Why Anxiety If I am a Christian

Brethren, we as Christians are not immune to anxiety disorders. Some people may say, oh well, if a person has anxiety, it's a lack of faith. But it's not. But it's not. That's not true. Now indeed, anxiety disorders can affect spiritual life. And spiritual issues can be interwoven with anxiety. But just like you cannot say when you have a physical health issue, like for instance a broken bone or a broken tooth, you can't just say, well, it's lack of faith. You may need to go to a professional to get that addressed, get the bone put in the right place, get the tooth cleaned up and proper filling or whatever it may be appropriate. And likewise, you cannot say to a person that has got diabetes that you just have to have faith. Because you do need some supplements to help you balance your blood sugar. And therefore, we cannot be critical in that same analogy to people with other type of health issues like anxiety.

So what is an anxiety disorder?

We had an excellent sermonette about fear, and I thought it would be appropriate to give a short definition or description of the difference between fear and anxiety. Fear is usually within the bounds of an external possibility. Let me explain that. Like we heard, well, I might not succeed in this because of something external that will prevent me from succeeding. For is, I might not meet the deadline to complete something on time. I might fail an exam because of some maybe I haven't studied enough or whatever. I might not be able to pay my bills.

Or for a young man, well, I might be rejected by that young maiden because, you know, I want to please her, but maybe she'll reject me. So, you know, these are fears which are more related to something external. Anxiety, on the other side, you can't really put it down to something external.

Sometimes you can't specify what is giving you that anxiety. And therefore, it's more of an internal thing than external. For instance, it's an a vague, unrecognized danger or fear of danger that just comes out of the blue. And you don't know why, but suddenly you just have that fear of danger. Maybe you have a fear of, I'm going to lose control. I'm in front of other people. With other people, I'm going to lose my control. And there might not be anything external to cause that. Or a fear that something bad is going to happen to me. Or a fear of a specific situation may occur. Now, obviously, all this has got areas of borderline, because sometimes you've got a combination of there is a little bit of a situation and that creates a bit of concern. And this concern then kind of is like a catch-22 and it feeds on one or another, you know. Or vice versa. It could be a health issue. You may have a little health issue. And that health issue triggers some thoughts or fears or concerns in your mind. And those thoughts or fears concerning your mind make it bigger and health issue becomes bigger. And next thing, you are at the ER thinking that you, whatever problem you have. And then the ER tells you, well, your problem is anxiety. And you say, no, I'm not anxious. I have no anxiety. I've got this physical problem. So it is a borderline sometimes because one kind of feeds on the other. And indeed, it is a complex subject. Anxiety disorders affect the whole being. By that, I mean physically, you know, physiologically, as well as the way you behave, the way you do certain things, and psychologically, the way how you feel and think. So for instance, physically, it could affect your heartbeat. Suddenly, your heartbeat starts going up. You could be all tense, muscle tension. You could start sweating because of anxiety. In a way of behavior, it could affect your ability to act and do something. And suddenly, you're not able to act or do something as you wish you were able to. Or you might not be able to express yourself clearly to other people. You may say, well, I just can't express. Or you may not express. Or you may not be able to deal with the situation. So it's affecting your behavior. Another way anxiety could affect you is psychologically, which means you may feel apprehensive. You may feel uneasy. You may have certain fears, like a fear that I'm going to die. Or this is going to cause me to die.

And these are real things that people feel. And therefore, to address anxiety disorder, which in a sense, it's a combination of fear that kind of gets out of control, could be mixed with certain situations, could be mixed with a health issue, but the thing becomes bigger. We got to look at it, therefore, to address it in multiple areas, physically, mentally, behavior, psychologically, spiritually, and in many areas. We got to address it with various angles. Now, a certain degree of anxiety, in a sense, it's kind of normal with us human beings.

