Northside Church - Sydney
Life's Too Short – Week 3: To Endure Stress and Worry
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well, at the risk of state in the obvious, we are bound together here this morning by many things, many common things, but one thing is for sure. Everybody here, at some point or another, has, is, will, experience, stress, anxiety, worry. It's just common to all of us. Some of you are worrying and are stressed right now. I've no doubt about that. I know partially. That's the case with some of you. Stressed about health, about relationships, about work. All kinds of factors contribute to us having stress and worry within our lives. And the big difference, of course, is how people handle the stress that inevitably comes. That's the point of differentiation. Now, the treatment and the control of stress is a huge health issue in this country. And those of you in the medical profession will say amen to that. The Australian newspaper in November last year did an article in which they said that the consumption of antidepressants had doubled in Australia in the last decade. They also said that for whatever reason, doctors are more inclined to write prescriptions for antidepressants these days than ever. We go into that. Maybe it's because there's not enough time to talk. Maybe the old-style doctor talked you through some of the stress these days as much quicker with the next patient waiting. Just take this. But it's doubled in the last 10 years. That is a staggering statistic. It's also an indication of the rising levels of stress that many, many people are facing in the face of rapid societal changes and the pace of life, particularly in a city like Sydney. And the growing complexity of life. I mean, we just have so many things. We've got to get our heads around these days. So many issues that once were pretty straightforward. Now there's heaps of shades of gray. Stress management is a big issue in society. But among the people of God, for people who are seeking to follow Jesus, members of the body of Christ, it's of special significance for us. It requires close attention because, here's the reason, how we handle stress and anxiety in our lives has the potential. Watch this. The potential to either strengthen or weaken our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I mean, it's that critical. And I say that having observed hundreds and hundreds of Christians over the years in my various churches where I've ministered, how we handle stress from a faith perspective will, it'll either take us to deeper levels of intimacy and reliance on God or to a place of doubt and fear and distrust. And the obvious question is, where do you want to be? I mean, where do you want to be of those two alternatives? Do you want to be living in victory? Do you want to be living in enjoy and fulfillment? Or do you want to be living in despair and defeat? It gets down to that. Where do you want to live? Which area of life and existence do you want to be in? To a very large extent, those outcomes in response to that are determined by our responsiveness, our openness to God through the Holy Spirit in this area of stress management. There's a surprise you to know there are specific instances in the Word of God where worry and stress not only prevented people from experiencing the blessings of God, but prevented them from actually experiencing His salvation. Worry and stress can and will do that to you. Let me give you three examples. Let me take you back to the parable of the sower, one of the best known of all the parables of Jesus, the parable of the sower. You know, where a guy goes out and he starts sowing seed and he's throwing it everywhere and it's landing on different kinds of surfaces. Have a listen to what Jesus says in Mark chapter 4 verses 18 and 19. He's giving an explanation to the disciples on the parable of the sower, what it all means. He says this in verse 18. Other people are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the ones who hear the message, so that part's okay, but worries about this life, the love of riches and all other kinds of desires crowd in and choke the message and they don't bear fruit. Worry's of this world quench the action of the Spirit. There's one example. What about the rich young ruler? And Jesus for that man, and it was just for him, or at least in that instance, it was specifically for him. It's not prescriptive for everybody, but Jesus said sell all you have. Just get rid of the whole lot and give it to the poor. Because Jesus knew that that was that man's problem. His point of vulnerability was in the size of his bank account. And Jesus says, let's get rid of that, then we can do business. We can start to see where your heart really is. He'd ask the question, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, look, sell all you have, give to the poor. The Bible says the man went away sorrowful. Like he passed up eternal life and the Bible adds because he was very rich. So he's a guy who clearly, the worry about what it would like to see his bank account and his shares go from this to this, he passes up eternal life for that. Amazing. What about Mary and Martha? We looked at them a few weeks ago in another series. Martha receives a firm rebuke. There's the two sisters and they host Jesus in their home. And Martha receives a firm rebuke from Jesus because she failed to see the significance of the moment. In that moment, she got her priorities very badly skewed. It was an opportunity to learn from Jesus. She passed it up. And what does Jesus say in Luke chapter 10, verse 41, Luke 10, 41, the Lord answered, Martha, Martha, you are worried. Here it is. You are