Abolishing Anxiety, Part 3

We are looking at a very important topic, and that's how to abolish anxiety. And we're looking at it because there is so much anxiety in our world. Sad to say, I think that more people are more anxious about what's going to happen with their money than they are the misery surrounding the virus.

But that's another topic for another day. But nonetheless, there is a lot of anxiety in our world. And so we want to be able to address that with you.

And I know that there's hundreds of people you can listen to, thousands of them, probably over a million different preachers you can listen to by way of live streaming or on the internet or through podcasts. I get that. I'm just glad that you have taken this time to spend with us at Christ Community Church to help you understand what the Bible says concerning abolishing anxiety.

That's our topic. Our text is Proverbs 12, verse number 25. And that text says that when anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, a good word makes it glad.

That's our text. That's our springboard text, because we want to learn to abolish anxiety. So with the topic and with the text, we always have the truth that comes with that text.

And the truth is found in God's holy word. The good word is the word of the Lord that comes from a good God. And that good God gives us a good word.

And the more we understand that word, the better we will be. And so that's what we want to do. And so in terms of abolishing anxiety, we've given you two main points.

The first one was to rest in God's sovereignty. I'm not so sure that we can ever exhaust that topic. God is in complete control of everything.

The Lord reigns, Psalm 99, verse number one, let the people tremble. We've read to you from Psalm 135, verse number six, it says, whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all the deep. Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 51, 29, every purpose of the Lord shall be performed.

And I wonder if this past week you have learned to be able to truly rest in God's sovereignty, to really be able to relax in the fact that God is in complete control of everything that's happening. You know, we can talk a lot about that, but to really come to grips with that, I think that at this time for us as a church, we need to come to grips with that because there will be more anxious times down the road. There'll be more difficult times down the road that we need to be able to sit back and say, Lord, you're in charge.

You are sovereign. You rule over all. No purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Therefore, we rest in you. You know, we mentioned Job last week, and I was thinking about him this week, trying to wrap my arms around the fact that here's a man who lost everything. He lost everything.

And then he was afflicted with boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, excruciating pain. I began to ask myself this question. How did Job know why God did what he did? The answer is he didn't know.

He didn't know. We know because we can read the text. We know what Job 1 says when Satan came from roaming throughout the ends of the earth to present himself before God.

The sons of God came to present themselves before God, and Satan was one who did that. And he asked permission from God. Which tells us something very unique, that Satan can't do anything unless he is granted permission by God himself.

And sure enough, he asked permission to touch Job's life, and God gave him permission to touch everything but his life. So he took out his entire family and all of his possessions. And then he came back and said, if you allow me to touch his life, he'll curse you.

And God said, go right ahead. And he did. That's when he was afflicted with all those horrible boils.

And yet, in all that, Job did not curse God. He held fast his integrity. And yet, Job never understood why God did what he did.

We want to know why. We are so desperate to find out why God. The question is never why, the question is always who.

And it's who's in charge. And it's the Lord God himself. And so he had this whole book of the Bible.

The very first book ever written was the book of Job. And as you go through all of that, you realize that he has three miserable counselors that come to him and offer him some semblance of counsel, but they don't really draw him into the presence of God. And then finally, God speaks in Job 38.

In Job 38, 39, 40, and 41, God speaks to Job. And God never tells him why. God just describes to him his power.

His sovereignty, his authority over everything. And in Job 42, you have these words recorded to us by Job, which says, Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand.

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear now and I will speak. I will ask you and you instruct me.

I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore, I retract and I repent in dust and ashes. God never told Job why.

God just told him who. And Job realized that no purpose of God could be thwarted. Nothing could ever change.

God was in complete control. And that he needed to repent from his attitude. And truly trust the living God, because that's what God wants for us.

He wants us to rest in his sovereignty. He wants us to understand that he is in complete control of everything. In fact, remember what Moses said in Deuteronomy 32, verse number 39.

I am he. There is no God besides me. It is I who puts to death.

It is I who gives life. The Bible says that God is the one who puts to death. He is the one who gives life.

