Be Anxious For Nothing

This morning we are going to look at the Bible’s prescription for overcoming a terrible illness called anxiety. “Anxiety,” is defined as a “concern . . . respecting some event, future or uncertain, which disturbs the mind, and keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness.”(1) Anxiety is much like a disease in that it causes great emotional and physical pain as the human body reacts to stress. Another word for anxiety is “worry.” Our English word “worry” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means “to strangle,” and worry certainly does strangle people physically, emotionally, and spiritually.(2)

In Psalm 37:7 we find an insight into worry in the word “fret.” We are advised, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret.” What does the term “fret” mean? Well, have you ever seen a guitar before? On the neck of a guitar there are tiny bars that run cross-ways and parallel to one another, and they are evenly spaced all the way down. These little bars are called “frets,” and they are responsible for changing the note on a string when a player presses between them. Similar to when someone presses on a string between a fret, worry presses hard on us resulting in many of us becoming very “high strung.” Anxiety can make us feel as though the weight of the entire world is pressing down on us.

In today’s passage of Scripture, we will see how Paul was writing from within prison walls when he was under house arrest in either the city of Caesarea or Rome.(3) I would dare say that if one of us were to find ourselves behind prison walls this very minute that we would feel a bit anxious. Wouldn’t you agree? Paul, however, discovered the secret to remaining calm in the midst of difficult life circumstances, and even imprisonment; and he didn’t want the cure for worry to be kept a secret, and that’s why he shared it in Philippians chapter four. This morning, we are going to learn four principles to help us in overcoming anxiety.

We Must Have the Right Focus (v. 4)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

The first principle that Paul shares is that “we must have the right focus.” This principle takes the focus off of us and places it on God. Billy Graham said, “Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered on anything short of God and His will for us.”(4) Many of us are worried simply because we want to know the outcome of the choices that we have made in life. We want to make sure that our decisions lead to a secure and bright future for self and family. However, when we think in this way, then we are placing too much emphasis on what we can do for self instead looking at what God can do. If we truly have faith, then we will trust God to provide for our needs instead of trying to make things happen through our own effort.

There are many passages in the Bible that teach us how our future will only be secure when we focus on God and seek His face, and Him alone. Psalm 37:4-5, in response to the problem of fretting, says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” If there is anything that we desire for our life, then we need to first make sure that it’s God’s will; and then secondly, to “delight ourselves in the Lord” and “trust in Him” for the outcome.

We read in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” We see here that our path in life will be a whole lot safer and clearer if we learn to trust and lean on God. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” All the provision we will ever need in life will be supplied if we learn to focus first on the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

What is “rejoicing in the Lord” and “delighting ourselves in the Lord?” These statements mean that we have to stop and think about who God is - what His character is like. When we think on His character, then we can identify how He is omniscient, meaning that He “knows” our past, present, and future. Who better to trust our life to than someone who knows our future? Jeremiah 29:11 declares, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”