worried over so many things, but just one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing and it will not be taken from her. Friends, three examples, three examples, three of many examples from the Scriptures where worry made the difference between receiving the blessing of God and in a couple of cases receiving salvation itself. Wow. That's why we're looking at this topic today. Let's start to unpack some things. Let's remind ourselves that at the heart of most anxiety is fear. It's great to know what you're up against. People say, oh, worry got stressful. Okay. Let's look at what are you up against? You're up against fear. That's the main, that's at the heart of most forms of anxiety. Fear of the unknown, fear of the consequences, fear of the outcome. If I'm anxious about flying, I've got to fear that the plane's in a crash. I know what that's like. For years, I was a chronic nervous flyer and that if you're like that, it is a terrible place to be and I really feel for you. My word would be stay with it, keep flying, keep, it gets better as you go along. That's been my story anyway. If it's a pre-exan anxiety, it's fear of failure. If it's worry and stress over work, it's fear of retrenchment or fear of not picking up something if I choose to leave. If it's marriage stress, it's fear of being alone or fear of the consequences if you stay together, what's that going to be like? If it's stress in relationships, it could be fear of rejection. If it's financial stress, it's fear of not being able to provide, not being able to get by in material terms. If it's stress and anxiety in relation to health, it's fear of severe disease, fear of death itself. At the heart of most forms of anxiety is fear. That's the enemy we have to contend with now. Here's the big now for the person of faith, for the one who believes in the power of God through Jesus Christ and seeking to follow Him. The greatest weapon against fear is trust. That's the greatest weapon we have as the people of God against fear. Trust in God. Now, whoa, let's just pause a moment. How has that phrase been misused among the people of God over the years? How it's been used so casually, so loosely. I would even say how it's been used so recklessly. Just trusting God. It'll be okay. Don't worry. Just give it all over to God. It sounds spiritual. It sounds like the right thing to say. And look, it is. It is the right thing to say. It is the right thing to say. But it depends on what we mean by trusting God. Let me give you a few things that it doesn't mean. Trusting in God is not sitting back, hands off the wheel, expecting others to pick up the pieces. That's not trusting God. I've seen some examples of that. I'm not going to worry or stress. I'm just going to forge ahead and just see what happens. People are going to be careful. No, I'm just going to go ahead. At the same time, trusting is God is not acting like we're totally bereft of the ability to think and to plan and to act. I'm not anxious even though people are trying to help me. I haven't studied for this exam, but look, there's going to see how it goes. Just trusting God. In other words, trusting God is not behaving irresponsibly in the belief somehow God will work it out. Over the years of my ministry, I've seen lots of examples of this back in Adelaide for a number of years, our church was the home base of a Christian itinerant group. They would take young people in vans all across South Australia, all across Australia, actually, in what was a very good ministry. They'd visit schools and they'd visit prisons and churches and so on. They were based at our church. I want to tell you what form of the arts they performed in me because that would give it away. These messages go to a wide audience. This is not a criticism, well, this is a criticism I guess. We work with this group when I was ministering with them. They had very little money. They took great pride in the fact that it was a faith-based ministry. Some of our volunteer mechanics at the church, my last church had stacks of mechanics, stacks of plumbers, stacks of carpenters. This church is very different. You all know plumbers. You all know carpenters. But these mechanics would check on the vans and at times they uncovered some very serious thoughts with these vans. I can recall one incident where one of our guys said, "Listen, you got real problems with this van. There's steering problems. There's brake problems. Why haven't you told us about this before?" The director of the group, I can still hear him saying, "Look, I know we're just trusting God to get us to these places. We're just putting our faith in him that he'll provide." That's not trusting God. That is irresponsible behavior, particularly dealing with young lives. Another occasion here in Sydney, in this church, had the opportunity to administer to a guy who, with the pastor of his previous church, had supposedly had a vision that this man should increase dramatically expand his business, dramatically expand the business. And the basic benefits were going to be twofold. Number one, he was going to be blessed as a result of expanding the business. Number two, coincidentally and wonderfully, the ministry was going to be able to be blessed in a new way as well. So the guy did this and against the advice of accountants and other savvy business people, he expanded this business dramatically overnight, took on new people, just trusting God. It would be all be okay. You can probably see where this is going. He lost that business. And he came to us here at Northside, quite a shattered man, barely hanging under his faith. We had him for about maybe 12 months. I try to keep contact. I don't know