Peace In The Midst Of A Pandemic Series

A family had put their Grandma on her first plane flight, but she hadn’t been very confident about the experience of leaving the ground on this contraption. When they met her at the airport on her return, one of the family members kidded her by asking, “Well, did the plane hold you up okay?” She grudgingly replied, “Well, yes,” and then quickly added, “But I never did put my full weight down on it!”

Many Christians are like that Grandma. The truth is, they are being sustained completely by the sovereignty and grace of God, but they are afraid to put their full weight down on Him. As a result, they are plagued by anxiety and aren’t able to enjoy the flight. Let me invite you take your Bible if you have it with you and turn to Philippians chapter 4 as we look at verses 2-9 as we continue our Joy Ride series through the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4:2-9

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 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. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

This message this morning is not completely original to me as this is a CLASSIC treatise on THE BIGGEST joy robber or all – anxiety. And so today will be a fun little outline: The Problem, The Prescription, & The Prognosis.

1. THE PROBLEM: OUT OF CONTROL ANXIETY – vs. 6

Someone graphically described anxiety as “a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” That’s the danger of anxiety practically but spiritually it is so much bigger than that. Look at verse 6 again: Do not be anxious about anything…

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it clear that anxiety stems from a lack of faith and from a wrong focus on the things of this world instead of on the kingdom of God. Matthew 6 is the classic text on worry in the New Testament. Listen to it from the New Living Translation: “25 That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

I read this week that worry is merely unbelief parading in disguise! "32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers…" And do you know how we excuse this "dominating" – this habitual, dominating anxiety? By saying, “Well, it’s only human,” or, “Anybody would feel anxious in this situation.” But Jesus said, “That’s how UNBELIEVERS respond.”

See, when we excuse the habitual, dominating anxiety in our lives, we will never OVERCOME it because we are not confronting the root cause of it, namely, our sin of not believing God and of not seeking first His kingdom and righteousness. So not only does habitual anxiety reveal a sin issue of NOT trusting God or NOT seeking His kingdom first, it also has an incredibly negative impact on our ability to impact those around us with the gospel. Remember early on in the series we said that joy was incredibly evangelistic because in a cruel world, joy is a precious commodity…and if you possess it, others will want to know the source of it. Anxiety has the opposite effect. If a non-Christian sees you as a believer weighed down with anxiety, they aren’t going to be asking you how they can have what you have.