back and forth, and it feels good for a while until you wanna go somewhere. A rocking chair isn't moving. There's a lot of movement, but there's no progression forward. That's worrying. If you have your Bible, open it up with me to Matthew chapter six. The question before us today is how do we bridge the gap between our worry and it's real, and the peace and security that we desperately want to experience?

And we've tried to educate it, we've tried to legislate it, we've tried to medicate it, but we're more divided than ever. We're more stressed and worried as a people than ever. Isn't it time on this 250th birthday of our country that we actually cross this gap, that we cross the gap from worry to peace? I know I need it, and I'm not looking for just some Band-Aid, some quick fix, or something that you would print on a Christian bumper sticker. I need something real. I need something to step into the worry that I face every single day. single day. Matthew 6, verse 25, Jesus speaks straight to our pain point. He says this, therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Okay, I read this and I say, thank you, Jesus, for your direct words right there. Do not worry, I mean, what's the anti-worry? How is this supposed to help me? Just saying, don't worry, how do I do that? Jesus doesn't stop in that verse. He continues in verse 26.

Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes, Emily? See how the flowers of the field grow? They don't labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow, 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. So after boldly saying, hey, don't worry, which just left me worried that I'm worrying, Jesus actually adds like this really big exclamation point where he now, he doesn't just tell me, Emily, don't worry. He then goes on to say, you're being like a pagan when you do. Now, I need to tell you contextually what this would have looked like. Jesus was talking to people who religious leaders would have like bowed up right here. There's, excuse me, you're equating me to the person who does the most evil thing around me,

that if I worry, I'm being like them? I mean, they were a worried people, not much different than how we feel today. It'd be like if Jesus came here to Church of Hope, he said, hey, Hope, hey, when you worry, it's like you're being like Hitler, because he even worries. I mean, a pagan is somebody who does the most atrocious things. So Jesus is telling us, don't worry, and when you do, you're being like a pagan. Okay, where do I go from here? Because I'm already worried, right? There is one thing I want you and I want me, I want us to know today, and there are three action steps. The thing I want us to know, worry becomes a strength when you take it to God. Worry becomes a strength when you take it to God. And if you just cringed when I said that, you are not alone. On Monday, Pastor Mark taught me this big idea, and I had a visceral reaction. I literally said, excuse me, did I just hear you right? There's no way I heard you right. That worry becomes a strength, right? I've been taught it's bad, it's a weakness, but it becomes a strength when I take it to God. I literally said, what does that mean, PMC, on Monday? And he said, that's what you have to teach.

That is what this week I have been discovering as God is transforming my world with this one idea, worry becomes a strength, Emily, when you take it to God. So why don't we take our worry to God? Why don't we? In the verses that we just read before Jesus equated us to acting like a pagan, he gave us two illustrations, one with the birds and the second with flowers. I mean, do you have birds in your backyard? They just fly, they make beautiful noises, they look pretty, they're not flying worrying where they're gonna get food or worried about where they're gonna rest, they just are and God feeds them. And what about flowers? I love flowers, they are one of my favorite things. And the illustration that God just gave us a flower isn't like, okay, it's time to bud, come on, come on, come on, you really need to bloom, let's go, let's go, they just, they bloom. That's how Jesus is telling us, hey, if I care about a bird and I care about a flower and they don't have to worry, how much more do I care about you, my children? You see, you are too valuable for God to overlook. You're too valuable. It's time to remember your value. Remember your value. Value 1st Peter 5 7 says cast all your anxiety on him. Why?

