Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

I choose these two portions of scripture this morning because this past week, I lost total focus of what God says to us through these wonderful words of peace and comfort.

This entire week was filled with anxiety which resulted in much stress in my life. I ask you to bear with me a few moments here while I explain what I mean.

It all began last Sunday on our way home from church. Actually, I guess I should back up a moment and say that it all began on our way TO church last week.  I don’t know what made me think about it, but halfway here last Sunday I suddenly realized that I left my wallet at home on my nightstand beside my bed.

The moment I thought about it - I didn’t become too concerned because I’ve done things like that before and never encountered a problem, so I just passed it off as forgetfulness and for not taking the time to take inventory before I left the house.  And I figured everything would be ok.

Well, on our way home, I was enjoying time talking with and joking around with my children, and even though I was paying attention to my surroundings as I was driving, I wasn’t paying attention to the speed limits or how fast I was going.

As we got close to our house we crested a small hill and directly on the other side of the hill, there was a police officer sitting in the opposite direction, facing us. I saw him and didn’t pay any mind to him till I looked in my rearview mirror and spotted him turning around and coming up behind us. He turned on his lights and I pulled over thinking he may have got a call and was on his way through.  But, he pulled over behind us and I immediately felt a sense of panic because I knew I didn’t have my wallet with me that contained my driver license.  I also felt a sense of confusion because I had no idea what I may have done wrong.

Well, he came up beside our vehicle and right away I recognized the officer as someone that I know very well.  He approached my window and he asked me if I had any idea why he stopped me, and I told him “No”.

He told me that he clocked me on his radar going 48mph in a 35mph zone.  And he proceeded to ask me for my registration and my driver’s license to which I replied that I did not have my license with me. And I figured I was in a world of trouble and I became anxious and I felt a sense of stress come over me. Well, to make a long story short.  Because that police officer knows me and because I have a spotless driving record here in the state of Maryland, he decided to give me a break.

Instead of issuing a citation for speeding, he gave me a warning for it, and opted to fine me for not having my driver’s license with me.

He called it the lesser of two evils because a citation for speeding would have cost me $176.00 + 2 points on my driving record.  Whereas the fine for not having my license with me was $40.00 and no points on my record and he explained that it wouldn’t even go against my driving record.

That was the first part of my anxiety this past week.

The second part came on Monday when the mail arrived.  For the past month or so now, and due to some unforeseen circumstances, a little while back we’ve managed to get behind on some of our utility accounts – to which I have been trying to work with them to resolve.

A few weeks ago, I thought we had worked out an arrangement to get things caught up. But in among all the junk mail and flyers on Monday were two notices saying that because we owe a past due balance, that our services were scheduled to for terminated this coming Thursday. Which caused even more anxiety – especially after I got on the telephone with them and couldn’t reason with them.

Then on Wednesday, I learned of an untimely and totally unexpected passing of a dear and close family friend.

And Thursday was just a mix of little things that went wrong that just kept my anxiety level up and I was really beginning to feel the effects physically as well as emotionally.

Have you ever had a time in your life when things were so overwhelming that you could not sleep?

Has there been times when you were so preoccupied with life’s problems that you didn't seem to be able to function?

Has there been issues of your life that seem to dominate every waking thought? 

Well, that’s where I was at this past week. Surrounded by worry and anxiety.

Worry and Anxiety are different from Concern and Excitement. You can be excited about something and be thrilled with anticipation.  That is not the same as worry. You can be concerned about something and make plans to address those concerns and that is not the same as anxiety.

It is when our concerns become all-consuming and debilitating that we become anxious.  And it is when we fail to recognize Christ working in our lives, and fail to depend on Him for our needs that we begin to embrace self, and start to feel like we are at our wits end.

Paul understood the natural tendency to become anxious. He knew that anxiety is one of the greatest thieves of joy. And because of this Paul wrote, " Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

And as ashamed to admit it as I am, I have to openly confess that is not where my focus was this past week. Especially once people began to learn of my anxieties. I didn’t openly announce what was taking place in my life to anyone.  But it apparently became obvious through my demeanor and through the way I presented myself toward others that things were not going very well.  And that is when people began to tell me not to worry, not to let myself fall victim to stress? It is so easy for someone to say - yet it is a lot harder to do.

You sometimes feel that the person who is telling you not to worry is the one who doesn't fully comprehend the problem because if they did they would be worried too.