For instance, you may be anxious about whether these results will come right or not, you know, or something, whatever. To some degree, well, I'm having a problem on my job. I'm afraid I might lose the job, and my report has not been good, and therefore, I need to kind of pull up my socks, I need to improve. And so you get certain degrees of anxiety. But when it becomes very intense, when it reaches a degree which is very intense, it then can become what they call a disorder. A disorder, because it lasts longer, it can lead to certain fears, to certain phobias, and it can interfere with your life and our lives.

Let me give you some examples of some anxiety disorders. And there are many. This is just only a few examples. One of them is what they call agortophobia, which is a fear of open spaces. You're in open space, and maybe you, or even in a confined space. So it's kind of related to space, or situations related to space. It could then lead to another disorder, which is a panic attack. We call it a panic disorder, so it could have these panic attacks.

Or it could be a simple, what they call a simple phobia, a simple fear. For instance, fear of animals. Some people have nightmares about snakes, or spiders, or bats, you know. And it could have been something that happened in childhood that is kind of there. So that it would be a simple phobia of animals. It could be a simple phobia of an elevator. And you can't go on an elevator, on a lift. You feel confined, and you just can't go. Well, some people may have a fear of flying an aeroplane. So it's what they call a simple phobia. Others could have a fear of thunder, or of lightning. Of lightning. You see lightning, you get a terrible fear.

Something may have happened, or you may have watched something on the news, and that kind of triggered something in your brain that now it becomes a very intense fear. There's another type of anxiety disorder, which is called obsessive-compulsive behavior. Obsessive means that it it obsesses you, continuously thinking about it. So it is something affecting your thoughts and your ideas. Compulsive means that it compels you to certain action. Certain obsessive-compulsive disorder, it's something that leads you to a certain action. For instance, you may have a feeling that you're driving, as you're driving, that you drove over a dog. So you are terribly concerned about this, and you go back and drive. No, there was no dog.

So you keep driving, you go back and drive. Now it comes back again and says, no, I drove over a dog. I must go back again. And so you go back and look. And then, you know, and then you come back again. And this can happen with various things. For instance, you have this obsessive-compulsive disorder of being infected by something. So you're continuously washing your hands. And you continuously wash your hands. And you touch, and you've got to have special things to touch, a door knob, or this or that, because you have an obsessive-compulsive disorder. You could be in many other facets. Usually that goes together with some degree of depression, that sort of disorder.

The causes for that are actually unclear. Some doctors and specialists say it's deficiency in a neurotransmitter substance called serotonin. And that can help, but the real causes are actually not 100% sure. And then there's another type of anxiety disorder, which seems to become very prevalent, particularly in the states, which is called post-traumatic syndrome disorder, PTSD, which basically happens with people that have been in war situations. They come back from Vietnam. They come back from Afghanistan.

They come back from Iraq. And they have this thing that affects them. For instance, it could be a policeman that is continuously in very stressful situations. And time and time again, you get the simple thing that you have a situation of call it to resolve a problem at home. And next thing you get a policeman there, you resolve it. And next thing the person is shot. You've seen that how many times it's been used.

And then if this affects if you're a policeman and you have this sort of disorder, it can happen a lot with ladies as well, if they've been subject to rape. So a woman, a lady that has been raped, could have this disorder as well.

So there are a number of causes for anxiety disorders. It's a very complex subject. And basically, it's not just a biological thing. It's not just a thing in your biology, in your chemistry. It could be physiological in the physics. It could be an imbalance of certain things in your brain. It could be situations that have happened.

And it may obviously be connected to some physical problem or disorder that gets compounded and becomes a vicious circle. And as I mentioned before, that can affect your spiritual life because you feel, I'm a sinner. I don't have faith. I don't trust in God.

Now, there are times when the disorder reaches a certain degree that you should seek professional help. It's not your pastor, not your minister. There is a professional in that area. You should seek professional help. But today, brethren, I want to narrow it down to identify a few pointers, a few biblical pointers to help you deal with anxiety disorders as a Christian or, another way, a few pointers to help you help others deal with anxiety disorders that they may have as Christians. One of the first things is, it's quite often, you end up, you've got this problem, you go to hospital, and you have an issue, a physical issue, and then the doctor tells you, you've got anxiety. And you, and maybe your husband will be the first one, hagwash! You know, can't be! It's not true! It's a physical problem, can't you see?

