Positive Christian Motivation

Letting Go and Trusting God - Powerful Christian Motivation

Make God's word your ultimate source of daily motivation as you tune in to this impactful episode filled with motivational messages, empowering life advice, inspiring teachings, and stories. Enjoy this remarkable blend of spiritual insights and empowering inspiration that motivates you to become the best version of yourself and nourishes your spiritual connection with God.

Duration:: 30m
Broadcast on:: 05 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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In fact, you're trying to handle a day or two days more than you should. Corey Timboon said this, "Anxiety is carrying tomorrow's low with today's strength. Carrying two days, in other words, at once. It's moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Anxiety doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." Here's the thing. There's a sense of irony when it comes to anxiety. You can't figure it out. But anxiety wants to control you by making you feel like you're out of control. Have you ever felt that before? Isn't it interesting that in the context of worry and anxiety, Jesus talks about our relationship with the day. And I would like to say that there are many people in this room. And one of the reasons anxiety and fear might be intensifying in your life is because you are trying to live multiple days at once. And you can't. You are worked up about things that A) may never happen and B) you may not even be there for them to happen to you. You have now. Are you here? Are you here? Are you somewhere five, ten years ago? Are you somewhere five, ten days ago? Are you somewhere five days from now or are you here? Here's what I love about God. He's so cool. He's like, "I'm going to teach you about today." And he says, "It's not the most encouraging teaching on day." You notice he's like, "Listen, today's got a ton of trouble." So I just kind of focus on today because tomorrow's going to have trouble, too. But I love this. He's like, "Tomorrow will take care of itself." Which is another way of saying like, "Guys, that's what I do. I'm in the future. I'm in the past and I'm in the present. You can't be. You won't be. And if you try to be, you're going to be worried." I just got to take it a day at a time. Some of you want to be great. Jesus just wants you to be great today. Some of you want to be married 22 years. Jesus just wants to help you be married today. Some of you want to have kids. Jesus just wants you to be content to today. The way to go a long way is just be here today. Here's what I know about Jesus. He will give you the strength to be who you are today. We're not talking about tomorrow. For when tomorrow comes, it will be today. I want to speak to every person who's trapped and so worried that you want to die. Tomorrow belongs to God. I know you're scared. The times are shaky. The odds are set against you. And I know you're worried. And I know you're scared. I'm not saying you won't go through tests. I'm not saying you won't go through trials. I'm not saying you're going to get everything you want. But I'm telling you that God has an expected end for your life and that His thoughts are good toward you and not evil. And whatever comes and whoever goes, God is still going to bless you. And you stop worrying about your future. God has got it tomorrow, belongs to God. Worry is to have faith in the negative. Worry is faith turned inside out. Worry is responding to the negative voice louder than you do the positive. Your thought life is infected by worry. You can't make sound decisions when you're worried. Anxiety is literally worrying about tomorrow. You profess to walk by faith and not by sight. And yet you want to know everything about something that hadn't even happened yet. You're making yourself anxious. You're making yourself sick. You're making yourself hard to live with. Maybe it's just me, but how many of you have found yourself struggling to rest in today for fear of tomorrow? Tomorrow belongs to God. How do we not get ahead of God? How do we not get ahead of time? How do we slow down? The key is we got to structure our life around Jesus as followers of Jesus. Which means, and we find this and I read this in Philippians chapter 4, it means that we have to learn to structure our lives around prayer. Prayer, in other words, is a context for where God meets with us. And Paul says, "Do not be anxious just on Tuesdays." I wish you would have said that, right? Or Thursdays or every now and then he says, "Do not be anxious for anything." How do you do that? He says, "Okay, this is how you do it." You practice the art of prayer, right? This doesn't have to be like 10 hours a day, right? This could be 5, 10, 15 minutes. You just open up your heart to Jesus and then you share what's on your heart and then what you do, right? As you cast your anxieties and cares to Jesus through prayer, then you start thinking God over it, right? This is what I do. I struggle with anxiety a lot in my life. I'm just really honest with God. I'm really honest with God. And I've learned that I got to bring it to God. And so I'll just say, "God, I don't understand what this is about. I don't know why I'm afraid, but I think you would tell me that God, you have not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. God, I'm just like--" We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more. But something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar, cheese sticks, oven baked pastas, cinebon mini rolls, and that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are eight count boneless. You know that vibe, when you're riding in your all-new Camry and that cousin calls, the one who always tries to one-up you. I mean, yours is fine and all, but-- not even a hello. It's straight into better job, boyfriend, vacation spot, your response, brushing the dirt off your shoulders, and pulling up in the all-new Camry. 