God's in complete charge of everything. It's appointed that a man wants to die after that judgment. Death is a divine appointment.

There are no accidents when it comes to death. It tells us in Psalm 139 that all of our days are numbered before there was even yet one of them. God's in control of everything.

That's why Isaiah 45, 7 says that God is the author of calamity. And in the book of Amos, Amos chapter 3, verse number 6. God says, if calamity occurs in a city, has not the Lord done it? Those are hard words to understand sometimes. That God is in charge of all calamity.

Because he is the one who truly actively causes or consciously permits everything that has ever happened in the universe. That is God's complete sovereign control. And yet we have a hard time digesting that.

On the way to work this past week, I was listening to the radio and they had asked a question of a pastor here in Los Angeles and a question of a rabbi in Texas about what do you say to people who ask the question, where is God in all of this? And why is God doing this? What answer would you give? Ironically, neither one of them gave a very good answer. The pastor from Los Angeles never referred to scripture at all. So if you can't refer back to scripture, you can't give anybody a biblical answer.

And the rabbi, he referred to a verse that Ecclesiastes says that things happen by chance in the city. And so he would go on and on about how things happen by chance. But there was no hope in their answers.

Hope is very, very important. And hope only comes through the word of the Lord. So when we talk about resting in God's sovereignty, that rest includes understanding how God does what he does and why he does what he does.

And we gave you those reasons last week. Let me review them for you real quick. God does what he does because he wants to show man his responsibility, which is what? To fear him.

Ecclesiastes 3, 13 and 14. On top of that, not only does he want to show man his responsibility, he wants to show man his vulnerability. That's in Psalm 107.

When a man is in distress, he calls out to the Lord. The Lord hears and answers him. He also wants to show man his mortality.

Luke 13 verses 1 to 8. They talk about the fact that judgment's going to happen and death is inevitable. It's going to happen. You never know when, so you better repent or you will likewise perish.

So he does it to show man his responsibility, his vulnerability. His mortality, his accountability. Genesis chapter 6, that God judges man because of a sin.

Also to show man his identity. That's John 9, about the man born blind and how God would heal him and show the works, his works on that day. But ultimately it's to display his glory.

And that's because Ephesians 1 tells us that all things are done to the praise and glory of the Lord. I wonder if this past week you've had the opportunity to sit back and rest in the fact that God is in complete control, not just of this virus, but in your job. And not just your job, but how God's going to take care of your family during this crisis.

Have you learned to sit back and rest in him knowing that he's in complete control of everything? The flip side of that was point number two. Not only do we rest in God's sovereignty, but we realize, or remember, excuse me, our responsibility. There is a responsibility that we have.

We just can't sit back and say, well, case or all, whatever will be, will be. No, God wants us to be responsible people. He wants us to live life to the fullest.

And so if we understand how to be full in our responsibility, we will not be fearful amidst our tragedy. When I say being full in your responsibility, I'm not saying you're going to be responsible in everything or all things, but you're going to be full in all things. And so we talked to you about that last week.

And that is you need to be watchful. Remember that? First Peter chapter five, verse number eight, that Satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking who may be devour. Therefore, we need to be vigilant, alert, sober minded, be watchful.

It deals with our vigilance, the ability to understand that Satan is going about trying to destroy our lives. We know from Job's account that he can't do anything unless he gets permission from the true and living God anyway. But Satan, he really wants you to deny the providence of God.

He wants to get you to deny the provision of God, to deny the power of God, to deny the presence of God, to deny the purposes of God, to deny the provision of God. He wants you to deny all those things and get back and say, well, God can't do this. That's why Peter talked about Satan's going around trying to devour the believer.

He wants to destroy your testimony. That's why he says, be watchful. And something we didn't cover last week, and that's in verse nine of Peter's epistle, when he says this, but resist him firm in your faith.

Be steadfast in your faith. Very important phrase. It has this historical background in Roman infantry.

They had what they called a phalanx. And that phalanx was the Roman way of going to war, which when soldiers went to war, they would lock arms one another and their shields in front of them. And they would be five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 rows deep.

