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Anxious For Nothing | Max Lucado
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[Applause]
i love your pastor
you do too
and i love this church
may god's richest blessings to be upon you
you
it's a great great honor i bring you
greetings from san antonio texas
texas
i've been there since uh 1988
and they're telling me that as i get
older my sermons
are getting longer
in fact
just a few weeks ago a gentleman got up
right in the middle of one of my sermons
and he started walking out
can you believe that
i said hey where are you going
he said well i'm going to get a haircut
i said well why didn't you get one
before you came in he said i didn't need
one before i came in [Applause]
we're not too bright down there in south texas
texas
i told the church a few well it's been a
few years ago i told the church i won't
be hanging around after the service
today because i'm going to catch a
flight i'm going to uh manhattan
so as soon as the sermon was over i
hurried out went to the parking lot
one of our ladies at the church chased
me down
and she said pastor did you say you're
going to manhattan i said i did
she said could you say hello to my son
while you're there
and i said
it's a short trip and that's a big city
give me his contact information let's
see what happens she said that's the problem
problem
we don't
we don't know where he is
we've lost contact with him
i said well then how can i say hello to
him she said well i'm thinking you might
just bump into him
i said that's not gonna happen
you don't just bump into somebody she
said you never know keep an eye out for
a guy his name is john dunn
i said i'm not going to just run into
somebody named john dunn she said you
never know keep an eye out
walking down a main thoroughfare and
over the entryway to a building were the words
words
done in bradstreet
and i thought that guy's name was
john dunn
so i walked in
i went up to the receptionist
and i said
ma'am can you tell me
do you have a john here [Laughter]
[Laughter]
she said we do down the hall first door
to the right
so i went down the hall and there was a
i walked through the door and there was
a gentleman stepping out of the stall
he said i am
you didn't like that joke did you
so these three pastors are sitting in a
something about the mood at the moment
caused one of them to say
but i gotta tell you brothers
i have a gambling problem
in fact
a lot of the church money i've lost gambling
gambling
the second pastor said
said well
well
as long as we're confessing
i've got a bit of a
drinking problem
nobody knows about it but
sometimes those trips i tell the church
i'm going to study wow
wow
those two pastors wait for the third to
speak up
but he doesn't say anything
he just sits there fishing
finally they looked to him and said pastor
pastor
we're confessing our sins
anything you want to get off the chest
he said well i will say this
i struggle a lot with gossip and i can't
wait to get off this boat [Applause]
we are really enjoying being here and
god's richest blessings on the campus
can i ask your indulgence on something i
would typically when i go speak at a
church shake as many hands pray with as
many people as possible but you know
what happened to me two weeks ago
i came down with shingles and this is
not a joke
have you ever heard of shingles does
that happen in indiana
boy it sure happened in texas
and i got to tell you i've got enough
juice to get me through the sermon but i
got a hydrocodone waiting on me in the
hotel room
so if you'll forgive me as soon as we're
done i'll just slip out okay
lord jesus have mercy upon us now as we
open our hearts
as we open your word
let your blessings please be upon pastor
steve and sandy
what beautiful wonderful hearts what a
great work they do and have done
forgive our speaker
his sins are many
help us to see jesus
just jesus
through jesus we pray
and all god's people said
it's 2 30 in the morning and you can't sleep
sleep
you toss and you turn you pound your
pillow you adjust the blankets you roll
to this side and then the other nothing works
works
everyone else leaps
your spouse has taken up residence in
dream land
the dog is curled up at
the foot of the bed everyone else sleeps
but you
in six hours you'll be walking into a
new job new office new chapter new
season new world you'll be the rookie
on the sales team
you're wondering if you made the right decision
decision
the hours are going to be long the
competition is severe
besides you're 23 years old right out of
college starting your first job you're
33 years old two kids to feed in the
family to care for you're 43 years old
latest victim of downsizing 53 years old
not the ideal age to change careers
you're 63 years old what happened to
retirement plans and time with the
grandkids and here you are starting over
regardless of the age
the questions fall like hailstones
will i make enough money will i make any
friends well i have a cubicle well i'll
be able to learn the software program
the sales pitch
while i'll be able to find my way to the bathroom
