Choose Faith Over Anxiety
Choose Faith Over Emotions • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
In this series we have been learning about different emotions, how they affect us, and different strategies and tools God has given us to help us live healthier lives. Our goal as Michael has said many times is not that we would ignore or suppress our emotions- we don’t want to use faith as a excuse to stay emotionally immature- but our goal is to see how faith in Christ lays a foundation for us to navigate emotions in order to rule over them, rather than be ruled by our emotions. You can fully experience emotions, but to allow yourself to be overcome by your emotions can devastate so many areas in your life.
Today we’re looking at anxiety.
Anxiety is hot topic right now especially with the younger crowd. When we’re talking about fear or grief, we all know what we’re talking about.
With Anxiety, that word might mean different things to different people… so lets all get on the same page together.
3 related but distinct things we’re talking about: Worry, Anxiousness, Anxiety Disorders
(Both WHAT TO DO YOURSELF, and HOW TO RESPOND TO A FRIEND)
***Disclaimers***
I am not personally an expert, but I have spent lots of time learning… and most of what I’ll be sharing is from actual experts
This is a foundation… you will need more than this one sermon
If you are willing to put in the consistent work over time, your life will be completely unchanged no matter how true my words are (that goes for every single other sermon too by the way....)
Some background on anxiety and how its related to faith:
Anxiety disorders are the highest reported mental health issue in the US with 42.5 million Americans claiming to suffer from this illness. (Mental Health America)
It particularly affects females: 36% of young girls reported being extremely anxious daily.
Sources of anxiety for the new year (heading into 2023):
Personal finances (64%, up from 58% last year).
The uncertainty of 2023 (55% versus 54% last year).
Their physical health (49%, up from 44% last year).
Their mental health (41%, up from 37% last year).
Relationships with friends and family (31%, up from 28% last year).
Job security (27% in both years).
Romantic relationships (26% versus 25% last year).
Keeping their New Year’s resolution (24% both years).
Traveling (21%, down from 29% last year).
When it comes to the church, this topic has been handled poorly in the past:
There’s been a strong sense of shame involved with all forms of anxiety and other mental disorders. People say things like:
“don’t be anxious” “You need to have more faith” “If you would just pray more…”
When anxiety is not handled well (Particularly by spiritual leaders… which could include you as a follower of Jesus- you are a spiritual leader to your friends), it becomes like a feedback loop:
Feeling anxiety and I go to a friend, they don’t respond well, then I feel shame which leads to more anxiety, which leads to more shame.
When you get stuck in that feedback loop of anxiety and shame, where can you go? It can be debilitating.
To break that cycle, you have to first break one or the other… or both. We will cover that more in depth in a little bit, but before we go any farther lets dive into Scripture and talk about the first category- WORRY
Worry
Mark 4:1-9
What does this have to do with worry you ask? Great question… The disciples asked the same question too.
Mark 4:13-20
Jesus graciously explains this parable. I want us to focus on v.18-19
Jesus gets how worry works, he understands.
Cares of the world… The worry that simply comes with life. That none of us realized we signed up for when we were born.
Are we saving enough? Did i say the right thing to my kid? Does this person at school like me? Did I study enough for this test? Where am I in my career? What the government doing? Which party has more power in the house and senate??
Fill in the blank for you… what are you currently stressed about?
deceitfulness of riches… chasing after wealth is like chasing the wind
Money lies to you- it says that it is the only important thing, and that you don’t need anything else… Jesus says don’t be deceived.
desires for other things… Desire for things other than the Word of God, other than Christ
approval, status, control, comfort (just to name a few)
What is the result of worry “entering in and choking” the word like thorns?
It proves unfruitful… meaning it has no effect on your life.
Also it means you have no spiritual effect on other people’s lives.
The word of Christ is meant to be first in your life, but not in a way that you escape the reality of all the situations we mentioned above. The word of God doesn’t lead you to ignore these things...
God’s Word is meant to transform you and give you peace in the midst of these things, but worry can sneak in and before you know it, worry is directing every decision you make rather than Christ.
Your fear of failure, your desire for control, your reaction to the stressful situations all around you… how are you possibly able to let something like God’s word or Church community transform you from the inside when you have all of these important things you need to accomplish??
Sometimes it feels like we’re trying to spin so many plates and keep them all up and if we don’t do everything right then it will all come crashing down and shatter into a million pieces.
