Withstand Worry

Welcome to Twin Lakes Church. My name is Adrian, one of the pastors here. And welcome again if you are here in the auditorium, joining us on Facebook, Nextdoor & Venue, maybe from the future on our website or on cable access. Welcome to everybody. And especially if it's your first time, a special welcome to you. You kicked off your year, I think, in a good way, coming to church. And I think it's a good weekend to start coming because we're kicking off a brand new series called "Defang Fear." And there is a message notes in your bulletin that look like this. If you want to grab those and follow along.

In this series, we're going to look at what the Bible has to say about fear and anxiety and worry. And what we find out is the Bible has a lot to say about those things. Did you know that that command, "Do not fear," "Fear not," "Do not be anxious," "Do not worry," or a variation of that appears in the Bible more than any other command in the Bible? All the "Do not," "Do not lie," "Do not cheat," "Do not murder," all the "do's," "Do love," "Do have faith," more than any of those we see, "Do not fear," or some variation. It actually it's in there 365 times. One time for every day, you will face worry. That's every day.

Some of us face low degrees of worry, you know, just like minimal concerns that can cause some worry. Like, have you ever driven away from your house and you think, "Did I lock the door?" "Did I close the door?" I'll be honest, now with like young kids, like getting everybody out. I've driven back to my house, door is wide open, TVs are being taken out. And I'm like, "You know what? You deserve to take my TV." I left the door open. That didn't happen. That's a joke. But we all face like low degrees of worry.

I was looking for other illustrations of this and I was on Twitter and there is this British cartoonist and author. Her name is Gemma Carell. And she writes, she draws these little cartoons and a lot of them are about her struggle with worry and anxiety. Now just a heads up. I think they're cute and they were funny, but, and she has some books. Don't just go without reading the book and just send it because it's a cartoon to like your grandkids. Because it's like she's an adult making cartoons for adults. Just a heads up before you buy this as a gift. Just know. What I'm showing you today, totally safe. All right?

Like her book, The Warrior's Guide to Life. This is the cover. And look at these little bubbles. Maybe this, you've said these things. Do I look stupid in this outfit? Will I ever pay off my student debt? Is everybody laughing at me? Did I leave the oven on? What am I doing with my life? Now I know when I said, did I leave my oven on? Some of you thought, did I leave my oven on? Somebody's texting their neighbor, is my house on fire? If it is, what are you gonna do? All right. Don't worry about it.

One of my favorites of hers is this next one called anxiety. It's a cup of tea. Anxiety. So it's a pun. All right. She's British, so they drink a lot of tea. Anyways, let's get to the bubbles. That's the main point. Anxiety. What if nobody likes me? What if I taste weird? What if I'm too cold? What if I'm too hot? What if I'm just right and I can never live up to it again? It's kind of how we feel sometimes because we all face everyday worries.

The American Psychiatric Association did a survey and they found out 39% of people in America feel more anxious this year than they do than they did last year. Another 39% felt about the same amount of anxiety. 19% felt a little less anxiety. And then there was 3% that weren't sure. They were probably too anxious to pick yes or no. If you add up all those percentages, that's 100. That means everybody faces some anxiety. And today what we're going to do is we're going to learn how to live a life not dominated by fear and worry and anxiety.

We're going to look at, we're going to find out, the Bible tells us one of the most constructive and powerful ways, one of the most powerful things we can do to combat those things. But before we do that, there is another kind of anxiety, not just the everyday concerns of life. Did you know that the number one mental illness people suffer from is anxiety disorder? 18% of Americans, that's over 40 million people suffer from an anxiety disorder. And today I'll tell you the truth. I'm one of those people.

A couple of years ago, I was in my office. It's actually right over here. And I felt like a, like a weird pain in my left arm. And you know what they say, if you feel anything in your left arm, you're about to drop dead. It's like what I learned all growing up. And I think I had done like a lot of push ups or something. It's always a little sore. But what happened is my mind started to like race and go down this spiral. And I thought I was having a heart attack. And I started to get lightheaded. And so I did the wisest thing you could do. And I didn't tell anybody. I just got in my car and drove myself on Highway 1 to Dominican from here.

