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When You Battle Anxiety- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato. Welcome to Fresh Hope, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm so glad you joined me. Today we're continuing our
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  Speaker 1: series that's based on my book, Tame Your Thoughts. Now
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  Speaker 1: while it's true that many of our thoughts do need
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  Speaker 1: to be tamed, the ones that can actually get the
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  Speaker 1: most out of control are anxious thoughts. So let's talk
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  Speaker 1: about how to quiet them. Sometimes God calms the storm.
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  Speaker 1: He removes the cancer, transfers the cranky boss, replenishes the
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  Speaker 1: diminishing funds, the clouds scatter and the sky turns blue.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes He calms the storm. Other times, however, He chooses
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  Speaker 1: to calm the child. And rather than remove the disease,
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  Speaker 1: He removes the fear. Or rather than lift the debt,
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  Speaker 1: He lifts the doubt. The storm still brews. But the
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  Speaker 1: child no longer frets. He trusts. He may even snooze.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus did. Do you remember the night? It's recorded in
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  Speaker 1: Matthew 8, verses 24 through 26. Suddenly a fierce storm
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  Speaker 1: struck the lake with waves breaking into the boat, but
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: save us, we're going to drown. And Jesus answered, Why
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  Speaker 1: are you afraid? You have so little faith. And then
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  Speaker 1: he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and
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  Speaker 1: suddenly there was a great calm. What do you find
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  Speaker 1: more amazing, that Jesus calmed the storm or that he
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  Speaker 1: slept through it? Could you use such peace? If so,
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  Speaker 1: you're not alone. 43% of U.S. adults feel more anxious
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  Speaker 1: now than they did the previous year.
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  Speaker 2: Hmm.
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  Speaker 1: It's easy to see why. Hurricanes and wildfires ravage our cities.
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  Speaker 1: AI is going to eat our brains. And a nuclear
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  Speaker 1: bomb is going to destroy the world. You know, a
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  Speaker 1: dose of anxiety is helpful. It prompts us to pay
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  Speaker 1: bills and eat right and stay out of snake pits.
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  Speaker 1: A deluge of anxiety? Not so much. God designed our
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  Speaker 1: bodies to respond to a spike of stress and then
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  Speaker 1: return to normal. Unhealthy anxiety resists the reset. It's the
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  Speaker 1: alarm system that never shuts down. My dog Andy is anxiety-free.
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  Speaker 1: That's not to say he doesn't get scared. Were he
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  Speaker 1: to encounter a coyote in the woods behind our house,
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  Speaker 1: his primal instincts would kick in. His His heart would race,
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  Speaker 1: adrenaline rush, and he would dash out of the trees
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  Speaker 1: back into the safety of our home. Once here, he
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  Speaker 1: would catch his breath and curl up at my feet.
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  Speaker 1: His anxiety would pass. His master is not so savvy.
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  Speaker 1: I'm prone to internalize the threats. UFOs would circle over
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  Speaker 1: me like vultures. We discussed UFOs in the last two episodes.
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  Speaker 1: An untruth leads to a false narrative, which leads to
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  Speaker 1: an overreaction. In this case, the untruth, coyotes will destroy me.
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  Speaker 1: The false narrative, I'm too weak to venture out of
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  Speaker 1: the house. Overreaction, coyotes are everywhere. Stay indoors and never leave.
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  Speaker 1: Given the tidal wave of unrest, doesn't it make sense
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  Speaker 1: that our quest to tame our thoughts begin with the
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  Speaker 1: anxious ones? First, A caveat, extended seasons of anxiety can
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  Speaker 1: result in clinical depression. This condition is more than the
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  Speaker 1: blues that we all feel on occasion. God's help for
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  Speaker 1: this will likely include therapy, pastoral counseling, and possibly medication,
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  Speaker 1: and that's okay. A combination of these treatments is advisable
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  Speaker 1: and acceptable. All of us, regardless of stress level, can
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  Speaker 1: benefit from Paul's prescription is found in Philippians 4, verses
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  Speaker 1: 4 through 7. Be full of joy in the Lord always.
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  Speaker 1: I will say again, be full of joy. Let everyone
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  Speaker 1: see that you are gentle and kind. The Lord is
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  Speaker 1: coming soon. Do not worry about anything, but pray and
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  Speaker 1: ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And
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  Speaker 1: God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it,
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  Speaker 1: will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Be
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  Speaker 1: full of joy in the Lord always, Paul writes. Easier
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  Speaker 1: said than done, right? I mean, how can you be
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  Speaker 1: full of joy when you got bills to pay, kids
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  Speaker 1: to raise, and deadlines to meet? The answer, uproot and replant.
