ANXIETY?

Not losing our peace and dealing with anxiety. When pastors across America poll their congregations on which topic they would like to hear about the number one response is “anxiety”.  Jesus told the disciples in Luke 21:26 that “men’s hearts will fail them as they see the things which are coming on the earth”.  He was speaking to them about the environment of the last days, right before He would return.  In a message I brought forth a few years ago on anxiety we looked at the prophet Elijah and deal with some of the scriptural and effective ways to deal with it. 

·       Anxiety is about inner pressures; it is not a malfunction of your mind.   It is a signal that your body is trying to tell you something. 

·      If we rely upon biology and medication to be the only help for anxiety or depression we will miss the real solution.  

·      I Kings 18 tells the story of the prophet Elijah who defeated the 850 prophets of Baal and then preached a message that ended a three-and-a-half-year drought.

·       In chapter 19 Jezebel, the king’s wife, tells Elijah; “I will make your life like the prophets you killed by this time tomorrow”.  The exhausted Elijah flees for Mt. Horeb, Beersheba sits under a broom brush and exclaims, “Let me die, I am no better than my fathers!”

·      God wisely and lovingly brings Elijah out of his anxiety and depression.   Here is a list of five things that God had Elijah do to get him back into a place of soundness and victory.

1)     HE TOOK CARE OF THE PHYSICAL

·      Elijah was told to lay down and sleep and then rise to eat and be nourished. 

·      Some of us are trying to fix something and we’re too sick to fix it.  It is like going to your family doctor because you have a virus and as he tries to help you he is suffering from double pneumonia and strep throat.

·      One researcher on depression said:  “We need to talk less about chemical imbalances and more about the imbalances in the way we live.”  Another researcher said:  “We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, socially isolated, fast-food laden, sleep deprived, frenzied pace of modern life.”

·      We need to find the pace of grace.  We should identify what we can do and stay sane by not doing too much.   (Ecclesiastes 4:6- Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.)

·       Find a way to unwind and instead of living on a “to-do list” also make a “not to-do” list.

2)     CULTIVATE THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE

I Kings 19:9-12- (NIV)  Then he went into a cave and spent the night.  And the word of the Lord came to him, ‘What are you doing here Elijah”?  He replied. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty”.  The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.  I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too.”  The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”   Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire but the Lord wasn’t in the fire.  And after the fire, there came a gentle whisper.

·      Notice that after God tells Elijah to go stand on the mountain in His presence it appears that all hell breaks loose.  He experiences a strong wind, an earthquake, and then fire (sounds like a rock group).  After each one of these, it says, “But the Lord was not in the wind, earthquake, or fire”. 

·      God was showing Elijah a picture of his own soul.  Elijah was filled with fear, anxiety, depression, and turmoil.  God was not in any of these.   After they passed there came peace followed by a still small voice.  It was God.  God’s presence is manifest and operates in an atmosphere of peace, not turmoil.

·      There’s a spiritual principle found in Psalm 73:16-17-   "When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God."

·       If possible, we should enter into His sanctuary the first part of the day.   We enter His courts with thanksgiving in our heart and we enter His courts with praise.  (Psalm 100:4)

·      When we are filled with anxiety and are troubled it is time to stop and give thanks and praise to God.  It ushers in His presence.

3)     THE NARRATIVE WE BELIEVE ABOUT OURSELVES SHOULD COME FROM GOD’S WORD

I Kings 19:13-14- "When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here Elijah?”  He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.  I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too.”

·       Many of us have told a lie about ourselves so many times that we now believe it.   When a cow chews the grass it brings it back up, which is known as chewing the cud.  It is never better, rather it is grosser, just like your negative thoughts.

·      Counselor Brian Tracy said: “95% of your emotions are determined by the way you talk to yourself.”  God is the King of my anxiety.  There will be peace and there will be victory when we acknowledge that God is fighting for us.  He is greater than my anxiety.

4)     FIND OR RENEW YOUR GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE IN LIFE

I Kings 19: 15-18  (NIV)  "The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, (back to Beersheba, the place of the oath)  and go to the desert of Damascus,  When you get there anoint Hazael king over Aram.  Also, anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, king over Israel, and anoint Elishah, son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as a prophet.  Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.  Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

·      You will never come out of your anxiety if you think it’s all about you.  Victor Frankl:  “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”

·      God’s gifts and call have no repentance.  It’s never too late to get back in the game.

II Corinthians 4:8-9- (NIV) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  Therefore, we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

·      How can Paul say this?

II Corinthians 4:16-18- (NIV)  “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

·      If you can grasp this then, no matter how low your valley may be, God can pull you through.  

5)    MAINTAIN MY LIFE WITH GODLY RELATIONSHIPS

I Kings 19:19 (NIV) “So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat.  He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair.  Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.”

·      When you put your cloak around someone else you are saying, “I am a covenant friend.”  

·      If you did the first four things but left out this one, it still may not work.  (You were never meant to walk alone/ Elijah had left his servant and then went on alone)

There are many things around us in today’s world that can bring on anxiety if we let it.  It is time to “gird up the loins of our mind” (I Peter 1:13) by pursuing God’s presence as we follow the path He has laid out for us.