But, well, it could be a physical problem, like I mentioned, which is being compounded. But the point is that anxiety is kind of causing it to grow and become like a vicious circle. So, just like those people that are alcoholic, if you go to Alcoholic Anonymous, the first thing in the process of recovery, they say, is that you have to admit that you do have a problem. And that does require humility, because you can say, well, I'm not anxious. No, I don't know I'm anxious. And so, sometimes we have to be honest about our own physical limitations, and speak the truth, and say, yeah, I do have a problem. I am struggling. I'm lacking a little bit of confidence. Maybe I lack weird in the sermon. I'm lacking a little bit of courage. Whatever it may be, I need help. Now, I want to draw to a very interesting scripture in Jeremiah. It was interesting that in the sermon, we also turned to Jeremiah, but this scripture is lighter in Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29. Now, this is now when the Jews, the Jewish people, have gone to captivity, and now they are already in captivity. Now, you can't deny they've got a problem. They're in captivity. And then in Jeremiah 29, we see that Jeremiah writes a letter to the Jewish people in captivity, obviously inspired by God. And the letter says, starting in verse 4, Jeremiah 29 verse 4, Thus is the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captivity. Now, put this in your shoes. Verse says God to you and to me, that have XYZ problem. You and I maybe have a certain challenge. Whatever it is, your challenge, whatever it is, your anxiety, whatever it is, the things that are bothering you. And God is saying, Whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon, those Jews, God, cause them to be in captivity. In your case, might be not necessarily God caused that, but God is allowing it, allowing you to have this trial. Because, hey, God can remove it like that. Of course, he can. He's super powerful. Nothing is impossible to God, but he has chosen not to remove you from that difficulty or challenge. So what he's saying in verse 5, build houses and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat their fruit. In other words, be positive and do what you can under the circumstances. Whatever trials you have, be positive and keep going. Take wives and have children and husbands and daughters that you may grow. In other words, try as much as you can within the confines of where you live or the situation or the trial you have to do your best and do what you can. In verse 7, and seek the place of the city where I've caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the Lord for it. In other words, pray for the kingdom because that's where we're going to go. That's our hope. Pray, keep the goal, the ultimate goal in the kingdom. And I'll jump a little bit further to verse 10. For thus is the eternal after 70 years are completed at Babylon. I will visit you and perform my good work towards you and cause you to return to this place. Now put it in your and my shoes. After some years, you and I don't know the day or the hour of his coming, but after some years, Christ will come and this will be fixed. He's not saying he's fixing it now. Maybe you're inside to the sword or maybe the problem you have is going to remain. But to try and do what you can with what you can and remember that once whatever I've got in mind to do will be achieved, I'll fix you up. That's what he's saying.

Now look at verse 11. For I know, this is God saying, I know the thoughts that I think towards you. God is saying to you, put your name there. God is saying, I know what I think about you and I'll put your own name there. For instance, God knows what I think about you, George. So put your name there, says the Lord, because I think of you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Well, put your name there. What God wants for you, ultimately, once this training program is finished of whatever time it is, for them was 70 years, for us, whatever number of years it is, once this is finished, God has thoughts of peace. He says, not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Hold on to that, even though you live with anxiety. Hold on to that. And how do we know He's able to do it? Because He has already paid the price for it. He's already paid the price for it. Isaiah 53 verse 4 and 5. Isaiah 53 verse 4 and 5. Isaiah 53, an amazing prophecy of the suffering servant of Christ's life. And in verse 4 and 5 says, surely Christ has borne our griefs, our sicknesses, our anxieties. He has borne it.

You know there were situations where Christ was under anxiety.

We'll look at that later on. And he says, and He carried our sorrows, our pains.

