Alternatives to Anxiety

Thank you. Thanks for inviting me back; I appreciate that. I think I’ve probably said this before: it’s great when they invite you, but it’s really good when they invite you back because you know you did okay the first time.

I love the way that God connects things together when you’re not even coordinating, you know? Because Isaiah 6 and Romans 12:12 fit so beautifully with today’s message, it’s almost like we did it on purpose, but we didn’t. Isaiah 6 starts out with, “When King Uzziah died,” right? It was a moment in the life of the people that could create a great deal of anxiety. There could be a lot of worry when the guy on the throne checks out. So, it’s a time that could be very anxiety-producing. And yet, what does Isaiah encourage the people with? He encourages them that God is still on His throne. And then Romans 12:12 talks about the fact that, even in tribulation, we don’t have to panic. Let me go there quickly. Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, right? Tribulation is another thing that creates anxiety in our lives. That’s the message this morning: there are alternatives to anxiety.

So, what I’d like to do is take a look at Philippians, specifically the fourth chapter, and unpack some of the things there in terms of what anxiety can produce, what the results of anxiety are, but also what the alternatives are. I’ve distilled five alternatives to anxiety in this particular passage. So, Philippians 4:4-9. From the reading of Romans 12, I could tell you were reading from the ESV, so that’s what I’ll be reading from as well. Philippians 4:4-9 reads in this way:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

We live in challenging times. There’s a lot going on in our world that could produce anxiety, worry, or concern about how things are going to turn out, what the consequences will be from some of the choices being made all around us. Sometimes we have control of those things; sometimes we don’t. Oftentimes, anxiety comes from that. But what do we do? What do we do when anxiety comes? That nervousness, that upset stomach, lightheadedness, constant negative thoughts, and feelings of helplessness can take you to a really dark place. From what I understand, from some of the demographics and studies, not particularly my generation, but succeeding generations—Millennials, Gen Z—are exhibiting an extraordinary amount of anxiety. They need a remedy, and we all need to be reminded that there are alternatives to anxiety.

Let’s go to this scripture and consider for a moment the Apostle Paul planting this church in the city of Philippi. This is a small community of faith. When we think about church, oftentimes we think about a building and a good gathering of folks, right? But this is the very first church in the city of Philippi. It has never existed before. They have nothing to look back on and say, “Oh yeah, that’s how you do church.” This is nascent Christianity in the city of Philippi. We see that this church, as beautiful as it is, is very small. They can fit into somebody’s living room; that’s how small this community is. We know that it came out of this radical event, this radical change of Paul and Silas announcing the gospel of Jesus, which threatened some of the status quo, leading to them being thrown into prison. But it all worked out because God works all those things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He has ways of moving and bringing beautiful things out of difficult times.

This little church, then, is aware that what they’re doing is countercultural. What happened with them produced positive spiritual circumstances, but it also generated persecution and incarceration. Paul is writing this letter from a Roman prison. Those were anxious times, and we live in anxious times as well. But from the text and all of Paul’s writings, we see that he is not shaken by the anxiety-producing circumstances around him because he knows the alternatives. Let’s explore Paul’s letter in Philippians 4:4-9, and we’ll find five results of anxiety in here, but we’ll also find five alternatives to anxiety.

Let’s go quickly through the results of anxiety because we don’t want to focus on the negatives; we want to get to the positives. But let’s take a look at these because we might identify with some of them. The first thing is that anxiety can produce unreasonableness. We can get very unreasonable when we get anxious because anxiety often comes when the comfort we valued has been challenged, or we’ve been bumped out of our comfort zone, and we don’t like that. We want to get back to that comfort zone, and sometimes that state is so valuable to us that we’ll become unreasonable in our words and actions to try to get back there. So, unreasonableness can be a result of anxiety.

Another result of anxiety is forgetting that God is present. Circumstances, when they challenge us, when change happens and we don’t like it, or something is going on and we feel like we’re not in control, can make us feel helpless or panicky. Our blinders go up, and all we can see is the thing troubling us. We’re focused on the problem, and anxiety shuts us down, causing us to forget, “Oh yeah, God’s here. God is with me.” One of the worst things that can happen is that we blame God for the situation we’re in, thinking, “If He were here, I wouldn’t be in this mess. He’s punishing me for something and has abandoned me.” Anxiety can make us think foolish things like that, but God has already promised, “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.” Anxiety can cause us to forget that God is present.