“It is easy to think we have control; that if we do the right things, never giving up, never stopping, go go go, that we can make [everything] happen. We can’t. It’s when we give everything over to God that we can receive peace, and it’s when we trust Him that we can rest.
Realizing that we can’t make [everything] happen and then taking that trust in God to another level, is priceless.” - Joyce
Have you ever seen kids who go to take a picture with the Harlem Globetrotters?? They think they’re the ones spinning the basketball on their finger.... Can the 4 year old who can’t even tie his shoes yet spin a ball on his finger like Mike? It’s not the kid!!
The Harlem Globetrotters visited kids in the hospital - this is such a great picture!!
When we worry about everything happening in our life, it’s because we are deceived into thinking that both everything good in our life, and everything stressful in our life falls exclusively on our shoulder.
That is NOT true. GOD holds our life together. The Father is with us through the Holy Spirit, The LORD MOST HIGH is going before us, and His Word wants to work to transform us from the inside so that even if our situation doesn’t change, WE ARE CHANGED. We have a renewed perspective that allows us to take our fears and worries to God and empty our hands of everything we try to hold together, so that we can receive His peace.
This is a spiritual issue, but one practical thing that will help with this comes from Psalm 92:2
Don’t just hear this and say “well isn’t that special” Thats beautiful and move on.... let your heart be good soil, actually HEAR and HEED this. DO THIS
Declare your steadfast love in the morning: Before you rush off to start your day, remind yourself of God’s promise that He is always with you and that He goes before you.
Declare you faithfulness by night: Before you lay your head on the pillow, look back and reflect on specific situations God was faithful that day. Maybe how he helped calm your emotions when they started to bubble up, or God gave you the right words to say, or he caused you to drive behind a slow person when there was a police officer up ahead… he saved you a $100 ticket,
If you look for God’s hand in your life, you will find it all over the place. Let that rhythm build in your life.
Worry like this is a doorway to something deeper if it goes unchecked early on. This next one will take even more work to heal and
Anxiousness
When worry develops into anxiety or anxiousness its no longer just a mental thing- it becomes a physical thing.
Your body will start to have a physiological response: blood pressure rises, breathing gets more difficult, and your palms get sweaty.
When this situation arises what tends to happen is your thoughts will spiral out of control. Your thoughts lead you rather than you leading your thoughts.
Jennie Allen provides some really helpful guidance in her book “Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts”
She describes this situation like this:
Emotion- Fear of real or perceived threat
Thought- I cannot trust God to take care of my tomorrows
Behavior- resistant to God’s authority
Relationships- controlling and manipulative
Consequence- constant anxiety
But Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take every thought captive in order to make it obedient to Christ. It’s easier said than done, right? I mean, we have over 30,000 thoughts every single day! How are we supposed to take every one of those captive???
There is actually just ONE you have to take captive in this scenario… when your thoughts spiral and your anxiety builds cling to this truth: “You have a choice”
This is how it plays out:
Emotion- Fear of real or perceived threat
I CHOOSE TO SURRENDER (TO GOD- Remember, He holds your life together)
Thought- God is in control of every day of my life
Behavior- submitted to Gods authority
Relationships- present and open
Consequence- unafraid
Over time you start to operate from a place of peace because in that moment when your emotions took over and you realized your thoughts are spiraling out of control, you chose to take 1 thought captive, to cling to 1 TRUTH. In that moment, you have to remind yourself of TRUTH
Again, scripture is relevant here, look at what Paul says… this isn’t just fluff and rainbows and butterflies… this is a battle strategy to rule over our emotions rather than being conquered by them
Philippians 4:4-9
In the moment of anxiety, remind yourself that God is near… you aren’t stranded.
Here’s the 2 application points, the battle strategy, for this category of Anxiety.
Comes from the Incomplete Guide handout:
Inflammatory vs. Extinguishing Thinking
TRUE: Pause, and notice your surroundings, take inventory of your life. Are your thoughts accurate? Or can you spot holes in your emotional logic?
When we have strong feelings, as humans we often justify (fortify) those feelings with thoughts/beliefs. For example, if I’m mad that my friend ate my last cookie, I say things in my head like : “what a jerk - who does that!” “what else will they steal?” “I’d never do that to a friend” “that was the best cookie ever, and now I’ll never experience it” “I’m not going to just let it go!” etc.
