Hanging on Through Life’s Turns
Philippians 4:4-9
**Special Note – I utilized Pastor Paul Fritz’s sermon entitled Paul’s Eight Point Stress Reduction Plan - Phil. 4:4-8 from sermoncentral.com. I adapted his study and many of his main points to my NASCAR themed message. I am very grateful to his insightful exposition of Philippians 4:4-9.
Opening Comments
Does anyone remember what we learned about last week? What was the topic of our study? That’s right! Pit stops. Taking time to have a daily quiet time with God. Did anyone put this new information to work in their lives this week? Do we have a testimony that someone would like to share about their quiet time with God?
Let’s take a minute to review what we learned about last week…
A Little Review from “Life’s Pit Stops”
What does it take to have a daily “Pit Stop” with God?
1. Read … spend some time in God’s Word.
2. Pray … talk to God about what is on your heart. And listen to what is on the heart of God.
3. Write … keep a journal of your daily journey with God.
Stop making excuses! Make time for a “Pit Stop” with God … every day!
Transition
As we prepare to tackle a new issue in the Word today, let’s pray so that we can be well-prepared for what God has in store for us today.
Opening Prayer – Pastor
Opening Illustration
I know for sure that I have told you this story before, but it is just so perfect for today, that I have to tell it again. Please forgive me if you already know the “punch line.”
A woman took her husband to the doctor’s office.
After his checkup, the doctor said, "Your husband is suffering from a very serious infection."
The husband, who was hard of hearing said, "What did he say?"
His wife said, "He says your sick".
The doctor went on. "But there is hope.
You just need to reduce his stress.
Each morning, give him a healthy breakfast.
Be pleasant, nice, and kind.
For lunch and dinner make him his favorite meal.
Don’t discuss your problems with him,
it will only make his stress worse.
Don’t yell at him or argue with him.
And most importantly...just cater to your husband’s every whim.
If you can do this for your husband for the next 6 months to a year,
I think your husband will have a complete recovery."
The husband said, "What did he say?"
His wife said, "He says, You’re going to die".
(Contributed by: Larry Brincefield to sermoncentral.com)
Transition
It seems that fellow was not going to have any significant reduction of the stress in his life, was he? And most of us can relate to his situation, right men?
We can laugh about that silly, old story. But stress really isn’t anything to laugh about, is it? How many of you feel that you suffer regularly from stress at your job, or at home, or maybe even in some type of education? I believe that I can safely say “yes” to all three. We all suffer from various forms of stress in our lives. Stress is real. It is hard on our bodies, lives, and spirits. In fact, you’ll probably be pretty surprised by some of the facts that I have discovered regarding stress. For instance:
• The Mayo Clinic claims 80-85% of total caseload due directly to worry and anxiety.
• Many experts say that coping with stress is the #1 health priority of our day.
• One leading physician has stated that, in his opinion, 70% of all medical patients could cure themselves if only they got rid of their worries and fears.
• We know that medical science has closely tied worry to heart trouble, blood pressure problems, ulcers, thyroid malfunction, migraine headaches, a host of stomach disorders, amongst others. For example…
• 25 million Americans have high blood pressure due to stress/anxiety; 1 million more develop high blood pressure each year. 8 million have stomach ulcers
• every week 112 million people take medication for stress related symptoms.
(Contributed by: Craig Simonian to sermoncentral.com.)
So, you see, stress is bad in a whole lot of ways. It eats away at our bodies. It weighs upon our hearts. It pulls at our spirits. And it attacks our families. So, we can agree, stress is a universal factor in our lives … it is something that we are going to have. But what do we do with it? How must we deal with it?
As we continue our study this week, “It all comes down to the finish line…,” I want us to talk about Hanging On Through Life’s Turns. I want us to talk about stress. Living with it. Dealing with it. Conquering it. So, as we dig into the Word today, we are going to listen to some wise words from Paul as he wrote to the church at Philippi. But before we start diggint, let’s lay a foundation for our study and thought:
Bible Truths and LIFE Applications
We all experience the “hairpin turns” in our lives. We all live stressful lives. We must understand that there is a biblical way to deal with, manage, and have victory in our lives as we navigate life’s turns.
