God’s Plan for Our Health - Part 3: Our Emotional Health
Philippians 4:1-9
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - July 6, 2008
*How many emotions have you experienced this past week? -- Anger? Some of us rode to church with that one this morning. Anger, affection, anxiety, boredom, compassion, depression, disappointment, disgust, embarrassment, envy, fear, frustration, gratitude, grief, guilt, happiness, hatred, homesickness, humiliation, jealousy, loneliness, love, pride, regret, sadness, self-pity and shame. These are just some of the wide range of emotions we can all experience -- some good and some very bad. (1)
*God wants us to have a healthy emotional life, and the Word of God shows us how to get there. This is not to say that we can fix all of our problems by ourselves. Sometimes we may need professional help. My sister who passed away this year was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was about 35. Jane needed medical help, and she was much better when she took the right medicine for her illness. In Matt 9:12 Jesus said people who are sick need a doctor. And God uses medical professionals to help people every day. But the best help comes from God Himself. -- And He gives us a part in the process. What does God want us to do for better emotional health?
1. One of the best things we can do is be a peacemaker for the Lord. That’s what Paul was trying to do in vs. 1-3, when he said:
1. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
2. I implore [I beseech, beg, urge, plead] Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
3. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
*Euodia and Syntyche were having a disagreement, just like we have sometimes with our family, our friends, at school, at work, even at church. We don’t know what the argument was about. It wasn’t important enough for Paul to even mention. (Have you ever gotten into arguments over nothing?)
*We also don’t know who was to blame. It could have been Euodia’s fault, but her name meant “Pleasant Journey,” and I am sure she was a wonderful woman. Syntyche’s name meant “Pleasant Acquaintance.” Both of these women were good, Godly women. Both of them were saved; both of them had worked together with Paul to spread the Good News about Jesus. But now they were fussing, and fighting. Sometimes even the best of us don’t get along like we should.
*I read about an 8-year-old boy from Waterford, Connecticut who saved his sister’s life. Zachary saved his 6-year-old sister, Meghan, when she started choking on a piece of hard candy. Zachary noticed Meghan wasn’t breathing, and gave her the Heimlich maneuver, which he had learned on TV!
-But Zachary and his sister weren’t getting along too well when the reporter came to do an article on the rescue. The headline in the paper said, “Waterford boy, 8, saves sister’s life.” But the secondary headline underneath quoted Zachary saying, “I wouldn’t do it again. She’s been a pain this week.” (2)
*Has anybody been a pain in your life this week? Have you been a pain? Sometimes we are, but God wants us to do everything we can to be peacemakers. Vs. 3 urges us to “help” other people who are not getting along. That word “help” is a strong word with the word picture that means “seize, grab, capture or catch.” God want us to do everything we possibly can to help other people get along. We can be like Paul! We can be the glue that helps other people stick together.
*As Paul said in 2 Cor 1:24, we can be “helpers of (their) joy” -- with the wonderful blessing of helping our own joy. Helping other people will help take your mind off your own problems. So be a peacemaker for the Lord.
2. The 2nd thing we can do for our emotional health is park your heart on the joy of the Lord. As Paul said in vs. 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
*We can’t always rejoice in our health or our looks -- our finances, our family, our jobs, or our grades. We can’t always rejoice in our houses, our cars, our toys, or our accomplishments. -- But we can always rejoice in the Lord! Jesus wants to be our source of constant joy. We should have a nonstop, overflowing celebration of the Lord in our lives.
*It’s important to remember that when Paul wrote these words he was a prisoner of Rome, bound in chains. His only crime was telling the truth about Jesus. Paul could have easily been filled with bitterness. He could have said, “Lord, you know I have tried to do my best for you. I’ve been all over the world for you! Why have you left me stuck in these chains?”
*Paul could have been filled with bitterness, but he overflowed with the joy of the Lord. -- And we can too! Our hands are not in chains today. We are blessed far more than most people in the world. But if all of that was taken away, we would still have grace; we would still have Heaven; we would still have Jesus!
