Be Not Anxious

9/28/2023

There is a lot of irony that I choose to write on this passage this week when I am the one who needed to read it most. This week, I had a test to get my Class A driver’s license for my current job. I was in a panic for the last week over the possibility that I could fail. For those of you who have gotten your class A license, you may know how strict the test can be. If the information you provide on your pre-trip is off by even a little bit, or if you make the smallest driving error, it can be enough to fail you. I felt like my job was on the line based on the results of this test. I was anxious. Thankfully, God was gracious to me, I did pass my test, and I felt like Christian Pilgram from Pilgram’s Progress dropping the unbearable weight off his back. However, it should not have taken me until I passed my test to relieve my anxiety.

I am sure everyone reading has experienced anxiety to varying degrees. Perhaps, you have a loved one who is sick and hospitalized and you don’t know if they are going to get better. Maybe, money has been really tight, gas and groceries keep getting more expensive and your paychecks keep staying the same. I know when I was younger, I had anxiety over whether or not I would ever get married. Then when I did, how would I afford a house? How could I give my kids a Christian education? The lists can go on and on. There are reasons and excuses a mile long for us to be anxiety ridden. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 19.1% of all adult Americans struggle with anxiety, that’s over 40 million people. They call it a disorder. They encourage you to seek treatment (take pills.) What does the Bible have to say about anxiety? What are we to do about it?

The opening section of our passage says “Do not be anxious…” This is the Lord Jesus talking. You know, the one who made you? The one who was there upon the creation of the world. The one who has known every human to ever exist and witnessed every event big and small that has ever occurred from you stubbing your toe, to the holocaust. From you finding $20 in an old pair of pants, to the Reformation. All of it. That Jesus, just commanded you not to be anxious. So how do we address our anxieties then? What if I struggle even to get out of bed in the morning because my anxiety is so bad. If we are to approach this issue biblically, we have to call anxiety for what it is, it is sin. That might seem a little harsh, but what does Jesus call them that worry over everything? “O you of little faith.” Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Southern California says in his book Anxious for Nothing, “When you worry, you are saying in effect, “God, I just don’t think I can trust You.” Worry strikes a blow at the person and character of God.”

We ought not be medicating our sinfulness when Jesus has already given us the cure, that is, himself. His death and resurrection has already bought and paid for all of your sins, including anxiety. If we truly believe that and fully put our trust in him, we can experience freedom. I want to make something clear, if you are currently taking medication for your anxiety and you are convicted by this message, please do not quit cold turkey. Pharmaceutical drugs of that nature mess with your brain and can be dangerous to get off of if not done properly. Please seek professional help to find a plan to get you off those pills.

At the same time, we ought to recognize what Pharmaceuticals are. The word pharmaceutical comes from the Greek word pharmakeia which means drugs, sorcery, or witchcraft. They only times the word is used biblically, it is in reference to sorcery or witchcraft. Modern technology has come up with many medical breakthroughs, however, we must not try to treat sin as though it were some medical condition. It is a condition of our human heart. To try fixing sin with anything other than the work of Jesus Christ is witchcraft. When we read about Saul consulting a medium to bring up Samuel, we think “How could Saul do something like that?” The reality is that we also, out of our little faith in God’s promises, seek wicked forms of healing.

You might be saying, “You don’t know me, I need these pills.” Christian, if we believe the bible, especially the cutesy, Hobby Lobby verses of the Bible, we ought to remember Paul’s words, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 and did you know that only a few verses before that, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Phil 4:6) So when Paul says “all things” one of the things he is talking about explicitly is anxiety. God gives us the strength to overcome it if we only believe. If we only have faith.

You might be saying now, “Okay, but how? What does that look like? How can I be free from this?” Thankfully, in the very same chapter, Paul gives us practical steps to conquering our anxiety. In verses 8 and 9 he says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Instead of dwelling on the negative, we must keep our minds on the good works of Jesus. We must come to him with thankfulness. Thanking him for the oxygen in our lungs, for the beauty of nature, for the abundance of food all around us, for choosing us to exist in a time of humanity that gets to experience cars, the internet, refrigeration, coffee, water skiing, ice cream, beer, movies, and baseball. What a time to be alive. I don’t know how they estimate these things, and they are probably estimating with millions of years of existence, which I don’t believe, but the National Institute of Corrections estimates that there have been approximately 117 billion people to ever exist. Which would imply that 100 billion people or so never got to experience any of those things, at least not at the same time or in the abundance of which we experience them in.

The other thing Paul says is to practice these things. Practice would imply that it is going to take effort for us to kill that anxious dragon that lives in us. It is not something that is just going to vanish into thin air. This is why God portrays his characteristics as armor. Putting on the armor of God means you are preparing for a fight. Our faith is our shield and God’s Word is our sword. God has equipped us with everything we need to kill the sin of anxiety for good. We might stumble and fall at times, that is why we practice. If we practice what is in God’s Word we can truly have peace even amidst our battle with anxiety. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson said this, “My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

It is my encouragement to you today, to trust in God’s promises to you regarding anxiety. He clothes the fields with lilies, and feeds even the birds. You are far more valuable to God than those things. God tells us to seek his kingdom and his righteousness first and then all these things will be added unto you. Trust that he will provide your every need and approach him in thanksgiving for the good things he has done.