It can also cause us to forget to pray. Sometimes anxiety, the challenge, and whatever is causing it make us ruminate on it. You know what ruminate means, right? Animals eat, it goes down into their stomach, and then they bring it back up and chew on it again. That’s what ruminating means. You’re chewing on this thing, but you forget to pray because you’re so busy running these worry words around and around, obsessing over what’s happening. You never get out of the loop. I’ve heard a definition for worrying: “Worrying is praying to nobody.” It’s circular thinking, and we forget to direct those words to God instead of our own misery.

Another thing that can happen when we’re anxious is that we leave our heart and mind unguarded. This is connected to being unreasonable. We get so stressed out and panicky that we’re willing to entertain ungodly solutions to make the anxiety subside. It’s not really a solution, is it? When we entertain ungodly solutions, we can go to destructive places—abusing substances, ourselves, or other people. We might choose things that aren’t honoring to God because the anxiety is so strong, and the situation feels so untenable that we’re willing to do anything to get back to that place of comfort. We can’t leave our heart and mind unguarded in the midst of anxiety.

All of this speaks to another result: negative thinking. I have two daughters; Aaron is the oldest. When she was a teenager, she got into this negative groove where everything was negative, and nothing was satisfactory. I was in a bookstore and saw this little yellow book called the *Worst-Case Scenario Handbook*. The first page was “What to do when you’re attacked by a shark,” and the next was “What to do when you’re in a building during an earthquake.” It went on with all these worst-case scenarios. I thought it would be a funny way to address the idea that we shouldn’t immediately go to that negative place. But that’s what can happen when you’re anxious, worried, or panicky—you start thinking, “I know where this is going, and it’s not good.” So, we have to stay away from negative thinking.

The last thing we don’t want to do when we’re anxious is forget that other people have been anxious in similar ways and have come through it. There are people you can go to—mentors or exemplars—who exemplify how to get through difficult times. Too often, we isolate ourselves, thinking, “Woe is me.” We start singing, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,” but you should sing the second line: “Nobody knows but Jesus.” Don’t forget that there are people in your network, community, or family you can go to and say, “Here’s the situation I’m in. Can you give me any comfort or encouragement?” They probably can.

Now, let’s talk about the alternatives to anxiety. The first one is rejoicing. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord.” In fact, he says, “Again I will say, rejoice.” Rejoice in the Lord when things are good? No, always. He doesn’t just say, “Rejoice in the Lord”; he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, even in the difficult times.” Remember, he’s writing this from prison, and the way their church started was because he was in prison. So, rejoice in the Lord always. Amen. I like that it’s followed by, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone,” because some people would say, “That’s not reasonable. How can you rejoice when stuff is crumbling around you?” Well, it is reasonable to rejoice in every situation because joy is different from happiness. I’m not happy that stuff is crumbling around me or that I’m in a situation where there’s a problem I don’t know how to solve. But I can still have joy because I know the person who does have the answer. He may not have told it to me yet; He may be working on it behind the scenes. But He’s not only a powerful and all-knowing God—He’s a trustworthy God. Consequences can’t take your joy; they can take your happiness temporarily, but they cannot take your joy because joy is contingent on who God is, not on your circumstances.

I had a pastor in Daly City a long time ago when I was studying at the seminary. Anytime anybody used the phrase “under the circumstances,” he would stop them and say, “What are you doing under there? You shouldn’t be under your circumstances; you should be under the lordship of Jesus Christ, which allows you to maintain your joy even in those trying times.” This word “reasonableness,” as translated in the ESV, is a multifaceted word in the original Greek. It carries the idea of gentleness, patience, and being even-keeled. This is what folks need to see: when you have trouble, it hasn’t taken away your gentleness. You haven’t become a monster because of your circumstances. You haven’t lost your patience because of this problem you can’t solve. You’re still on an even keel. This will get people to ask about your joy: “How are you maintaining this reasonableness, this patience, this even-keeledness?” That’s when you have the opportunity to share Christ because you are the Lord’s. You can be reasonable, gentle, patient, and even-keeled because of who you are in Christ, and He’s got you. You abide in the palm of His hand. So, when anxiety comes, seek to rejoice. Find a way to remind yourself that joy is contingent on who God is and who you are in Him, not on your circumstances.