On the way there, I remember, I can remember right now, four times where I have, and it's hard to explain. You've never gone through it. But it was like, like all my nerves, like were shooting or on fire or like on like electric shock, was coming through my body. And that it came in these waves where I thought I was going to pass out. And honestly, I thought I was going to, I thought, oh, I'm, this is, I'm going to die. That's what I really felt. And I remember being sad driving to the hospital because I thought, I'm never going to say, I can't say bye to my family. I'm not going to see my kids. I was really upset, sad, scared.

Get to the ER. I walk in, I check in, tell them what I'm feeling. And I think I'm, you know, I don't think I'm doing okay. She's like, okay, have a seat. I remember thinking, I thought, I just, I thought it said I was going to die. Nobody seems as concerned as I seem. And so I'm like waiting and I'm like, and I still am having all this physical feeling and I'm like, excuse me, I think I'm dying and I start screaming. She's like, okay, we need to get him out of here. So they put me in a room. The doctor came, I got hooked up to EKGs and all this stuff. And what I found out is I was having an anxiety attack.

And what's weird is I thought anxiety attacks just lived right up here. And I was just like, oh, I'm just freaking out or I just get, you get sweaty. But I'm telling you, if you've never been through it, it is a physical thing that happens. And it was intense. Since then, to this day, every day, I'm always on my toes ready for that to happen. Because if I feel something weird in my body, I exercise pretty frequently and I'm always kind of sore. But occasionally there's like a new muscle I hadn't known existed that's sore. And I'm like, uh oh, it's a tumor. That's like, like what goes into my head.

And what happens is my mind begins to spiral and go deeper into worry and anxiety. What happens? I start to hyperventilate and then I can't, I can't function. I've been prescribed anti-anxiety medication that I always have with me. It's in my bag in my office right now. There was a time I was standing up here preaching and right in the beginning of my message, when I walked up, I was a little lightheaded and I had this worry and I got started to get anxiety that I was going to pass out. I don't want to pass out in front of all these people. I just kind of put my head down in red and got through it. And I remember Mark was here that weekend and we went to my office after we prayed about it.

And he was ready. He was just like ready in case I did pass out to come and finish the message. It pushed me out the way. But it's a, it's a real thing. And I just want to say this before we go on. If you can hear my voice here live or somewhere else and you're experiencing anxiety, debilitating anxiety that stops you from getting out of bed, that where you feel hopeless, you feel depressed or maybe you even you're at the point where you feel suicidal. I just want to tell you something. This message we're talking about, you know, fighting against worry and anxiety. This message isn't going to cure that.

I believe God can heal supernaturally. I do believe that. I believe it and I've seen it. But I do believe he uses doctors and therapists and medication. I am thankful that I haven't had to take my anti-anxiety medication for a while now, but it's taking prayer and just meditating on scripture and talking to people. But if you're here and you experience that, I want to encourage you to find help. If you're experiencing it right now, if you're feeling depressed, if you're tuning in and because it's just your last thing you want to do, I get help. On the bottom of your notes today, there are some resources. There's a 24/7 hotline. There is a number you can text on our website. We just listed a ton of resources available. Please get help.

And also, I don't want you to feel shame. I want you to know you are loved. I want you to know that you're supported and that you're not alone. Find help. And on that, can we pray real quick? Father, we thank you. We thank you for your love and for your grace. You care about us. And God, I want to pray right now for anybody who can hear me, that is going through worry and anxiety and an anxiety, Lord, that they can't control, that is out of control, that they need help with. God, I pray. I pray for healing, that it would go away. But also, I pray for strength to ask for help, to talk to somebody, to talk to their loved one, to call a hotline, to text, to find help. And I pray for your peace. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Today, what we're going to do is we're going to focus on the struggles that we all go through, everyday struggles and some of those troubles that come, and we're tempted to worry and have anxiety. What we're going to find out today, we're going to look at how the Bible teaches us to withstand worry. We're going to look at Philippians 4:6–9. This passage has been key in my healing from anxiety. And I've meditated on this scripture over and over in the middle of anxiety attacks. I've opened the Bible and read this over and over and it's been such a blessing and an encouragement to me. And I hope it is to you.