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  Speaker 1: Grab the weed of anxiety and give it a yank. Then,
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  Speaker 1: before the enemy can sow a seed, remind him that
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  Speaker 1: you live life In the 1970s, Steven Spielberg produced a
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  Speaker 1: movie called Jaws. One iconic scene involves a crusty boat captain,
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  Speaker 1: police chief, and scientist as they set off on the
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  Speaker 1: captain's fishing boat in search of the shark. When the
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  Speaker 1: men see it, the police chief delivers one of the
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  Speaker 1: most famous lines in cinema history, You're gonna need a
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  Speaker 1: bigger boat. Now suppose the men had been riding in
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  Speaker 1: a larger vessel, like the Sea Wise Giant. It was
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  Speaker 1: the largest ship ever built, more than four football fields
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  Speaker 1: in length, more than 564,000 tons in weight. If these
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  Speaker 1: men had seen the giant shark from the deck of
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  Speaker 1: the oil tanker, they would have noticed it, talked about it,
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  Speaker 1: maybe taken pictures of it. but they would have felt
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  Speaker 1: safe in a large vessel. Now, the sea of life
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  Speaker 1: is swimming with sharks, but they cannot destroy you. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because you're on a vessel called the living God, and
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  Speaker 1: you're safe in His hands. If you believe you face
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  Speaker 1: your problems alone, you'll never find lasting peace. If, on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, you believe you face your challenges in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, then you can be full of joy and
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  Speaker 1: because you're full of the Lord. In John 14, 27,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says, peace I'll leave with you. My peace I
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  Speaker 1: give to you, not as the world gives do I
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  Speaker 1: give to you. Jesus contrasts two types of peace, the
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  Speaker 1: peace the world offers and the peace he offers. The
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  Speaker 1: peace the world offers depends upon circumstance. If the weather
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  Speaker 1: is right, if the traffic is light, if the stock
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  Speaker 1: market is up, is your peace an if Peace? Exchange
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  Speaker 1: it for His peace. My peace I give to you,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says. Not peace like His. He offers His very
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  Speaker 1: own peace. I saw an image of this type of
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  Speaker 1: peace in Chicago O'Hare. The airport was anything but peaceful.
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  Speaker 1: Thunder was audible outside. Tension was palpable inside. Flights were delayed.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone was upset. Then I heard someone singing. Seated a
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  Speaker 1: few feet away was a mother and her infant. A
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  Speaker 1: blanket covered the nursing child. The baby had the warmth
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  Speaker 1: of the mother's body, the nourishment of her milk, the
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  Speaker 1: comfort of her song. Now, yank the child from the
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  Speaker 1: arms of the mom, fear would erupt. But since the
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  Speaker 1: child was near the mother, the baby... was the calmest
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  Speaker 1: person in the airport. Are you like the anxious travelers
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  Speaker 1: or the resting infant? God longs to give us what
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  Speaker 1: the mom gave that child, the peace of God which
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  Speaker 1: surpasses all understanding. When your heart needs peace, just trust
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  Speaker 1: God and tell God. Paul said pray and ask God
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  Speaker 1: for everything you need, always giving thanks. You know, Satan
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  Speaker 1: hates to see you pray. He knows the truth of
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  Speaker 1: James 5, 16. When a believing person prays, great things happen.
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  Speaker 1: You cannot control events that are uncontrollable, but there is
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  Speaker 1: one thing you can do. You can pray. Anxiety happens
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  Speaker 1: when we think the world is spinning out of control. Untruth.
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  Speaker 1: This problem has no solution. False narrative. My life is
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  Speaker 1: a mess.
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  Speaker 3: Overreaction.
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  Speaker 1: The sky is falling. Disarm these thoughts the moment they begin,
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  Speaker 1: and rather than heed them, heed him. Anxiety is calmed
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  Speaker 1: when we talk to the one in charge. The sooner
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  Speaker 1: you do, the sooner you find peace. As Isaiah 26
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  Speaker 1: 3 says, God will keep in perfect peace all who
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  Speaker 1: trust in God, whose thoughts are fixed on God. So
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  Speaker 1: trust God. Tell God. And one more, thank God. Paul
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  Speaker 1: said in Philippians 4, 6, always giving thanks. Always giving.