Yes, there is a biblical way … but what is it … and where can we find it? Let’s look together at Philippians 4:4-9.
Today, I want to point out for you nine practical LIFE Applications for dealing with stress, straight out of the Word of God.
1. Live a life of joy. (v. 4)
Paul doesn’t just say it once. He says it again. Did you hear him? “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And just in case it didn’t take the first time, “Again I say, rejoice!” But that’s not always so easy to do, is it? Indeed, some of us have a real joy problem. Some folks just don’t have any joy, and if the truth be told, they don’t really want any. They’re happier being unhappy. But, of course, people like that are a in small minority. Most of us desire joy in our lives. The problem is finding.
What you have to understand is that having joy is a willful decision. It’s not a feeling. You can’t feel joy. You have to decide to have joy … then the feeling, called happiness or even contentment, may follow.
Friends, even when things are going totally and completely bad in your life, you can still choose joy. You can rejoice be remembering everything good that God has done in your life. You can rejoice because what you are going through now is only temporary … your real home lies in heaven with the Lord! You can have joy because, no matter how bad things get, God is still on your side through Christ Jesus. You are on the winning team. You can make it … you can endure anything … with His joy.
Transition Illustration
I remember reading about a guy who stopped in the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up a couple of items for his wife. He wandered around aimlessly for a while searching out the needed groceries. As is often the case in the grocery store, he kept passing this same shopper in almost every aisle. It was another father trying to shop with a totally uncooperative three year old boy in the cart.
The first time they passed, the three year old was asking over and over for a candy bar. Our observer couldn’t hear the entire conversation. He just heard Dad say, “Now, Billy, this won’t take long.” As they passed in the next aisle, the three year old’s pleas had increased several octaves. Now Dad was quietly saying, “Billy, just calm down. We will be done in a minute.”
When they passed near the dairy case, the kid was screaming uncontrollably. Dad was still keeping his cool. In a very low voice he was saying, “Billy, settle down. We are almost out of here.” The Dad and his son reached the check out counter just ahead of our observer. He still gave no evidence of loosing control. The boy was screaming and kicking. Dad was very calming saying over and over, “Billy, we will be in the car in just a minute and then everything will be OK.”
The bystander was impressed beyond words. After paying for his groceries, he
hurried to catch up with this amazing example of patience and self-control just in time to
hear him say again, “Billy, we’re done. It’s going to be OK.” He tapped the patient father
on the shoulder and said, “Sir, I couldn’t help but watch how you handled little Billy. You
were amazing.”
Dad replied, “You don’t get it, do you?” I’m Billy!”
Contributed by: Brent Zastrow to sermoncentral.com.
Some of us could take a little example from old Billy. Do you want to hang on a little tighter through one of life’s turns, the try to …
2. Exercise patience. (v. 5 a)
I love the way Paul says it here. Let your gentleness be evident to all… That is the picture of patience. Because what is impatience, really? It’s wanting what we want when we want it. And when we don’t get it, then we’re unhappy and impatient. We who are Christians, of all people, must be pictures of patience and gentleness. There is absolutely no room for shortness, a quick temper, and a loose mouth in the life of a Christian. Some of us have some work to do. And if we will just have patience … just “chill out” … we will go a long way in handling our stress.
3. Remember who you represent. (v. 5b)
Now, I’m afraid I might be taking this part of the verse a little bit out of context … then again, maybe not. Paul tells us, as we practice gentleness, to remember that the Lord is near. I’m not really sure how to interpret that. But here’s what it means to me. He’s telling us to practice gentleness and patience, the reason being that “the Lord is near.” It seems reasonable to me to understand this as instructing us to always act like we are in the presence of the Lord … because we are! We need to, at all times, act in a way that will bring glory and honor to God. We must never forget who it is that we represent … remember? … who our sponsor is…
4. Trust in God … really trust in God! (v. 6, Isaiah 26:3)
These are some very solid words of advice from the pen of Paul. We need to trust in God. And I’m not talking about the trite way that so many of us talk about trusting in God. I’m talking about really trusting God in every aspect of our lives.