What we're going to do is read, I'm going to read the whole passage and then we're going to go kind of line, phrase by phrase, and verse by verse and unpack what God wants to teach us today. Philippians 4:6–9 says this, "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me. Everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Well, let's start with some background. Paul, the Apostle Paul, is writing this letter, and he's penning this letter from a jail cell, most likely in Rome. And he's in this jail cell and he gets a visit from a guy named Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus comes with a care basket. I don't know how they did that back in the day. A care box. I don't know. Anyways, he brought gifts and encouragement for Paul from a church that Paul established in a city called Philippi. So that's why this is called the Philippians. So Epaphroditus brings this gift to encourage him and, you know, tells Paul all that's going on at this church and Paul hears about all that they're going through, all this, all the troubles that they're having.

So he writes this letter to them. What you have to understand is Philippi is a Roman city and/or colony. And this church is this Christian church that believes in Jesus in the middle of this Roman community. And Roman citizens were supposed to worship Caesar. But these guys were worshiping Jesus. What that equals is persecution. So they were going through troubles and Paul understood that. And so he pens this letter to them. He knows that they're going through hard times and he gets it because he's being persecuted at that moment. He's in jail for preaching the gospel. And so he wants to encourage him.

And so how does he start his encouragement and his solution? You'll see he talks about persecution and troubles through Philippians. And here we get to the part where he's like, "Okay, now when you're about to worry," what's his answer? This is what he says, "Don't worry about anything." It's like, "Okay, great. Thanks, Paul. Just don't worry. I'm okay." When I read that, the first time I read that, I'm like, it reminded me of a song. Do you remember this song? So don't worry. It sounded like this. Some of you have no idea what this song is. Don't worry. Be happy now. You weren't born. It's a pretty song. Don't worry. Be happy.

You know what the funny thing is? Some of you are worried. Are we going to listen to this whole song? Because when this song was number one on the charge 30 years ago, I'm sorry. Yep. 1988, my friends. Some of you are like, "1988? What?" This song was on the radio and on TVs all the time. Do you remember? Nonstop. Robin Williams dancing in like on this video and the other guy. It was like, I could not stop hearing it. I remember as a kid, this song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy," when I heard it came out, I started to worry. I'm like, "Oh, do I have to hear this again?"

Now, the message is nice. If you listen to the song, it's a nice message. Don't worry. Be happy. But does that work? When you're totally stressed out, what's the last thing you want to hear? Just relax. Don't worry. Like, "Now I'm angry." Is that what Paul is saying here to the Philippians? Not at all. Here's the truth about worry. Worry isn't something that happens to you. Worry is a response. If you want to write that down, worry is a response. Because when those hard times come, you have an opportunity to respond.

Paul doesn't say in this scripture, "Hey, when worry is about to attack you," he says—he's been talking about troubles—and he says, "When that happens, take this opportunity not to worry. Do not worry. Don't be anxious." And what he does say, he continues, what we need to do, we see in this verse, he continues, he says, "Instead, pray." Don't worry. Instead, pray. So he wants us to pray. Now, it's kind of the same thing with me. If you've been a Christian for a while, maybe somebody has said this to you when you were talking about your problems. "Oh, I'm going through this thing." Well, they're like, "Why don't you just pray about it?" "Okay, thanks. It's so helpful."

Like, there was one time in high school, I was sick. I think I had the flu. I remember having a fever and I was like, my throat— I remember this very vividly. I went to church, like, super sick, because the church I went to, like, you go to church no matter what. If you didn't go to church, you'll get even more sick, so you better come. And I'm like, "Okay." I was, like, all dying. And I was in high school, so I'm probably complaining and whining, like, "Oh, my throat hurts." Because I want sympathy and, like, a hug or something. And this girl I know comes up to me and she's like, "Well, have you prayed about it? Have you asked God to heal you?" Literally, that's exactly how she said it. I wonder if she's watching this on Facebook. I wonder if she knows this is her.

I won't say her name, but you remember—do you remember? I remember thinking, you know, like, the question is valid. Had I prayed? Maybe not. Should I have? Sure. But that tone? Not helpful. Paul isn't doing that. He isn't giving, like, a trite answer to the Philippians' concerns. And he's not giving us a trite answer to our concerns. What he's doing right now, and what he's about to do in these verses, is he's going to teach us about prayer, about what prayer is. And there's a specific type of prayer. He's about to drop some knowledge on us about what prayer is.