*I really like this story about Professor William Phelps. He taught English Literature at Yale from 1892-1933. Dr. Phelps was grading tests shortly before one Christmas, and he saw a note a student had written next to a tough question on the test. The student wrote, “God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas.”
*The professor returned the test with his own note under the student’s comment: “God gets an A. You get an F. -- Happy New Year.” (3)
*I like that statement: “God gets an A.” When your world is falling apart and nothing seems to be going your way, God gets an A! -- Forever and always, God gets an A! He is wonderful all the time. We can always rejoice in His goodness, His love and His grace. And we can always rejoice in the Lord, because the Lord is always with us. As Paul said in vs. 5, “The Lord is at hand.” So park your heart on the joy of the Lord.
3. And remember that God promises peace through prayer. As Paul said in vs. 6&7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
*With these few words, Paul gives us 6 keys for prayer:
1-Pray confidently -- “Careful for nothing.”
2-Pray consistently -- “In everything.”
3-Pray earnestly -- “Make your requests known by prayer and supplication.” That word “prayer” means “asking.” This word for asking was only used to describe asking God for help. So it carries the idea of worship and reverence, plus the understanding that there are some needs that only God can supply. “Supplication” also means “asking for help.” -- But the idea is asking with great strength and passion.
4-But also pray thankfully -- Paul says to pray with “thanksgiving.”
5-And pray simply -- “Let your requests be made known unto God.” You don’t have to use fancy language. -- Just ask.
6-And pray expectantly -- Because God promises to do great things when we pray. -- He will even give us His peace that passes all understanding.
*I have seen this countless times over the years. I have been with people who had every right to pull their hair out in frustration, -- but God gave them His peace that passes understanding. And He will give it to you. Remember that God promises peace through prayer.
4. The 4th thing we can do for our emotional health is to refocus on the good and Godly things in life. In vs. 8, Paul tells us that we have to be intentional about positive thinking. Paul said, “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.”
*Meditate on; keep thinking on these good things. Paul knew that our tendency is to focus on the negative, and he knew that focusing on the positive is good for us. Focusing on the positive things in life helps us to keep the right perspective, and as Christians, we have so much good that we can focus on!
-Things that are true: This world is full of lies, but we have the truth right here in the Word of God. And if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you have the truth in your heart -- the truth that sets us free!
-Things that are honest or noble: The root word picture is "holy". This means we are moving away from worldly things toward the spiritual things of life.
-Things that are just or right: He is speaking about our duty -- the way we should live, the way we have seen faithful believers live before us.
-Things that are pure: Again the root word is holy, and Paul is talking about moral purity.
-Things that are lovely: It’s the word picture of kissing towards someone. One author said, “Lovely is found only here in the New Testament and has meaning of being attractive or lovable.” (4)
*There are countless good reports and virtues we can focus on -- many things worthy of praise. But we have to be intentional. We have to make a conscious effort. To a great extent we can choose what we think about, and it makes a big difference when we focus on the good things of life.
*Author Corrie ten Boom survived a Nazi concentration during World War II. Here’s what she said about keeping the right focus: “Keep looking up and kneeling down. Then you can keep looking down from the position of Jesus’ victory over your problems. He is willing to make you more than conqueror.
-Look around and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest. ‘In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ (Rom. 8:37)
-Thank You, Lord Jesus, that we can look at You through faith and that You are the author and finisher of our faith. Hallelujah!” (5)
5. Keep refocusing on the positive things in life. The 5th thing we can do for our emotional health is start proving to yourself that God’s way works. As Paul said in vs. 9, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
*God’s way works. We have to learn that there is great benefit to Godly living. The devil will always take more from you than he gives. But God will always give you more than He takes. God’s way works. No true Christian can be happy living in disobedience. I heard it in a church in Warner Robins, Georgia 31 years ago, and I hope I never forget it: “The most miserable people in this world are not the lost people. The most miserable people in the world are the Christians living like lost people.”
