Anxieties?

Father, we come to your word. You know, even this morning as we read your word, you know what heavy

burdens some of us are carrying. You know, Father, what heavy loads, what anxieties, maybe about

finances or about our marriage or about our singleness or, Father, you just, there's too many

to name, Father. You know that we, many of us are carrying very heavy loads and cares. And Father,

you also know that many of us are carrying cares and stresses that we're not even conscious of.

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for Jesus. We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would

bring your word very deeply into the command center of our lives so that we would humble ourselves

under Jesus. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated.

So, I'm not going to say how long ago because it will make me sound really, really old. But

a few years ago, I started to develop very, very, apparently very, very serious heart problems.

I started to experience what it felt to me as if my heart was missing beats. And it would also seem as

if my heart was fluttering. And sometimes it would seem as if my heart was pounding too strong,

almost as if, I mean, those are contradictory symptoms. Not entirely contradictory, by the way,

when you talk to a doctor about it. And all of a sudden, their eyes go like this and they get very

concerned. But it would feel I'd have these, and I'd feel like I was having shortness of breath.

And so I went to my doctor. You know, I'm a typical guy. I worried about it for several months before I

finally told my wife. And my wife, of course, said, you better go see a doctor because those sound like

very, very serious conditions. And so I went to my doctor and he said, this could be very, very serious.

And he sent me, at the time we were living in Eganville, I was the minister there, and he sent me to the

the doctor, the specialist in Pembroke. And he was very concerned. In fact, he told me that I had to

stop exercising, and I had to wear a heart monitor. And he sent me as well for some tests. And after the

tests, he told me that he thought I had a very, very serious heart condition, that I had a valve that

wasn't working, and I had a diseased and enlarged heart. This is not the news you want to have.

When you are in your mid-30s, and you have a whole pile of young kids. And needless to say, I was very,

very, very worried about it. So I go back to my doctor in Eganville, because he's the one who's also

sort of, he wanted to see me and debrief me about the results. And my doctor in Eganville,

he, he, there was actually, there are only two people in Eganville who ran, me and my doctor.

Rural people don't run, as a general rule. And so my doctor, who was a runner, he was a bit suspicious

about the diagnosis. And so he called up the Heart Institute in Ottawa. And at the time in the Heart

Institute in Ottawa, there was a doctor who specialized. He had a, one of his subspecialties

was people who ran a lot, were very, very athletic, and also had heart trouble. Because at the time,

I was probably running about, I was probably running about 80 kilometers a week. So that's why it was

very shocking to find out that I had these, potentially a life-threatening heart condition

that could potentially kill me at any time. And so my doctor called up the Heart Institute,

found out that there was this doctor who had this subspecialty of people who had been not only

running like that a lot, but had been running for a long time. And because there's not too many of us

who do that, he took me almost immediately. I know for some of you, I've had to wait to see people in

the Heart Institute. I saw him within a week, I think it was, which is sort of like a bit of a miracle.

And so he put me through a whole pile of tests. And as a result of all of the tests,

he said that I had this condition, the name of which I can't remember. Maybe some of you would know

what it is. And basically, he said I had, in fact, my valve was fine. It was a faulty test in Pembroke.

And my heart condition was a result of accumulated and high stress.

Now, just before he told me that, I would have told you that I didn't experience stress.

I would have told you that I'm not an anxious person, that I'm a very calm person.

And so on one hand, it was a big shock to discover that my heart symptoms were meant that I had a

particular condition. He said that throughout the rest of your life, you might, some of these symptoms

might come. And he said, you should always have it tested out. But chances are, what's happened is

you're under a lot of stress and a lot of unconscious stress. And then he said, because we're in the,

he said he knew I came from Eganville. He said, you should take a couple of weeks off and go fishing.

Or you should talk to a counselor or something, or you just take some time off. You have to deal with your stress.

And on one level, it was a shock to discover that I was an anxious person,

that I was experiencing a lot of stress and didn't recognize it.

On the other hand, it was a huge relief to know that I wasn't about to die any moment from a heart attack.

And interestingly enough, my stress level went like in half, just as I was walking out of the hospital

after he told me that I didn't have a condition.

So the fact is, this was, the part of the thing which is so crazy about this whole incident

was that I actually have a counseling degree.

I know people wonder, why aren't I nicer?