I became so preoccupied with worry, anxiety and stress this past week that my thinking and my ability to function became distorted and my focus on God was clouded.

In Matthew 6 Jesus condemns worry. He says worry is foolish and shows a lack of confidence in the person, character, and ability of God. Listen to the words of Jesus,

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life”

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:25-33

At first glance, it appears that Jesus was just talking about not worrying about clothes or food, but I believe that He was painting a much broader picture and warns us against any kind of worry.

So why is worry wrong? Jesus gives us several reasons.  Because, it puts the focus on the wrong issues. Jesus said, "Is not life more important than food?"

When we worry our perspective gets skewed. We begin to focus on things that are secondary and in the process lose sight of what is really important. Worry distorts our thinking. When we worry we tend to look at situations through a magnifying glass which makes things bigger than they really are. When we worry molehills become mountains.And when we worry, it causes us to lose sight of Who we belong to. Jesus tells us that He is more than capable of taking care of us. He cares for the birds, the flowers, and the animals. When we worry we show that we think that we are less important to God than these things.  We aren't. God will take care of us. Jesus tells us that He knows what we need. And because He knows what we need He will take care of His children.

In another parable about prayer in Matthew 7:9-11 Jesus says,

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

If God knows what we need it should be inconceivable to think that God will not meet those needs if we trust Him rather than our own devices.

When we are anxious and consumed with worry it sometimes shows that we really don't trust God. It means that either we believe God is not capable or that God does not care. And neither one of those senses are accurate because He IS capable, and He DOES care.

Also, worry is a fruitless activity. Jesus said, "Who by worry can add a single hour to his life."

Worry is wasted energy. There is nothing productive about worry. It leads to no where. Worry hinders us rather than helps us. Worry paralyzes us rather than energizes us. Worry robs us of energy and often has very negative effects: our health suffers - we don't get enough rest because we don't sleep well; we become irritable to be around and begin to see only the clouds on a sunny day. Worry keeps us from being able to address the issues that through God’s help we can and should be doing something about.

O.K., so worry is wrong. But what do we do about it? How do we combat this very human tendency?

Paul tells us to combat worry by prayer. He tells us to pray about everything (with no exceptions).

In other words, there is no problem, no circumstance, no situation that cannot be brought before the Father. We should not try to hide aothing from Him.

Do you see the wisdom? I didn’t – but I DO!

Rather than talking to ourselves and getting ourselves all worked up we need to talk to God.
When we start to fret, and feel sorry for ourselves when we start to get ourselves churning over something, it is time to talk to the Lord. Prayer is a worshipful conversation with the Almighty. And it is about taking our problems to someone who can help!

Jesus said: in Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

For those of us with children, that isn’t too terribly difficult to grasp. Often a parent wants to help but knows that a child needs to learn to do things on their own. Sometimes we want to help but we know that help will be seen as an infringement on their freedom. Sometimes our help is resented if it is given without solicitation. So, we stand back. We wait. We watch. We are ready to help as soon as we are called upon. Deep down we are hoping that our children will ask for our help. We delight to help them but we don't want to make them feel that they are incapable, so we wait. Just the same - God delights too when we ask Him for help.

And when we pray we must be specific. We must ask God for help. But not only are we told to "ask", we are also told to do so with thanksgiving.

Let's go back to our children again. We are eager to help if we feel that our help will be appreciated. But when our generosity is taken for granted, when it is something that is demanded or expected then we resist.

I believe God responds in a similar manner. When we appreciate what God has given and thank Him for what He will do, God delights to help us. You see, sometimes it is a matter of posture. A demanding person, an ungrateful person, is putting themselves in the position of being superior and making demands.

When we are ungrateful in prayer or lack thereof, we act like God owes us! When we act with gratitude we take the servant position. We acknowledge His position and bow before Him. It's the similar between a child who says "Give me this" and the child who says, "May I have this?"

And when we pray we must always do so confidently that God will provide what is best for us. We present the need and then trust that God knows the best way to meet that need.

When dealing with the expert we need to trust the wisdom of the expert. He knows what is best – and He knows what are needs are.  God is the expert we should turn to. We make a request and then trust His wisdom.

If God shows us something we need to do, we need to do it.

If He shows us His advice from within His Word, we need to follow it.

If there is something we need to repent of, we need to confess it.

And if God simply tells us to "trust Him",  we need to do so.