Another alternative to anxiety is thankfulness. Verse 5 ends with the phrase, “The Lord is at hand.” The Lord is near; the Lord is in the middle of your struggle. The Lord is true to His promise: “I have not left you; I have not forsaken you. I am with you; I am in you.” Christian, Christ is in you by His Spirit. Today is Pentecost Sunday, 50 days from the resurrection, when we remember how the Lord sent His Holy Spirit to abide in His people. He’s not just somewhere out there—He’s here. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. How thankful can we be because of that? Oh my gosh, thank You, God! You didn’t just love me enough to come and live among us, teach me the way of truth, or die on the cross. You loved me enough to ascend to the right hand of the Father to intercede for me all the days of my life and, in the meantime, to ask the Father to send God the Holy Spirit to dwell in me as my teacher, guide, and comforter. That’s what Jesus said in the upper room: “I’m going to ask the Father to send another comforter who will be with you always.” I can be so thankful for that. The God who is with you, who is near, has given and promised you far more than the world can take away. The world can cause you losses and pain, but whatever the world can do to you doesn’t come close to what God has already done for you, is doing, and will do. The worst thing this world can do is take your life, and what do we know about the Lord? He gives it back. He conquered death; He’s the risen Lord, the firstborn of the resurrection. You and I will rise as He rose, so the world can’t do anything to you that the Lord can’t overcome.

Psalm 56:9-11 says, “I know that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” The writer of Hebrews quotes this again in Hebrews 13:5-6: “In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Some smart aleck might say, “Well, man can kill you.” And you could say, “Yeah, but my God overcame the grave.”

A third response to anxiety is prayer. Verse 6 talks about praying and making our requests known to God. Some might say, “I’ve wondered about this prayer thing. You keep telling me God knows everything, He’s able to do everything, and He has a plan and purpose, so what’s the point of praying? God’s just going to do what He’s going to do.” That’s a cerebral approach to prayer. It forgets that God is a person who loves you, cares about you, and, in His incarnation, put on human flesh and blood, walked, and—maybe this is surprising—felt anxiety. Some say, “The scripture says don’t be anxious for anything; Jesus said don’t worry about anything, as if anxiety is a sin.” Let me say: worry and anxiety are not sins; they are honest human feelings, just like temptation. Temptation isn’t a sin; it’s what you do with it. When you get that anxious feeling, you don’t let the anxiety rule you; you let the Lord who rules you rule it. That’s why the Lord can say, “Come to me. Are you anxious? Tell me about it. Talk to me; I care about you.” In fact, Jesus has been in a place of anxiety at the highest degree, so it can’t possibly be a sin because Christ is sinless. How was Christ ever in a state of anxiety? I would say sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane is an example of anxiety expressing itself through the person and life of Jesus Christ. But He knew what to do with it. He took His anxiety to God in prayer and laid it out before His Father: “Father, I don’t want to do this. If there’s any other way, if this cup can pass from me, if I can accomplish Your will and satisfy Your purpose without going through this horrible crucifixion…” And then He stops and says that beautiful word: “Nevertheless, Your will be done, not mine.” In the midst of probably the most anxious moment any human being ever experienced, He takes it to the Father, saying, “I trust You. I trust Your purpose, Your oversight, Your care of me. Let Your will be done.” He laid it out in prayer.

For many people, prayer is just asking for stuff. Prayer doesn’t so much grant us the petitions of our prayers as it grows us through the process of praying. “Let your requests be made known.” Sometimes the answer is no; sometimes you don’t get what you asked for, but don’t let that discourage you. When you ask for something and receive it, God is communicating something to you. When you ask and don’t get it, God is communicating something to you. If you stick with that intimacy with God, you’ll begin to understand why. Prayer conforms our will to God’s will. It has us thinking God’s thoughts after Him, loving what God loves, and hating what God hates. It’s about growth, not just getting, but growing into the image of the One who will guard our hearts and minds. Anxiety can leave your heart and mind unguarded, leading you to entertain ungodly solutions to solve your discomfort. But when we’re in prayer, leaning into that intimate relationship with God, He helps us stay within the boundaries. He keeps us from jumping the guardrail because of our anxiety. He guards our mind, leading to the next response: positive thinking.

