I've Lost My Anxious Mind!

Do you have any “anxiety enemies”?  An “anxiety enemy” is someone, something, or a circumstance that causes worry or an unsettled state of mind in your life.   An “anxiety enemy” attacks our mind by bombarding us with a thought of the possibility of physical danger or personal misfortune.  An “anxiety enemy” often shows up in the form of the question, “what if”?  “What if I fail my algebra test?” “What if I don’t make the varsity team?”  “What if ___________ doesn’t like me?”  We can experience anxiety from almost every area of our lives and so we must find a way to survive the attacks of this mental enemy!

READ:  Philippians 4:4-7

ANXIETY is a real enemy that God is able to GUARD us from!  The word “guard” in verse 7 is a military term which means to “keep watch” or “protect” against a dangerous enemy!  No wonder so many people experience anxiety “attacks”.  Instead of allowing anxiety and worry to attack, capture, and hurt us, we are to prayerfully trust that God is defending us against whatever we are worried about.  What are some of the “anxiety enemies” that God’s peace is able to guard us from?

God’s peace guards us from the attacks of SATAN (Romans 16:20) – It’s easy to be anxious about Satan.  1 Peter 5:8 describes Satan as a, “roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  If that’s not a disturbing thought I don’t know what is.  We have an enemy who wants to chew us up and spit us out spiritually.  What’s even more disturbing is that he deceptively disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).  We don’t have to be anxious about or intimidated by Satan because the God of peace will eventually crush him under our feet!  Our best defense against Satan is not to avoid him but to always be in the presence of the One who is powerful enough to CRUSH him!

God’s peace guards us from feeling LONELY (Phil. 4:9) – All of us get anxious about being ALONE.  My worst memory of being alone was in Jr. High.  My best friend Troy and I were at my house alone when we heard a door close downstairs.  After going out the front door and seeing that not only the garage door but the door into the basement was open we were terrified.  Convinced that someone was in the house we attempted to overtake each room by entering with a scream and a baseball bat.  It ended up being no one (wind probably closed the door), but being alone with no adults was scary.  Loneliness hurts people in many different ways . . . lack/loss of intimate relationship with others, feelings of meaninglessness, nobody needs us or wants us.  The fear of being alone leaves many to suffer with low self-esteem, unhealthy dependence on others, despair, depression and in severe cases suicide.  We don’t have to be anxious when we are lonely because the God of peace is always with us!  With the God of peace we have a place of eternal acceptance and belonging.  When the relational world around you is absent, God promises He is present to guard your life from the anxiety of despair.

God’s peace guards us from feeling UNWORTHY (1 Thess. 5:23) – Upon arrival in heaven a man noticed that all the clocks had names under them.  He asked Peter, “what’s with all the clocks?”  Peter answered, “they are not clocks but sin meters”.  He noticed that Billy Graham’s hardly moved. The Pope’s seemed to be motionless as well.  Other well-known people’s meters moved very little.  The man asked Peter, “do I have a clock?” Peter replied, “it’s in the office, we use it as a fan.”  It’s easy to get anxious wondering if we’ve sinned TOO much in our lives.  Our problem before God is not the amount of our sins, but the fact that we are sinners.  We do not have to be anxious about our sin because God has forgiven us and He is in the process of sanctifying us and making us blameless.  Be encouraged, it is God who sanctifies and keeps us blameless, not us!

God’s peace guards us from feeling UNEQUIPPED to do His will (Hebrews 13:20-21) – We can be anxious if we feel unskilled, unprepared, or unequipped to do God’s will.  I’m sure Noah felt unequipped and anxious about building an ark.  Moses felt unequipped and anxious to speak to Pharoah.  It’s easy to think that if we are not a wonderful speaker, singer, or Bible scholar then we are not useful in the kingdom.  Anxiety can paralyze us and cause us to avoid or miss God’s will.  Whatever God calls us to do, He will equip us with every good thing we need to do it!  Our success in doing God’s will is not based on how well we function but our faithfulness to His calling.  We will be effective when we do God’s will and use what we have to serve Him.

CONCLUSION

Dr A.T. Pierson wrote, “There is what is called the "cushion of the sea”.  Down beneath the surface that is agitated by storms, and driven about with winds, there is a part of the sea that is never stirred. When we dredge the bottom and bring up the remains of animal and vegetable life we find that they give evidence of not having been disturbed in the least, for hundreds and thousands of years. The peace of God is that eternal calm which, like the cushion of the sea, lies far too deep down to be reached by any external trouble and disturbance; and he who enters into the presence of God, becomes partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm.”

The peace of God is an eternal calm like the cushion of the sea.  It lies so deeply within the human heart that no external disturbance can reach it.  ANYONE who enters the presence of God becomes a partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm!  Is. 26:3 says, “God will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”  To “lose our anxious mind” means to earnestly stay in God’s presence so we can be in a place of calm amidst all the disturbances of life.