This week's message will be available in 2 ways...if you would like to listen to the message, just click the link below, or you can also read the original notes in this post!
For the last 3 weeks, we have been in a series entitled, Attacking Anxiety. The basis for this series is on the book by the same title by Shawn Johnson.
In the first three weeks, we have discovered that there are some things we have to know if we are going to get over the power of anxiety and depression in our lives. We need to know that we’re not crazy, that we’re not alone, and that this season of our lives will pass.
In the second week, we learned that there are 4 tools that we have at our disposal to attack back at Anxiety and depression. Those tools are WORSHIP, PRAYER, REMEMBERING GOD, and ASSEMBLING AN ARMY!
Last week, we saw that there are things that we are doing that causes our anxiety to ramp up that we need to stop. We need to stop pretending we’re ok, we need to stop living with unforgiveness, we need to stop performing for the critics, and lastly we need to stop comparing ourselves with others.
Too many times, we allow anxiety to be a dictating force in our lives and do not use the tools and weapons that we have at our disposal. Not all anxiety is a result of the things around your life and that is important to understand. Some anxiety is physiological. Meaning that there can be issues in your physical body that makes you anxious. I want to say, if you are having feelings of dread or extreme anxiety or depression, we encourage you to get help. We are here to talk and be a resource, but there are also doctors and counselors there to help you as well.
Today, we move to the last idea in attacking anxiety. This is the point where we need to know what to remember when Anxiety starts ramping up.
I want to write this statement down today if you have a pen. You need to pre decide how you will react before something happens. What do I mean by that? It’s about having some non-negotiable no matter what. Each week we have discovered some of those things that we can pre decide before we encounter the Anxiety that is going to come, because we will all deal with it at some point.
This thing called Anxiety is real and it is a real fight for the heart of who you are. If the enemy can keep you distracted, you will never accomplish all that God has for your life. But you and I have hope.
Romans 15:13 (ESV) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Even though we know that we have a God of Hope, there will be moments that things will go haywire. You need to know that the enemy will hit back. A fight is not one sided. That sometimes is what gets us. We forget we have the ability to hit back at the enemy, but also, the enemy is not just gonna give up.
As we close out this series, we need to remember that anxiety and depression is a fight. It is a fight for the very soul of who you are. The enemy is not just going to let you win. He will continue to attack areas that are weaknesses in yours and my life.
Understand this, that a 4 week series in church is not going to magically make things just get better in your life. As a matter of fact, no series will make your life better. It’s only when we start to put our trust in the God of Hope that things will begin to change!
There will be moments of doubt. It’s in those moments of doubt that you have to have something to draw from. You have to be able to make withdrawals from you memory bank. You need to remember that God has already won the war, but there will be battles.
Today, we are going to look at 3 things that we need to remember when the enemy hits back…
God is with you
God is still working
God has a plan
The first thing we need to remember in the battle is that GOD IS WITH YOU!
I think that it is interesting that one of the scriptures that we use every year in church around Christmas is Matthew 1:23 (ESV) “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
That is a powerful truth that we only remember around the Christmas story. Jesus came to open the door to a relationship with us. He became God with us. Not just as He walked this earth, but as Children of God, He lives in us.
We have talked each week about Joshua and the children of Israel as they entered the promise land. One of the things that we see in the story is how God prepared Joshua for years before they entered into the promised land.
Joshua had been Moses right hand man. When Moses went to the tent of meeting with God, Joshua stayed outside listening. Moses kept Joshua close to what was happening. As we start chapter one of Joshua, we see that the people and Joshua were grieving the death of their leader Moses.
There were probably questions of if God loved Moses, why is he not coming with us. It was tradition that they would mourn the loss of a loved one for 30 days. They were lost.
We’ve all been there when we have had to grieve to death of dream, a loved one or even our past successes. When that happens, we feel paralyzed and we feel like:
Everything is going wrong
Feel wrong for being down
Start feeling wrong for being feeling wrong
At the lowest point, God spoke to Joshua.
Joshua 1:9 (ESV) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
God knew what they were feeling. He acknowledged that the future was scary and that it would be easy to get stuck. But then He declares to them, that He would be with them wherever they went.
I like that phrase, because maybe I am reading too much into it. But it didn’t matter if they were stuck, felt like running or even went in the wrong direction…He would be with them wherever they would go. That is a promise that you and I can hold on to. It doesn’t mean His blessing is always with us. But it means that He with us when we turn to Him.