And yet the people there thought, oh well, He was smitten by God. He was yet sinned, and therefore He's being punished. But Christ, read He was wounded. He was pierced through His heart. He was pierced. He was wounded for our transgressions. And I'm not saying, brethren, that your anxiety or my fears or whatever it may be is because you've sinned. I'm not saying that. But whatever it is, God is intervening and making it possible for us.

And the church chastisement for our peace was upon Him. In other words, He's already paid the price for us to be peaceful. And by His stripes, by the blows that He received, you and I are healed. But we're not healed yet. We still think, but we will be healed. Fact. We will be healed. We are healed because it will happen. Maybe it hasn't happened yet, but it will happen. He's got a plan. He's got a timeline, and He will do it. There's no doubt in Him.

God will remove this grief, this sorrow, this pain, this anxiety, whatever it is. Whatever it is, He will remove it in His time, according to His plan.

You see, we are saved by the faith of Christ, not by my faith or your faith. It's not your lack of faith or my lack of faith. It's Christ's faith that is undoubtful, that He trusted in the Father. And He did it for us. And that's why it says, because of that grace, the faith of Christ, it's not our works. It's not our deeds. It's His faith. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. It says, for by grace, by the kind, gracious love and outgoing concern that God has for us, you and I have been saved through faith. Now, are we saved already? No, but to God, it is as if it's happened already. It's fact. Faith. Which faith? Your faith, my faith, your faith and my faith are useless, not a piece of rubbish. Oh, ye of little faith. If you had a bit of faith, you could move a mountain. Which of us can move a mountain? None of us. So our faith is useless. But we saved through faith. So it's not our faith. It's the faith of Jesus Christ, because it says, and that faith not of yourselves. It's Christ's faith, and it is a gift of God.

So, God will solve your problem in His time, in His time.

In the meantime, we've got to admit that we've got a problem, and we're going to do our part, in whatever we can, to overcome it.

So, the first key towards dealing with any type of anxiety situation is admit that you have a problem, and leave it to God that He will sort it out in His own time. But in the meantime, do what you can, because God has only got good thoughts of peace and hope for you and I. Secondly, the second key is that you've got to look at it from a physical point of view, because you and I are physical. And so, you and I, physically speaking, got to do all we can to take care of our physical bodies. Simple as that.

We're reading 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 8.

It says, For bodily exercise profits a little.

Yes, compared to godliness, that's only a little bit. But you know what? That little bit is a lot for us physically. You know, when you read about books about anxiety disorders, people say that physical exercise helps them a lot. Helps them a lot. So, whether it's physical exercise or any other physical, good, healthy living habits, for instance, could be a proper diet. It could be a proper healthy nutrition.

And those things, sometimes the problem with a lot of diets is like, you do it for a while and then bang! You've got to develop, as my wife keeps telling me, change your habits. Change your way of living. It's a habit. It's a habit. Look at the example of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19.

Elijah had prayed for the nation not to have rain for three years, and then after that he prayed and then it rained. Now, in 1 Kings 19, and we know that he killed a god through him, allowed all the prophets of Baal to be killed. But look at 1 Kings 19. He has the situation of Elijah and Jezebel. And Jezebel, which is Hayab's wife, said to Elijah, he's rooted in verse 2, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them, you know, it was the false prophets that you just killed by tomorrow about the start. In other words, Jezebel is saying, Elijah, you are a dead man by tomorrow. By tomorrow, you will be dead.

I imagine if the leader of this nation, the first lady, whatever, says, or whatever nation you are, says, tomorrow you're dead.

I think you probably have a little anxiety. So, and that's what happened to Elijah. And when he saw that, and when he heard that, he arose and ran for his life. He said, that's it. I am Aruv Yah. Goodbye. I've disappeared. And went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a further day's journey into the wilderness. They're not going to find me, yeah. And came and sat down under a broom tree, and he prayed that he might die. Now, is that depression or not?

God, I mean, it just, through him, God had just done any huge miracle.

Of rain had come to Israel after three years of drought. And he, after this peak high emotional level, the next day or a day or two later, he's at the bottom of the dumps saying, please let me die. I can't take this anymore.