So if one was injured, he'd fall over and this guy would step in and take his place. And that's what it means to be steadfast. What it means to be firm.

Peter's asking us to be spiritually, to be a spiritual fortress. When it comes to fighting against Satan, you resist him. And how do you resist him? Steadfast in the faith.

You ought to be thick with steadfastness. Don't let any gaps in your phalanx. Don't let there be any gaps in your infantry.

You need to be strong, putting on the full armor of God, that you might be able to stand the wiles of the devil. This week, have you been watchful? Listen, if you're watchful, you're not going to be fearful, but you need to be watchful. Fullness eradicates fearfulness.

If you're watchful, you will not be fearful. Number two was not only are you watchful, but you're prayerful. Remember we talked about that, how to be prayerful.

So important. Christ said to Peter in the garden, watch and pray. Be watchful, be prayerful.

How important is that? We told you last week, there's so much time now to pray. I mean, you're home all day praying for our president, praying for our government, praying for our governor, our senators, praying for your church, your church family, your own personal family. There's so many things to pray for.

So many opportunities to pray. Think of it that God has allowed all this to happen, that you might not only learn to rest in your sovereignty, but remembering responsibility to be watchful and to be prayerful. We took it to Philippians 4, remember that? In Philippians chapter 4, what does the Bible say? It says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God.

Don't be anxious. That's a prohibition. What was the plan? Pray, pray with thanksgiving, but be a person of prayer.

Remember Psalm 145, verse number 18? The Lord is near to all those who call upon Him, to all those who call upon Him in truth. What makes a man prayerful? Philippians 4, verse number 5, the Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing.

There's no need to worry. The Lord is near. The Lord is present.

He is with you. Now think about it this way. Remember when you were a child and there was a thunderstorm and you were scared at night? What did you do? You ran to your parents' room.

You maybe crawled up in bed with them because you were afraid. But can your parents stop the storm? No, they can't. But there was safety, there was security there in the arms of your father, in the arms of your mother because they were near.

They were present among you. When there's a tornado coming or a hurricane coming, what do you do? You run to your parents' room. Can they protect you from the tornado? No, they can't.

The hurricane? No, they can't. But there is security there. There's some kind of opportunity for you to recognize my mom and dad are here and I can rest in the fact that they will watch over me.

Think about it this way. You have the God of the universe who is powerful enough to stop the storm, powerful enough to redirect the tornado and the hurricane. He can do all these things.

That's why Paul says the Lord is near. Why are you anxious? What are you worried about? He's right here. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known unto God. And then what did you say? He says, And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The Lord is near.

Pray, be prayerful. I love what it says over in Psalm 77, I believe it is. Psalm 77, verse number, I'm sorry.

Psalm 75, verse number one. We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks for your name is near.

We give thanks. Why? Because your name is near. We don't give thanks because you changed the circumstances.

We don't give thanks because you changed the environment. We don't give thanks because you changed our income. Unless of course we get a raise, then we give thanks to the Lord.

But the fact of the matter is, is that we need to give thanks to the Lord in all things. Because his name, his name is his attributes, who he is, his character, okay? It speaks to the fact that he is near. Your name is near.

Therefore, Lord, we give thanks to you. And men declare your wondrous works. We can declare your wondrous works when we give thanks.

To you, O Lord. That's why Psalm 73, verse number 28 says, that the nearness of God is my good. And what did the Psalmist say in Psalm 23? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me.

The presence of God, the presence of God helps us understand that we need to be people of prayer. We need to be people who seek his face. Oh, by the way, remember Job, Job 42, verse number 10? It says that the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.

God did not turn the captivity of Job until Job's eyes were completely off of himself and on to his friends who had a need. That's when we begin to understand that God truly is near. And that's what Job did.

Would it be that we as a nation would learn to turn to God and to pray to him at this time of great need? Not just in our individual lives, but in the life of our nation. So rest in his sovereignty. Remember your responsibility.

Which is that? What is your full responsibility? Not all your responsibility. What is your full responsibility? Be watchful, that's number one. Be prayerful, that's number two.

Be thankful, that's number three. We are to be people who give praise and glory to God. Be thankful.

