stress
worry
anxiety a troubled spirit
y'all you would be surprised at the
damage
stress worry and anxiety
does to your body
tension and muscle aches stress
elevated blood pressure stress
heart problems stress
headaches migraines stress
problems sleeping at night stress
depression and anxiety stress
what is not shocking is the fact that
some of us
live under daily stress all
the time the american journal psychology
suggests
that 73 percent of us have something to
worry about
before 9 a.m in the morning
that 43 of adverse health conditions
are the result of stress that 61
of us fail to get a good night's sleep
because we're worried and upset
about something that our lives are
filled
with worry and anxiety
that plagues us every day
well the next time worry wakes you up at
night
the next time stress finds you out early
in the morning
the next time your heart is racing and
your blood pressure's going up because
you're anxious
about what awaits you around the corner
i want you to hear these words
of the apostle paul be anxious
for nothing be worried
about nothing be stressed out
about nothing be upset
about nothing we were not designed by
god
to live in an atmosphere that isn't
peace
your body has to live in peace to be
healthy
without peace in your life you'll have
all kinds of physical problems
the number one reason for doctor's
office visits in america
is stress the number one reason for
prescribed medication in america is
stress
we are not designed by god to live under
stress and anxiety we're designed by god
to live in peace so i lived i lived
under stress for years
but i live in peace i've lived in peace
for many years it's a profoundly
different thing
uncontrollable worry will rob us of
peace and it's something i venture to
say most of us if not all of us
struggle with in some area of our lives
it's not something that you want
something that you sign up for you pray
that it would go away you don't want to
worry
but you can't help but worry man that
uncontrollable worry feels like it just
gets its claws on you can't escape it
you feel like you can't do anything
about it so what is it for you what robs
you
of peace john 14 27 says
peace i leave with you my peace i give
you
i do not give to you as the world gives
do not let your hearts be troubled and
do not
be afraid see if your expectation
is that we might have peace on earth man
don't hold your breath
because it's not going to come until the
prince of peace himself returns
and makes all things new but if your
expectation or desire
is that you might experience peace on
earth
in the midst of trouble that you would
walk with it live with it
that there would be a peace in your
heart regardless of what's going on
around you that is very much
a possibility a gift that is available
for you today
this is the struggle of our lives worry
anxiety there's always an underlying
sense of dread about the future or worry
about the future that
that robs us of today
is is it possible is it possible for us
to live in such a way
where the worries about the future don't
rob us of the joy
and possibilities of today is that
possible
i believe that it is i believe that it
is and if you read the gospels
you'll notice that jesus seemed to be
really good at living in the moment
you know jesus i think think about this
he had three years of public ministry
and his his task his assignment his
purpose
in life was to save humanity it's a
pretty big job i know you have a big job
too but that's a pretty big deal right
and yet he only had three years and
somehow he seemed to always stay present
to the moment that he was in at one time
he had a very important assignment there
was a very important person
whose daughter was sick and so he was
going to to do this and to heal this
person and
on the way there was a woman that we
don't even know her name
had been struggling with an issue for
years and years and years
and she touched his his cloak and he
stopped and he was present
in that moment he wasn't so consumed
about the future
that he missed a moment that was right
in front of
his own eyes what do you worry about
when your mind goes to that place maybe
at night
you're having a hard time sleeping what
do you worry about
chances are it's not a bad thing it may
be our families
the well-being of our kids how we're
going to get our bills paid in the
future
maybe something going on at work can any
one of you
by worrying add a single hour to your
life in other words can any one of you
by obsessing over what you have no
control over
influence what you have no control over
no
you can't that is a recipe for stress
when i try to take control of something
that i don't actually have
responsibility for then that is a recipe
for stress
in our lives he says therefore
in light of all of that that we've
talked about do not worry about
tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about
itself
each day has enough trouble of its own
in other words today needs my best
today needs my focus today needs
everything i've got
i need to be my best for today because
tomorrow isn't even guaranteed
and it's got plenty of troubles for
there
so he's saying don't let the worries of
tomorrow
rob you of the joy and the focus and the
opportunity
of today we can handle one thing
but then one thing takes on two and then
when two things become three one wave
after another
it's enough to make you wonder will i
make it through this storm
paul's answer to that question is profi
is profound and concise he says
the peace of god which surpasses all
understanding
will guard your hearts and minds through
christ jesus
then we can do this we can leave our
situation with god
and he in exchange for our prayers
grants to us
a peace a tranquility that is
beyond our capacity to understand or
explain it it's a supernatural piece
and it really does transcend all logic
it transcends all efforts to explain it
it's a divine calm within a storm you've
experienced it
those days in which you say well i
should be worried but i'm not
or i should be grief-stricken but i'm
okay i should be upset
but i feel comforted
anxiety does come with life but it just
doesn't have to run our lives
all kinds of things can be going on
around us but if we stay in
communication with god
and we continue to lean on him and rely
on him
we can still have his peace that doesn't
mean we have to love the circumstance
that doesn't even mean that it doesn't
hurt
but it does mean that we can have this
special kind of peace
the peace that the world offers is a
peace that only works
when circumstances suit us
but jesus has given us something that's
far
superior to that he's giving us a peace