We don’t need to know all the answers to the questions we have at one time. We just need to remember that no matter what, He is with us. Moses wanted Joshua to remember that God was with him.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (ESV) Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave or forsake you.
When we internalize this thought, it will radically change how you view every thing you go through, both good and bad. It will change the heart of who you are…
Change the way you walk out your faith
Change the words that come out of your mouth
Change the way you feel about things
Change the way you act on your feelings and faith
When I was a kid, I was jumped one day by a group of boys at my grandparents house. They were calling me by cousins name and thought I was him. I knew it was going bad and ran to the back door of their house only to find the door was locked. I could see my dad and my grandfather but there was a door between us. If they had been with me, it would have changed my confidence in the moment.
When we my kids were young, I would try to get them to jump into the pool with me. There would be a different level of confidence when I had hold of them than when I was out of the pool. They wouldn’t let go of the side when they knew I wasn’t there.
Anxiety is real. Depression is real. But we have confidence to face those moments when we know that the Father is with us. You may have been knocked on your rear end more times that you would like to admit, but when God is with you, it will change how you view the next moment.
You and I need to remember that our God is with us!
The second thing that we need to remember is that GOD IS WORKING!
Romans 8:28 (ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
The bible does not say that He works “Some things” for good. It says that He works all things for good. That means even the times that we don’t like or feel like we are broken, He is working those moments for good as well.
He will use everything that you experience and go through to better you and to change you for the next time. Think about the story of Joseph in the old testament. He was sold into slavery, lied about, thrown into prison. But at the end he declares that God used it.
Genesis 50:20 (ESV) You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
In our worst moments when we feel like God doesn’t care, he is working. He never sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121:4). Meaning that there is not a time that He is not using and working for our good.
You may not see it
You may not feel it
You may not understand it
But the word of God declares it! His word always trumps our feelings. Remember I have said this many times. Your heart and head will lie to you. But the Word of God always prevails.
The first obstacle that Joshua faced with the Children of Israel was not Jericho. It was the Jordan River. It was at flood stage. Meaning it would have been suicide to cross over. But they were committed to moving forward, because God had told them to. That means that God had to work a miracle.
Joshua 3:15-16 (ESV) 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.
It’s interesting that the miracle that they needed to happen, would seem to be the same as the first one they experienced as they left Egypt. But it was different. The water parted when the exodus happened from Egypt, but this time, the word says that the water piled up up stream. That means that the water didn’t immediately stop flowing. There would be water that had to work its way down to where they were after it piled up. They would have had to stand in the water that was still flowing until it stopped. Believing that God was working, even when they didn’t see it. They could feel the water beneath their feet before they could see it pile up…it would trickle down to nothing.
What seemed impossible was out of their control. Their part was just to step out in faith that it would happen.
God is always with us, he is always working, even when we dont feel like it is happening or even see it…He is for us and working in us! When we pray and we don’t see changes, it may be part of the process…
God may be putting together a process to win for the long term
God may be moving the right people into your life
God may be preparing you for something greater
That leads us to the last thing is that we need REMEMBER GOD HAS A PLAN!
Even if you don’t understand the plan of God, He does have one. We are not called to understand all his ways. There will be times that CAN’T understand His plans. But they are there.
Jeremiah 29:11 is probably one of the most misused scriptures in the bible, but there is a truth that you and need to remember….”11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Remember, He is the God of hope, and that hope comes through Him being with us and working for us and the plans that He has for you life.
He is not shocked by where you are today and what you are going through. He set us free from the bondage of sin that we could live in freedom. (Gal 5:1)
The problem is just because something is true doesn’t mean that you will always believe it. The enemy was to get to ignore the truths of God. Just because you don’t understand the plan doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
When we can’t see the sun for the clouds, we still know that the sun is there. It is still the same intensity it always was. We just can’t see it. When we are facing the storms of life, we need to know that God is still there and that He still has a plan for your life.
Everything comes down to your trust of Him and the process He may be working in your life. That plan is detailed. It has benchmarks. There are always seasons of growth and times of suffering.
You see in the hard times is when know what our trust really is in.
This series has been powerful because we can see that God does really care and that He has the ability to change our situation. But at times, we have a role to play. It may mean putting new things in our lives, or adding new tools to the toolbox.
You don’t have to live the same. You can see change and movement towards true joy and peace when you discover and remember that you have access to the God of Hope.
What is it that you need Him to do today?