Overcoming Anxiety

[Pt 4]

How Can Anxiety be Prevented?

Matthew 6:33

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SERMON SUMMARY
Some people are "Worry Warts" who always know that the next anxiety issue is right around the corner.  The good news is that Jesus Christ provides a way of freedom.  In this message we'll examine how we can be kept from falling into fits of anxiety.

Message begins at approx. the 19 min mark

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Matthew 6:33

If you have been with us through this series you will remember that we have been seeking to answer three basic questions.  We began this series by asking a foundational question: What is anxiety?  And we saw how the Scripture gives us a most accurate understanding of this problem.  It is not a medical definition, but it is a definition that the medical world would do well to consider.  

And we said that anxiety is being unduly distracted.  It is to have a divided mind.  When we become preoccupied with the cares of this life and cease to focus on the Lord, that’s when anxiety hits.
We might summarize everything there my saying: Anxiety is concern gone awry.

But then we asked the question: Why should we not worry?  Or, what things, if we keep them in mind, would bring us peace.  And we spent two weeks looking at all that Jesus says in this passage about how he will care for us.  And I could summarize everything said in those messages by this: God will not forget us or abandon us.  As our Heavenly Father, He will always take care of us.

Today we come to our third and final question.  We can ask, how is it that we can prevent ourselves from becoming anxious?  There are some people who are, as they say, worry warts.  They have a proclivity towards worry and find that the next episode is always right around the corner.

And I want to delve into this text in order to help us keep anxiety at bay.  So when we feel tempted to worry we can be equipped with the tools to resist going down that path.  And we can continue to practice sound thought which will put a greater distance between us and the problem.

And so we can ask:  How do you prevent anxiety?  And the answer today, as I have said, is found in verse 33.  It is “By seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”  This is a key phrase in this portion of the passage.  I agree with one of the commentators who called this the golden verse, of which every word should be weighed.

And I want to look at this passage and address it with three headings.  This morning I want to talk about 1) The idea of seeking, 2) misdirected searches/seeking, 3)

I. The idea of seeking
The word that is used here for seeking is the same word that is used of Jesus when he seeks and saves the lost.  It is the same word that is used by Jesus in the parable of the lost coin.  He tells the story of a woman who lost one of her precious coins, so valuable was it that she began to seek for it in that she tore the house apart and swept through every nook and cranny in order to find it.

And what I want you to understand is that this seeking is a vigorous thing.  It demands all of your attention.  Your mind is fixated on this object and you are moved to action to look diligently for it.
 
Let me say that it is not like when one of us guys can’t find our wallet.  Do we really look for it?  No, we glance here and there and then we ask our wife where it is.

So what Jesus is saying is that the kingdom and the righteousness of God is to be our primary concern.  That is what is to occupy our minds.

And here you can begin to understand one of the primary keys to avoiding anxiety.  It is to be concerned with the right things so much so that you are moved to go after them or exert some energy in regard to them.

As a matter of fact, the word for anxiety actually means concern.  We've said that the Greek word comes from a root word that means to be divided or distracted.  But it literally means "to have concern for."  And the word is used in other places in Scripture for things that are very good and healthy.  

For instance, Paul talks about having a concern for the churches (2Cor. 11:28).  In 1 Cor 7 Paul talks about how a man is concerned or anxious about his wife, and how to care for her.  That’s a good thing.  Obviously a man should be concerned for his wife and want to make sure she’s well taken care of.  Paul is right to be concerned for the churches.  He was their shepherd and wanted to ensure their welfare.

So you see that this concern is a good thing.  But what happens is that it can get misdirected, and that’s when the emotions can become frantic.

What I’m saying is that Jesus isn’t telling us just not to worry, he’s telling us how not to worry.  You see, when people hear that worry is sin and that they must not worry, they think that they have to somehow flip a switch and stop having these emotions.  But you can’t turn off your emotions.  Our emotions are built in.  God created us as emotional creatures.  Our emotions happen because we were designed to emote.  

[As a side note: a lot of people will talk about “emotional problems.”  But the truth is we don’t typically have emotional problems.  Our emotions usually work just fine.  We just don't like the emotions we are having.]