As you can see, these thoughts all support being mad and offended. They are examples of “inflammatory thinking.”
In order to get past being mad, I need to add some “extinguishing thinking” like: “it was just a cookie” “yeah, I’ve done crap like that to my friends too.” “I could do violence or forgive. Hmmm. I guess I’ll forgive.”
When a person is feeling [Anxious] depressed, they tend to think about all the thoughts and beliefs which support their emotional experience (inflammatory thinking). It can be helpful to add thoughts and beliefs which are true, but not in support of what [Anxiety] depression is whispering them. One possible way to do this is to write on one side of paper the things [Anxiety] depression is saying. Then, write on the other side, the things that can be believed which are not what [Anxiety] depression is saying, but what I would rather believe - or what [peace] hope would say (extinguishing thinking).
2. Holy Name Repetition
Honorable, Right, Pure, lovely, Good repute, Excellent and worthy of praise
God is all of these things… Explore some of the holy names of God and what they mean. Write down 3 to 5 favorites. Then recite each of them 5 times OUT LOUD. Do this 3 times a day. (For example, in his book Jason Wilson primarily calls God “The Most High”… how does that change your view of God? What new perspective does that bring? His sovereignty, His power, His boldness, the courage He gives us)
Anxiety Disorders:
Generalized anxiety disorder or GAD is the most common anxiety disorder. This is diagnosed after a person has anxiety (like the second category) but with little to provoke it, occuring most days for a span of at least six months.
Symptoms: Feeling restless or on-edge, Feeling fatigued, often Difficulty focusing, Irritability, Excessive feelings of worry or dread that are difficult to control, Difficulty with sleeping
One way anxiety disorders often manifest or show up in a persons life is in:
Panic Disorders- unexpected and repeated panic attacks.
People with panic attacks may try to avoid situations or constantly worry about when the next panic attack may happen. Symptoms of a panic attack include:
Heart palpitations or increased heart rate, Sweating or chills, Shaking, trembling, Shortness of breath, Sense of terror, Feeling a loss of control
Panic attacks are debilitating… here’s why:
Anxiety in this context creates a physiological or psychosomatic response, fight, flight, or freeze - when the reality doesn’t match:
For example
bear chase = appropriate response
Not saying bye to a friend before they left = not appropriate response
It can be a result of OVER-anticipation of a bad situation
What’s really encouraging, and what can help defeat the shame cycle:
That Fight or flight response, that feeling of anxiousness isn’t inherently bad, our flight or flight response was given to us by God for our safety! It’s a good thing we have it!
But in the context of our broken sinful world, the fight or flight can be provoked or overstimulated when that response is not warranted by your present reality
Application- battle strategy:
1) Breathe
The easiest tool to help a person battling anxiety is deep breathing. Our alarm system which anxiety highjacks is called our fight or flight mechanism. It’s also called the sympathetic nervous system. Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps us calm down.
Probably the simplest and most “accessible” helpful breathing technique is called “combat breathing,” which is used in situations where stress reduction is critical. Simply inhale deeply for 4-5 seconds. Hold for 4 seconds. Exhale for 4 seconds. (Through the nose is good if you can do it.)
2) Anxiety doesn’t get a vote
Don’t give anxiety a vote. If anxiety had its way, it would make us live in a shoebox and never come out. Consider what you would choose if anxiety wasn’t whispering in your ear. Then, do that! Anxiety might not leave you alone when you do this. So, work to ignore that anxiety just hijacked the alarm in your body and brain. If you take back some territory that anxiety has restricted for you, anxiety might become weaker. The opposite is true as well (generally). When we give anxiety a vote and limit ourself, anxiety grows and wants to take more territory from our life.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Our enemy is not the person “who gives us anxiety” or the situation we dread… our enemy is spiritual and is using anxiety to keep you locked up
3) Take care of body and mind (Big 3)
SLEEP (Teens 8-10 hours, don’t be on your phone in bed!!!!)
FOOD (brain runs on nutrients, good food, multivitamin)
EXERCISE (improved confidence, mental clarity, improved energy levels)
All of these need consistency, it will likely be after few weeks that you will see the improvement… but it is WORTH it.