that really
the best way i know how to say is a
peace that just doesn't make any sense
it's an unreasonable peace
but you honestly can have peace
in the most difficult circumstance
if you really have a depth of
relationship
with god if you're going to live in
peace
it's not going to happen by accident
every day we have opportunities to get
upset
to be offended to live worried life
happens
people get on your nerves unexpected
bills
a family member's in the hospital if you
wait for all your circumstances to calm
down
then you're going to have peace then
you're going to stop worrying
you'll be waiting your whole life god
never promised
that he would keep us from difficulties
he never said that we wouldn't have
storms
but he did say he would give us peace
in the midst of the storms he calls it a
peace
that passes understanding that means
despite what's going on around you you
still have peace
like if i were to ask you to define
peace oftentimes we would say
well peace is the absence of trouble and
that's kind of defies true but that's
defining it in a negative
connotation peace isn't the absence of
anything it is the presence
of someone and it is the work and
ministry of the holy spirit to make the
mysteries of christ
made known to us and man when we're
struggling with anything when you're
troubled with anything in your in our
life and you turn to him
you give it to him repeatedly in prayer
man the prince of peace
will guard your heart and mind in a way
that surpasses understanding you could
be facing
the most difficult news you've ever
received the most difficult circumstance
you've ever walked through yet for some
reason you have peace
in your spirit and god wants us to have
peace
within our hearts that's what he's
provided jesus said
my peace i give unto you not as the
world gives give
unto you let not your heart be troubled
neither let it be afraid
so ask yourself the question when you
don't have peace
when you're nervous and upset about
something when you're having a very
difficult time
with your conscience for example and you
don't know what's happening
what do you do watch this
the only two things you do you go
either to the real thing jesus or you go
to the world's
substitute and the world cannot
substitute
the peace of almighty god in your life
the closer we walk with him the more
peace we're gonna have
your proximity to jesus will always
increase and you and he's in your heart
but i'm talking about walking with jesus
the closer you're walking with jesus the
more peace you will experience
our god is a god of peace our jesus
is the prince of peace and the king of
peace and everything he does
is peace god never uses fear
he always uses peace in our lives
peace is a profoundly important thing in
the life of a believer but satan wants
to keep you from it especially in the
days we're living in now
if you have it he wants to take it from
you if you don't have it he wants to
keep it from you
god will never use anxiety to guide you
and so every single time that god is
guiding you
he will guide you by peace everything
can look right
but you don't have a piece about it
there have been so many times that
if you use reason it everything looks
right
but there's a profound lack of peace the
presence of peace
is profound the lack of peace is
profound
and when god is saying no he just won't
give you peace about it you just
i just don't have a peace but when god
is when you feel a peace especially when
both of you are feeling a peace
that means that god is saying yes when
the devil takes your peace
he's knocked out a critical navigational
instrument from your life
but something about just being before
him oftentimes
there's just power in presence if we'll
run to his presence in the midst of
whatever trouble
comes our way if our first thought might
not be man how can i solve this
how do i fix this who do i call to help
me with this
but if our initial thought is god help
me with this
i trust you god show up in this
isaiah 26 3 says it this way you will
keep in
perfect peace those whose minds are
steadfast because they trust
in you and i'm loving everything about
that perfect
peace when our minds are steadfast when
stuff comes our way if he is our
our first call we're going to phone a
friend and i'm going to turn to him i'm
going to lean on him
rely prop myself up on his word god show
up
in this he'll bring about perfect peace
i'm giving this to you father
and i'm trusting you with this i'm
trusting you with my relationships i'm
trusting you with my job
i'm trusting you with my friends i'm
trusting you with my education
the burden is off of me and now the
burden is on you
peter says cast all your care upon him
faith filled prayer brings peace it says
and the peace that passes
all comprehension when you pray and you
do it with thanksgiving it says
it will guard your mind in your heart
and so the saints of old called it
praying through
how do you know you've prayed enough
when you have peace
if you don't have peace keep praying and
don't just don't just be worried
while you're praying trust god while
you're praying
paul says prayer is critical
to keeping calm in stressed out
situations
prayer is critical to finding peace
when your heart is filled with worry as
a matter of fact it's so important
that paul puts it first on the list
says whatever you do pray
i see maybe paul puts it first because
he understands
that my instinct and my nature
is to not always pray first
my instinct is to worry about it
right my instinct
is to jump in it and handle it myself
prayer doesn't work if you don't
transfer the burden here's what peter
says first peter 5
7 casting all of your care upon him
because he cares for you and your
concept of god
is critical when it comes to prayer and
here's what it means when i come to god
and i pray don't be anxious for anything
that's your choice
anxiety this is what i've learned being
a nervous anxious worrying kind of a
person
it's my choice if i okay so some people
say i don't know how to pray let me let
me teach you how to pray five seconds
i'll teach you how to pray
wake up in the morning make a list of
everything you're worried about at the
top of it right
prayer list i just taught you how to
pray
peace is a precious precious gift
from one person and that's jesus
and nowhere in the bible does it say
there's any other source
that's the source of all genuine peace
no matter what happens
this is why we meet people once in a
while who are going through situations
and circumstances we think
how do they handle that
jesus jesus jesus
jesus jesus is the source
of true genuine lasting peace
you