But I actually have a graduate level degree in counseling.

And one of the things you learn in counseling is how powerful and destructive stress can be in your lives,

a person's life, but I didn't recognize it in my own life.

And the fact is, often when people come to me because they have some type of problem,

one of the things, depending on what the problem is,

one of the things I start to ask them questions about is to see if, in fact,

what's happening is that there's a lot of stress that's going on in their lives that they don't recognize.

Because it's a very common problem.

We have a lot of things that cause us stress, that cause us anxiety, that cause us care, cause us worry.

And believe it or not, a lot of us don't experience it directly.

We experience it indirectly, and part of the way we deal with it is through very, very bad things.

We drink.

We go shopping, which isn't necessarily a bad thing,

but it is if you spend money with your credit card that you don't have.

And that actually ends up causing, of course, more stress,

just like drinking ends up causing you more stress.

Or you watch pornography, or you get involved in some type of risky behavior.

In other words, often what we end up doing without realizing it is we try to numb

or run away from the terrible burden of stress and anxiety,

which we might not even be directly conscious of.

So, it's a very, very common problem.

It's a very destructive thing.

And believe it or not, the Bible has something profoundly wise to say about it.

So, if you would open your Bible...

Actually, you don't have to open it.

Well, open your Bibles because you might want to underline it.

But, Andrew, if you could put the text up on the screen.

And, by the way, this is another one of those sermons.

And the point of this sermon is you remember the verse, not my story,

or some other things I'm going to say about trying to unpack this text.

This is a profound text to memorize and to think upon and to learn how to pray.

If you go back, I think it's in the bulletin, and if you got an email about it,

I've turned this verse into a prayer that you could pray for yourself.

Or you can just take...

It's called In Growing in Grace.

Or you can just try to memorize this text and then learn to pray for it yourself.

And just one other thing.

Here's a bit of a teaching moment.

You'll see how it says it's 1 Peter 5, 5c to 7.

And sometimes you see things like A, B, or C, or a D even after a verse.

What that means is that in verse 5, there's at least three parts.

And we're not memorizing or looking at all of verse 5, just the last bit, which I call 5c.

That's what the little letter to a verse, that's what it means.

And originally I asked you just to memorize 1 Peter 5, 6, and 7.

But as soon as I started to work on the text, I realized if you just look up there,

say the second line, the therefore.

The therefore means it's following something that was said earlier.

And so I had to put it in the text.

And that's how I've memorized it.

So if you would join with saying this with me, that would be really, really good.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,

so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

It's a very, very, very powerful verse.

And, you know, it's...

So that first little bit up there, see that?

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

And you'll notice...

Actually, it's entirely right up there on the screen.

It's missing bigger quote marks.

But anyway, that first little bit, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

That's a quote from the book of Proverbs.

I think it's...

I don't have it in my...

I'm writing in my preaching notes here, but I think it's Proverbs 330.

And that's a description of God.

You've heard me say, not for a little while,

that I do not believe in the God that Canadians believe in.

I don't.

In terms of Canadians, when they talk about God, I'm an atheist.

But I believe in the God that's revealed by Jesus.

I believe in the God that's revealed in the Bible.

That's the God I believe in, not the God that most Canadians believe in.

And this verse, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

That's a quote from the book of Proverbs.

It's a description, one of the New Testament descriptions,

because it's also in the Old Testament, of what God...

Who is God?

And it's a very, very, very profound description of God.

In the original language, it's the word opposes and the word gives grace

are both in the present tense.

It means that when Christians, when Jewish people were reading this maybe 2,500, 2,800 years ago,

at that very moment that they were reading that verse,

the God who really does exist opposed the proud and gave grace to the humble.

It means that when Peter wrote this to the Christians in the late 50s or the early 60s,

it meant at that very moment, the God that really does exist opposed the proud

and was giving grace to the humble.

It means that right now, as I read this text, the God that really does exist

is a God who opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.

And it's a very, very powerful text, because one of the common complaints about religion

is that often, more often than not, God is used to prop up the powerful.

God is used to legitimize those in positions of power.

One of my people that I have, one of my friends that I have very regular conversations with,

who's a very, very committed atheist,

and he loves to tell me stories,

and he has a particular fascination with the Orthodox Church.