Yah is a case of a really anxiety disorder.

And he said, it's enough. It's enough. God, it's enough. Lord, take my life, for I'm no better than my father's. Please, I'm nobody, I'm a piece of rubbish. Take my life.

I would say that he was anxious. I would say he was suffering from some degree of anxiety, and clearly depressed, very depressed.

And what would God do?

You know what God does? He said, well, he sent an angel and said, you see that in verse five, and says, Elijah, have a good meal, have a healthy diet, and Elijah, go to sleep, have a good rest, sleep. And when he woke up, he said, Elijah, eat a bit more. So, basically, you can see Elijah take control of your physical situation, have good rest, have a good meal. Yes, you're going to have to run a lot for many days, but the point is, look after your physical health. And so, as I mentioned in the form of repetition, the first point is admit you've got a problem. And the second point is take control of your physical situation as far as you can, which is exercise, where it's a healthy diet, proper sleep, and this will help you with that stressful situation. In third point, it's not just the physical, but it's the mental. And therefore, in third point, not only control your physical situation, but take control of your mental situation. Turn with me to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4.

You probably know what I'm going to. Philippians chapter 4.

And we start reading in verse 6. Be anxious for nothing. In other words, don't allow anxiety to affect you. In other words, try your best that you can, mentally, to overcome that anxiety. Because it's not just that, yes, you've got to admit and you've got to ask God for help. Yes, you've got to do physically what you can to exercise and eat the proper diet. But mentally, you're also going to do your part. Because remember, you've got to attack this in various angles in all areas, not just physical, but mental as well. And so it says, yeah, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. So with your anxiety, what we need to do is get on our knees. And pray and supplicate and plead and ask God, please help me to overcome. But give thanks for what you have. So not just look at the negative, but look at the positive. Because there are positive things that you do have. And I'll come into that a little later. There are positive things that you do have. So give thanks. Let your requests be made known to God. So you plead to God with prayer and supplication, but mix it with thanksgiving, not just a negative, oh, poor me, but God, you have helped me in this. Yes, you blessed me with lovely children. Oh, yes, God, you blessed me with this. Oh, whatever. Whatever the situation, look for the positive. And the outcome, look at verse 7, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. As you do that, you will start having a little bit more peace. And God is helping you, which you and I cannot understand how it is. But it's just there. Like sometimes some of the brethren are going through difficult trials, and they're still smiling. And you say, how can you smile when you're going for such a trial? Because they're looking beyond the trial. It's not a fake smile, it's genuine. But they're looking beyond that trial.

So he says, the peace of God, which supposes you, or which supposes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Verse 8, finally brethren, and this is the treat. You notice, if you have a glass of water, and maybe it's got no water, it's got air, how do you take the air out of it? By turning it upside down and the air falling off? No! You fill it up with something else with what? With water, or juice, or whatever. You fill it up with something else. Likewise, when you have these negative, anxious thoughts, strive to have positive thoughts. And it says some, where things are true, where things are knowable, whatever things are just, whatever things, try to spend your time thinking, force your mind to think about things that are true, about things that are knowable, about things that are just, things that are lovely. You see, because it's so easy, you turn on the TV and you watch all this junk, you listen to the news and it says, ah, now this depresses me. I mean, it is! So turn it off and start thinking, and maybe take some time and pray about positive things. Whatever things are a good report. And if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Think about these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these two. Oh, what did you see in Paul? What are we seeing Paul? A man that was beaten to death! And he said, oh, poor me, let me die and let me go back. No, he said he went back to the town and got preaching again. So what you've seen in me, I didn't pout on the negative things that happened, but he turned around and says, I'll keep going. And he thought positively. And so he says, you do the same thing. And the outcome again, the God of peace will be with you. It doesn't say the problem will be healed, but you'll have this internal peace that it's difficult to understand. And so we have to exercise mental control. We've got to address the problem in all areas, be it physical and mental and also spiritually. And so the fourth point is recognize there is a spiritual battle going on. Look at Ephesians in that we near the Ephesians. Just turn one or two pages back. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12, he says, put on all armor of God says, verse 11. He says in 12, it says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Realize that on top of this, there is an evil vibe, demonic influence that wants to attack you on your weak points. On your weak points, whatever is your weak point, he knows what it is and he's going to go for it. He's going to go to your and my weak point, whatever it is. So we got to be on our guards. That's what it says. Put on all armor. You're going to be on our guards because he's going to attack because it's a war against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of the sage, against spiritual hosts. Brethren, we don't even begin to understand the huge layers of government authority that exists in the spiritual world.