So don’t think that Jesus just wants us to turn off our emotions.  No, we don’t turn them off, we just need to turn them around.  Don’t be concerned for this (food, clothing, cars, bills, etc).  Rather be concerned for (or seek after) this (the kingdom).

Our concern is good, but it can have the wrong focus.  And what anxiety is is simply concern that is misdirected.  And so what happens is that all the energy that your body produces as a result of your concern ends up getting taken out on you rather than the problem.   

That’s why you get tense.  That’s why your heart rate increases.  All this energy from your concern is building up, but it can’t be released in a productive way.  So it begins to be released in you.

And so Jesus doesn’t want us to turn off our concern or our anxiety, but really he wants us to turn it around.  Focus your concern.  Focus the energy that your concern produces.  In other words, pursue God’s kingdom.  And then you’ll be just fine.

Which leads us to our second point.  Now that we understand the idea of seeking, we have to talk about misdirected seeking.

II.  The misdirected seeking
One of the ways we can prevent ourselves from falling into fits of anxiety is by recognizing the alternative pursuits that are out there--the kinds of things that lead to anxiety.  

When we are not seeking God’s kingdom, then that’s when we are most apt to become anxious.  So we need to analyze the kinds of things are often being sought.  

What kinds of pursuits will typically lead to anxiety?  Well, we are more prone to anxiety when we pursue…
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A.  Pleasure -
Pleasure has its place.  God created this world for our pleasure.  But when we pursue pleasure in excess or abuse certain things in life for our pleasure, we can put ourselves in a place where we begin to experience anxiety.  

For instance, drug use can lead to anxiousness.  Most especially, any kind of drug that may be a stimulant.  And I include in this category not just things like tobacco, marijuana, or cocaine, but also something as simple as caffeine.  Substances like this can be stimulants that excite our bodies.  We can be placed in a physically heightened state, and, of course, this makes us much more sensitive to stress.

We keep in mind too, that oftentimes people will use drugs to cope with stress.  There’s a sense in which we use this pleasure to ease the stress.  But you recognize that in the long run, this is can be counterproductive.  It is actually increasing your tendency towards anxiety.

I should say though that we should not limit pleasure to the taking of drugs.  There are all kinds of pleasures and they all can cause anxiety.  One of the number one causes for anxiety is actually something that is quite easy to solve.  One of the leading causes of anxiety is a lack of sleep.  God created us in such a way that we are to shut down for a third of the day.  And people who do not get 7-8 hours of sleep a night on a regular basis can tend to have problems with anxiety.  

Why are they not getting enough sleep?  There may be a variety of reasons, but one of the main reasons is typically pleasure.  They spend too much time out going out with friends or watching television.  They read their book to relax, but then keep turning pages well into the wee hours of the night.

This lack of sleep, again, affects the body.  Since our body is in a deprived state, it is only natural that we cannot regulate ourselves and maintain some semblance of calm, especially in demanding situations.

So we need to make sure we are following the Scriptures’ admonitions to moderate our pleasure and enjoy the pleasures of this world only in so far as they may glorify God.  If we are seeking pleasure, of whatever kind, we need to understand that we may end up reaping the fruit of what we sow.

But not only can anxiety come as a result of our seeking pleasure, it may come as a result of seeking glory.

B.  Glory -
And by glory I mean one’s fame or greatness in the eyes of others.  We’ve mentioned here and there in the previous weeks.  But this is what Scripture means by the fear of man.  When we become pre-occupied with the applause and approval of men, then we are creating conditions that are ripe for anxiety.  

On the one hand, we have the added stress of always feeling like we have to perform.  We are racing and working ever so hard to make sure we please Daddy or we have to make sure that our appearance is just perfect because, if we don’t, someone might laugh at us or not like us.  So we put undue pressure on ourselves to measure up, which is cause for anxiety in and of itself.