Because he cares for you. He Values you God made you he made me he sent Jesus to die for you and to die for me Yet we cheapen our own value. We equate ourselves to being like a $3 bill We say I'm not good enough. I'm not pretty enough. I will never be picked I'm just I can't communicate that. Well, I'll never get over this. We put ourselves down. We take away our value God Values us Remember your value the cross settled forever How valuable that you and I are to God? This is why then Jesus continues in Matthew 6 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and these things will be Given to you as well Instead of forgetting your value and chasing security everywhere else Remember your value and pursue your king Seek him first. You're valuable to him and when you and I seek God first Everything falls into its proper place Have you ever played the game of hide-and-seek or moms and dads you play that game with your kids now a couple of us Right. I grew up playing that game So I was used to you count to ten Right the person would go hide and then when you get to ten you open your eyes and you go find the person like that's How the game works you don't play hide-and-seek and close your eyes count to ten Have the person go hide and then you go grocery shopping and take care of everything on your list that you've been avoiding Do your hair your nails make that gourmet dinner and then go find them now I know we might be tempted to do that, but that's not how we play hide-and-seek Okay, we go seek first what we're looking for and you and I we seek first what we value the most Now this part of God's Word It's a pressure point for me because in Jeremiah God says that when we seek him first We will find him

But there are things that you and I have been seeking that we haven't found yet Maybe it's a relationship that promotion at work. You've been dreaming of Financial security the diagnosis from the doctor that you've been praying for We've been seeking things that we haven't found What I'm wrestling with is the order you see God's Word makes that very clear when we seek him first We find him so the thing that I'm looking for that I desire. It's not wrong It's the order in which I'm seeking it you see I seek him first, and then I find him Then everything else finds its proper place That's hard to live out, but our order it really matters Verse 34 continues with a word that PMC has taught us to pay attention to it's the word Therefore and I always remember this because he breaks down the word like what is it there for so let's dive in verse 34 therefore What is it therefore therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself Each day has enough trouble of its own It's like right here after Jesus is reminding us. Hey remember your value and seek me first He's leaning in and he's saying hey as a result of my care for you You don't have to worry about tomorrow saying hey Emily as a result of my care for you. Don't worry about tomorrow Luce as a result of my care for you. Don't worry about tomorrow Michael as a result of my care for you. Don't worry about tomorrow. He's saying therefore because of this I have got you See the beautiful thing about Jesus is he actually gets it. He's not pointing his finger at us today He's not shaming us. He's not condemning us. There is no condemnation in Jesus He actually understands where we're coming from with worry Hebrews 4 15 says for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses But we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet He did not sin. I mean imagine Jesus before the cross wrestling through okay When I die, am I really like gonna wake up three days from now? What about the disciples like I am

I invested everything into them. I poured into them and they abandoned me in the garden. Like when I really needed them. Will they show back up or are they just gonna stay running away? Like Jesus actually experienced hunger, betrayal, loss, hurt. He experienced our human emotion. So he's not shaming us. He's not pointing a finger at us. God is not surprised by our worry. He's not. He knows you and I are gonna worry. It's a part of the human experience. Yet in Matthew 6, he is inviting us to higher ground, to a better way to live. That we don't have to walk around with worry, experiencing the weakness that comes with it. We actually can experience worry becoming a strength when we take it to God. See, Jesus isn't telling us to ignore or deny reality. He's simply asking us to take all of who we are to the Father who is over reality. So how do we do this? How do we take Jesus' invitation to higher ground and actually walk it out? How do we experience this? Three steps for us. The first one, you have to name it. We can't experience freedom from what we don't surrender. We have to be specific.

You've gotta name the thing that you're worried about. And I get it because this is really uncomfortable for me. So I normally like to relabel it instead of just naming it outright. I'll label it like I'm concerned. I'm concerned about it. Or I just need prayer for this situation, okay? That's religious talk for I'm worried. Stop it. Stop saying I'm concerned and just own it. Own what you're worried about. Name it and be specific. Make a worry inventory list. Maybe your list includes my physical appearance, housing affordability, the right grades to get into the college I wanna get into, enough money to pay my bills if that guy will reject me or not, the state of the economy. If my kids get into that charter school, caring for my aging parents. I mean, make a worry inventory list and name it specifically. There's a verse in the Bible that I love and I want to experience it. But often I skip past the most important part. It's Philippians chapter four, verses six through seven. It says, do not be anxious about anything. Oh, here we go again. Don't be anxious, right?