And the truth is this. The command to pray, this command to pray, isn't for God's benefit. God doesn't tell us to pray because he needs our prayers. Like, he doesn't know what's going on. I'm like, "Adrian, can you please tell me? I don't know what's going on with you. Tell me." He knows. The Bible says he knows what you need before you ask him. The command to pray isn't for God's benefit. It is for our benefit. Prayer is a powerful, powerful thing. It's more than just asking for stuff. What prayer does, and this specific prayer we're going to see today, what it does is it attacks anxiety and it wards off worry.

There's a German theologian, his name is Johann Bengele, and he put it this way. Anxiety and prayer are more opposed to each other than fire and water. So what does this command teach us about prayer? What are we going to learn? Well, three things. You can write the first one down. What we learn is, number one, recognize you need God. You learn, you recognize, you need God. This is how the verse continues. It says, "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything." When troubles come your way, what he's calling us to do is to stop and take a moment to pray.

Because we're so used to going, right? Go, go, go, go, go. In our pockets, in your purse, in your hand right now, looking at a game maybe, is a device that is very powerful that has all the answers. And so when something happens to us, we try to worry and anxiety our way out of it. Have you ever like felt a little sick something and you look up? My knee hurts. It's like you're about to die. WebMD, either it's like your knee hurts, you might have a sprained knee, or you have cancer. It's like those are the two options. My doctor told me, "I love Google. Google has made me so much money. People come in every day because they think they're dying." We try to anxiety and worry our way out of our troubles.

What this command says is for us to stop and ask for help. Have you ever known someone who needs help but won't ask for it? You can tell that, like you can tell they're struggling and they just won't ask for help. My kids are that way. My kids will be like trying to reach something or trying to do a puzzle or do something. And they, you know, like they want to finish it and they're not asking for help. And I can tell and I feel bad and I want to help them. And I'll say, they call me Appa, which is dad in Korean. And I'll say, "Do you want Appa to help you?" And they'll go, "No!" And I'm like, "Whoa!" And I get like, I throw a treat so they don't come bite me. Just, "Sorry. Go ahead."

I know they need help. When we pray, we acknowledge that we need help. We stop and say, "I can't do this. I can't do this alone. I need somebody who is able to help me." Paul says in just a few verses later, in verse 19, he says this, "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which has been given to us in Christ Jesus." Paul's saying God is able to help and wants to help you, just like he's helped me. And taking care of me, he will do the same for you. Once you recognize that, your need for help, then you can, number two, realize that God cares about your needs.

Realize God cares about your needs, your specific needs. You know, in the original Greek, this phrase, we have here, "Tell God what you need." This phrase means, like the root word means telling God things that arise out of a deep personal need. Like the things that matter to you. Sometimes when we feel like I have to pray about very important things or very super theological things, but this scripture is saying, "Tell God what you need. What are the things that are heavy on your heart, your specific needs, your personal needs?" Because when we tell God the things that are weighing heavy on us, we remind ourselves that God isn't just as far away power who doesn't care, but he is with us and he cares about us.

Peter talks about this in his letter, 1 Peter 5:7, he says this, "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." God cares. And one of the reasons he cares is because he understands what you're going through. And there's something powerful when you talk to somebody who knows, like who's like on the same page, right? When you find somebody who like understands what you're going through or understands what you're talking about. It's like when I love going to the movies. Anybody like going to the movies? I love going to the movies. I love watching movies. Maybe too much, but I love it.

And when I see a movie I really love, I want to talk about it with somebody like right away. Like, "Oh, I just want to tell somebody." And so recently, like recently I watched the new Spider-Man movie. I just have to say, I love that movie. I've seen it twice. I listened to that soundtrack. How many times can you listen to it from then till now? 10,000 times? I don't know. I love it. I want to watch it again. It's really expensive to go to the movies. I'd go. So I watch this movie and I want to talk about it so bad to anybody. And so like I'll go up to somebody and this sometimes this happens.

I'll go up and I'll say, "Hey, have you seen the new Spider-Man? Man, I watched it last night." And they raise their hand and they look at me and say, "Stop talking." "Oh, sorry. I have not seen it and I have tickets to watch it tomorrow. Don't spoil it." I totally get it. I totally get it. But I just want to tell you that I said, "Don't say anything. Don't say another word." Okay. I just wanted to tell you I liked it. I said, "Don't say anything." You liked it? Now my expectations are too high. Then I'm going to go and it's going to let me down. I wanted to go not knowing anything. And then they leave and then we haven't talked since. It's that same girl who told me to pray. It's true.