You're always thankful when he's near. You're always thankful when you recognize his presence. Remember Jonah? Jonah had a unique encounter.

He was swallowed by a fish. I'm not sure that we necessarily would like to be in that situation. But he had disobeyed God.

He had rebelled against the call of God. And of course, he was thrown overboard. And of course, he was swallowed by a great fish because God had a great plan.

Great plan. But I want you to notice something about Jonah when he was in the belly of the fish. Listen to what he says.

Jonah chapter two, he begins to pray. Begins to pray. He said, while I was fainting away, verse seven, I remembered the Lord.

And my prayer came to you into your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness. But I will sacrifice to you.

With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed, I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.

Then the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land. It wasn't until he gave thanks. It wasn't until he recognized that God was in charge of this whole thing and that he needed to give thanks to God for his situation.

He didn't know whether he'd be in the belly of the fish for who knows how long. Right? But the fish vomited him up when he gave thanks to God. Recognizing that salvation and deliverance only comes from the Lord.

That's what God wants for us. He wants us to give thanks to his name. Remember Psalm 50? Psalm 50, verse number 14 and verse number 15.

Psalmist said these words. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most high. Call upon me in the day of trouble.

I shall rescue you and you will honor me. That's what God wants. God wants us simply to honor him.

Well, we honor him when we give thanks to him. We sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving. Because it truly is a sacrifice to give thanks to God in and for all things.

And so I ask you this question because it's so important. Have you thanked God for the virus? Have you thanked God that you have lost your job? Have you thanked God that you have to work from home? Have you thanked God that the situation upon you right now is not desirable but you recognize his hand in it? And therefore you give thanks to him for how he's going to work out his sovereignty in your life. We need to be people who are characterized by praise and thanksgiving to our God.

And I would trust that that would be you. That would be me. Because if we are going to fulfill our responsibility to the best that we possibly can.

We must be watchful. We must be prayerful. We must be thankful.

And fourthly, we must be mindful. This is where we left off last week. You say, aren't you repeating everything? Aren't you going over everything again? Yes, yes, I am.

But what's the hurry? Where are we going? We're not going anywhere, right? Remember way back when we did our series on hope? Hopeology, we called it. And it's been 16 weeks looking at what the Bible says concerning hope. People said, are you ever going to stop and get off of hopeology to get on with the book of Hebrews? And I told you at the time, it was our most important series we had ever done.

Because we live in a world with no hope. And if we as Christians don't give hope to people, because hope is rooted in God, then how can we actually stand firm for him and demonstrate to them the love of Christ? Well, if you go back and listen to it right now, you'd realize how pertinent those 16 weeks were in your life today. We need to be able to give people hope.

And that's based on the Lord. And I told you then, there's no hurry. Where are we going? We're studying God's word.

That's all that matters. So you look at abolishing anxiety, learning to rest in God's sovereignty, looking to remember our responsibility to be watchful, to be prayerful, to be thankful, to be mindful. Mindful of what? Remember what Isaiah said? Isaiah 26, verse number three, thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee.

Thou will keep him in perfect peace. Not just any kind of semblance of peace, but perfect peace. But it only comes to those whose mind is completely fixed upon the Lord.

So we must be mindful. Mindful of what? Remember what Paul said in Colossians 3? Set your affections on things above. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.

Why? Because everything about our lives stems from a heart and a mind that thinks solely about God. And we must be fully concentrated on God alone. And I wonder if you are mindful of what the Lord wants you to be mindful of.

Well, Philippians 4, still verse number eight, Finally, brethren, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, if there is any excellence, and if any worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The word dwell, like it's a mathematical term, which means to calculate, to consider, to add them all up together. That's what we do.

We sit and calculate these virtues, these spiritual virtues. And that's what must consume our mind. We can sit in front of a Facebook and listen to what somebody says about the virus, or we can watch the news and we can get all discouraged.

I would just encourage you not to watch that much news, not to read that many articles, because most of them are all negative anyway. And, you know, garbage in, garbage out. So be careful what you feed your mind with.