where he is today. That experience, for all I know, may well have cost him his faith. Look, here's the thing. The greatest weapon we have as Christians, as we seek the cope with worry and anxiety, is trust. And guys, what I've got for you in the remaining moments is this. To me, trusting God involves a series of what I call faith assertions or affirmations. These are drawn from numerous examples in the Scriptures. And they're practical. They're the sort of statements that should be put on little 3M stickers around our homes. Back in the '70s, it was a thing called self-talk. Anybody remember the '70s? A couple of you. Self-talk was where you had all these little stickers. I'm a great person. I'm going to have a fantastic day. Brian, you with me? And you stick all these around and have them on your mirror first thing in the morning. It was called self-talk. It was just going to be a little positive. Well, maybe these things are worthy. I don't have them stuck in my home, but I have them here, and I have them here. And the first one is this. "I am not designed to live in a permanent state of anxiety." You've got to say that, and you've got to believe that. Now, that's as much a medical statement as it is a theological statement, because, I mean, the wear and tear in our bodies through stress is well documented. It's there for all to see. It's some medical professionals put it as high as, you know, 70, 80 percent of all complaints and diseases can be attributed in some way to stress and anxiety. But the damage to our spiritual natures can be far more severe. That's where the real damage can be done. If you've heard me preach on stress before, many of you have been traveling with us for a while, you've heard me quote Dr. E. Stanley Jones, and I don't think I'll ever preach a message on stress without quoting this man. This, to me, I don't know where he was when he was given this insight, but it's been written down. It's in one of his books, and it's just absolutely G-O-L-D gold. Dr. E. Stanley Jones, he was one of the great missionaries and ministers of the 20th century in America, born in Maryland, and this is what he said in a book back in the later part of last century. He said, "We are inwardly fashioned for faith, not fear. Fear is not our native land. Faith is." He says, "We are so made that worry and anxiety are like sand in the machinery of life." He picked somebody in a bit of intricate machinery and they're just letting sand go into it like that. He made them with those of the cogs. He says, "Faith is the oil. I live. We live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, our being is gasping for breath. These are not our native air, but faith, but in faith and confidence, we breathe freely. These are my native air. These are our native air." He says, "We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain, cell and soul for faith, not fear." God made us that way. To live by worry is against reality. Get your head around that. To live by worry is against how we've been designed by God. That's the first affirmation. Stick it up, get it somewhere prominent. Here's the second one. "I won't be surprised when faced with stressful situations." I won't be, "Where'd that come from? Why me? What's going on? I won't be surprised." Like, this is a huge part of the battle when it comes to the control of stress and worry. The realization that being alive on planet earth, it's inevitable. You're going to have situations that are going to be very stressful and very worrisome. Jesus said, "In the world, you will have trouble." That's it, period. Fortunately he added, "Be not afraid. I have overcome the world. Follow me, and you're on the victory side." Here's the third faith affirmation. "I won't confuse escape from worrying circumstances with strength for worrying circumstances." The only prayer a lot of Christians pray is, "Lord, get me out of this. Lord, deliver me from this. Lord, remove this problem." Now, look, it's okay to pray like that, and we must, and we do, and we need to. But following on from the last point about the inevitability of problems, sometimes a more appropriate prayer is, "Lord, get me through this. Lord, give me the strength to bear this disappointment, to press on despite this setback, to keep going even though I want to quit." You see, in Philippians 4, 13, Paul doesn't say, "I don't have to face anything because Jesus has delivered me." He doesn't say that. He says, "No, I can do. I can face all things through Christ who strengthens me. It's strength for the journey, strength that I'm moving along." Here's the fourth affirmation. "In God's strength, I will try and ascertain what is my part in a worrying situation and what is the part only he can play." Now, friends, you'll realize this is getting to the heart of what we're saying this morning. I mean, this is the real crux of the matter. This requires spiritual discernment. This requires maturity in Christ. This calls for industrial strength trust to make the distinction, "What am I meant to do in this situation and what can only God do?" Should I be praying about the stresses and strains of life? You bet. You got to bathe these situations in prayer because in the process of praying, here's what happens. We get insight into the part we should be playing. I know that's been the test of many of you. In prayer, "Okay, yeah, thank you, God. I can do this." You also get insights as you pray in the stressful situations. You get insights. We're inviting God. We're inviting him into the situation to do what only he can do. Let me give you a couple of illustrations. When I'm supporting people about, for instance, some employment, somebody's out of a job