bathroom
thoughts rage through your mind like a
like a tornado through a kansas wheat
field suddenly you feel a pain in your
neck and a new strand of anxiety takes
over oh no it's it's cancer
just like granddad
i'm gonna have to have chemo how will i
endure chemo and a new job will the
your mind is restless
the only light in your room are the lights
lights
that come from that clock that tells you
every minute is passing with
less and less of a chance of getting a
good night's sleep you cover your head
with a pillow and you feel like crying
what does all this anxiety mean
all this trepidation
all this restlessness all this
insecurity what does it mean
simply this
it doesn't mean you're emotionally underdeveloped
underdeveloped
it doesn't mean you're stupid
doesn't mean you're demon possessed
doesn't mean you're a failure
doesn't mean that your parents failed
you or vice versa and this is important
it doesn't mean you're you're not a
christian christians battle anxiety
jesus battled anxiety for heaven's sake
in the garden of gethsemane he prayed
three times that he would be delivered
from the cup he was about to be given
his heart pumped with such ferocity that
the capillaries broke and rivolets of
crimson streaked down his face he was he
was anxious
but he didn't stay anxious
he entrusted his fears to his heavenly father
father
and he completed his mission
with faith and he will help you do likewise
there is a pathway out of the valley of fret
fret
and god used the pen of the apostle paul
to sketch the map
rejoice in the lord always he wrote again
again
i will say rejoice
let your gentleness be 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 your minds
through christ jesus finally
finally
brethren whatever things are true
whatever things are noble whatever
things are just whatever things are pure
whatever things are lovely whatever
things are of good report if there is
any virtue if there's anything
praiseworthy meditate on these things
a person would be hard pressed to find
the passage of scripture more practical
and relevant to this day and age would
americans don't agree on much these days
that's why we were surprised a couple of
months ago when according to a usa today
survey conducted at the latter part of 2021
2021
9 out of 10 americans agree
that we are having trouble staying
staying sane
it's all we can do to keep our heads on straight
political chaos the pandemic on
on certainty
certainty
about the economy and the future
the journal of the american medical
association cited a study that indicates
an exponential increase in anxiety and
depression people of each generation in
the 20th century were three times more
likely to experience depression and
anxiety than people of preceding
generations three times
how can this be
cars are safer than ever
we regulate food and water and electricity
electricity
gangs do prowl our streets but most of
us don't live under the danger of
imminent attack
yet if worry were an olympic event the
united states would win the gold medal
our college kids are feeling it as well
in a study that involved more than two
hundred thousand incoming freshmen
students reported all-time lows and
overall mental health and emotional
stability one psychologist
robert leahy
pointed out that the average child today
exhibits the same level of anxiety as
the average psychiatric patient of the 1950s
1950s
kids have more toys clothes
opportunities than ever but by the time
they leave home they're wrapped tighter
and we're paying a price for it
to see the consequences of anxiety just
read about half the ailments in any
medical textbook
do not fret wrote the psalmist in psalm
37 and verse 8 it only causes harm amen
amen
arm to our necks
our backs our bowels our jaws
anxiety can twist us into emotional
pretzels it can make our eyes twitch our
blood pressure rise our heads ache and
our armpits sweat
anxiety ain't fun
i certainly don't mean to leave the
impression that anxiety can be waved
away with a simple sermon from a guest preacher
preacher
in fact for some people for many people
god's healing will include the help of
therapy and or medication
and if that
describes you please
please
you're not a second class citizen
let god's ministry come however god ministers
ministers
most of us however
would benefit greatly from a good dollop
of philippians chapter 4 verses 4
through 8. i think this passage from the
book of philippians provides wonderful
spiritual tools for overcoming anxiety
be anxious for nothing wrote the apostle
cut us some slack here paul we want to slay
slay
aren't you asking a lot
how about just be anxious
but the apostle paul doesn't seem to
give us any room to wiggle
be anxious for nothing not a zilch zero
is that what he wrote well not exactly
he wrote this phrase in that active
tense in greek which implies an ongoing
state it's this life of perpetual
anxiety that the apostle paul is walking
us away from he could have written and
we could translate it do not allow
yourselves to be caught in a state of perpetual
perpetual