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  Speaker 1: even when the babies make a mess and the boss
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  Speaker 1: makes demands, even when it's manna for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
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  Speaker 1: That was the question of the Israelites. The most famous
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  Speaker 1: grumblers in the Bible were the Jews who wandered in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness. Listen to this sour chorus from the book
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  Speaker 1: of Exodus. The people grumbled against Moses. The whole community
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  Speaker 1: grumbled against Moses. They grumbled against Moses. Let me get
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  Speaker 1: this straight. You were slaves to sin, but God set
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  Speaker 1: you free. He opened the grave of Jesus as casually
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  Speaker 1: as one might open a book. You witnessed miracle after miracle.
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  Speaker 1: You are fed by God's word, led by the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: You're on your way to the promised land and you grumble?
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  Speaker 1: I don't think you would have survived the desert. Ingratitude
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  Speaker 1: is not a good look. on the saint. Gratitude is.
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  Speaker 1: Studies indicate that cultivating gratitude can reduce anxiety. Gratitude strengthens
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  Speaker 1: your hippocampus, or the rational part of your brain, enhances
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  Speaker 1: its activity, and makes it more likely to switch away
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  Speaker 1: from the amygdala, the fight or flight part of the brain,
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  Speaker 1: toward a calmer frontal lobe response. Wouldn't hurt to try, right?
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  Speaker 1: Practice picky thinking whenever you're tempted to grumble and choose
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  Speaker 1: gratitude instead. Just make a list of your blessings. You know,
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  Speaker 1: we cannot be anxious and thankful at the same time.
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  Speaker 1: God's pathway to peace is paved with thoughts of appreciation.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes he calms the child.
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  Speaker 1: He's calming Bill Loveless. Bill is a beloved minister. He
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  Speaker 1: was recently diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer. But the
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  Speaker 1: news has not taken him down, just the opposite. In
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  Speaker 1: a letter to friends of his ministry, he stated, Immediately
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  Speaker 1: upon hearing this diagnosis, I walked into a new realm
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  Speaker 1: of God's presence, His love and His grace. The things
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  Speaker 1: I have been teaching have become a living, breathing, 3D reality.
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  Speaker 1: like I have never experienced. Will God calm Bill's storm?
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  Speaker 1: We don't know. But he has calmed this child. You know,
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  Speaker 1: you can find this peace. Trust God. Tell God. Thank God.
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  Speaker 1: And I pray, I pray that he calms your storm.
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  Speaker 1: If he doesn't, may he calm you. Thanks for joining
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  Speaker 1: me today. It may seem impossible to tame your anxious thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: But I promise you it's not. God has given you
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  Speaker 1: the power to change your life one thought at a time.
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  Speaker 4: Loving you alone feels so beautiful. It hurts the most.
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  Speaker 4: You became my quiet sunrise The dream I never dared
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  Speaker 4: to say.
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  Speaker 5: Every smile you gave.
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  Speaker 4: So freely Took my breath a little away I.
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  Speaker 5: Held this love like fragile glass So precious, soft and
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  Speaker 5: true But every beat inside my heart Was only reaching
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  Speaker 5: out to you Unspoken love is sweet and painful Like
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  Speaker 5: honey mixed with rain A tender hope I hold so
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  Speaker 5: tightly While it slowly breaks.
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  Speaker 2: Me Loving you from just one side now Leaves my
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  Speaker 2: soul in silent blue Cause the deeper that I fall alone.
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  Speaker 4: The lonelier I do, I can't blame my heart for
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  Speaker 4: choosing someone it could never keep.
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  Speaker 3: So I smile through hidden heartache.
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  Speaker 2: And love you quietly. Unspoken love is sweet and painful
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  Speaker 2: like honey mixed with rain. A tender hope I hold
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  Speaker 2: so tightly while it slowly breaks me. Loving you from
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  Speaker 2: just one side now leaves my.
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  Speaker 4: Soul in silent bloom.
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  Speaker 6: Cause the deeper that I fall alone, the lonelier I do.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe loving you in silence is the closest I can stay.
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  Speaker 3: Though it leaves behind a sorrow that may never fade away.
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  Speaker 2: Unspoken love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain.
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  Speaker 2: A tender hope I hold so tightly while it Slowly
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  Speaker 2: breaks me loving you.
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  Speaker 4: From just one side now.
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  Speaker 2: Leaves my soul in silent blue. Cause the deeper that
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  Speaker 2: I fall alone, the lonelier I do.