225 horsepower, bold grill, available 19-inch wheels, and wireless charging. Who has the better what now? Not so. The vibe just shifted in your favor with the all-new Camry. Toyota, let's go places. Wrestling, I'm scared, man. This week's soft, right? And I'm exhausted. I'm trying to figure stuff out, but I think you would tell me that perfect love casts out all fear. I think you would also tell me that it's even in my weaknesses, and I feel really weak today, but it's in my weaknesses that your strength is perfected, right? I start quoting Psalm 136. God, I thank you. I don't feel it right now. You feel like 10 trillion miles away, and I'm afraid and scared right now, but I thank you that even though I quit on you, your love never quits on me. I start quoting Psalm 145, and this is why I think it's so important to have just a basic knowledge of God's Word. I thank you, Father. Psalm 145 says that you lavish favor on creation, right? You're generous to a fault. You're loving acts of the trademark of your kingdom. I just start telling myself what I think God would say from his Word, and that's when I experience the freedom from anxiety. So I do that combined with thanksgiving. I thank God. I thank you, God, that you're in charge. It's what I do. As I cast every care upon him, and as I do those things, thank God, share my anxiety. That is when I find freedom. Have you prayed about it? It is what troubles you. It is whatever fatigues you. It is whatever keeps you awake at night. It is what is stealing your joy. It dominates our thoughts, our lives, and our future, unless we learn to follow the counsel of the Apostle Paul, who encourages us to take it and place it behind two other words. Pray about it. Prayer is the act of taking it whatever it is to God before it can get to you. And we say, God, I can't handle it, but you can. I can't deal with it, but you can. I don't know what to do with it, but you do. And I'm going to leave it here with you. Peace happens when rather than focus on it, we pray about it. This is the idea behind the Apostle's admonition. He says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Here we're called to action rather than giving in to it or being dominated by it. Our response is to rejoice in the Lord, pursue gentleness or level-mindedness, be aware that the Lord is near, and now take it to God as quickly as we can. Pray first and pray most, that every time these anxious thoughts appear, we can choose either prayer or despair. So choose wisely. And the Apostle urges us to be those who pray about everything and do so with thankful hearts, making our requests known to God. If you like to fill in the blanks, his point is simple. Pray about everything. Everything. If you wake up in the morning and say, Lord, help me, then you have created a lighter load. A part of my morning routine on the days that I do it well, I wish I could say I do it daily. But on my good days, I make a list of what could be a challenge in that day, and as I'm sipping on the morning coffee, I just say, okay, Lord, I've got this meeting at 10 o'clock. Will you please help me? I've got to have this assignment done by noon. Would you please help me? But I go specifically down my to-do list, and I just give it to God. And what I have discovered is if I do that, and when I do that, I carry a lighter load all day. Because when I sense that deadline coming, when I am facing it, then I remember, oh, but I gave that to God this morning. I'm thankful, because he's already gone ahead of me, and I can be grateful. And so my invitation to you is simply this. Don't let it get to you. Don't let it take any more sleep. Don't let it take any more joy. Don't let it rob you of being the person God has called you to be. Whenever it comes up, you take it immediately to God. You pray about it. You leave it with him. Paul is suggesting that we let it go. See, let's not complicate prayer. Prayer is, he says, don't be anxious about anything but in everything. Hold on a minute. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything. Don't be anxious about anything but in everything. I think the anything is connected to the everything. I think we're on to something. The way to not be anxious about anything is in everything. Let go of it to God. And be like, I'm tired of being anxious about everything and not praying about anything. I don't want to be anxious about anything, and I want to pray about everything. I have a friend who prays little prayers nonstop throughout the day, and it's been one of the most inspiring things to me, and it's changed my perspective of prayer. I used to think prayer was something you do for two hours in the morning, and then you go about your day. I've learned a far more effective habit of prayer, and that is stop and pray about everything. What, what, every time we were anxious, we just had a quick little prayer. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen, tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut's seven-dollar deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only seven dollars each when you buy two or more, but something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven, baked pastas, cinnabon mini rolls, and that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the seven-dollar deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are eight-count boneless. You know that vibe? When you're riding in your all-new Camry and that cousin calls, the one who always tries to one-up you. I mean, yours is fine and all, but... Not even a hello. It's straight into better job, boyfriend, vacation spot, your response? Pressing the dirt off your shoulders and pulling up in the all-new Camry. 225 horsepower, bold grill, available 19-inch wheels, and wireless charging. Who has the better what now? Not so. The vibe just shifted in your favor with the all-new Camry. Toyota, let's go places. Telling you, you would unlock something supernatural based on what Paul's saying. And I got no other answer to this horrific phenomenon. It is so out of control. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna bet the house. I'm gonna bank everything on a supernatural father who is going to bring peace to me. And here's what's gonna happen. You'll, you'll, you'll experience a sense of God. Then you'll start to feel that God is guarding you. And then you'll get a sensation that God is in control and ruling the universe. And nothing may change in your circumstances. But everything changes at the core of who you are. And you're like, come what may, I'm gonna be all right. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. That is not a promise to the spiritually elite. That is a promise to average ordinary people who just say, Oh God, I'm so afraid. Please help me. Absolutely. I am here and then amazing. We can take what's so crippling like anxiety. We can turn it into a moment of connection with God. And I believe we can turn it in. What the enemy means for evil. We can turn it in work. God will work it together for our good. So when it comes to anxiety embedded within its structure is a belief that things will not turn out okay. The most frequent command in the Bible is do not be afraid. I think there are a lot of people here tonight. What you need to hear more than anything because many of you are overwhelmed that there's nagging sense that your future is not going to be okay. You're overwhelmed with this sense. You can't even pinpoint it. I don't know what's wrong with me. But I need someone to come and say it's okay. And this is exactly what Jesus is saying when he offers the command do not be anxious. He is saying this world is shaped by a loving father woven into time and space is God's love. And he has a plan for you. So the good news, this is the good news, right? The good news is that we have a father in heaven who loves us. So how do we overcome on a theological level this sense of things are not going to be okay. Our starting point to getting free from anxiety. It's a starting point. But our starting point is resting in the reality that Jesus has won the victory over death itself and over all catastrophes. And God at this very present moment, it might not look like it. I know things in that world feel like it's crazy town. But in this very present moment, God is working out all things for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. When I come to him and tell him about it, I say to him, Father, I'm turning this over to you. You said you'd bear my burdens. I'm laying this down. By laying it down, I'm acknowledging God, I can't handle this. I know you can handle this. And so first of all, I'm telling him about it. And secondly, I'm entrusting it to him. I'm trusting him who called me to himself and made me a promise that he not only can, but he will, desires, is committed to handling my burden. So I come to him. I tell him about it. I lay it before him. I trust him to deal with it. Not only must I tell him about my burden, not only must I trust it to him, but my focus must move from my burden to the burden barra. In other words, when I begin to focus on him, you know what, I can leave it with him. As long as I'm focusing on the burden, I'm going to pick it up and walk away with it, and I'm going to keep carrying. That's the reason some people care the same burden for year after year after year after year. They've never learned to lay it down. You lay it down. Listen, you lay it down as a decision on your part. You lay it down as an act of faith on your part, and you lay it down. Listen, changing your focus from the burden to the burden barra. Then when I give it to him, and I trust him with it, and I get my focus on him, you know what's going to happen? I'm going to be able to rest in my soul without having turmoil. I'm going to be able to rest in my spirit without fear. I'm going to be able to rest in my understanding of my circumstances, that even though they may not change, there's going to be an awesome sense of peace until he does see fit to change them. Is