We just watched a video from U Tube called “Stop It!” Bob Newhart played a psychiatrist with an unusual approach. Today I am going to take that same approach as we ponder some of the greatest challenges that Christians face.
Imagine if you will that you are approaching God. He looks at you and says, “Tell me about your problem.”
We answer “Lord, I live in fear. I fear I may lose another loved one. I fear I will lose another job. I fear my marriage will end in divorce again. I fear my illness will come back. I live with a lot of fears.”
God may then ask, “Do you want to go through life always afraid?”
We reply “No.”
“Then stop it,” “But Lord,” we argue, “so many things have happened in my past.”
God interjects. “We don’t go there. Look what I said.
‘This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) You are in a new life now.”
Let me give you some advice from God’s word. ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.’ (2 Timothy 1:7) When we live in fear, that is not from God. God doesn’t give us a fearful spirit. He gives us power in the Holy Spirit. He gives us his love. 1 John 4:18 says
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
When we live in fear, it’s because we view God as this judge preparing to rain his wrath down on us. We deserve to be punished but He chooses instead to rain his love on us. It is a perfect love that expels all fears. Moreover, He gives us the strength to exercise our self-discipline so that we can choose to walk in victory over our fears.
Romans 8:15 says, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’” We have God’s spirit inside of us, not the spirit of a fearful slave. Now we can call him “Dad.”
By the way, fear is not always bad, just like washing your hands. Fear of being hit by a car is what stops us from running into traffic.
Let’s go back to God. “Well God, I am not really living in fear. My problem is more about worrying that something will happen. I worry about my kids when they are not at home. I worry that I am going to get sick and leave them behind. I worry about my finances. I worry about a lot of things.”
So God might ask us “Do you think worrying will change things? What percentage of what you worry about actually happens?”
We answer, “Very little.”
“Do you want to go through life always worried? “
We answer “No.”
He replies, “Then, stop it.”
“But God”, we say, “I need to be prepared for the worse.”
Let’s look at God’s word. Jesus said (Matt 6:31-34) “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
God already knows your needs before you ask. And He will provide them as long as your priorities are right. Instead of worrying, He wants you seeking. He wants you seeking the Kingdom about which we have spent the last few weeks discovering.
Some of you may have come here today worried about something that might happen on Monday. God says let your attention be on today. Jesus asked this question; (Matthew 6:27) “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” The answer is “No”
In fact, a recent medical study came to this conclusion; Worrying leads to stress and stress has been linked with a number of health problems. People who suffer from high levels of stress are much more prone to cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal issues, and weight problems and there has even been a link made between stress levels and certain cancers. In addition, stress can lead to severe clinical depression, which of course can even lead to suicide. Not only can stress shorten your lifespan, but it will also have an effect on the overall quality of your life. If you are constantly busy with worrying and stress, you may not have time to enjoy the simpler things in life. People who do not waste their time worrying over things they cannot control usually enjoy their lives much more.
Mark Twain wrote, “I am an old man and I’ve known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
J. Arthur Rank, an early pioneer of the film industry, was constantly riddled with worry. To relieve his troubled mind he decided to worry only on Wednesday. So on all the other days he would write down and drop his worries into the “Wednesday worry box.” He soon discovered that only a third of what he had written down were still worth worrying about. The rest had managed to resolve themselves.
We might say, “God, I do alright with fear and worry. My downfall is temptation. I go places that I shouldn’t. I look at things that I shouldn’t. I feel guilty but I can’t seem to control it.”
God would ask, “Do you want to go through life feeling guilty about your actions?”
We answer “No.”
God would say, “Stop it.”
“But Lord,” we might argue, “this started a long time ago.” His reply is “We don’t go there. The old life is gone, a new life has begun.”
Here again is God’s word. (1 Corinthians 10:13) “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
When it comes to temptation, no one is special. We all have been tempted to do something. You are not the first to be tempted in whatever temptation with which you are struggling. And you are not the only one struggling right now.