And they are there influencing the society and trying to influence you and I. I'm not talking about being demon possessed, please. I'm just talking about all these vibes that come at you and sometimes you don't even know where they come from, but you just have these feelings that they come. So they are the spiritual powers that are trying to attack us. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 says more or less the same thing, starting from verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. You see, our war is not flesh and blood, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Let me ask you, isn't anxiety or anxiety disorder a stronghold on you? Man, it is a stronghold on you and on us. It holds tight. But our warfare is mighty through God for pulling down those strongholds, costing down those arguments and those reasonings and those things that anxiety tries to pull us down with. And therefore, with God's help, we all have the capability of bringing every thought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ. So brethren, we need to realize there is a war.

Now, I'm not saying anxiety is sin. I mean, there may be some sin, but I'm not saying in every case it's sin. But as much as we can, we need to ask God for help to overcome through prayer, through pleading and asking Him for His intervention. And recognize that it is a problem. Admit it is a problem. And we're going to address it physically, mentally and spiritually. And if needs be in other areas, which means if needs be, get professional help. Maybe you need to identify some triggers. And maybe you may need some medication. I do not know. But it is, or it can be, a health issue. I'm not saying it can't be. It can be a health issue as well. Now, let me ask you a question. Now, you're attacking it through all these areas. And you have faith. And you've asked God to heal you. But you are not healed. The problem still persists.

Does it mean I don't have faith?

And this gets to the fifth point. And I'll just entitle it, Strength Through Weakness.

Strength Through Weakness.

Can God heal you? Yes. Might God heal you? Yes. Should you pray for God to heal you? Yes.

Might God never heal you in this physical life? Yes. Is that a lack of faith? No.

How do I know? Look at Hebrews 11, which you and I know is the faith chapter. And Hebrews 11 talks about a number of examples of people that had faith, and those things happened to them. But then, in Hebrews 11, verse 35, after mentioning the last one that it was some woman, for instance, at the time of Christ, or others received their dead, raised to physical life again temporarily. They did die afterwards again, so it was just a temporary life. But look at what it continues there in verse 35 on the second part. It says, others were tortured. Did God intervene and stop the torture? No.

But they did not accept deliverance. They said, well, if you say this, then you will untorture you. No, they still said, I'll keep the Sabbath. And so they were tortured. Why? That they might obtain a better resurrection. Still, others were mocked, and they were beaten, scourgings. Yes, and they went to jail, and others were stoned to death. Did they not have faith? Because God didn't intervene for them. Or, you know, Shadrach had me shaking a bad nigger, said, well, God can intervene, but if he doesn't, I still want to bow down to you. God did in that circumstance. But sometimes he might not. They were stoned. They were sown in two. Imagine you're lying there, and they're taking a hacksaw and cutting up you into two. I think that must be extremely painful. Extremely painful. Didn't they have faith? No. They had faith. They died in faith.

We're tempted. We're slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and got skins being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the wall was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains, in dens of caves and other, and all of these, all of them, having obtained a good witness, a good testimony through their faith.

Didn't they pray to God, relieve them from that situation? Of course they did.

But God didn't, and they died.

Didn't they have faith? No, it says they had a good testimony through faith. And so likewise, if you and I have an illness and you ask God to heal, and the minister will anoint you, and it says, please heal this person and apply Jesus Christ's sacrifice, but let it be done according to your will, Father, because God's will might be for you to still remain with this weakness, because through weakness they strength.