anxiety the presence of anxiety is
unavoidable but the prison of anxiety is optional
and so the apostle offers here some ideas
ideas
on how to win the war on worry
and to help me remember these ideas i've
turned them into
a handy helpful little acrostic c-a-l-m
c-a-l-m [Music]
[Music]
you want to know how to stay calm
calm
the apostle says first of all celebrate
god's goodness celebrate
celebrate
god's goodness rejoice in the lord
always again i will say rejoice boy he
comes at us with both pistols doesn't he
exclamation points repeating it
rejoicing the lord always again i'll say
rejoice listen to me locato rejoice
rejoice
you want to deal with anxiety don't
meditate on the mess
meditate on your master
it does you no good to ponder your problem
it does you no good to ruminate
on your struggles
rejoice in the lord
the more you look at god the more your
problem is brought down
to its proper size
size
as the psalmist said i will lift up my
eyes into the hills
from whence comes my help my help comes
from the lord
who made the heaven and the earth do you
see the intentionality in the words
i will lift up my eye we get to choose
where we look
we get to choose where we look i will
lift up my eyes unto the hills you gain
nothing by setting your eyes on the problem
problem
but you gain everything by setting your
eyes on the lord was this not the lesson
that the apostle peter learned on the
stormy sea of galilee
he was a fisherman he knew what those
10-foot waves could do to small boats
maybe that's why he volunteered to climb
out of the boat when he saw jesus
walking on water through the storm and
he cried out lord if it's really you
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 sink
as long as his eyes were on the master
he could do the impossible
but when his eyes were on the storm he
sunk like a stone
rejoice in the lord
are you sinking like a stone today
could it be
because you're looking
i wish you could have met my dad
he was a west texas mechanic
in the oil field
shaped like a radiator
block of a guy
had a great laugh
and he had a nightly ritual
that i've never seen imitated by any
other person
first of all he loved
buttermilk and cornbread
is that just a texas thing you've heard
of others
it's not that bad
i'm not into it myself but hey
he loved it and every night
he would meander into the kitchen after
the two boys were in bed after his wife
was in bed he would meander in his tank
top and his long underwear
into the kitchen and there he would pour
himself a glass of buttermilk and he
would crumble up some cornbread and he
would sit there and scoop it out
we lived in a small house three doors
front door back door garage door and he
would then rotate walk through the house
checking all the locks
loudly enough that we could hear the
click click click click click click
and then he would stand in the center of
our small house and he would bellow
the house
dear friend god has brought you here
so he as your heavenly father can tell you
you
you can rest
i know the news says otherwise
i know the paper says otherwise i know
your friends say otherwise but let me
tell you your heavenly father is running
and as you inhale him
you can exhale hope
hope
would you receive that
i believe right now the spirit of the lord
lord
and he just wants you to know the house
is safe
and nothing is going to pass through you
that doesn't first pass through him i
have no inclination to believe that god
loves cornbread
and buttermilk
and he doesn't need to check the doors
indeed he is the door
and nothing will come your way apart
from his permission
the scripture says this in first timothy
chapter 6 and verse 15.
god is the blessed controller of all things
things
the king over all kings
and the master
of all masters
if he sustains all and controls all
don't you think he has authority over
this situation that's keeping you awake
at night
what about his mercy is god's grace
great enough to cover all of your sin
yes there is no condemnation for those
who are in christ jesus you can rejoice
in his sovereignty you can rejoice in
his mercy that's step one
face god before you face your fears
then you'll be ready to number two ask
god for help
the apostle says let your requests be
made known to god fear triggers either
god said call on me in the day of
trouble psalm 50 and verse 15.
jesus said ask and it will be given to
you seek and you will find knock and it
will be open to you there's no
uncertainty in that promise
no perhaps or possibly will jesus states
unflinchingly that when you ask he
listens so ask ask
ask
and when anxiety knocks on the door of
your heart would you say
reduce your request down to a statement
and present your request to your
heavenly father pray like jesus who said
give us this day our daily prayer engage
engage in promise based prayer the
scripture says let us then approach
god's throne of grace with confidence
the path to peace is paved with prayer
the path to peace is paved with prayer
the old testament prophet said put the
lord in remembrance of his promises and
keep not silence
isaiah 62 and verse 6.