He loves to tell me stories of the most recent excess of Putin giving expensive gifts

to the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church,

because he uses the Russian Orthodox Church to prop up his power and popularity.

And my friend loves to tell me the latest terrible thing that's gone on there.

I don't know if I've shared this with you.

After he'd done this, because I'm really slow at responding to things,

after he'd said this several times, I said to him one day,

well, you know, not all Christians are like that.

I said, we, because we believe the gospel, we walked away from our building

and walked away from our property to follow Jesus.

And he paused and said, yeah, but you folks are different.

And just as a compliment from an atheist to the congregation,

that we would walk away from our property rather than doing whatever we could to keep it.

But it's a very, very common complaint about religion

by people who are non-Christians or just who would say that they have no religion whatsoever.

And in fact, it's historically true that often, in fact,

religion and spirituality is used to prop up the powerful,

is used to oppress the weak.

It is used for that purpose all of the time.

And you see, that's one of the reasons why it's important for us to learn

that we don't believe in the God or the gods of this world,

but we believe in the God who is revealed by Jesus,

who is made known by Jesus.

And the God that really does exist is not a God who says to Putin,

I'm going to do everything I can to make you more powerful.

I'm going to do everything I can to make you more proud

and have a higher opinion of yourself.

I'm going to do everything I can to help you look down on others

and have an exalted view of yourself.

No, that's not the God that does exist.

The God that does exist is God opposes the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.

That's the God that really does exist.

And if he exists, if that God really does exist,

the same fellow who is my friend,

who likes to tell me stories of the latest excess

of the Russian Orthodox Church,

or he'll also say something about the Roman Catholics or evangelicals.

I mean, he has a particular interest in the Russian Orthodox Church,

but he'll pick any Christian.

And he asked me on Friday what my sermon was about,

and I told him it was this verse,

and he said,

Ah, God is just a social construct.

It's just something we human beings have invented.

You're not going to give the congregation good advice.

He said,

What matters is the journey,

not the end.

It's not some end in God.

What matters is the journey.

I said to him,

because I have an odd relationship with him,

I said,

You know, that can't be true.

You don't believe that.

And he said,

I do.

It's not, the end doesn't matter.

I said,

Well, surely it makes a difference

if you're driving to the cottage

than if you're in a train

to the gas ovens in Auschwitz.

Surely the end matters a lot in that journey.

And I said to him,

If your end is just death,

and if the end is just the death of all things,

don't you think that makes some difference

to how you live your life now?

To which he had no reply,

but you can pray for him, my friend.

I pray for him almost every day.

But if, in fact,

God is just a social construct

used to prop up the powerful,

then thinking about God

in terms of your anxiety

isn't going to help you at all.

Because, in fact,

one of the main problems,

one of the main ways

that the world deals with anxiety

is to tell you to just imagine things.

It's a technique to visualize success,

to visualize,

you know, if you're,

what's that,

I don't know if they still tell you that,

the old,

I don't know,

if it's just like a bit of an urban myth

that if you're speaking in front of a crowd

and you're going to be nervous,

just imagine them all naked

and you'll be less nervous.

I mean,

in fact,

often the world's advice

to dealing with anxiety

is to just imagine something.

And if, in fact,

God is just a part of our imagination,

then that's,

I mean,

that's not very,

at the end of the day,

it's not really helpful advice

just to imagine things

that aren't real,

that are not in front of you.

But if, in fact,

God does exist,

and if, in fact,

the God that does exist

is described by this sentence,

God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble,

there has to be some therefores

in terms of how we live our lives.

I think one of the attitudes

that I wrote in the Growing in Grace,

if you look at it later,

and I,

in fact,

after my friend said about it's,

it's,

you know,

God is just a social construct,

I said to him,

if, in fact,

I showed him the quote,

I'm going to get it slightly wrong,

I should have written it down in my notes,

if God really does exist,

the God described here really does exist,

then to live in light of that God's existence

is to actually live in the real world.

If God does exist,

and you live your life as if God doesn't exist,

you're not actually living in the real world.

And if God,

the God described here,

is the God that really does exist,

there's going to be a therefore.

So,

why don't we say this verse together again,

I mean,

you're all looking at it,

but can you say it out loud with me again?

God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves,

therefore,

under the mighty hand of God

so that the proper time

he may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties on him

because he cares for you.