*No true Christian can be happy living in disobedience, so get in the habit of doing Godly things -- the things that we have learned and received and heard and seen. And what have we learned? First, that we are sinners, but God loves us so much that He sent His only Son into the world to live a perfect life and die on the Cross for our sins. Jesus Christ died for us. Three days later He rose again! And now He will give His eternal life to anyone who will turn to Him and trust Him as Savior and Lord. So we learn to trust in Him. Then we live in trust. We learn to obey. And we live in obedience.
*We live as people who have learned about: God’s love and life, salvation and service, our work and our witness, prayer and priorities, missions and ministry, hope and Heaven, God’s presence and power. We learn that God’s way works.
*Joe McKeever learned this in a fresh way after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Joe is the Director of Missions in New Orleans. And a few months after the city was overwhelmed, he wrote a testimony of thanks for all who were helping. It was called “Whose miracle will the new New Orleans be?” Here’s part of what Joe said:
-We still laugh in our family about something (our granddaughter) Erin said. Last summer, my son Neil told his three children that he planned to take them to the park the next day. "Pray it won’t rain," he said. The next morning, they piled in the truck and were driving across town when he said, "It’s such a beautiful day. Who asked God for this? Grant, did you?" "No," the eleven year old said. "I forgot." "Abby, did you?" "No, I forgot, too." "Oh, good," said Erin, her 8 year old twin, "then it was my miracle."
*At church, I see Graham Waller, so bravely dealing with the blindness which resulted from surgery for a brain tumor over 4 years ago. We still pray for his healing. I’ve told his parents, Ed and Sherri, that one reason I pray is that when the healing comes, "I want it to be my miracle."
*Now, imagine with me here. -- Imagine a day in the future, perhaps a decade from now. The city of New Orleans is a different place -- no slums, no hotbeds-for-crime housing projects, fewer drugs, less violence, safer streets, better schools, and Christian churches that are the marvel of the nation, where all the pastors love each other and work together, where God’s people are loving and ministering and blessing. Imagine a new kind of city, one unlike any this country has seen in our lifetimes. Whose miracle will that be?
*That miracle will belong to Missouri Baptists. They’ve been all over this city from the earliest days after the storm, feeding thousands, operating chain saws, climbing on top of houses, witnessing to our people, giving of themselves. And those who couldn’t come have been praying and giving. The miracle of the new New Orleans will belong to Arkansas Baptists. They came in to work when no one else was allowed in and they’re still here. You’ll find them outside our churches slaving beside the massive steamers preparing thousands of meals a day, blessing our people everywhere in the name of Jesus.
*The miracle will belong to God’s people of at least forty-one states, and maybe more. -- And not to Baptists only, of course. God has drawn His people from every sector of this nation to this sunken spot on the globe, all for the single purpose of serving a needy humanity in Jesus’ name.
*Allow me to (say, "Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for loving and coming, for giving and praying, for working for us and weeping with us. Thank you. Thank you so very much.” (6)
*What a difference we make when we live God’s way! We spread the joy of the Lord to people near and far. And as we give, we get a healthy dose too. You see, God wants us to have a healthy emotional life. And we have a part in the process.
-So be a peacemaker for the Lord.
-Park your heart on the joy of the Lord.
-Remember that God promises peace through prayer.
-Keep refocusing on the positive things in life.
-And start proving to yourself that God’s ways work.
*The first step is to turn to the Lord and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. He loves you; He died for you. He’s alive today, and He will give you His everlasting life. Let’s go to Him in prayer.
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion
(2) http://www.oddee.com/item_96156.aspx
(3) (Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 10. *MODIFIED*) Found in SermonCentral sermon “What Must I Do to Be Saved?” by John Baggett - Acts 16:27-34
(4) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “Joy in this Lifetime” by Russell Brownworth - Phil 4:8-13
(5) http://www.hefirstlovedus.com/hefirstlovedus/Corrie_ten_Boom
(6) http://www.joemckeever.com/mt/archives/000214.html#more
