My preparation took some interesting twists and turns – where I started on Tuesday morning is not where I ended up last night! I feel drawn to today’s subject and couldn’t seem to get around it. I trust this as God’s leading and proceed accordingly. Whoever you are this is for you from God today.
Website: (http://www.thecalmzone.net) – “Campaign Against Living Miserably”– web designed to make men aware of depression. I cannot vouch for the content but only refer to it for the purpose of suggesting we all need a “calm zone” approach to living.
U.S.A. Statistic:
•“Approximately 6.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54 or about 4.4 percent…have some type of specific fear.” http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/fear-statistics.html
CANADIAN Statistic:
•1,315,314 of us suffer from depression http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/health35.htm
Do you have a “calm zone” to help you deal with fear and depression? Let’s explore these stressors that rob us of our “calm zone” on a daily basis.
1. Fear
Not new or unique to our post-modern, 21st century society. Example – (SLIDE) women at the tomb the first Sunday morning after Jesus’ crucifixion. They went to prepare his body for permanent burial since they didn’t have time before the Sabbath came upon them. They went to the tomb only to find the stone rolled away and the glorious announcement by the angel of Jesus resurrection!
Mark 16:8 “They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.” - alarm (sudden fear) and panic (strong loss of composure)
•Luke 4:37 – NASV: “But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit.”
•There could have been fear that they would be accused of removing Jesus body and be arrested for doing so. Do you know the fear of being accused of something for which you are not guilty?
Possibly a strong sense of sudden alarm mixed with unbelievable joy!
“The powers of hell itself trembled at the significance of what those women became suddenly aware of; and there can be no marvel that they were afraid.” (James Burton Coffman Commentaries)
There are debates about the validity of verses 9-20 and whether or not they actual belong; did Mark write them? Were these his words torn from the papyrus? Was the ending added by another author to “complete” what was thought to be an incomplete letter? However it ended we have two options – end with verse 8...
What a sad ending it is if ended here. “Disquieting fears often hinder us from doing that service to Christ and to the souls of men, which, if faith and the joy of faith were strong, we might do.” (http://www.ccel.org/)
Or we can end it with verses 9-20 with the force and explosion of Jesus’ resurrected presence and power! I’d like to think that fear was overcome by the conscious choice to tell the disciples and obey Christ as we get the sense from these verses of 9-20!
Which option do we generate in the face of our fears?
Many know the story of my fear of – FLYING! My most recent reality of going to and returning from British Columbia was not unlike most experiences! Not as severe – but there niggling in my spirit, disrupting my “calm zone”. I could have decided “I just can’t fly because it’s too stressful for me so I’m going to pass on this opportunity.” I chose to not allow my fear to dictate my life and so the need on occasion to fly never prevents me from going forward. Someday I hope to master the fear completely.
How does fear dictate our witness and influence? How does it arrest the power of the Christ within us to witness to the world of his resurrection power in our lives? Or do we put fear in its place and not be dictated by it?
2. Depression
1 Kings 19:1-10; 18
(SLIDE) KEY VERSE: 4
His “fear” (v3) of Jezebel came after defeating 450 false god-worshipers at a showdown of fire from heaven. From that he resorted to the fear of a woman and depression and wanting to die. Elijah seemed to have been on the verge of suicide.
Elijah wanted to be “rid of the troubles of life” (John Gill). His problem was fearing what might become of him. This fear which Elijah could not control, led to a spirit of depression and despair.
While many of us fear what is to come, the unknown, others live with the regret and fear of the past being exposed. Neither is a good reality. This next story is for any of you who find yourself in one of these realities. It is a story by “Connie” who refers to the name that God attributed to himself, “I AM”:
I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly my Lord was speaking: "My Name is I Am." He Paused. I waited. He continued, "When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I WAS. When you live in the future with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I WILL BE. When you live in this moment it is not hard. I am here. My name is I AM." Exodus 3:14 http://www.heinvites.org/story.php3/0141.html
While the next point is not a major contributor to fear and depression the reality of it contributes to their existence. It is the desire to be:
3. People-pleasing
Pilate, the governor of Jerusalem during Jesus’ time on earth, was faced with a difficult and most regrettable experience.
•Climate of celebration and annual Passover festivities
•Millions of people involved in a Pilgrimage all over the land for this important time of year for religious renewal and responsibility.
•Jesus in the mix and up to his neck in controversy and politically unsettling the status quo and upsetting the religious leadership’s power and position in the structure that worked for hundreds of years.
•All led to Jesus’ beatings, floggings, and mockeries and finally, bearing the resemblance of a human, scarred and mauled by wild beasts with blood oozing from open wounds. Pilate tried to release Jesus, knowing he was innocent of the crimes of which he was accused. Yet, the pressure of the crowd gives us the sad pronouncement of the kind of man Pilate was. Mark 15:15 “Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.” (explain). In Mark 15:15, “anxious to please the crowd..”
People-pleasing was not only a reality for Pilate and people in leadership. It is actually labeled as a disorder. One source calls it “healthy adaptive behavior” similar to a baby in someone’s arms who “learns how to please the people who have power over her in order to get what he or she wants.
“People caught in this vicious cycle end up sacrificing their entire personalities….They become obsessed with finding out just what buttons to press to please and in focusing on this they lose themselves. They fail to meet their needs because they have ceased to be aware of them.” http://info.addictions.org/index/Addictive+Behaviors/People+Pleasing
People-pleasing will not create your “calm zone”. It will actually intensify your anxiety according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. (12% or 3.8 million people reality in Canada) (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/miic-mmac/chap_4_e.html)
Someone here is crying, screeching in your heart, “Help me out! Get me out of this reality that I don’t want for me!”
4.The Antidote!
i.First, realize your position in Christ
Romans 8:35 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No matter what the world throws at you, be it fear, depression, or other type anxieties and experiences, NOTHING can separate you from God’s love! Only one thing can remove you from God’s love – YOU.
Not only that, God planned much more than mere survival! Romans 8: 37: overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. (NLT) or NIV: “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Your “calm zone” is about RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
NO – we’re not saying get busy doing stuff;
NO – we’re not talking about simply reading the Bible every morning and reciting mantras;
NO – this is not an invitation to any number of meditations and religious practices.
IT IS AN INVITATION TO FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE! IT IS AN INVITATION TO FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS, THE RISEN SON OF GOD!
The closer we get to him the further removed we become from the controlling influences that seek to disrupt the ebb and flow of his work in our lives.
ii. Second, realize your power to choose
Philippians 4:6 (NIV), “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The Message: Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
If you are in a state of spiritual paralysis there’s freedom! If you are bound by fear and depression there’s an antidote!
Do you have a “calm zone”? Here’s an offer you can’t refuse, offered by Jesus himself!
Matthew 11: 28-30 (The Message): "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly."