Through weakness they strength. He says, they had a good testimony of faith and did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Yes, they will be made perfect. Yes, they will be healed. Yes, maybe some people died in the faith and were not healed of cancer. Did they not have faith? Yes, they did. Look at times of Paul. Paul had a thorn in flesh, whatever it was. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Look at verse 8 through 10. It says, concerning the seeing, I pleaded with the Lord three times, very might apart from me. And if you go back, it's a thorn in the flesh that he's talking about. Okay. Maybe it was a health issue, maybe if he saw eyesight, maybe it was something else. He doesn't say in the Bible what he was, but whatever it is, I pleaded with you three times. Maybe it was an anxiety. He says, I pleaded with you three times, that it might depart from me.

And you know what God told him? He said, my grace is sufficient for you.

For my strength is made perfect in weakness.

My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I'll rather boast in my infirmity, I'll rather boast in my anxiety, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. When I'm weak, he says in verse 10, at the end of verse 10, for when I'm weak, then I am strong.

That is not only Paul, there was Christ. Look in Luke chapter 22 verse 42. Luke chapter 22 verse 42. Luke 22 verse 42.

Luke 22 verse 42. And he was praying in the garden, and you know he prayed three times, and he says, Father, 42, if it is you will take this cup away from me. Did God the Father take the cup away from Christ? No! He was killed. Oh, then he had faith? Didn't Christ have faith?

Of course he had faith. But then he says, verse 42, Not my will, but your will.

So sometimes we pray for anointing, for healing, but we need to say, Not my will, but your will. We know the Lord's Prayer, as we call it, the model prayer.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Do we believe in that?

Look at Isaiah 55 verse 9. Isaiah 55 verse 9. Well, read from verse 8. It says, My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. Verse 9, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God's greater wisdom, for his reasons, for his purpose, he allows our trials, whatever it may be, may be anxiety.

And he will not heal us in this life.

But through weakness, I might struggle.

Because maybe of that weakness, I'll stay loyal till the end. And maybe, therefore, God is doing me a favor through that.

God's thoughts are much higher than ours. We don't understand his plan. After all, isn't he the master potter? Look at Isaiah 64 verse 8. Isaiah 64 verse 8. He says, But you, O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay, and you are our potter, with all the work of your hand. And so, if God, in his great plan, he decides that we're going to go through a trial in this life, who are we to say that God, you're being unfair to me?

Maybe that trial is for you to help others, when they come out in the second Exodus into the world tomorrow, with terrible disorders and anxieties and fears and panic attacks and whatever different types of problems. And you will be there as a resurrected Christian, and you will be able to help that person, that lady, that man, in a way that nobody else can help but you, because you've been through it. And you'll be able to help that person, says, you will be through, because God has only got good thoughts for you.

Think about scriptures like the Lord's my shepherd.

Use those scriptures, Psalm 23, when you're really in the depths to realize that He can help you, and He will help you.

And so that is the fifth point, strength through weakness. And the last, the sixth point that I want to leave with you, is use the talents that you have. Use the talents that you have. You know the pettable of the talents? In Matthew 25, you know, the person had ten talents, and the other one had five, whatever, and the one had ten, made another ten, another five, and another five, and said, good and faithful. So, but the one that had one hid it. And God said, why did you hide it? Why didn't you use it? A couple of days ago, there was an award program called Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award. That was on July 10th. It was only a couple of days ago. And the next day I saw on TV, on the news, something that really kind of, I had to rewind it a number of times and watch this. There was this man. It's just unbelievable to describe. He had this tall chair, a motorized tall chair, and this man was just a body. There was no limbs, no legs, no arms, nothing. All it is, is this body, no legs, on this chair. Somehow he would, his tongue or whatever it is, controlling this chair to move around. He is dressed there with a suit and saying, and I quote what he said, the reality is, I am here and if there is any message I want to give you guys tonight, is to look at me. And when you dedicate yourself to something, and then he said, and he says, and focus on what you can do.