In the original language,

for reasons of English style,

they move the therefore

to after humble yourselves,

but in the original language,

the therefore is immediate.

It would be,

God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble,

therefore,

humble yourselves

under the mighty hand of God

so that the proper time

he may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties on him

because he cares for you.

The way the world in Canada

would help us to deal with stress,

I mean,

there's some good things in it,

by the way.

They understand

that you need to be active

in dealing with it,

but that you have to,

they'll often give you good advice

that you have to walk towards your stress

rather than away from your stress,

which is good advice,

but often a lot of the advice

that the world gives

is either find some way to numb

or medicate

or soothe your stress,

like take up meditation,

learn how to chant a mantra

while you do some yoga

as a way of calming yourself,

but that's actually not,

I mean,

that's just the advice.

The other type of advice

is to,

is basically to pump yourself up,

so you,

you,

you learn how to meditate

or medicate yourself

so that the stress

gets a little bit lower,

and then you work at different things

about how to pump yourself up.

You can do it.

You deserve it.

You're,

you're powerful.

You are able.

Visualize success.

But if,

in fact,

and in a sense,

often the advice of the world

is to become more proud.

And if,

in fact,

there is a God that does exist

who opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble,

some of the advice of the world

will actually only be making

the problem worse

rather than better.

But some of you might say,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

George,

like,

humble yourself.

Good grief.

Do you know what the world is like?

Do you know how dog-eat-dog

the office is?

Do you know,

you know,

George,

do you know what it's like

in certain social circles

in terms of,

of just trying to,

to get ahead?

Like,

George,

your advice to humble yourself

and to be weak,

that's,

like,

that just doesn't make any sense.

That's not how the world works.

Well,

if you look at the verse again,

one of the things which is very clear about the text,

if you start to think about it,

is that humble doesn't mean weak.

This text,

God knows what the world is like.

He knows what your social circle is like.

He knows what your office is like.

Nothing in your life will surprise God.

He knows all about it.

And,

um,

the text doesn't say,

make yourself weak.

Humble doesn't say,

isn't saying,

make yourself weak,

put a shirt on that says,

kick me,

please.

Uh,

it's not saying,

put on a shirt that says,

I am a doormat that you can wipe your feet on.

It's not telling you to be passive.

And it's not telling you to tell yourself lies,

as if trying to pretend that you're stupid when you're smart is,

uh,

is what humility is.

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God,

so that at the right time,

he may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Humble yourself means to come to an acknowledgement,

amongst other things,

that you can't deal with all of these problems by yourself.

But it doesn't mean,

therefore,

you're screwed.

It means that you are to remember as a Christian,

that there is a God who saved you,

that you are in fact coming to God who is greater than you,

who loves you.

And you're bringing to him these particular problems,

acknowledging his sovereignty.

It's not saying,

uh,

Lord,

I'm really,

really stupid and can't do math.

So help me with calculus too.

I mean,

maybe that's,

you're not worried about calculus too,

because you're good at math or you,

whatever.

It's just,

the text is pointing you towards God when you have your anxiety,

in terms of being honest with him about what exactly is going on that's causing you the anxiety.

That's the powerful thing about the text.

But some people might say,

George,

okay,

I'm going to try to get my mind around what this advice is,

but George,

don't you think that this is actually a bit of a frightening image,

not a comforting image?

Like,

George,

isn't it saying,

humble yourself under the mighty hand of God?

As if God has this big,

clenched fist

that will bang and beat you into submission,

and you need to recognize that God has this big,

angry fist,

his mighty hand,

and you have to humble yourself under that.

Doesn't that,

in fact,

the whole image,

George,

doesn't the,

isn't the image sort of contradictory?

I had a very angry father.

And they definitely believed in corporal punishment.

In fact,

just about everything could be solved with lots of spanking.

When my mom could no longer hit us hard enough to make us cry,

my dad made a specially designed stick for her

so that she could hit us with the stick

to discipline us and make us cry.

He,

he got the right type of wood.

He spent a long time crafting it

so that it had a nice grip that fit my mother's hand

and was of the right type of light wood

so she could move it quickly.

And he had it,

he,

he worked with the wood

so that it flared out and went narrow

so that it could hit nice and broad

and really hard

and really hurt you.

And,

for many people who've grown up under abuse,

this potentially is a very,

very,

very hard image.