Don’t give in and settle to let the enemy hijack your emotions. Fight for your life and be consistent with these
4) Seek a Christian Therapist
Someone who is certified, who can help implement Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or another proven practice-
Overall application:
These applications are not limited to each category… all of them will help, but as anxiety has gotten a stronger hold in your life, it will take a stronger and more consistent battle plan to fight your way back to ruling over your emotions rather than being ruled by them.
3 resources:
Incomplete Guide - Greg Schad (Not just for teens)
Get out of your head - Jennie Allen (Not just for women)
Battle Cry - Jason Wilson (Not just for men)
CLOSING
PRAYER AND COMMUNITY ARE THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL OF THIS
Shame is defeated when you come to understand that it’s not only just okay that you can’t overcome these things on your own… but that the only way to overcome them is with the help of others.
You cannot do this alone… it takes at least 3: You, The TRIUNE God, and someone else.
Daily asking God for His strength and for his Spirit’s life-giving renewal is the foundation.
You need someone else to Know your struggle, walk with you in it, and be there to remind you of the TRUTH.
And YOU have to be in it (and if you’re the friend, they have to be in it- you can’t outwork them).
Seek out healthy community… you become the average of your 5 closest friends. If none of your friends are healthy you won’t be able to carry the weight by yourself. You have to be intentional about seeking wise, healthy, spiritually mature friends.
Barna:
As a friend...
Over half of respondents feel connected to global events but only 1 in 3 say they feel deeply cared for by those around them...
step up and show you care… be present, ask, listen, make them feel seen, known, loved
Greg Schad - The Incomplete Guide to Helping Teenagers Battle Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety doesn’t get a vote
Don’t give anxiety a vote. If anxiety had its way, it would make us live in a shoebox and never come out. Consider what you would choose if anxiety wasn’t whispering in your ear. Then, do that! Anxiety might not leave you alone when you do this. So, work to ignore that anxiety just highjacked the alarm in your body and brain. If you take back some territory that anxiety has restricted for you, anxiety might become weaker. The opposite is true as well (generally). When we give anxiety a vote and limit ourself, anxiety grows and wants to take more territory from our life.
Extinguishing thinking VS Inflammatory thinking
When we have strong feelings, as humans we often justify (fortify) those feelings with thoughts/beliefs. For example, if I’m mad that my friend ate my last cookie, I say things in my head like : “what a jerk - who does that!” “what else will they steal?” “I’d never do that to a friend” “that was the best cookie ever, and now I’ll never experience it” “I’m not going to just let it go!” etc.
As you can see, these thoughts all support being mad and offended. They are examples of “inflammatory thinking.”
In order to get past being mad, I need to add some “extinguishing thinking” like: “it was just a cookie” “yeah, I’ve done crap like that to my friends too.” “I could do violence or forgive. Hmmm. I guess I’ll forgive.”
When a person is feeling depressed, they tend to think about all the thoughts and beliefs which support their emotional experience (inflammatory thinking). It can be helpful to add thoughts and beliefs which are true, but not in support of what depression is whispering them. One possible way to do this is to write on one side of paper the things depression is saying. Then, write on the other side, the things that can be believed which are not what depression is saying, but what I would rather believe - or what hope would say (extinguishing thinking).
Remember, we can’t lie inside our head to make ourself feel better. So, if the positives are TOO positive, it’s not helpful. For example, if I were to write down “life is wonderful,” well, it might just be too unbelievable. But if I wrote down, “it’s possible that life could get better someday,” well, I could maybe believe that.
Holy name repetition
This is a fun one! Explore some of the holy names of God and what they mean. Write down 3 to 5 favorites. Then recite each of them 5 times OUT LOUD. Do this 3 times a day. (For example, in his book Jason Wilson primarily calls God “The Most High”… how does that change your view of God? What new perspective does that bring? His sovereignty, His power, His boldness, the courage He gives us)
Also, another version is to write down 3 phrases of praise about God - who He is. Like, “Lord God of all creation, You are mighty and worthy to be praised!” Then recite all 3 of these out loud 3 times a day. Sure, this seems like no biggie, but if done every day for 30 days, depression is lessened for many people.
Jennie Allen - Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
Every lie we believe fits into 3 categories… and they attack the very character of God.
I’m helpless (WE HAVE THE HELPER; THE HOLY SPIRIT)
I’m worthless (JESUS PAID EVERYTHING FOR YOU)
I’m unlovable (THE FATHER ADOPTED YOU INTO HIS ETERNAL FAMILY)
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
“Take every thought captive” easier said than done… but it must be done in order to have any result in your life. Anything good will take consistency over time- if you’re unwilling to commit for the long haul there’s nothing I or anyone else is going to say that will help you.