To combat worry we gratefully give God our problem confident that He is willing and able to help us. This leads us to the promise that Paul offers. He tells us what will happen if we stop worrying and instead start turning to God with the trusting attitude of a grateful child.

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We are not told that all our problems will go away.

We aren't told that we will immediately understand the circumstances we are dealing with.

We aren't even told that the problem will won't seem to get worse before it gets better.

We ARE told however, that the churning will be replaced with peace.

If we turn to God - worry gives way to faith, anxiety gives way to a calm confidence. This peace passes all understanding; it is of a very different nature from all that can arise from human occurrences; it is a peace which Christ has purchased, and which God dispenses; it is felt by all the truly godly, but can be explained by none; it is communion with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost.

How can we have peace in the midst of the storms of life?

What is it about turning to the Lord in worshipful, confident and grateful prayer that brings calm in the churning?

When we pray in this way we are reminding ourselves that our God is capable. We remind ourselves that we are in good hands. When we remember what God is able to do - it helps us to relax.

When we pray we remind ourselves of how caring God is. God knows our need and wants to help us with it. He is not indifferent. He is willing to help us when we ask for His help.

When we pray we remind ourselves of how wise God is. In our prayers we remember that God knows what He is doing. And what He allows -  He allows for a reason.

We must learn to recognize the churning building inside of us and find a quiet place to spend some time with God. Not just to utter a quick prayer, but actually spend time with God talking about our situations and our problems.

We should confess our anxiety and our concerns. And ask God for help.

We should tell Him that we know He loves us and that we DO trust Him.

And we should always be thankful for all our many blessings he provides for us. 

When we spend time with God in prayer over our anxieties and concerns, He reminds us that He is the God who loved us enough to send His Son for our salvation, and that He is not going to abandon us now in our time of need. He reminds us that His wisdom is far superior to anything the world can muster. And then we can realize that the crisis we face are an opportunity for us to demonstrate trust.

Through time spent with God, we are reminded of His power. And that His power can change circumstances or help us through the worst of times.

He helps to remind us that even in a worst case scenario that this life is not all there is, and that there is more to life than our earthly existence. We are reminded that it is not how long we live but how faithfully we live.

So as a result of this time of prayer we are now able to relax. We want everything to be the way that is most comfortable for us. But we know that even if it doesn't turn out that way, God has good things in store for us. He knows what He is doing. He can handle it.

There is another valuable lesson I learned this past week.

No matter how big our concerns may be, someone else is facing something even bigger.  As I worried and became anxious over my problems this week, I turned on the television and right before my eyes I saw people in Utah right now who are facing untimely and unexpected deaths of loved ones, and in Peru, God showed me people are agonizing over losses through a devastating earthquake.  And it made me realize that instead of agonizing over my own concerns that I needed to reach out in prayer to God for people who are facing even bigger concerns.

So here's the questions:

Is there (like it was me this past week) anxiety that is robbing you of joy today?

While I talked about worry did you find your mind drifting to a problem that weighs heavy on your heart?

Have you had trouble concentrating because of the anxiety that seems to be smothering you?

If so, it is time to do several things.

First, it is time to repent. It is time to confess that you may have been living as if God doesn't care or isn't capable to help you. Face this issue squarely. Ask yourself, "Do I trust Him or don't I?"

Second, it is time to pray. It is time to get alone in the quiet and open your heart to the Father. Don't pretend, instead tell Him what you are really concerned about. Be honest. Don't stop with superficial platitudes. Make your requests known to God. And as you pray thank Him for the faithfulness that He has proved in the past. Thank Him for His willingness to help. Thank Him for His wisdom and His grace.

And finally, it is time to enjoy life again.  It is time to rest in His arms, and always remember that God wants our lives to be joyful. It is time to leave the future with the Lord. It is time to give Him our worries so we can experience the joy that comes from His grace.

God opened my eyes this past week.  He taught me some valuable lessons, and through the lessons I learned, I pray that there is something in it, that we can all take with us as we leave this place today.

And there is one last thing I want to share with you this morning.  Last Sunday, God made sure I didn’t get more than I could handle, and as far as our past due electric bill – it has been taken care of – and in a way that I never expected it to be.

While I was filled with anxiety and worry and fretting over my problems – God knew my needs – and He already had it all under control.  All He wanted was for me to recognize Him – through it all.

And I give Him ALL the Glory – Honor – and Praise!