But then you run into somebody who has seen that movie or if somebody asked me if I've seen the movie, there is a joy that comes up from deep inside my heart. Like, oh, and I start like tearing up. I'm like, "Yes, I do want to talk about this. And we'll sit and then five hours later, we've geeked out about Spider-Man." I'll be honest. That happens like I'll walk by Renee's office. I'll be like, "Hey, you seen Spider-Man?" He goes, "Yes." It's like, "Koom." Literally two hours later. Okay. Tired. We've been talking about Spider-Man this whole time. God is someone who's seen the movie. God is someone who understands exactly what you've been going through. He's someone who gets it because he has gone through it.

The Bible tells us that Jesus went through everything we went through. He was tempted. He had troubles. He did all that. He's a savior who understands our concerns and he can be and he can sympathize with what we go through. Hebrews 4:15–16 say this, and I love how the message paraphrase puts it. Watch this. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. Talking about Jesus. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all. All but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy. Accept the help. When life's concerns and troubles come your way, go right up to him in prayer. You can be confident because God understands what you're going through.

And then the third thing we learn, number three, is to remember God's grace. Remember God's grace. He continues in the verse and thank him for all he has done. You know, nothing stops worry in its tracks like thankful prayer. When you stop to pray to God and thank him for everything he's done and everything you he's done in your life, you begin to gain perspective. When we sit around our dinner table before we eat and we pray. And when I pray, you know, I pray, God, thank you for this meal. Thank you for all of the blessings in our lives. And we just take a time to acknowledge that God blesses us so much.

When I do that, I'm always compelled to pray for those that are without. And when I stop to pray, when I'm going through something and thank God, I begin to think about other people who are going through things like brothers and sisters in Christ, who have to worship Jesus in secret because of the place that they live. I think about the people in our own community who are in so much need. And I begin to realize how blessed and how fortunate I am. And those concerns and problems I'm about to pray about don't seem as big as they once were.

But you might say, Adrian, I don't have anything to be thankful about. When I stop and pray, all I see, all I have are problems. The great truth of the Bible is we have one thing we can always be thankful for in every circumstance, and that is God's love and His grace. It's the gospel. And Paul does this over and over and all of his letters. He points all the churches back to the gospel. To God's love for us and because of his love, he sent Jesus to live a perfect life, die on the cross, rise from the dead so that we could have new life.

And when you think about the gospel, you understand that through his grace, you have forgiveness of sins. The past that you're so worried about. All the baggage that you have that you bring to your relationship with God has been forgiven. Colossians 1:14, Paul talking about Jesus says, "In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." And you're worried and anxiety about your past, God is forgiven through Jesus Christ. And also through his grace, you have an empowered life today. Philippians 4:13, "For I can do everything or all things through Christ who gives me strength." You've heard this verse before. You've seen it on bumper stickers.

You've seen it tattooed on people and like athletes and lots of people like say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." But I think a lot of us get this verse wrong or get like misunderstand what Paul is saying here. Because we look at that and we think, "Well God, I can, my all my dreams can come true because of Jesus." Like God wants every desire of my heart to come true. That's not what this is talking about. Philippians 4:13, we're in 476. This is just a few verses later. He's talking about troubles and persecution. And right before this verse, he says, "I've been through great highs and I've been through terrible lows, but the only way I can get through it, the only way I can do these things is through Christ who gives me strength." This verse is about being empowered to live life in this world where you'll have good days and you have bad days. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can make it through.

And also through his grace, you have an eternal destiny with God. Your future is secured because when Jesus rose from the dead, he defeated death and death has lost its power and has lost its sting. And you know what? For me, and I know a lot of us, a lot of our worry and anxiety comes from death. That's my trigger. I think I'm going to, I think this thing is me dying right now. But through Jesus Christ, his death and his resurrection from the dead, that death, that fear of death has lost all its power because it is not the end. 1 Corinthians 15:57, watch this, Paul's talking about this. "Truth," he says, "but thank God he gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Forgiveness of sins, your past is forgiven, your present is empowered and your future, your future is secured and that's something to be thankful about. Amen?