THE THOUGHT WE MUST TAKE CAPTIVE- that we grab onto every time we start to feel the spiral is this:
I have a choice (set your mind on the things of the Spirit; have the mind of Christ)
The problem is “we don’t simply need our spiraling thoughts to stop; we need our minds to be redeemed” (p. 56)
Emotion- Thought- Behavior- Relationships- Consequence
Spiral UP on p. 111
Jason Wilson - Battle Cry
You were not created to live a stress free life but to be a light in the dark (Matt. 5:14-16)
your perception of God needs to be bigger than the storm you’re facing. Then, you will have peace within the storm. This is the whole reason why God sent the Holy Spirit, so that we could experience His peace in the midst of a storm.
Before bed:
Reflect - turbulent things that have shaken your soul
Release - prayer and meditation, give these cares to the Most High
Reset - now having given those over to Him, reset your mind on what matters (His presence, His character, your purpose, etc.)
Rest - a byproduct of the Lord’s peace (have you ever slept, but still feel anxious and weary… maybe a particular # of hours of sleep is only a part of why you are weary)
Shalach Meditation
Sit in not-so comfortable position, Breath deeply (inhale through mouth, hold 3 seconds, release slowly)
1) The Winds of Worry; you are not alone
2) The Earthquake; Do not surrender because this war must be waged
3) The Fire; release the root issues to the Most High one by one, pray for God to go to battle for you
4) The Still Small Voice of the Lord; continue breathing and be patient for the Lord’s response, write down what he says to you
Sleep, Shalach, Speak, Say No, Seek Fun
Sometimes it feels like we’re trying to spin so many plates and keep them all up and if we don’t do everything right then it will all come crashing down and shatter into a million pieces.
“It is easy to think we have control; that if we do the right things, never giving up, never stopping, go go go, that we can make healing happen. We can’t. It’s when we give everything over to God that we can receive peace, and it’s when we trust Him that we can rest. Realizing that we can’t make healing happen, then taking that trust to another level, is priceless.” - Joyce
Have you ever seen kids who go to take a picture with the Harlem Globetrodders?? They think they’re the ones spinning the basketball on their finger.... Can the 4 year old who can’t even tie his shoes yet spin a ball on his finger like Mike? It’s not the kid!!
The Harlem Globetrotters visited kids in the hospital - this is such a great picture!!
Shame is defeated when you come to understand that it’s not only just okay that you can’t overcome these things on your own… but that the only way to overcome them is with the help of others.
You cannot do this alone… it takes at least 3: You, The TRIUNE God, and someone else.
Daily asking God for His strength and for his Spirit’s life-giving renewal is the foundation.
You need someone else to Know your struggle, walk with you in it, and be there to remind you of the TRUTH.
And YOU have to be in it (and if you’re the friend, they have to be in it- you can’t outwork them).
Seek out healthy community… you become the average of your 5 closest friends. If none of your friends are healthy you won’t be able to carry the weight by yourself. You have to be intentional about seeking wise, healthy, spiritually mature friends.
Anxiety in this context creates a physiological or psychosomatic response, fight, flight, or freeze (fka fight or flight) - when the reality doesn’t match:
For example
bear chase = appropriate response
Not saying bye to a friend before they left = not appropriate response
What’s really encouraging:
That Fight or flight response, that feeling of anxiousness isn’t inherently bad, our flight or flight response was given to us by God for our safetyIn the context of our broken sinful world, the fight or flight can be [overstimulated]Incongruent to your reality, or over-anticipation
The Lexham English Bible Chapter 12
Anxiety in the heart of a man will weigh him down,
but a good word will cheer him.
The Lexham English Bible (Chapter 4)
The Parable of the Sower Interpreted13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear it,* immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 And these are like the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then when* affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and* choke the word and it becomes unproductive. 20 And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive it* and bear fruit—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.”
Philippians 4:4–9 (LEB)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be made known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And the things which you have learned and received and heard about and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or reap or gather produce into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are? 27 And who among you, by being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, 29 but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. 30 But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, although it is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not do so much more for you, you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?,’ 32 for the pagans seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, because tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.