June 30, 2021 – Click here to listen
Famed evangelist Charles Spurgeon once said, “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” One of the signs of clinical depression is those who suffer from it cannot seem to get out of bed. Sleep seems to be a defensive mechanism to avoid facing the realities of life (which often translates into hardships of life). I’ve had plenty of hardships, but I found that trying to sleep my way through them didn’t help one darned bit.
Do you experience anxiety? The Bible is clear that Jesus does not want us to be anxious about anything. Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. If you suffer from anxiety, then please read this verse again. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Faith begins and ends with breaking the syndrome of thinking that toughing it out alone and holding on will make us strong. Ironically it is letting go that demonstrates strength. If you really believe the Bible, then you understand that nothing, no ruler, principality, celestial being, et al in all of creation has the strength of our God. We must surrender to Him to tap into the greatest source of power and strength in the universe.
Buddha once said, “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may.” Hmmm . . . Believing that is akin to going on a Buddha diet and expecting to look like Twiggy. It is a sad commentary coming from someone who appeared to be an enlightened intellectual to millions in the world. Sadly, with this statement, he rejected God’s strength, wisdom, and love, and suggested we have no need for God. Satan said the same thing when tempting Eve, convincing her to disobey God’s words and become a God herself. Dang, we see where that got us.
My wife and I were praying together the other night and I acknowledged to God that I totally relied on Him for my next breath and heartbeat and that was good because I know that He loves me more than I can imagine. Coming from a childhood devoid of love to receiving God and being saturated with His love through every molecule of my body has been amazing. When you go through hardships alone and finally surrender to God, it enables you to shed anxiety like a caterpillar sheds its cocoon. I tried to fight my way through life on my own but one fine day I accepted Christ as my Savior and just turned everything over to God and it was the smartest move I ever made.
The turning point in defeating anxiety is when you discover the Holy Spirit is the core of strength living within you that enables you to survive all hurt. I imagine that Jesus might say something like, “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry and don’t worry, I’m right here with you every step of the way. Yes, you must endure and will develop some scars on your visit, but they are beautiful, just look at the ones on Me. Even more wonderful things await you that I’ve created especially for you. Trust Me the best is yet to come and these trials you are experiencing will not even be remembered.”
Anxiety? What anxiety? I’m good!
Romans 8:38
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”