Why am I anxious?

Do you ever feel anxious?

Do you feel ill equipped to handle all of the fear and anxiety in your life?

Would you like to have some tools that will prepare your heart and mind for the fight?

We live in an age of “Anxiety and Fear”. It’s marketed to us through everything we see and read today. King David gave us a pattern of how to deal with fear and anxiety and how to overcome the war within. We might think that the worst battles we face are the ones that surround us, but according to David, the greatest battle you will fight is the war that rages within. You have to learn how to win the war within. Would you like a strategy to win the war against anxiety, fear and stress? Yes, you can learn to drive out fear and live in FREEDOM.

King David is the greatest MC (rapper) of all time. The Psalms are divinely inspired to help us search within ourselves. Psalm 139 is a wonderful Psalm as it gives us a picture of God’s all seeing eye, meaning He is watching over our lives at all times, in every given season. He sees our lives with an intimacy that no will else can. In Psalm 139:17- 22, David says, “How precious to me are you thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand-when I awake, I am still with you. If only you God would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.” Now notice in this next scripture there is a shift. Up until now, David is focusing on external factors. Then all of a sudden, he makes a move that we see him make over and over again throughout his life... from dealing with his enemies to the “inner me”. David is about to take responsibility for his own anxiety. He is not going to put it on the economy. He is not going to put it on King Saul who is trying to kill him. He’s not going put it on anyone or anything but himself. In Verse 23, he says, “Search me, God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts.”  SEARCH ME! Those two words will set you free from 90% of the drama in your life! Some of you borrow drama trying to look into other people’s lives. The shift went from his circumstances (these bloodthirsty men and the corruption) and asking God to do something about it to God, Search Me. He realized that nothing changes until I do. “Know MY heart and test ME and know MY anxious thoughts.”

Why are YOU anxious?  Most people are living with anxiety today. We are living in the age of anxiety. It is marketed to us through the TV, radio, internet and social media. Since Satan is the Prince of the Power of the Air, it would make sense that he would use the air waves to instill fear into our hearts. These outlets that we use to get our information engage us using fear tactics so they can sell advertising time often promoting the same drug and pharmaceutical companies that are owned by the same conglomerates that push out the information that is designed to make us anxious. David came to a place where he realized that it’s not about what is happening out there that makes him anxious but it’s what he allows to get into his heart to go undetected and unchecked. He says it is not what is happening around him that is causing the anxiety but how he is thinking about it.

In Psalm 139:24, he says to God, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” When we think something long enough we get stuck and it allows the enemy access into our minds. You see David came to understand that God has 24/7 surveillance on him. He has this same surveillance system over you my friend. God is watching how people treat YOU. God is watching how people talk to YOU. God loves you!

How do your parents like it when someone talks about you? God feels that way about you times 1,000 and He is watching out for you. Why am I anxious if God is watching out for me? Why am I anxious if he has numbered the hairs on my head? Why am I anxious if he promised to supply my every need?

When Philippians 4:6 says not to be anxious, I don’t think it means we can never “feel” anxiety. It means we shouldn’t “stay” anxious. There will be moments in life in which your hands will be shaking...even Joseph Prince gets nervous before he goes out to preach in front of thousands of people. It’s talking about this pervasive, low grade anxiety that stays with us all the time. Even when things are going right you can’t enjoy them because you not expecting the good to last for long. You are looking for the next shoe to drop.

There are several sources we should consider when we are feeling anxious. The first is your INTAKE. How full I am of what. Did you know that you can turn OFF your cell  phone? My friend, you can’t take it ALL in and still have room for the PEACE OF GOD!

When your mind is too full God has nowhere to put His peace. You were not designed to have the entire conversation of the entire human race buzzing on your back pocket! Where did they go on vacation? What party were they invited to? How many awards did their child get? How many promotions have they gotten? God did not design us this way! Of course we are freaking out! Of course our kids are getting depressed and having suicidal thoughts. Of course we are numbing ourselves with drugs and alcohol. The enemy has a shock collar on our back pocket and we don’t even know it. You can’t spend an hour with God each week and lay it over 20 hours of media that is designed to hardwire the way you think. What hope do we have to have PEACE if we don’t make a place for it?

Have you heard the phrase garbage in, garbage out?  We have to be in tuned to what we are watching and what we are listening to. Proverbs 4:23 says the issues of life flow from our heart. The enemy gets access to our hearts through our EYE and EAR gates.

We must also understand that what we don’t take in is just as fatal to our fate as what we do take in. So many people today are on a “spiritual starvation diet” and don’t even know it.

We have faith that we don’t feed therefore we can’t access strength that we possess. You’ve got to get your intake levels up. A good idea is to keep a THOUGHT LOG of what you let in.  Before you can change what you take in you must track what you take in. If you let the enemy in and then pray for God to drive him it creates your own state of mind that you are trying to pray away. You have to ask God to “SEARCH ME”. You have to let God show you, let His eyes see what you are taking in. Some of the people you are around are draining your faith. I know there are some people that you have to be around for periods of time. You gotta put on your SPF 95 with them (spiritual protection) just to be around them.

When was the last time you spent time in God’s Word?  95% of the Apps on your phone are empty calories. Yes you may have mastered Candy Crush but you are weak in the battle. Check your INTAKE.

Is there an IMBALANCE in your life? When you don’t have a clear sense of priority in your life and everything feels urgent it’s a sign that you have not figured out what is important. You are open to everyone’s demands and they all take up equal space and by saying “yes” to those who don’t really matter you are saying “no” to those who really do. By saying “yes” to people who are using you to achieve their own goals now you find yourself unable to give (because you are a limited resource) to the people that God has entrusted into your care the most. So you have to have a sense of balance of what you give weight to. Sometimes we are stressed out because we are giving too much weight to the wrong words and not enough to the right words. Are you giving more weight to the words and opinions of your “friends” on social media than you are to those of Gods?