And start to feed your mind with the spiritual virtues that need to be evident in your life. Be mindful of these things. Be mindful of things that are true.

Be mindful of that which is true. What is that? Well, it's God's word, right? The Lord said, sanctify them in truth, John 17, for your word is true, Christ himself. According to Ephesians 4, I think it is verse number 21, that truth is in Jesus.

And Jesus said, I am the way, John 14, 6, the truth and the life. He is that truth. In fact, remember when he was before Pilate in John chapter 18, when Pilate was questioning Jesus right before his crucifixion, Christ said to him in verse number 36 of John 18, my kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of the world, of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. Therefore, Pilate said to him, so you are a king.

And Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For this, I have been born. And for this, I have come into the world to testify to the truth.

And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Jesus came to testify to the truth. The truth about what? Truth about God.

Truth about the Messiah. Truth about holiness. The truth about the law.

The truth about sin. The truth about judgment. The truth about life.

The truth about death. All of those things are truthful things. And God says, I came to testify to these particular things.

All that is true, I came to testify about because I am the God of truth. And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Our minds need to be consumed with the truth because the truth is everything.

And God's word is absolutely true. When God's word talks about death, death is true. So if you think on things that are true, death is true.

We shouldn't fear death because Hebrews 2, 14 and 15 says that the fear of death has been removed from all those who know the Lord Jesus. We don't fear death because truly that has been abolished by Christ. And so therefore, we understand death.

We put it in the right perspective. The Bible speaks so much about death. Over 900 times in the Old Testament, over 400 times in the New Testament, because it is such a prevalent topic.

It's true. Man is going to die. And so your mind should be fixed on the things that are true.

The God who is truth. And then he says, we need to have our mind fixed on that which is honorable, that which is noble, that which is worthy of respect, that which is dignified, that which is reverent. Our mind should be fixed on those things.

And God himself is worthy of respect and to be revered. Also, the things that are right, it speaks of righteousness. We know that the law is right.

We know that it's holy and just. We know that Christ himself is right. He is the one who's granted us his righteousness.

We're to think on the things that are true, that are honorable, that are absolutely right. Then he says, the things that are pure, the things that are undefiled, the things that are clean, the things that are not soiled. So easy during times of distress and anxiety to think on things that are impure and defiled.

Bible says no. Let your mind dwell on these things. Calculate all that is pure, all that is true, all that is honorable, worthy of respect, all that is right.

And then he says, how about this? On that which is lovely, on that which is lovely, the graceful things, the things that truly are pleasing to God, pleasing to God. You think about those things. Remember years ago, we did a series on pleasing God.

And we wrote out the word pleasing for you to show you all the things in Scripture to talk about pleasing God. Paul said, I make it my ambition to please him. Right.

That should be our ambition. Well, if you're thinking about the things that are lovely, then you're thinking about the things that are amiable, that are pleasing to God. That should be the way we live our lives.

What truly pleases God and what's going to honor his name. That should consume our thinking. And then it says that which is of good repute or that which is praiseworthy, that which is highly regarded, that which truly is well thought of.

When you talk about that which is honorable, you're talking about that which refers to the Lord, the veneration of the Lord by believers. When you talk about those things that are of good repute, you're talking about those things in the world that are lovely and kind and gracious. Those kind of things.

We should be mindful of those. And the Bible says in the excellence, anything worthy of praise. This is where your mind dwells.

This is what needs to consume your thinking. What's consumed your thinking this weekend? What's consumed your thinking this week? Don't get caught up in all the negativity that surrounds the world. Get caught up in the identity of Christ.

Who he is, what he's done, and what he's doing in your life to bring you to a deeper knowledge of himself that you might better represent him. We are to be mindful of these things. And this is verse number nine.

The things that you have heard or learned, excuse me, and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. You know, when I think about that, I'm reminded of this fact that, you know, we live in a world that we are in survival mode. My son, Drew, and I were talking about this past week, and the church now is in survival mode.

The world really is too. But when you think of this in comparison to the end times and what's going to happen toward when you read the book of Revelation, this pales in comparison to the book of Revelation. But I want you to think about this for a minute, fathers.