But God promises us two things. He will not allow a temptation to be stronger than we can handle and He will show us a way out so we can win the victory over our temptations.
We must first recognize the source of our temptation.
(James 1:13-14) “And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.”
Temptation does not come from God or satan. Temptation is an internal problem. Temptation is the fruit of our own lustful desires.
So how do we overcome temptation? First, we must distance ourselves from whatever is causing the temptation. It may be a person. It may be a laptop. If we struggle with those things, remember what we have inside of us as a Christian. (Galatians 5:22-23) “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” We have self-control. No one can make us do what we do, be it good or bad. We are in charge and if we listen to the Holy Spirit, our decisions will always be correct.
Secondly, (James 4:7) “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When tempted, turn to God therefore facing away from the devil. The devil does not bring the temptation but rather feeds off the energy of our own desires. And when we desire God, there is nothing for him to feed from and he runs.
Thirdly, (Romans 13:14) “Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.” When we begin thinking thoughts that lead us to temptations, we must stop them. But how? (Philippians 4:8) “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Let’s approach God again. “God sometimes I get so angry. Someone or something crosses my path the wrong way and I explode.”
God asks, “Do you want to go through life being unpleasant?”
We answer “No.”
God says “Then, stop it.”
“But God I have every right to be angry,” we say.
“We don’t go there. Listen to my word.”
(James 4:1) “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” We are by nature selfish. We want everything to go our way. We are told in Philippians 2:3 “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” This internal conflict leads to anger. It was this conflict within Cain that led to the first murder.
Cain was angry with God because God had rejected his sacrifice. However, God had accepted the sacrifice of his brother. So Abel became the target of Cain’s wrath when the problem was his attitude toward God. There was a battle within that would have been resolved if he had not been selfish, if he had not tried to impress God with a different type of sacrifice, if he had humbled himself before God, and recognized that indeed Abel had brought the acceptable sacrifice. Instead, he chooses to let his anger burn.
So how do we overcome anger? (Ephesians 4:31) “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” You may say you can’t but remember if you have the Holy Spirit, you have self-control.
(Ephesians 4:29) “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” We must watch our words. We shouldn’t feel obligated to share our anger with others. That could turn into gossip. The old saying goes, “If you don’t have something good to say about someone, don’t say anything.” I encouraged my kids to find something positive about someone for every negative thing they found.
(Proverbs 19:11) “Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.” People notice if we are an angry person. No one likes to be around someone who is constantly angry. However, when they see someone handling situations with kindness, a sense of respect grows. Respect means to look up to, to want to emulate, to influence. How do we want to influence others, negatively or positive?
Finally, (Ephesians 4:26-27) “And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” We must deal with our anger issues daily. This might not mean going to the person with whom we are angry. It does mean presenting our anger to God and asking for assistance in controlling our anger. Cain did not seek God and it gave the devil the foothold he needed to ruin his life.
There is a proper time to be angry, just like a proper time to wash your hands. Jesus got angry. Remember how He cleared the temple? Let’s read Mark 3:5 “He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, ‘Hold out your hand.’ So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!” The proper time for anger is when an injustice is being done to others. The anger of Jesus was not rage, it was controlled. We should not exhibit rage over injustice but we should have controlled anger that will get us involved.
There is no situation in life that we can not control and change. The answer to most of our problems is truly “Stop it.” It applies to discouragement, guilt, resentment, doubts, failure, jealousy, addictions and so on. God has given us wisdom to control all areas of our life. We simply need to study his word.
Now you may get angry and scream at God “You stop it.” You may feel that it is not that simple. Perhaps you built a wall today that shows you are not willing to apply these things to your life.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue can bring death or life;” What you pray, what you say to God, influences your life. If you pray, “I can’t release this anger. I can’t resist this temptation. I can’t overcome this fear and worrying” then you are praying death into your spiritual life.
But when you pray, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) then you are praying life into your situation.
In Deuteronomy 30:15 God is presenting an opportunity to his children. “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.” Today He makes that same offer. What will you choose?