it not true that you and I become restless when our focus gets on the burden rather than on the burden barra? When you and I begin to think about all the reasons why it's not being taken care of, why it's not changing, is that not the reason we become frustrated and anxious and worried and fretful, and sometimes even maybe angry. He says, "Come on, take my yoke. Look what I'm like." And he says, "I'll give you rest for your soul." What's his promise? His promise is this, you and I, though, listen, you and I though we may have to face very heavy burdens in life. We don't have to give up. We don't have to try some foolish escape. We don't have to become disillusioned. We don't have to surrender to them. Listen, we don't have to check out of life. We have a loving heavenly Father who fully understands enough that he says, "Listen, I will lead you. I will guide you. I will teach you in the way you should go. Cast all your cares upon me. I will sustain you. I'm the burden barra. Let me have your burden and you won't have to bear it." Psalm 23, Psalm of David, he says in verse 1, "The Lord's my shepherd, because he's my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes, renews." We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is helping meet rising demand, and we're working to do it responsibly. Our next-gen tankless facilities reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our operations by more than 90% compared to our older designs. Working to provide Colorado with energy that's affordable, reliable, and ever cleaner. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more. But something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar, cheese, sticks, oven, baked pastas, cinebon mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included or eight-count boneless. You know that vibe? When you're rolling in your all-new Camry and you and wifey aren't seeing eye to eye. Whoa. That's icy. Well, here's what you do. Use the available 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen to pull up you all's favorite crooner. The minute she hears that high note floating from the available JBL premium audio. Oh baby. You'll know you just went from icy to thawed out. The vibe just shifted for the better with the all-new Camry. Toyota. Let's go places. Restores my soul. He guards me along the right pass for his namesake even though I walk through the darkest valley. I will fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod, your staff. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with all my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and your love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. When David makes the declaration that the Lord is my shepherd, he is in essence saying, I've got to give up control. The Lord is my shepherd. See, giving up control is difficult, but when we really think about it, it's logical because control is an illusion. Even when we think we have it, we don't. In some stress, some strain, some feelings of being overwhelmed, feelings of being inundated with anxiety are often consequences of us trying to carry something. God never intended for us to carry. That's God waiting. We control our decisions. God controls outcomes. Jeremiah, well, God talks about it through Jeremiah when Jeremiah informs God's people that he knows the plans that he has for us, plans not to harm us, plans to prosper us and to give us a hope and a future. I think what is key and critical when it comes to this is that God says to Jeremiah, I know the plans. He didn't say, you know the plans. He said, I know the plans, which suggests that there are some things God intentionally does not let us in on. Listen, I got picked up, Pastor Jacob picked my wife and I up to come here tonight. I'm riding in the passenger seat. I have no anxiety at all. I'm relaxed and I have no idea where we're going. I knew we were coming here, but if I were to have to drive here by myself, I wouldn't be able to do it because I don't know the way. But I'm in the car, relaxed, excited about being here, even though I didn't know where I was going. But I had no anxiety, no stress, because I was riding with somebody who did. So I didn't have to stress because he knows where I'm going. And he knows the best route to get us here on time. And when you made a decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life, what you did was you got in the car with him. And you need to sit in the passenger side and arrest anxiety and stress, because even though you don't know where you're going, he knows where you're going. And he knows how to get you there on time. He is my shepherd and I will let nothing. After countless steps and more than a few miles, your dog drives you forward one last time to make that final climb. And as the rising sun peeks out from the horizon, you know, incredible happens here because it starts here with a fuel that makes it all possible. Proplan Sport. Discover advanced nutrition made to fuel strength and stamina and active dogs like yours at proplan sport.com. Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app, get flavorful 80% lean ground beef for $3.99 a pound, then buy to get too free on 12 packs of delicious Coca-Cola, Pepsi or 7-Up all with your card. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply, see site for details.