The things we want in life, no matter how great they may seem, can take possession of us if we’re not careful. If that happens, anxiety will enter our lives in the form of fear, worry or other paralyzing emotions. A steadfast focus on God is the only answer. Learn how to find the relief you need.
[Music]
timeless truths
a collection of classic sermons from dr
charles stanley
today’s selection recorded in 1997
all our anxieties part one
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 the stock market
fell 500 points yesterday and all of
your savings are there
not only that you just been to the
doctor the debt 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 that would make you anxious
that makes 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 111 verses
10 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 to what
you should 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
life span
and while you anxious about clothing
observe how the livelies of the field
grow they do not toil
nor do they spin yet i say to you that
even solomon in all of his glory did not
clothe himself like
one of these but if god so erased 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 o
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 shall 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 when 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 they didn’t have
radios tvs
they didn’t have all the noisemakers
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
they didn’t have a stock market and they
didn’t have the newspapers to get the
news like we do and so
we’d think well how in the world could
they be so anxious why 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 narimna which really
means distraction
that is when a person is anxious they
become distracted
when a person is anxious they begin they
are they have
begun to experience uh an emotion in
their life
that uh 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 ourselves in a
circumstance that we don’t know exactly
what to do next especially if it’s some
threatening uh circumstance if it if we
even perceive that it could be
threatening or dangerous
we often times become anxious 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 that 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 dominating control me
throw me into depression
or cause me other some 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 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 a physical being a spiritual being an
emotional being
that is our entire life he says we don’t
have 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 you’re heavenly father listen
if your heavenly father thinks that much
of birds
that he would give them such uh
ingenuity and such uh
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
often times 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 weekend
and uh 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 yes he
is
well and so we just go on and on to 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
whether 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 will 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
and looking at yourself and being
critical sometimes
it’s because you think well lord how in
the world could
how how could how could you care about
me when i don’t
i don’t feel significant i don’t have a
significant job i’m
i’m i seemingly am a nobody in this
world of five billions of people
why 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 and and being fearful
and fear and anxiety are very closely
linked together
those some many people just live in
anxiety fear the uncertainty about
tomorrows and
what’s going to 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 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 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 like they attempt to change
things they listen
they cannot change they attempt to
change things in the 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 was trying to think in terms i
want to 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 going to 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 the latest scoop on the
television let his scoop on
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
talk about what she can do and so forth
and if you ask carol why do you think
you’ve lived so long she can’t tell you
that
why because god has just seen 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 at least five green vegetables a
day that
we’re going to 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 we fail to trust god
listen we failed to trust god to meet
our needs
and if we if we don’t trust him what are
we going to do we’re going to 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 will he do that for you
now
he says oh you have little faith the
truth is watch this carefully
anxiety is no more than unbelief
in disguise that’s what anxiety is
something something comes that’s um
makes us feel very uncertain
and very threatened and so what do we do
we become anxious we become worried and
uh
we we either get depressed or we become
scared about
what the possibilities are the things
that could happen this is not the little
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 want to 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 going to
die the bible says that jesus christ
went to the cross and paid my sin that
in full and that if i receive him as my
personal savior
that means that when i die i know i’m
going to 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
and he says now wait a minute it doesn’t
make sense for me to bet my whole
eternal future
on a god who is 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
going to 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 at least can
get my hands and my fingers in
and do something about it he said
why why would we 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 islam against god’s
promises
and islam 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 does he
not
well look at the fourth reason if you
will and notice what he 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 a 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 is he saying he says one of the
listen that’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
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 it’s
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 misplace 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 he first the kingdom of god what
does he mean by the kingdom of god
the kingdom of god is not some
geographical or 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 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 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 life no it
doesn’t mean that
he said you’ll never want for anything
and here’s the key watch this
when you and i are walking in the will
of the father
and we’re allowing 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 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 life
if that’s first
and you want to be conformed to his
likeness he said look you
tend to that don’t don’t worry about you
don’t have to worry about all these
other things
i’m going to 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 this 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 sending at our life those things
that don’t belong there
whatever they may be here’s what happens
as the years go by
and god confirms 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 going to have enough
anxieties of its own
each day he says oh as he was said 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
accomplish and it’s it’s really 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 want to
i want i want to i want to do something
today to be 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 we 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 calling the ministry
and they say well you know
how am i how am i going to 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 it’s 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 i
suppose i have a wet wreck tomorrow you
know what
you and i can 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 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 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’m 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 said i submit myself to
you i want to walk in your will by 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
you
Perfectly indited written content, thanks for selective information. “He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.” by Michel de Montaigne.