god told isaiah and he tells you put me
in remembrance let us contend together
isaiah 43 and verse 26
god commands you
to remind him of his promises
so when you have a problem find a
promise with which you can face your problem
problem
and make a prayer out of it
lord did you not say you would walk me
through the valley of the shadow of
death lord did you not say that you
would walk me through the waters lord
did you not say that you would never
leave me that you would never forsake me
find a promise that fits your problem
and then just build a prayer around it
these prayers touch the heart of your
heavenly father and activate activate
miracles are set into motion
will your prayer the answer to your
prayer come overnight it might
then again it might not
but you will overcome
you will overcome and having done so you
can do this
you can leave your concerns with god
first you celebrate your heavenly father
then you ask the lord for help and then
you leave your concerns with god let god
take charge
let god do what he is so willing to do
guard your hearts and minds through
christ jesus you leave your concerns
with him just leave them with him have
you ever taken something to an appliance
repair shop to be repaired
maybe a toaster or a vacuum cleaner
maybe it quit working and you tried to
fix it but you had no success so you
took it to a specialist you explained
raise your hand if you offered to stay
did you bring a sleeping bag and throw
it out on the floor and say i'll sleep
here and watch you work
you left it with him
the arrangement is uncomplicated you let
him fix it
take your problem
give it to your heavenly father and
leave it with him
leave it with him
it's no longer yours to carry no longer
yours to carry
and when the devil
stirs your memory about that problem say
well you're gonna have to talk to god
about it because i left it with him
raise your right hand please
and repeat after me i hereby
hereby resign
resign
as ruler of the universe
it was never your job anyway
god does not need our help he does not
need our counsel
he does not need
our advice
we leave it with him then
then
knowing that we all of a sudden have all
of this brain space available because
we're not thinking about our problems
anymore all of that space can be occupied
occupied
with gratitude here's what the apostle
says but in everything by prayer and petition
petition
by prayer and supplication
with what thanksgiving
thanksgiving
with thanksgiving
let your requests be banged on
to god did you know that anxiety refuses
did you know
that anxiety
refuses to share the heart with gratitude
gratitude
when anxiety sees thanksgiving walk in
my friend jerry has taught me this
he's 78 years old and he regularly
shoots his age
on the golf course
if i ever do that i'll need to live to
his dear wife ginger battles parkinson's disease
disease
and what should have been a wonderful
season of retirement has been marred by
multiple hospital stays and medication
and struggles many days she cannot keep
her balance
and most days
jerry stays by her side and on the rare
occasion he does get out to play golf he
has to provide a caregiver
but he always has a smile
he always has a joke and he always beats
one day walking down the fairway i said
how do you do it jerry really how do you
do it
i think i'd be bitter
i'd be resentful but you're so
he said well every morning
and i say ginger do you want to sing a hymn
hymn
and every morning she says yes
and i say what do you want to sing
and she says why don't we sing
take a moment and follow jerry's example
take a moment
what blessings have come your way today
what blessings any friends
good health
enough provision to drive a car to come
to church
warm bed and which to sleep do you have
some blessings
as you list your blessings do you not
notice the trepidations begin to slip
out the door
the quickest way to deal with anxiety is gratitude
gratitude gratitude
gratitude
the more grateful
the heart
the less anxious
the soul
as you look at your blessings you will
see anxiety slip out one heartfelt thank
you will suck the oxygen out of the
world of worry
so say it often take your mind off your
burdens and count your blessings
now when you aren't focused on your burdens
burdens
you have sudden availability of some
brain space so use it for gratitude but
then also and then lastly
meditate on good things
just meditate on good things
and the apostle gives us a pretty good
list here it takes up a paragraph
finally brethren
whatever things are true whatever things
are noble whatever things are just
whatever things are pure whatever things
are lovely whatever things are of good
report if there is any virtue if there
is anything praiseworthy
meditate on these things
don't let anxious negative thoughts take
over your mind meditate
meditate
on good things anxious negative thoughts
did you see what i just did a-n-t
a-n-t
a counselor told me that once
he said most people who struggle with
anxiety let those little ants
anxious negative thoughts
just creep into their brain
and take over their thoughts but the
apostle says meditate
meditate on
on
one of the toughest days of my life
found me
in a diner in dalton georgia
i was 19 years old
summer job
i was a thousand miles away from home
and i was spending each night in a
salvation army shelter where the night before
before