Paul says to the church, “There are things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy—that’s where your mind should be.” Yes, you might say, “But God, I’ve got this trouble, this anxiety, this tribulation, this problem I can’t solve.” And it’s like, “Yes, that’s true, but truth is also true, honor is true, justice is true, purity, loveliness, and commendability are true.” You’ve got to decide where to focus your thinking. Open up the blinders and see that God is present, that He has done so much for us already, so thankfulness bubbles up. See all that He has established—these things Paul mentions are things God has established. Even when we can’t change things in our lives, it doesn’t negate what God has created.

I think we are what we think. People say, “You are what you eat,” but we are what we think. We need to think positive things. Anxiety comes, but we can’t allow it to undo our character. All those things speak to character—the noble principles and attributes of God. We need to think about them because that’s where we go astray. When we don’t guard our heart and mind, we might think, “I could get out of this mess if I just tell a little lie.” That’s no longer thinking about truth; it’s thinking about deception to skate by. That would be dishonorable. Or maybe we do something unjust to get out of our situation, not caring how it affects someone else as long as we get back to comfort. That would be unjust. These are the attributes of God, the noble principles, the beautiful things that are always true, around us, and accessible to us, despite our troubles or anxiety.

The last thing Paul says—and some might say it’s pretty egotistical or bold—is, “You’ve learned, received, heard, and seen some things in me; imitate those. Practice those.” Paul is a mature believer who has grown so much in the faith and been through so much, coming out the other side by the grace of God and deference to His will. He can say, “Follow after me as I follow after Jesus.” You can maintain your humility and still recognize that you have something to pour into other believers. Not only should you look for exemplars and mentors to help you in your difficulty, but we should aspire to be mature believers who can help those who are anxious and worried. Amen.

There are so many beautiful Christians we can aspire to, obviously the biblical ones—Jesus being the primary. We should want to be like Jesus. Mary, Paul, and John are exemplars of faithful, mature Christians. It’s good to read Christian history and know the biographies of Calvin, Wesley, Martin Luther King Jr., Luis Palau—all these people we can look to. But we’ve probably got them sitting in the pew next to us. Today is the 50th anniversary of my high school graduation. I walked the stage and got my diploma on this day 50 years ago, and so did my wife. We’ve known each other for over 50 years and have been married for 47. If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be here. She was a young Christian but mature enough to declare the gospel to me as a teenage boy going down a different path. Because of her challenge and steadfastness, I gave my heart to Christ. There are people in your life you can go to when things get hard, who will love you, pray for you, and give you wise counsel. Remember them.

Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Consider the outcome of the way of life of the people who have spoken the word into and over your life and imitate their faith. We know the result of these alternatives. Paul gives it to us in both directions: in verse 7, “the peace of God,” and in verse 9, “the God of peace.” That’s what we’re looking for—peace, the antithesis of anxiety, worry, and despair. He describes it as a peace that surpasses understanding, a divine and sacred peace. That’s what we can seize upon in our times of anxiety.

But I noticed one other phrase that’s the hinge, the linchpin of all this, at the end of verse 7: “in Christ Jesus.” It’s important to understand that we must be in Christ Jesus to face anxiety and arrive at this peace that is beyond explanation. I want to call anyone this morning who would say, “I don’t know if I’m in Christ. I don’t know if Christ is in me. I know about Him, but I don’t know that He dwells in me, and my life isn’t completely wrapped up in His.” I challenge you today to do this praying thing, to have that conversation with God and say, “Lord, I don’t just want to know about You; I want to be in You, and I want You to be in me.” Because when you’re in Christ Jesus, you can have a peace that passes understanding. You can rejoice in all things, be reasonable when everyone else is unreasonable, and fix your mind on the things that are high, noble, and beautiful, even when stuff is crashing around you.

If you’re in Christ today, continue to celebrate. I’ve heard your celebration so far and joined you in it during this service. Continue to celebrate that you are in Christ and Christ is in you. We, of all people, should be the most thankful people in the world because of who He is.

Let’s talk to Him: Father, we love You and thank You for Your word that You have preserved for us, showing us that as life goes on, human beings tend to be human beings, and life throws out trials, tribulations, challenges, and changes that create anxiety in us. But Father, how beautiful it is when those unsettling feelings come that we have a Father whose arms we can run into, a brother, Jesus Christ, we can cling to, and a Holy Spirit who embraces us because He lives inside us. Father, if there’s anyone here today who has come with an anxious heart, would You descend on them in such a beautiful way by Your Spirit and relieve that anxiety, giving them the peace that passes understanding? We’ll give You all the honor, glory, and praise for it. And for all of this, we shall rejoice in the Lord always.