with seeking a new job, I will urge them if all things being considered to just do as much as they can. Seek.com, get out there, put your CV out everywhere, choose the areas. Just go for it. But also say, but allow God to do what only he can do and be open and receptive to that chance meeting, that surprising phone call, that email. Well, where did that come from? That's exactly what, you know? Some of you have been there. You know what that's like. God, only God can kind of do those kind of things. Give me ready for that. When I pray with people in hospital, and some of you have been on the receiving end of a prayer like this, we thank God. You know, in the healing process, thank God for all that's happening with the medical staff, the nursing, the support of friends and family and so on. And then, Lord, thank you for that thing which we cannot describe, but we know is real that special work of your Holy Spirit in the healing process. And we always acknowledge that. To not acknowledge the other things is crazy, to not acknowledge the medical team, the love of family and friends, that's inadequate. But the same time must acknowledge that there are things that happen in the healing process that are beyond description that only he can do. And that's the special work of his Holy Spirit in healing. It happens every time. I mean, most preachers, like I get to a point with a sermon where you go through a bit of stress with preaching, particularly when, you know, late Friday you've still got a blank page. That's fairly stressful because it's a bit like sitting for your final exam. It's like you've got to have something on the day. I'm not one of those ministers who can get up and say, "You know what, I've had a shocking week. Can we just kind of share a few things and pray a little bit now?" I may do that one week. I haven't had to do it in 40 years of ministry, but I know colleagues who have. But, you know, like, it's a stressful, but I get to a point where I say, "Lord, I'm not worrying about this anymore because I've done as much as I can. Now it's over to you to do with it what you will." And it's amazing the feedback you get as preachers. I've had people say to me, "You know, that message really helped me grow in this, this, this, this." I say, "Oh, that's wonderful. I wouldn't even talk about that." I wasn't even talking about that sort of issue. But somehow God took what I was saying and applied it in a situation that I wasn't even aware of. It's fantastic. And as Christians, we discern what is it that I can do and in preaching, prepare your best, do your best, do the homework, do the research, get it all nailed down. But be aware that there is something that only God can do. It's a principle that applies in all areas of life. God's here's the last affirmation. Number five, look at this. I will affirm peace with God is my destiny. If I was an African American preacher, I might get you to sort of say that after me. It sounds to me, God, peace. I'm not going to do that. But you know, that's a great preaching technique of the African American preacher. I will affirm peace with God is my destiny. And anything that robs me of that peace in an ongoing way, in other words, in a permanent debilitating way, is not His perfect will for my life. I believe that with all my heart. So if you're saying to me, oh, yeah, I'm always stressed and worried, I'm family and thinking, well, that is not where God wants you to be. I can say that in the authority of the Word of God. I believe that. It gets back to the first affirmation. We're not designed to be burdened. We're not designed to be burdened with stress all the time. It'll happen, but not all the time. That's not our destiny. We are inwardly fashioned for faith, not fear. In faith and confidence, we breathe easily. That's our native ear. Friends, these five affirmations can be life changes like they have been for me, you know. I've over preached the issue of worry from all different angles over the years with preaching. This is a fresh approach. I've not preached with those five affirmations before, but I got the thinking. What have been the things that have helped me praise God to be a reasonably worry-free person? There they are. Now, I'm praying that I haven't trivialized the reality of stress this morning for anybody because it is real. It's very, very real. And I don't want to provide simplistic answers to very complex issues. And I hope we haven't done that this morning. What I've tried to do is offer practical hands-on tools in the battle against worry. You'll never eradicate worry this side of heaven, but you can manage it better. You can manage it better so that you're with Jesus. I can do all things through Christ. It's that combination. I want to give the final word to Jesus by way of summary. Couldn't give a better summary for this message. Have a look at this. John 14, 27. Jesus says, "Peace is what I leave with you. It is my own peace I give to you. I do not give it as the world does." I really love that. Do not be worried and upset. Neither be afraid. You want a summary for the message. The reality is right there. Life's too short to be permanently in the mode of worry and anxiety. I love that piece here. I give not as the world gives it. The world says, "Take a pill. Go away for the weekend. Forget about it. Just pretend it's not happening." The world says, "Just drink a bit more. Get out of it more. Just let your head out of it more." Jesus says, "I give it not as the world gives it. That's not how I give peace. My peace is from within despite surroundings and despite circumstances. It's not escape from stress. It's power to live through stress. There's the difference."