an inebriated guy on the bunk above mine
had rolled over and thrown up
if homesickness were water i would have
been soaked to the bone
on the promise of new sites and fast
cash i had taken a job and joined up
with two friends
to sell books door to door
my friends quit and went home during
sales school
i was all alone
so i went out my first day
into the field and i made a discovery
that i wish someone had told me before i
left and that is people don't like
door-to-door salesman
did you already know that
hello i'm max slim
hello i'm max slim
this went on all day and the second day
was not any better
around noon of the second day i
pulled my car into a diner and i took my
bruised ego in and i sat down and i
ordered a hamburger and i felt sorry for myself
myself
as i was paying my bill i spotted a
display of of magnetized rubberized
truisms little slogans maybe you have
won or have seen them you can buy them
and affix them to your refrigerator or
your stove
and there was one that was shaped like a
lemon and as i begin the quote you'll be
able to finish it
the quote said when life gives you a lemon
you have the same little
rubber lemon don't you
i know the slogan is worn out
it's folksy it's corny it's homespun but
somehow in my 19 years i'd never heard
it and i needed to
so i bought that little
thing i took it out to the car and i
have fixed it
to a metal strip on the dashboard of my 1973
1973
and whenever i got discouraged i would
just rub my thumb over
that little rubber lemon
and remind myself
i can make myself miserable
or i can make myself
some lemonade
now you know people still slam doors
and i still wondered what in the world i
was doing so far from home
i was 19. you know i turned 67 a couple
of weeks ago i'm closing in on 50 years
half a century has passed
and much has changed
it does
of course my prospects of a miserable summer
summer
are nothing compared
to some of the lemons that you've been handed
last sunday at church i visited with a
single mom
three kids
pulling at her from every direction
all single-digit age
she hadn't heard from her husband
she said max i can't remember when i've
had a good night's sleep
a few months ago i received a call from a
a
friend a former neighbor of ours
who was about to have to take
the car keys away from her dementia-ridden
dementia-ridden husband
and now he can't drive a car
i need to return a call to a friend
who's going through a divorce
and he is honestly convinced he'll never
be happy again
life still
gives lemons life gives lemons to old
people to young people
life gives lemons to
bad people to good people
life gives lemons to all people life
comes with lemons but you know what my friend
friend
[Applause]
many years ago ago i wrote this resolve
in my journal
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
no
i will learn from it
and i will take joy in it
but i won't live in it
the sun has set on yesterday
yesterday
the sun has yet to rise on tomorrow
worry about the future
to what game
it deserves a glance 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 in love and tomorrow if it comes
in his fine book
who has passed on into heaven
retired episcopalian priest in san antonio
antonio
in that book he tells a story about
growing up in georgia
and as a 12 year old boy his summer job
was to pull stumps out of the ground
the purpose of that was to turn those
stumps into fire kindling
that could be used
used
later in the year
he remembers on one occasion his father
driving off to work as he went out to a
particular stump
and he worked all day on that stump and
he could not get it out of the ground
he used every tool at his disposal and
he pushed and he pulled that he pushed
and he pulled
and he was covered with sweat and
finally his father came home
his father parked his car his father
walked to the field his father walked
over to
bill where bill was working and bill was
just pulling and tugging on that
stump and still couldn't get it out of
the ground
the father sat on another stump
and watched his son work
until finally the father spoke up and
said bill
i think i see your problem
and bill said what
and the father said
you're not using all your strength
oh that
caused bill to erupt
dad i've been working all day
i'm exhausted i've used all my strength
and the father said no you haven't
and the boy said yes i have
and the father said no
for some of you this business of dealing
please forgive me if i'll leave the
impression that it can be dealt with easily
easily
i do not mean to do so
but i do mean to encourage you
who is saying to you i'll help you
in the anxiety that has marked your days
thus far need not mark them from now forward
forward
there is a new day awaiting you my friend
friend
and in the name of jesus christ the king
of kings the miracle worker
we declare over you
you
fresh healing
fresh hope
fresh strength your heavenly father here
to help you strengthen you and to guide you
you
and to lead you
into a life
in which you can honestly say i'm anxious
anxious
for nothing
gracious heavenly father now have your
mercy upon all who hear these words
you be the speaker
and you please do what only you can do
and that is bring healing
from top to bottom
from inside out
do the work you can do please
we declare and pray in the name of jesus christ
christ
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