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.

But I'm going to explain

what the mighty hand of God means in a moment.

Andrew,

could you put up the image?

But just before I describe what the humble,

what the mighty hand of God is,

this is actually a far better image to think of.

It's a famous picture by Anne Geddes.

Amen.

You see,

the phrase,

the mighty hand of God

is used

almost exclusively in the Old Testament

to describe God

redeeming his people from slavery.

It's an Old Testament reference

to the fact that God

deals with tyrants

and oppressors

to deliver his people

from slavery

and to call them

into a relationship

with him

where they will be protected

by his power

and will become free

and that they will know

that they are his precious

possession

and treasure.

That's what the mighty hand of God means

in the Old Testament.

And so,

for us as Christians,

if you read through the whole book

of 1 Peter,

you'll see that Peter

has several very,

very powerful

and moving descriptions

of what it was

that Jesus

does for us

on the cross.

That,

for Christians,

the whole story

of the Exodus

is both something

that happened

in time

and history

and space

which is completely

and utterly true,

but it also points

to this far greater

Exodus,

this far greater

act of deliverance,

this far greater

mighty hand of God

acting to reveal

not just the people

of Israel

but everybody

who puts their faith

and trust in him.

The mighty hand of God

is revealed

when God,

the Son of God,

sets his side,

his glory

and splendor

and divine prerogatives

and all of his appearance

is God

and he is actually

willing to,

by remaining

fully human

to take into himself

our human nature

and be humble

to the point

of being born,

of being placed

in the womb

of the Virgin Mary

and be born

and live a humble life,

a life in complete

dependence upon God

and complete obedience

to God

and then he continues

to humble himself

by dying on the cross

and Christians

understand

that when Jesus

is dying upon the cross

he's doing

two things for us.

He is dying

in our stead

and so that

every claim

of demand,

every demand

of justice,

everything that we

have ever done wrong,

that we deserve

some type of punishment

or accounting for,

every single thing

that has ever gone on

in our lives

where we,

there is a proper demand

for some type

of justice.

Jesus deals

with all of that

as he dies

on the cross

for us.

And when we put

our faith and trust

in Jesus,

we discover

that not only

when we put

our hands in his,

that he was condemned

for us,

he died for us,

by his wounds

we are healed,

that he does

everything to deal

with all of the wrong

that we've done,

he deals with that

completely,

not only the justice

that would unmake

you and me,

he says,

George,

let me bear

what will unmake you

and I will do this

because I love you.

And not only that,

his perfect life

of obedience

will stand for us

so that for us

as Christians

when we understand

the mighty hand of God

we not only think

of all of the times

in the Old Testament

when God delivered

his people

but preeminently

we look

at Jesus'

death upon the cross

that he humbled himself

to the point of death

and tasting all there is

to taste of death

that you and I

might be free.

The doom

that you and I deserved

fell on him.

The destiny

that he deserved

is offered

to you and me.

Could you put

the scripture text

back up?

So when this text says

God opposes the proud

but gives grace

to the humble.

Humble yourselves

therefore under

the mighty hand of God

so that the proper time

he may exalt you

casting all your anxieties

on him

because he cares for you.

Notice what it's saying.

It's saying

humble yourself

under Jesus.

It's not saying

humble yourself

under the proud.

Humble yourself

under the tyrants.

Humble yourself

under the powerful.

Humble yourself

under the aggressors.

Humble yourself

under the violent.

It's not saying

humble yourself

under any of these things.

It's saying

humble yourself.

Willingly come to Jesus

and be willing

to accept him

as your savior and Lord.

Understanding that

he is God.

Come to him

with all of your cares,

all of your burdens,

all of your worries.

Understanding that

he alone is the one

who will justify you.

He is the one

who will make you

right with God.

He is the one

who is life.

He is the one

who is health.

He is the one

who will feed you

and care for you.

You humble yourself

under him.

This is a bit of a side.

One of the reasons

that we know

that the world's advice

doesn't work

is that everybody

ends up being humbled.

Death humbles us all.

Death humbles us all.

Death humbles us all.

Death humbles us all.

Death humbles us all.

Death humbles us all.

We might not want

to be humbled under death,

but not only death,

failure.

Everyone fails.

Age,

if we live long enough,

those of us

who are getting older,

age humbles us,

doesn't it?

