It's 2:30 in the morning and you cannot sleep
You roll from one side to the other you pound your pillow nothing helps everyone else sleeps
but not you and so it's 2:30 in the morning it becomes 3:30 and you still haven't slept
And anxiety begins to have its way with you another hour passes
You cover your head with a pillow you feel like crying what a mess
What does all this anxiety mean all this insecurity all this trepidation all this
worry all this restlessness what does it mean well it means simply this you are a human being
You're not stupid you're not emotionally underdeveloped you're not immature
Your parents didn't fail you it doesn't mean you failed them
And this is important it does not mean you're not a Christian
Christians battle anxiety Jesus did in the garden of gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion
he prayed for the cup of suffering to be taken away for him and he prayed with such
ferocity that that the capillaries burst and rivolets of of crimson rolled down his face
Jesus battled anxiety he faced fears but he fought through his fears and surrendered them to God
and fulfilled his mission and anxiety did not win
and such is God's plan for you anxiety comes with life but it doesn't have to dominate your life
God's plan for you is not a life that is drenched in anxiety it is his will that you
and I learn to live a life that is characterized by calm and not chaos by peace and not panic
You ever felt nearly swamped in your life like I'm still showing up but barely
I'm making it and I'm smiling but nobody knows what's really behind
this smile the things I think about some days I just want to run away from it all
I want to suggest something to you today about the storms of anxiety in your life and the waves
and the winds that are blowing in your life because man the winds will blow they will blow
absolutely and the waves will break and they will crash no doubt about it
There are some things that you're afraid of that make no sense from heaven's perspective
There are some things that are causing you to shut down they're paralyzing you that are senseless
When you put it in the context of who God is in you
and what you mean to him and he says I want you to train your your heart to be anxious for nothing
If you're following after God's purpose you got no reason to ever be anxious be anxious for
nothing how can some can somebody really live a life in which they're anxious for nothing
Do not let yourself be caught in a state of perpetual anxiety that's what he's saying
It's impossible to lead a life free of anxiety but we can discover a life that is void of
perpetual anxiety anxiety comes with life but it does not have to dominate
our lives you see anxiety depression and unhappiness they all come from a sense
of powerlessness they all come from a sense of powerlessness so when you're powerless you feel
anxious when you're powerless you feel depressed when you're powerless you feel unhappy so
the the idea that that you're powerless over your debts powerless over the sentence powerless over
the battle that somehow it's up to you to try to make it happen that will bring you sadness it will
bring you anxiety it will bring you so we only get anxious about something because we're not certain
about what the outcome is going to be why would you be anxious about something you're sure about
You know when you're rooting for your favorite team when it's live and it's happening and they're
and the game is really close and it's down to the last minute you get anxious about it it's just an
example that that just shows how our emotions operate you understand the anxiety when you when
when it's close and when it's on the edge because you're not sure but let me ask you something
if you already know and if you're watching you would have no anxiety why because you already
know the outcome right see you have no fear and no anxiety when you know the outcome well the outcome
of whatever your need is is my God shall supply it so when you know the outcome anxiety leaves you
There's a pathway out of the valley of fret and God has used the apostle Paul to sketch the map
In this passage from Philippians chapter 4 verses 4 through 8 rejoice in the Lord always
again I will say rejoice let your gentleness be made known to all men the Lord is at hand
be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus a person would be hard-pressed to find a
passage more practical and applicable to our day and age wouldn't you agree
So what can we do Paul lists here four helpful ideas for winning the war on worry
and if you want to move from chaos into calm consider what Paul says first celebrate
celebrate God's goodness rejoice in the Lord always the apostle writes with chains
dangling from that roman jail cell rejoice in the Lord always he writes with no penny
in his pocket and perhaps the sound of the footsteps of the executioner in the hallway
Rejoice in the Lord always he writes beneath the shadow of Nero and the threat to the church
He says not just rejoice in the Lord always his point is don't meditate on the mess
The more you stare at the problem the bigger it gets
The more you stare at the problem the bigger it gets so when you have a problem lift up your eyes
and rejoice in the Lord the minute the anxiety comes rather than giving in to the anxiety you
lift up your eyes and you rejoice in the Lord this was the counsel of the Psalmist he said I will
lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help my help comes from the Lord who made heaven
and earth do you see the intentionality in those words I will lift up my eyes this was the decision