When God’s word carries more weight in your life than peoples do you are FREE.

99.9 things we worry about simply don’t matter! Do you ever stay up at night worrying about something? Why are you staying up, losing sleep over something God has already worked out? When you give weight to the promises of God, when you give weight to the right things, when you have a clear sense of priority you are okay when people get angry when you say no. Your no is a yes to something you’ve already decided is more important than what any given demand might require. Christ is the solid rock but you must know HOW TO STAND ON THAT ROCK WITH THE RIGHT BALANCE. When there is imbalance in your life the devil will push you around always making you feel unsettled. Once you make up your mind about what does matter and what does not matter you find peace. What doesn’t matter is they think and what does matter is what God knows. Are you ready to get your balance back? If you don’t sort out what is truly important in your life and what is not you will live in a prison of your own indecision. Indecision is a decision.  

Are you overwhelmed with all of the OPTIONS you are faced with today? Each day we are inundated with options! One area that is causing so many people stress are the options in education. When I was growing up went to the school that was closest to your house.  Today, there are endless options! There are public schools, magnet schools, charter schools, private schools, language immersion schools, online schools, Montessori schools and the increasingly popular choice of homeschooling which in itself has a multitude of options!  And then once your child has finished high school they face the choice of where to go to college. There are 5,300 colleges and universities in America! It’s crazy! And we wonder WHY our parents and kids are so stressed out!  

I was in the wireless phone business for over 20 years.  The most lucrative years of my business were when the phone choices were limited.  We had a good, better and a best. Three choices. That’s it. I was taught early on in  sales that if you gave people more than three options you confused them and confusion leads to indecision and procrastination. And television used to consist of three main channels.  Today, you not only have the options of hundreds of channels but countless service providers. It’s too much! Our brains don’t have the space for all of it.

Where do all of these options lead us? Down the road of confusion. And who is the author of confusion? Satan! He knows that confusion leads to anxiety and anxiety leads to destruction. Rather than getting stressed about it we need to seek the Lord’s guidance through prayer. The Holy Spirit is the ONLY ONE who knows where your child should go to college. If you step out and make a wrong choice it’s not the end of the world. The Lord says He will make our crooked path straight.

In order to live without anxiety we must live in INTEGRITY. A lot of time our anxiety is a result of a compromise in our integrity. You can’t have a peaceful heart if you are hiding secrets and feeling like a hypocrite. It’s hard to have a peaceful heart when you have three different SnapChat accounts and the one your parents think is yours is really a decoy. You can’t have peace when you are living your life in so many different pieces.  The word “integrity” means whole. When you have three different “me’s” in any given situation it’s kind of hard to pray the panic away...when your lifestyle is creating it. When you are trying to figure out which mask to wear it’s hard to have peace. So many times, when you are trying to manage so many versions of you, just be honest and bring it all before God and ask Him to search your heart.  Ask Him to help align your life with the real you. You are already accepted and forgiven based on what Jesus did for you at the cross. Now you just need God to help you align your life with the real YOU. “Lord I want to be the highest version of ME, that called ME, that chosen ME, that stable ME, that secure ME. God loves me and I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I am God’s child and He is well pleased with me. I don’t have to be like anyone else.” Just by being the REAL YOU your cortisol levels just dropped.  All of that anger you are holding inside that’s not the real you, not in Christ. The letter “I” is a common denominator in much of our anxiety. Search ME God...your eyes can see. See beneath the surface. The truth of God’s word can enable your heart to transcend your situation. The New Testament says the peace of God will pass all understanding and guard your heart.

Sometimes we can reduce our anxiety by simply shifting our intention.  Rather than thinking “why didn’t she speak to me?” ask yourself "why didn’t I speak to her? You can shift your intention in any interaction. When you step out of the center and ask “how can I serve” something falls off of you. It is the burden of the weight of how you are coming across, the burden of the weight of how you are being perceived, the burden of the weight of what other people are and are not giving you. You’ve got to get out of the center and see things from God’s point of view. Search ME God!

Are you anxious because of the rhythms of life or are you creating more waves than necessary because your eyes are not focused on Jesus? Reclaim your imagination. Take back your most valuable asset. Take back that place that used to be playful that is now so stressed out. Remember that kid that used to make up games? Get back that childlike faith. The devil wants to turn that place God meant to be your playground where you enjoy God to a battleground where you can’t feel or experience Him. When the enemy wants to steal your destiny the first step is to set up strongholds in your imagination. God wants to FREE your mind! Your mind is God’s property. If you are really good at worrying you will be great at worshipping. It’s the same imagination serving the opposite purpose. Worry is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.

We need to reverse the cycle of the way you are thinking about things. Get up in the morning expecting to see the goodness of the Lord! Trust Him! He is watching over YOU! Stop listening to the Fear Cast and turn on the Faith Cast. God has been too good for you to stay anxious. The enemy wants to fight you in isolation. Look at the word ANXIOUS. “I” is in the middle of the word, but it ends in “US”. Many people don’t have the support system to walk in the peace they are praying for. Real change happens when the “I” becomes “US”.

You’ve got to stay surrounded by like minded people to stay at peace. This is why we meet each Wednesday night...to encourage, to lift up and  point each other back to Christ.

Today my friend, ask God today to show you the ways you are thinking that are preventing His peace from flooding your life. God will show you decisions that you need to make and how to make them. When you get into His presence and ingest the pure milk of the word of God, the pure air of worship, and come out of the air of anxiety that the world is suffocating with, you will come into an altitude where you can breathe the grace and peace of God. HE is the name above all names. HE is our peace.  

God Bless You,

Love,

Sherry :-)