Can't do what we used to do.

Mind doesn't work

as well as it used to work.

Everyone will be humbled.

Christians alone

are invited

to understand

that the God

who really does exist,

the real God

of the real universe,

that he always

opposes the proud

and gives grace

to the humble.

And so,

he gives grace

to those who

humble themselves

coming to Jesus

saying,

Jesus,

you alone

will make me right

with God.

You alone.

I cannot,

I have so much pride

in my life.

I have so much

self-centeredness

in my life.

I have so much

things in my life,

so much self-preoccupation

in my life.

I can't leave myself

to save myself.

Only you can save me.

I come to you

that you might save me.

And the text is saying,

humble yourselves

under the mighty hand

of God,

under Jesus Christ crucified,

so that at the proper time

he may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties

on him

because he cares for you.

You see,

how do I humble myself

before God?

The text gives me

a very,

very clear thing.

I humble myself

under God's mighty hand

by casting

all my anxieties

on him.

The cross reminds me

that Jesus cares for me,

that he loves me.

It tells me that

the world might forget

that I exist.

The world might no longer

take any notice of me,

but Jesus always remembers me

because I am his

and he will never abandon me.

He will never let me go.

He will never leave me.

And when it says

that he will exalt us

at the right time,

that's not just

some sort of dodge.

It's saying that

it's actually like

an end time word

that no matter what happens

on this side of the grave,

the fact of the matter is

is that when we put our faith

and trust in Jesus,

when we come to him

with our cares and anxieties,

the one thing that we can be

absolutely certain about

is that Jesus will return.

And when Jesus will return

and when there is

the end of all things,

the word that all creation

will hear about you and me

when we put our faith

and trust in Jesus

is well done,

my good and faithful servant.

Well done,

my beloved child.

Come to me and live with me

and be with me forever.

I have longed once again

to walk with you

in the garden

in the cool of the day.

So this text is saying

that one of the main ways

that we humble ourselves

is to learn to cast

all our anxieties

and worries

on Jesus.

One of the things I do sometimes

when I start to

maybe just realize

my mind's going in places

that it shouldn't be going

or that I'm just

really feeling depressed

or I'm really feeling down

or I can just even

very directly feel

that I'm starting

to get very anxious.

One of the things I do

and I encourage you

to consider doing it

is I say,

sit down at a desk

and get out a piece of paper

and I know that's

old-fashioned for people

but you get a pen

and a piece of paper

and just say to Father,

maybe even pray this prayer.

Say,

read this text

and say,

Jesus,

I'm coming to you right now.

I'm humbling myself.

I come to you.

I want you to be my Savior.

I want you to be my Lord

and I thank you

that at the proper time,

at the right time,

you will fit me

for the new heaven

and the new earth

and that is my final home

and Lord,

I ask now,

I want to live this verse.

I want to cast

all my anxieties on you

and so Lord,

could you reveal to me

all those loads

and burdens

and worries

that I am carrying

and so say

some simple prayer.

It doesn't have to be

as long as that.

It might just even be

read this verse

and then just say,

Jesus, help me

and then just write down

on a piece of paper

one by one

all of the different things

that are worrying you

and I encourage you

if you do this

to write down

really, really big things.

You know,

I'm worried

because my credit card debt

is at $40,000.

I'm worried

because I think

I'm going to get fired.

I'm worried

because I think

my marriage is in trouble.

Like, write down big ones.

But write down

every aspect of it

and write down

even the smallest things.

I'm worried about

getting my laundry done.

Like, write down

all your anxieties.

There's this old hymn,

Count Your Blessings,

Name Them One By One

and it will surprise you

what the Lord has done.

This is sort of like

the opposite of it.

Count your worries,

name them one by one

and it will surprise you

how many worries you have.

Sometimes I've done this

and it takes

two or three pages

of stuff

that I've actually

written down

because going into it

it was as if

all these worries

and all these anxieties

and all these cares

it's sort of as if

it buzzes around

in your head

and buzzes around

in your heart

and you can't even

keep them straight.

So you put them all down.

I'm aging.

My weight.

My money.

My relationships.

The unkind,

the email

that I got

the other day

that just seems

to be so mean

like write them

all down.