We have an incredible promise in the Bible is Isaiah 26:3. It says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.””
And Paul reminds us not to be anxious about anything. Why? Because we can always talk to God about whatever is on our heart and mind. And haw do we accomplish that?
5. Pray, Pray, Pray! (v. 6b)
We must take all things before the Lord in prayer. I urge you to look back over your outline from last week, when we studied Jesus’ instructions on how to pray in the model prayer. We can take all of our needs and requests before the Lord, as long as we do so in a spirit of worship and thanksgiving. We must never forget that God doesn’t owe us anything, and yet we owe Him everything.
Transition Illustration
Here’s another story that I know I have shared before, but I have to tell it again …
Jack was out jogging one day and as he passed a cliff, he got too close and fell. Grabbing hold of a branch he was stranded. No way up and certainly no way down. He began to scream, “Hello up there can anyone hear me.” He yelled for hours and was about to give up when he heard a voice.
“Jack, Can you hear me?”
“Yes, Yes, I can hear you I’m down here.”
“I can see you, Jack, are you alright?”
“Yes, but...who are you and where are you?”
“I am the Lord Jack, I am everywhere.”
“The Lord? You mean God?”
“That’s me.”
“God, help me, I promise that if you get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person and serve you for the rest of my life.”
“Easy on the promises, Jack. First let’s get you down, then we can discuss those.”
“I’ll do anything, Lord, just tell me what to do, okay?”
“Okay, let go of the branch.”
“What?”
“I said, let go of the branch. Just trust me, let go.”
PAUSE
“Hello, Hello, is there anybody else up there?”
Contributed by: Keith Davis to sermoncentral.com .
That prepares us for Bible Truth and Life Application number six…
6. When life gets crazy and out of control, trust in God. (v. 7)
We already talked about trust, didn’t we? But it’s so important that Paul brought it up again. You know, it’s easy to trust God when everything is going your way, isn’t it? But what about when life is out of control? What about when the stresses are really piling on you? Friends, those are the times when trust is truly proven in your life. So, do you want to handle those curves in this race of life? Do you want to get on top of the stress? Then truly, really, totally, completely, unashamedly … trust in God! And what will happen. Look at this promise in verse 7 (the peace that passes all understanding…) What a beautiful promise. Amen?
Another stress manager is this …
7. Focus on God’s blessings. Remember how He is working in your life. (v. 8)
Paul gives us a laundry list of what it is that we should be thinking about. Instead of dwelling on our problems, our woes, and our troubles, Paul says that we should think about other stuff. Focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Our lives are full of good stuff. We just have to quit dwelling on out troubles, call an end to the pity party, and focus upon the blessings of God in our lives.
Kids know how this works … don’t you kids? You can take your minds off of the bad by focusing on the good. You can make your parents focus on what you want that is good by running something bad by them. I read about one kid who is an expert. She said, “If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse!”
There’s a lot of wisdom in that. There is always something wonderful and lovely in our lives … because God has placed it there. We just have to see far enough past ourselves to see the blessings.
8. Remember your “pit stops!” (v. 8)
Be sure to take time to be quiet before the Lord. There’ nothing quite like a daily “pit stop” in the Word to keep your mind focused on what is truly good. And, finally …
9. Live what you have learned! Put God’s Word to work in your life. (v. 9)
Every week we sit in this room and talk about what God’s Word has to say. I just pray that you are taking it out of these doors and putting it to work in your lives. Don’t ever leave this church with just a few new facts in your brain. Make sure the Word of God makes it to your heart, and that it finds its way to your hands and your feet.
Closing Illustration
One Last Application
Remember … God has called upon us to run this race together. You can always count on one another to help you through the stressful and difficult times. But never assume that we know what your needs are. Sometimes you ha