When troubles come your way and you stop to thankfully pray to God, number one, you recognize you need God, you realize God cares about your needs, you remember God's grace and then you will experience the peace of God. Paul continues in verse 7, "then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Remember the first time I read this, I'm like, "Whoa, what does that mean?" God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand? What is that?

I'll tell you what that isn't. That isn't a quiet life, a seclusion from the world, a blissful ignorance of what's going on in the world. This is what it means. God's peace is a confident trust in the middle of current trouble. The peace of God is having confident trust in the middle of your constant current trouble. Because the truth is this problems and hard times, they're coming. If you're not going through a problem right now or a hard time right now, it's coming. It will come. Maybe not tomorrow, hopefully, not soon, but they're coming. Jesus promises it. Watch this. In John 16:33, he says, "In this world, you will have trouble." Not you might have trouble. It might happen. It will happen. We live in this broken world and so trouble knocks at our door. But watch how he ends this sentence. "But take heart, I have overcome the world."

This verse is saying rejoice. Take, when that trouble comes your way, take a moment to pray, to thankfully pray to God, because I have overcome the world. But how does praying get us there? How does prayer get us to this peace that passes all understanding? Let me tell you something. If you come to church here, you'll hear different people speaking, Renee, Mark, myself, and others. And we'll talk about things from the Bible and they all have practical take-home application. You know why? Because the principles in the Bible are beneficial and useful. There are people that take the Bible and follow the teachings of Jesus, but don't believe in Jesus. And you know what? Their life gets better. Because his teachings are useful. The Bible is useful and it is—and it helps. It works.

But a peace, God's peace that surpasses all understanding, that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen without the God of the universe. Because we have to remember who God is. We have to remember that he's not just a guy who wrote down some good advice for us. And the things that we talk about from the Bible, they're not just practical wisdom. You and me, we are spiritual beings and prayer is not just another word for meditation. Being thankful isn't just another word for mindfulness. God isn't just another higher power. He is God. And there is a supernatural truth to what we are talking about today.

Because I'll tell you this, you can be mindful, you can meditate and get sleep and exercise and eat better. And I guarantee you, it is proven that you will feel better and your worry and anxiety levels will go down. But a peace that passes all understanding, you cannot achieve that on your own. It's when we lean in to the God of the universe, the creator, the almighty God, when we acknowledge the amazing love of God poured out through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we lean into that, then you will experience peace that will guard your heart. Then you will experience comfort in your deepest troubles.

So in 2019, when troubles come knocking at your door and you are tempted to be anxious and to worry, stop and pray and thank God. Shift your focus away from yourself and those concerns and look to the God of the universe. That's what Paul is, how he ends this passage today, verses 8 through 9. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me. Everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

When troubles come your way, don't go down the rabbit hole of negativity, of fear, of worry and anxiety. If you are freaked out and anxious because of what's going on in our government and in politics, stop checking the news every five minutes. Turn off the TV. If you are so concerned about your posts on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter not being liked and not being shared and nobody's commenting, stop checking Twitter and stop checking Instagram and get off Facebook. If that's causing you anxiety, think about things that are worthy of praise. Think about Jesus Christ and God's love and his grace. Think about the gospel. And when you do that, you will experience peace.

You know why? Because the truth is this. This is the bottom line. If you want true peace from worry, turn to the God of peace. You can't get there on your own. You have to turn to the Almighty God of peace. And when we do that, you can understand what David meant when he wrote in the one of the most famous scriptures, Psalm 23, "Even when I walk through the darkest valley or the way walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid for you, the God of peace, are close beside me." Church, when troubles come your way, turn to the God of peace and you can experience peace.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your love and your grace and God, we thank you that you are the God of peace that offers us peace. I pray today for anybody in this room that is feeling worried or anxious or fearful that we would take this moment to stop and to thank you. For all that you have done, for your grace and your love, your death and your resurrection. God, we cannot repeat that enough, Lord, because it is powerful and it is life-giving, Lord. We thank you. I pray for anybody, Lord, who is just facing extreme amounts of anxiety and worry right now. I pray for your peace. In Jesus' name, Amen.