Write every single

one down

until you cannot

possibly think of

even the tiniest

one that's left

and then say to Jesus,

Jesus,

these are the anxieties

and the worries

that I have

and I want,

I'm giving them

to you.

I'm giving them

to you.

May you guide

and provide

and provide

for me

but I give

them to you.

And I'm not

going to say

to you that

magically you're

going to feel

better

although every time

I have done it

I have felt

better just

getting it off

and giving it

to Jesus.

And the thing

is that when you

do something

like this

the text doesn't

say that God

is magically

going to take

all of your

problems away.

but it's amazing

when you ask

the Lord

you put them

all down

and you ask

him to guide

and provide

how often

it helps you

to be able

to walk

towards some

of those things

and be able

to deal with it

or just to be able

to have a bit

of a more honest

conversation with Jesus

for what's going

on in your life

and how you need

his help to guide

and direct you

to what to do.

And when I'm

going through

periods of

great stress

I might have

to do that

every day.

And here's

how the devil

works.

The devil

will say

George you're

really being

immature

you just

did that

yesterday

you don't

have to

do it

today.

But you have

to say

to the devil

shut up.

Like don't

listen to the

devil think

of the text.

It doesn't

say here

gosh George

if you have

to do this

two days

in a row

are you ever

a loser?

That's what

the text says.

It says

humble yourself

George.

Humble yourself.

And there are

some times in our

lives when we

are so filled

with anxiety

we might have

to do this

more than

every day.

We might have

to do it

several times

a day because

the worries

start to once

again flood in

and carry us

down and bear

us down.

And this text

is saying that

one of the

primary ways

that we

humble ourselves

is to cast

all of our

anxieties

plural

onto Jesus

remembering who

Jesus is.

He is God's

mighty hand

to save me.

God so loved

the world

that he gave

his one and

only son

to the end

that all who

believe in him

will not perish

but have

eternal life.

And one of

the things

which I'm

very slowly

learning is

that anxiety

amongst other

things is God

knocking on the

door of my

heart saying

George I

exist.

I am mighty

to save.

Come to me.

Give me your

cares and your

worries and lay

them on me.

I am big

enough to handle

them.

And you

will find rest

for your

soul.

Lay your

cares and

anxieties on

me and allow

me to walk

with you as

you walk

towards them

to deal

with them.

Humble

yourself

Sinclair

to list

them and

give them

to me so

that we

might walk

towards them

together.

Your anxiety

is God

knocking at

the door of

your heart

to remember

that Jesus

is your

Savior and

your Lord

and he is

strong and

mighty to

save and

that he will

give you

rest.

Please stand.

let's just

bow our heads

in prayer.

Father,

some of us

here are

under great

stress and

they were

like me and

often still

like me that

they're not

even aware of

the great

stress that

they're under.

maybe

maybe

their best

friends or

their boss

or their

husband or

their wife

or their

boyfriend or

their girlfriend

can see that

we're under

great stress

but we can't

see it

ourselves.

So Father,

we ask that

the Holy Spirit

would gently

but powerfully

move in our

lives to help

us, Father,

to recognize

how much

anxiety and

stress that

we're carrying.

Father,

some of us

need this work

of your Holy

Spirit in our

lives.

And others

of us,

Father,

know we're

under great

stress right

now.

And we ask,

Father,

that you would

bring this

word,

your word,

and you would

write it in

our heart,

that it would

become a

habit of how

we live,

that we would

remember that

you oppose the

proud but give

grace to the

humble,

that we would

remember that

we are to

come to Jesus

remembering who

he is,

and we are to

humble ourselves

by casting all

of our anxieties,

even the ones

which seem so

silly,

that if we

told our

friend that

we were

worried about

it,

they'd laugh

at us.

But,

Father,

we know that

Jesus will

not laugh at

us,

that he wants

us,

that you want

us to cast

all of our

anxieties and

cares,

no matter how

immature,

no matter how

tiny,

no matter how

big,

that you desire

us to cast

them all on

you.

And,

Father,

we thank you

for Jesus.

We thank you

that he knows

us.

We thank you

that he knows

that we deal

with anxiety.

We thank you

that he wants

to bear them

for us.

We thank you

that he wants

to walk with

us towards

our problems

and deal

with them.

Father,

thank you for

Jesus.

Write this

word in our

heart.

And we ask

this in Jesus'

name.

Amen.