that the Psalmist made the Apostle Peter is a testimony to this you remember how
when the storm struck the sea of galilee he knew what 10-foot waves could do to a fishing boat
And Peter cried out lord if it's really you then command me to come to you on the water and Jesus
said come and Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus but when Peter saw the wind
and the waves he became afraid and he began to what sink as long as he kept his eyes on Christ
he was able to do the impossible but when he saw the wind and the waves when he turned his gaze
away from Christ he began to sink if today you feel like you're sinking or the next time you
feel like you're sinking lift up your eyes set your gaze on Christ rejoice in the Lord rejoice
in his sovereignty is God greater than your problem has God ever faced this problem before
does God have solutions you've not thought of has God got you through these types of things before
does God have a good track record is God strong is God sovereign is God still on the throne is he
over all see how you lift that up you're rejoicing in the Lord you're lifting your mind away from
the problems and you're setting your mind on the one who can solve it do not meditate on the mess
so you rejoice that's what it means to rejoice in the Lord oh I've got a great God
I've got a wonderful father I rejoice in the Lord and then the Apostle says having done that you'll
be ready to ask God for help you've calmed yourself down now you ask God for help let
your requests be made known to God you see fear triggers either despair or prayer so choose wisely
God said call on me in the day of trouble Jesus said ask and it will be given to you seek and
you will find knock and the door will be opened to you the path to peace is always paved with prayer
that's why the devil doesn't want you to pray
The path to peace is always paved with prayer. The enemy satan would love to shut down your
ability to pray in faith when you pray and you take a promise of God and you declare
it over your life in whatever area okay the bible says to believe you have received it
worry does not believe that anxiety does not believe that the cares of this world do not
believe that and the enemy will attack anything that you stand in faith for and he would love even
if in your everyday life for you to start worrying about things that you never worried about before
When you offer a request to God do you tell God now God I'm just going to stay around till you
get it fixed if you need my advice I'm going to be putting you on the clock I'm going to check
in with you no you leave you're concern with your Heavenly Father and consequently where that
anxiety has gone you can now place gratitude gratitude look what the Apostle says he says
in everything by prayer and supplication with what thanksgiving
thanksgiving anxiety and gratitude cannot share the same heart test me on that try it sometime
The next time you're anxious begin to make a list of things for which you're grateful
because anxiety and gratitude refuse to share the same heart so you leave your concerns with
him you fill your heart with gratitude and then lastly meditate on good things don't let anxious
negative thoughts take over your mind you cannot control your circumstances but you can control
how you think about them
Peace comes from a stream of thinking from a stream of thinking because you could be a
Christian be born again and on your way to heaven but have no peace why because
of what you're thinking because of what you're meditating on because of what you're dwelling
on what you're focusing on what's going through your ear you know in between your ears what's
going on in your head in between your ears listen this is why so many Christians fail
is because they're trying to obtain and struggling for a victory that Jesus has already given you see
if for example if you think about one of the things he promised he would do for you is it says
my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory if your mind is constantly on
the fact that God will supply you will have peace so you could have all the money you need
and not have peace but you could you could have an empty bank account and have peace because you
believe the promise that he will supply you see the peace doesn't come from the money in
your account the peace comes from your thought and your mind focused on what God said he would
do and your confidence that he will do it because he's done everything else that he said he would do
Some years ago I wrote this in a journal I read it quite often
Today I will live today yesterday has passed tomorrow is not yet I'm left with today
So today I will live today relive yesterday no I will learn from it I will seek mercy for it
I will take joy in it but I won't live in it the sun has set on yesterday
the sun has yet to rise on tomorrow worry about the future
to what gain it deserves a glance and nothing more I can't change tomorrow until tomorrow
Today I will live today I will face today's challenges with today's strength I will
dance today's waltz with today's music I will celebrate today's opportunities with today's hope
today may I laugh listen learn and love and if tomorrow comes may I do it again
The next time that anxiety awakens you at 2:30 in the morning
Would you believe what I'm suggesting to you and that is it is not God's will that you lead a life
of perpetual anxiety that your heavenly father will help you he will help you pull out the roots
of your anxiety he will help you deal with the fears that face you