But in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Now here's the part I wanna experience, okay? I skip past verse six. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't worry, take it. Okay, cool, cool. I want seven. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I want that peace. I want that security. But the Bible tells us to experience that peace of God, we have to name it. We have to name it by bringing our specific request to God. To experience his peace, you have to name it. Now this first step, naming it, it's not about solving it, okay? My Enneagram one type A self, after I named my worry inventory list, I wanna jump into fix it mode. This is not what we're doing here, okay? You are making a specific worry inventory list. And step two does have an action component to it, but it's not what you and I would expect. So stick with me. First, we name it. Second, we're gonna replace it. Replace your what if with what is true.

Now, if naming it was uncomfortable for me, replacing it is just really, really hard for me. I'm the queen of contingency plans. My backup plans have backup plans. I think through everything. I am the person who takes a picture of my blown out candle to remind my brain later I blew it out. I have that picture on my phone from this morning. I am not making this up, okay? I struggle here. I struggle, but here's what's transforming me. The only source that is always true is God's word. So when I walk with all these what ifs, I'm only spiraling into anxiety because they're what ifs. They're not true. They are what ifs. I need to replace all those what ifs with what is true. And the only source of truth is God's word. I've got a line every what if up with the truth from God's word, asking what has God promised instead of what could happen? So what if I lose my job? My God will supply all my needs. What if my friends don't invite me to hang out? I have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. What if I get that diagnosis I'm afraid of? He's near to the broken hearted. What if I never get married? He sets the lonely in families. What if I fail publicly and obviously?

His power is made perfect in my weakness. What if I run out of money before the month ends? My God will supply all my needs. What if I'm not enough for this? I'm his workmanship made for this. What if I've blown it too many times to come back from this? There is no condemnation in Jesus. You and I have to replace the what if with what is true. And there's only one way that we can do this. You actually have to know the truth. That means you need to read the Bible. You can't rely on someone else reading it for you. You need to know God's word for you. So get a physical Bible. If you don't have one, we have one at Hope Connections that you can take home today. Download the YouVersion Bible app. Start with the verse of the day. I mean, God's word is so alive and active. This week when I was asking PMC, would you please just teach this message? One of the verses of the day was Psalms 4.8. You see, I was worried, well, what if something bad happens? What if I don't get to do this good enough? God's word said this, in peace, I will both lie down and sleep. For you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety. So what if something bad happens? The Lord makes me dwell in safety. Replace the what if with what's true.

But you've gotta know the truth in order to do this. Read the Bible and let it read you every single day. The other component that's necessary for replacing what if with what's true is simply staying present. You've gotta live today. I know my life is so much better when I stay present because the land of what if, it spirals me. Like what if I say the wrong thing? What if I go viral for the wrong thing? What if they don't like me? What if they don't choose me? That's not proactive. That's rocking chair mentality. There's a lot of movement happening in my brain, but I'm not going anywhere. What if lives in tomorrow? And here's the thing about what ifs. They specialize in jumping to conclusions. And every time you and I jump to a conclusion, someone gets hurt. And more often than not, that someone is you. You've got to stay present. Stay present, replacing the what ifs with what is true. God's word reminds us of this in Philippians 4, eight. 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. You see, worry is meditation on everything that could go wrong, but faith is meditation on the one who cannot go wrong. We have to replace the what ifs with what's true. So first we've named it, which then we can take into replacing that what if, what we've named, with what is true in God's word and by staying present. And our third action step this morning is to start it. Start your God did it journal. Now, you might be saying, I am familiar with a gratitude journal, Emily, like writing what I'm thankful for, and I love that practice. What's a God did it journal? I started this this week where I am marking every single miracle, every single place that God showed up and it is only God did it. Only because he did this am I walking in this right now. You see every epic story in the Bible that you and I love, it has a God did it miracle attached to it. I mean, Moses, he remembered God's presence in the burning bush before he ever said one word to Pharaoh. Then there's Naomi, she remembered God's provision as she held Ruth and Boaz's baby in her arms. And David remembered lions and bears before he went to Goliath.