Those of you who have families, you dads who are out there, you as a father need to be a fortress for your family. They need to be able to run to you and find security and stability. You need to be a fortress for your family.

And you need to be steadfast, thick with steadfastness in knowing Christ and the scriptures. Be well read in the scriptures. Be understanding of the scriptures.

Now's your time. Now's your time to rally your family around you. Now's your time to rally their attitudes around the scriptures.

Now's your time to stand up as a father and to be strong so your wife has the security and the stability that she needs, that your children can look to you for guidance and leadership. Your leadership will be at its best in crisis. How are you doing with that? Are you a fortress for your family? Are you faltering? Are you falling by the wayside? Maybe you're a single mom.

You now need to be the fortress for your children to be that mother that stands strong so they can see in you godliness. They can see the virtues as laid out in Philippians 4 verse number 8, that you are mindful of these things. Listen, this is our full responsibility.

We need to be watchful, prayerful. We need to be thankful. We need to be mindful.

Number five, you need to be helpful. You need to be helpful. Listen, if you are watchful and prayerful, thankful and mindful, you can free yourself up to see others and be mindful of their needs.

Now you can reach out to them and be helpful to them. I love what Paul says in Romans chapter 16 verse number 3. He talks about Aquila and Priscilla. They were his helpers, helpers in the ministry.

Also, there is Urbanus in Romans 16 verse number 9, that he was a helper in Christ as well. And then over in Acts 20 verse number 35, Paul says, help the weak, help the weak. Are you helpful? Paul was in prison in 2 Timothy chapter 1. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, there was a man who searched for him.

His name is Onesiphorus. The text goes as follows, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 15. You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.

And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. Onesiphorus, the consummate helper. His name means bringer of profit.

So in other words, he would profit Paul by bringing himself to him and meeting Paul's need while he was in prison. It's a word of refreshment. And I wonder whose soul you have refreshed.

Paul said he has refreshed my soul. Whose soul you are refreshing? You should have first refreshed the souls of your home, right? But how is it you can refresh the soul of someone else in your family, your church family, your workplace? By reaching out to them. By looking for a way to relieve them of their burdens, to relieve them of their anxiety, to come alongside of them.

And maybe it's just sharing a word of scripture with them. Maybe it's just praying with them. I shouldn't say just praying because that's a great thing to do or just sharing scripture because that's a great thing to do.

But maybe it's meeting a tangible need in some kind of physical kind of way that you could come alongside someone and meet that need that to be a bringer of profit to somebody else. Are you helpful? Epaphroditus was that way. Philippians chapter 2. His name, by the way, means lovely.

It says, but I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus. Verse number 25 of chapter 2. My brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier who is also your messenger and minister to my need. Epaphroditus was a minister to Paul's need.

He was extremely helpful to Paul. And here was a guy because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed, he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him.

And not only on him, but also on me said, I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I have sent him all the more eagerly said, when you see him again, you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. Receive him then in the Lord with all joy and hold men like him in high regard.

Because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me. He completed that which was deficient in Paul's life by risking his own life. He gambled his own life away for the sake of the apostle Paul.

Have you gambled your life away? For the sake of somebody else? Listen, if you are watchful, prayerful, thankful, and mindful, you can be helpful. And God wants you to be helpful, to relieve another person's burdens, to come alongside of them and minister to them in a unique way. This is your full responsibility.

Well, not quite, because I have seven more words I want to give you. But I'm gonna give those seven to you next week, I promise. And then we can move on to point number three of our outline.

How do you abolish anxiety? Rest in his sovereignty. Remember your responsibility. When you are, anxiety begins to fade away and you can truly trust in the living God.

Let me pray with you. Lord, thank you for today. Lord, you are so good to us.

An opportunity to once again, spend time in your word. What a blessing. Our prayer, Father, is that you would take your word and plant it deep within our hearts and cause us to trust and believe more in you than ever before.

That Lord, we might be a testimony to a lost world that so desperately needs to see Christ. We pray this in Jesus, the son of God, the soon coming King. Amen.