Instead of what you cannot do, you can really go places in the world.

This man is Rob Mendez, and he was just gotten a word because he became an excellent footer. He was a football coach. He never played football, he never has arms and legs, and he to be an American football coach of renown. Wow!

As a young man, he always wanted to play football. He could, so he became a coach.

Use the talents you have and don't look at what you don't have.

Look at James chapter 1 verse 2 through 4. James chapter 1 verse 2 through 4.

James chapter 1 verse 2 through 4. My brethren, count on all joy when you have anxiety disorders or whatever.

Can you count that as joy? Because through weakness comes strength. But let patience have a perfect work that you may be mature, may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. That means there will be a time, just like in the case of the Jews that were for 70 years in Babylon, there will be a time you'll get back to the land. There'll be a time that God will heal you completely, but you will lack nothing because you'll also be mature spiritually in so many ways because that weakness that you and I have has helped us to become better.

Thank God! And it says, in that if any of you lacks wisdom, okay, asking faith and so on, but it says, my brethren, count on all joy. Knowing that the testing of this faith produces patience and patience will make you perfect. So brethren, so whatever it is that you lack, pray in faith, but remember the trial is there and God through it because He thinks at a higher level than you and I think. It's for your good and for my good in the end. He only has good thoughts for you and I. Look at Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 verse 18. This is one of my favorite scriptures. Romans 8 verse 18 through 23. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time, whether it's anxiety, disorder, whatever it is, whatever it is, it's a health issue, whatever it is, I consider that this suffering is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in you, in us.

Wow! This, in other words, is going to be peanuts compared to what you're going to get.

So this is nothing compared to the reward you're going to get.

For the earnest expectation of creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sense of God. The whole creation waits for this because then you and I will be there to help other people with bigger problems. For the creation or subject to futility, you and I in this creation, we're subject to maybe anxiety, disorders, whatever they are, not willingly, not because God wants you to suffer, but because God has allowed it in hope that you will become a better person and you will be able to help and serve others with love.

God has only got good thoughts for you and I. And I know it's tough today, but don't give up.

Don't give up.

So brethren, what it is, it says at the end of verse 23, it says, we ourselves wait for the sonship, for the adoption, for the redemption of our body, when our body will be relieved from us. It will happen. But Christ's coming.

So brethren, anxiety disorders affect the whole being physically, behavior, psychologically. So again, admit there is a problem. Address it in all areas. Physically, take all the physical care you can. Take ownership of your thoughts. Recognize there is a spiritual battle going on.

And Satan is there trying to attack your weak areas and my weak areas. And remember that because of that, we need to attack it in all areas, physical, spiritual, etc. And we may be that we need professional help. That's fine.

But remember that if you're not healed, it's not necessarily a lack of faith. Because strength comes through weakness.

God has great thoughts towards us. And therefore, use the little bit you have to serve and give others. So I trust brethren, that these biblical pointers will help you. And I mean, I trust from the bottom of my heart that will help you with any trials or difficulties we have. And obviously, the theme being anxiety as all is that. But if there is a different problem, that it may help you with your challenge. And if not, that it may help you to help others with their challenges. To conclude, I want to turn to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Revelation 21 will start in verse 1. Because Revelation 21 talks about a time that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. When Christ will have handed the kingdom over to the Father, and the Father himself will come to earth. And he says in verse 2, and the Holy City, New Jerusalem will come down. And he says, and God himself will come down in verse 3, the Father will come down and will be our God. But look at verse 4. At that time, God will wipe up away every tear from our eyes. There shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more anxiety. There will be no more pain, because the former things have passed away. Brethren, we gotta keep that in mind. And then he says in verse 5, I will make all things new. And he says at the end of verse 5, this is true and faithful. This is true and it will happen. And then in verse 6 says, it is done. Brethren, in God's eyes, it's already done. It's accomplished.

Why? Because God has only good thoughts for all mankind. And we all, provided we're willing to do our part, will be healthy sons of God in the kingdom of God.