Esther remembered who she was before she stepped before the king. And Peter, he remembered Jesus authority over the wind and the waves before he stepped out of the boat. Yesterday's faithfulness, it builds tomorrow's confidence. We have to start declaring God did it. In 2025. One of my goals was to buy a house, right? I'm 35, I was 34, I'm 35 now. I was sick of apartment life. I wanted to buy a house, felt like I'm in my 30s. That's what I'm supposed to do, right? It didn't happen. And I ended last year very disappointed. My hopes were low and my worries were very high, stepping into 2026. When it was time to renew that apartment lease again, all those worries crept back up. Worries about identity, will this happen? Will it not happen? I just, I was frustrated. The size of your worry reveals how small God has become in your world. And he had become pretty small in mine, in what I believed he could do. Earlier this year, my sister and I, we were wrestling between apartment renewal lease or buying a house. And we had one specific neighborhood

we wanted to buy a house in. So my mom and I, we wrote 10 letters and we decided we were gonna walk that neighborhood, pick 10 houses and put a letter in 10 mailboxes. Again, my hopes were low and my worries were high. I think I was walking with more of my mom's faith that day than my own. We got to that 10th letter. I said, all right, mom, you pick the mailbox. So she picked which mailbox it was gonna go in. And we went on with our day. My hopes were low, my worries were high. A couple of days later, I got a text message from the woman who received that 10th letter. She said, hey, Emily, I received your letter. My dad passed away. I'm getting ready to sell his house. But before I list it, I would like you and your sister to have the opportunity to see it first. That house never went on the market. And Katie and I have been calling it home for the last month. God did it. God did it. That was all God. That's in my God did it journal. And it has become seed in the soil of my life that is now blooming and reminding me, hey, Emily, God did it then and he can do it again. You really can take your worry to him

and experience it becoming a strength. I was worried and he became strength in my life. Does this mean every single problem in my world is now fixed? No, no. On a small level, I shared with you a moment ago, I took a picture of the candle I blew out this morning. Okay, but on the significant level, another prayer of mine, I don't know if God has marriage for me. I don't know. But now because I've seen God do it in my life, I actually am experiencing peace. I'm not worried about it. How could I say that? How can I say I'm not worried about this open-ended question in my life? It's because peace isn't found in knowing the future. It's not found in knowing the details or knowing the outcome. Peace is found in knowing the one who holds my future. And because he did it, I know he can do it again. What's at stake here? What's at stake? You and I, we can keep doing the same thing. We can keep watching the same Netflix show. We can keep going to the club, having one more drink, trying one more drug, taking one more picture of our blown out candle. We can keep doing this cycle.

But it only takes us back to worrying and then overworking and hustling. And we continue this loop over and over and over again. We never find the security or the peace that we crave. We can choose that. And that choice is yours. Only you have the autonomy to make this decision today. You can choose that. Or you can choose to take your worry to God and experience it becoming an actual strength. That statement that I cringed at earlier this week has become the transformation that I've wanted to experience for a really long time. You see, I've had to wrestle with whatever God allows in my life, whatever, whatever. On the other side of it, I'm gonna be okay. Because I know who has my future. Yes. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And I've actually experienced over the last seven days, God more real in the midst of me naming my worry,

replacing it and declaring God did it than I have in 30 plus years. And I think you can experience that today too. There's a God did it story for you. space. My name is Mark Cummins. I'm the pastor at Church of Hope. And if you're a regular attender, welcome. So glad that week after week, we join together in this space. And if by chance, this is your first time, I'm really glad that we're beginning our friendship today. Understand that this broadcast literally goes around the world for free. See, we believe that life's at its best when people discover hope in Christ. There are people who give generously so this broadcast can be reached across every continent. If you've never given, I would invite you today to give. You can go to our webpage, hopeinOcala.com and drop down on the giving bar and give a one-time gift. Or you can give generously beyond just today. And if God's blessed you, help us as we give hope around the world. But for now, I want you to open up your heart and your mind. Let Jesus speak to you because what I believe is that when we open up our minds and let Jesus speak to us, life doesn't become perfect and all the problems don't go away, but you experience His presence in you, with you, and for you. Open up your heart. Let Jesus speak to you today. Peace.