And then, on top of that, when something happens where we don’t measure up to that standard to which we are holding ourselves, that becomes a tipping point.  We got a B on that test, whatever will mom think now?  My kids acted out in church, and I know everyone saw it.  The image of my perfect little family is now ruined!  How can I dare face them again?  How can I keep it from happening again?
The onslaught of anxiety comes rushing in because there has been this yearning for and pursuit of a certain image.  And it was nothing other than the pursuit of one’s own glory.  

So one of the best ways to avoid fits of anxiety is to avoid living in the fear of man.  That god is very unforgiving and pleasing that god is very difficult.  But when we live in the fear of God and abide in the gracious, loving approval he gives us in Christ, there’s a world of peace to be had.

A third pursuit that may likely lead to anxiety is one’s gain.  Not only is there the pursuit of pleasure and glory, but there is also the pain of accumulating more of this world.

C. Personal Gain -
Of course, this is partly what Jesus is dealing with in this context.  Jesus has been talking about wealth and obtaining what we feel are our necessities.  And we’ve noted that it is hard work to keep up with the joneses.  If we feel that getting and keeping is the chief goal of life (and if we feel it is dependent upon us), then we will likely drown in a cesspool of anxiety.

But gain does not simply have to do with our finances or our retirement funds.  Our gain can be thought of in terms of other things we want to achieve.  We want to accumulate for ourselves a big promotion or a certain title (CEO or COO).  So what do we do?  In order to achieve that we need to impress our boss or board.  We then end up taking on too much work and adding incredible amounts of extra stress.  The more we work and the more responsibility we compile the more our life becomes littered with frenzied feelings.  

Had the gain not been our god, we would not have ever shattered our sense of peace.  We would have more peace if we would have more contentment with our lot in life.

The fourth and last item that often causes anxiety is our pursuit of comfort.

D.  Comfort -
This might be the greatest rival to our Lord.  Due to our sinful tendency, we will often make our safety, security, and ease the chief concerns of our lives life.  And when we lose those comforts, what happens?  We become anxious.  That’s the problem: when we put the consolation that is in our God on the chopping block, we cut off the peace that flows from him.  

Why is it that a person will become anxious in a crowd?  It’s because they find their comfort in being by themselves or in a quiet place.  Someone says they could never get on a plane.  It’s because their comfort is in the perceived safety of being on the land.

But think about trauma.  Trauma may be thought of as loss of comfort.  Many people who have suffered trauma have anxiety issues due to the feeling that they are not safe or have those experiences in mind.

I don’t want to downplay the suffering that people experience or have experienced.  But anxiety does not have to be an ongoing problem as a result of that suffering.

Joseph was kidnapped and sold into slavery.  The Apostle Paul was abused, beaten, and suffered through three different shipwrecks at sea.  Moses was hijacked by his own brother and sister (Aaron and Miriam) and temporarily lost his job.  David was stalked by a psychotic tyrant who made various attempts on his life.  After he became king, he had not only the stress of that job, but the added difficulties of having several children die (and at least one in infancy).

We could go on to list all kinds of people who suffered.  But each of these that are mentioned went through their trials and lived on afterwards without having any anxiety.  Despite these tragic events, they were able to have a sense of peace.  Why is that?

It is because their comfort was in their circumstances, their environment, or the things that they could hold onto.  Their consolation in life was the Lord.  Sure, they had sorrows abounding (and we won’t downplay that, there no doubt grieved and wept).  Yet these trials did not hang over them and cause them to be riddled with anxiety.  

The same holds true for us.  If we wish to maintain a spirit of peace, we must not seek our comfort in a cushy bank account or a pleasing little utopia.  Our comfort must be in the Lord always.
 
As is always the case, I cannot list every possible scenario.  But these may be considered the top 4 causes of anxiety.  These are merely illustrations of what misdirected seeking or misdirected concern.   When we are making our pleasure, glory, gain, or comfort the main objects of our concern, you can be sure that there will be great concerns that we have.  

The only real protection that we have against anxiety is that we follow the admonition of Christ and seek first the kingdom.

And that brings us to our third and final point for today:

III. The search that brings peace
Jesus says “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”  

We understand the promise here.  When we are making these items our primary focus and concern, God is going to provide us with the items we need.  There should be some peace afforded us when we recognize this.

But what exactly does it mean to seek His kingdom and his righteousness?  I believe that it may be simply summarized like this:  God and his business are to be our primary concerns.  The kingdom is God’s realm, where he rules.  You remember that Genesis 1-2 tells us how God created the world.  Another way to look at it is that he established his kingdom. And Adam’s job was to work, subdue the earth, and take dominion of it.  That was the way he sought God’s kingdom.  

He did it righteously too, up until the whole tree of the knowledge of good and evil incident.  Then we saw another kingdom force at work in opposition to God’s.  So man, my his disobedience, pursues the kingdom of Satan.

So we are to seek the kingdom and his righteousness in that we are to look to the Savior, who gives us access to his kingdom and make sure that we are pursuing the work God has given us in this world all the while abiding by His righteous commands.  

So let’s talk about money.  That’s that realm of anxiety.  What are we to do today with our money that would show that we are seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness.  Well, we should first, give to the Lord.  That’s what Scripture tells us to do.  We ought to make sure that we are adequately seeking to supply for the ministry of the gospel which is how God’s kingdom is advanced and established in this world.

Once we have properly set that portion of our income apart for the Lord, we then should seek to responsibly buy what we need to supply for ourselves and for our families.  As we do so we should seek to be frugal and make sure that we are making good and godly choices.  We wouldn’t be righteous if we were splurging or being a spend thrift.

And guess what?  As we do this, guess what is going to happen?  God is going to provide.  We are going to look at what God does today (not at what we think will or will not happen tomorrow).  And we can see that God has yet been faithful again to his promise:  All these things have been added unto us.  Thus, our minds are going to be focused upon God and his kingdom.  

And there is no doubt that if this is done, we are going to have a peaceful spirit.

Let’s say that I have potential to be anxious about a certain sickness that’s been going around.  Some mothers might get uptight about another bout of something going through the house and having to deal with all the stress of that mess and children, let alone how they may fair through it.

Let’s prevent the angst.  Let’s be proactive and nip this thing in the bud.  How do we keep ourselves from being anxious?  First, we are not going to be primarily concerned for our own comfort.  You’re going to tell yourself, “My highest concern is for God and his kingdom.  If he would will that this comes to my household, I’m going to endure it with the highest level of integrity.  I will face whatever the Lord may bring my way.  For my comfort is in him.  When it comes to sickness and health the Lord my God is my help and stay.”

Secondly, I am going to concentrate on seeking his kingdom and his righteousness right now.  That means, first of all, that I’m not just going to sit and stew on this.  That would not be helpful to his kingdom or in accord with his demands on my life.

So I’m not going to let my mind be wrapped up in this any further.  What am I going to do then?  Well, I’m going to get on my list of chores for the day.  And, if I need to go out and be in the midst of the germs and run some errands, I’m going to be diligent in it.  I’m going to go to the store and buy what is needed.  I’m going to run to the post office and greet those infested people with a smile and the most courteous hello I can muster.  Then, when I get home, I’m going to wash my hands for his glory.

Of course, this is not hitting everything that may or may not need to be done.  But you get the picture.  My concern is the pursuit of God and his kingdom.  I am not pursuing my fears or my health or anything else.  I am focused on my work.  I’m focused on the Lord.  I’m focused on what I can do for him and for the other people around me.  

I want to be a witness for his kingdom.  I want to be serviceable for the kingdom.  And so the focus is not on me or whatever may be my insecurity.  That is the way you prevent anxiety.

Conclusion
There certainly could be much more said about anxiety.  We could delve further into specific issues for each individual.  But you have here in this passage (and  many other passages in Scripture), some of the most basic principles for overcoming anxiety.

Jesus Christ is the way of life.  When we submit ourselves to him and to the guidance he gives, we can indeed find his Spirit at work in us to deliver us.  He can not only give us deliverance, he can cause us to see it become like something we see in the rear view mirror of our cars.  It is behind us and we find ourselves getting farther and farther away from it.

There should be no doubt about it:  Christ is the answer.  If you do not put Christ first and hold fast to these principles, there is a bounty of peace to be had.