Be Anxious For Nothing

Well, before I begin preaching, before I even read the scriptures that we will attend to this morning, I have a couple of things of matters of housecleaning or business to present to you. The first is to, as many of you know, welcome Samantha Liberty Owens into this world, born 130 yesterday morning, July 4th, so Liberty, her name, being quite appropriate and something that every July 4th will have an extra measure of meaning.

We praise God for mother and child safety and for her coming safely and healthfully into this world. We praise God that Liberty is about to be raised in a godly family where she will learn and understand about the liberty that we have in Christ Jesus, so many, many venues there to thank God for what he has done and welcome Samantha Liberty Owens into this world, and congratulations to the whole family on that.

The second thing, I have a couple of points I need to clarify from last week, and I just want to get these out to you, they were important to me, they were kind of, some were presented to me and some were rattling around in my own mind for a while.

Rejoicing in the Lord as a Command

Now, from last week's message about rejoicing the Lord, always again I say rejoice, I believe that I too much under-emphasized the command nature of rejoice, it is a command. Now it is descriptive as I gave it to you because it is a continuous command and it is to characterize the whole of the Christian life, and it's also descriptive in that Paul does not say a specific thing that is to be rejoiced over, though he gives us the cause for rejoicing, and that's Christ Jesus, rejoice in the Lord always, and because the Lord is always with us we always have cause for rejoicing, and in that sense it's descriptive but I under-emphasized that it is an imperative that the Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so God is telling us rejoice always, rejoice in the Lord always, it is a command that describes the whole of the Christian life, and so having under-emphasized too much last week the command nature of it, I want to get that before you that it is a command and you are commanded to rejoice.

The second piece of business is that I mentioned George Floyd last week, but I used the name Foster. I don't know if this happens to any others of you, but once you get a wrong name in your head, or at least in my head, it's hard to correct, it's hard to get it out.

When I first saw it on the news, somehow, even though they used the right name Floyd, I got Foster in my head, and in my notes last week it said Floyd, and yet I said Foster. I just want to make very clear to everyone here that that was not meant in any way to disrespect the family, or the man, or even the movements that have sprung up since then, or anything like that.

It was a slip of the tongue. I meant Floyd, I said Foster, I apologize for that, but I want you to know there was no ill intent, there was nothing, no more behind that other than just that slip of the tongue.

Philippians 4:5b-6 and the Problem of Anxiety

So I want to get that out to you as well. If you'll turn now to Philippians chapter 4, we'll continue going through this section, verses 4 through 7, where we've kind of slowed down, taking them one at a time as Paul gives us these instructions for the Christian life, and this morning we will look at the last half of verse 5, so as we call it 5b, and then verse 6.

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Anxiety is something that the scripture addresses actually quite often, though here the apostle Paul does not give us any specific things that he's telling the Philippians, or even ourselves to stop being anxious about, and what he says here to the Philippians and to us is, stop your habitual worrying, do not be anxious for anything.

Now the Philippians had much that they could have been anxious about, many things could have stirred up their spirit into this state of anxiety. The apostle Paul was in prison, and very reasonably expected to be executed.

Now that could cause some anxiety for some people, could it not? Iodia and Syntyche, who we talked about a few weeks ago, were at each other's throats, and the church was dividing over this, they were lining up behind one or the other, whatever the controversy is, and like these causes of anxiety, Paul was not specific, but that could have been a great cause for anxiety.

You recall from chapter 3, several weeks ago, that they had these Jewish evangelists, if you will, or perhaps members of the church who were from a Jewish background, telling them that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved, and Paul was writing against that too, to get them back on track in terms of what it means to have faith in Christ, and Christ alone, and not circumcision or any other rite, and all these things could have made them anxious, just as many things today make us anxious.

Some of us are more anxiety ridden than others, some of us have physiological issues, thyroid issues that can make us feel nervous and anxious when there's no logical cause for it, others suffer from PTSD, which causes real anxiety, even when that is unreasonable, based upon the circumstances.

But all of us have many touch points of anxiety, and this is what the Apostle Paul tells the Philippians and tells us, tells you this morning, to not be anxious for anything, to stop your habitual worrying.

It's actually in very strong terms, such as when Jesus Christ cursed that fig tree, and said, let no fruit be borne by you ever again. And it's the same kind of language that Paul uses here to us when he says, do not be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

So this morning we will look at anxiety, we will look at the causes of anxiety, we will look at the implications of anxiety, what causes anxiety and what does it imply about us when we're anxious in the way that the Apostle Paul tells us, to stop being.

And then, praise God, thanks to his spirit, we have the answer to this. Not an immediate answer, not as if we're anxious about things and you're a person who has many anxieties and I tell you to do these things and all of a sudden it's going to go away, though God willing, it will, and in God's power it can, but that's not necessarily what we're promising here.

But what I will tell you this morning, is if you have anxieties, or even an anxiety, that the scripture tells us two things. Stop, but not just stop, stop and do. Everything by prayer and supplication.

So let's look at that this morning. Look at what we have before us this morning in Philippians 4, the last part of verse 5 to verse 6. First we need to find out what anxiety is. What is it? We can't go to a doctor and tell him I'm not well and he says, well what do you want me to do for you?

Well make me well, make me stop feeling badly. He says, well, what's the matter? Well I just feel unwell in general. Well is your head, doctor, I just feel unwell. Maybe you have an upset stomach. Doctor, I just feel unwell.

No more than that can we go to God and just in general say, I am anxious. Anxiety has a cause. It has a touch point, as we say today during this pandemic era that we are in. What is anxiety? Let's define this before we go to the scripture so we know what it is that the scripture is trying to cure us of.

It is a sense of uneasiness and anxiety about the future. Scripture tells us that anxiety is ultimately grounded in a lack of trust in God and his purposes. Why are we anxious? We're anxious because we don't know what is going to happen.

We're anxious because we don't know what tomorrow will bring. We don't know what the next moment will bring. Now to be anxious can have some positive aspect to it. Go to a sporting event because you're anxious to see who might win the game.

You come here and I hope you're saying, I'm anxious to hear what the pastor is going to say. On the other hand, there's an anxiousness that has the negative aspect. It's a worry. It's a fretting. It's a stirring up.

It's an unsettled feeling because we don't know the future. And this is what Jesus Christ himself says in Matthew 634 about anxiety. He says, therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. And this is where I want us to focus as we think about anxiety. It's our ignorance of and desire to have knowledge of what's going to happen tomorrow. You know some time ago there was that series on TV called Early Edition.

Do you remember that? Have you ever seen that? This is this guy. I don't remember his name. We're not going to go into a lot of detail. But he was able to get these newspapers for tomorrow, today. So he knew what was going to happen.

So he did not have this anxiety about what was going to happen as the series evolved. He had much anxiety over getting people to respond correctly to what he knew was going to happen. We have no such Early Edition.

And the answer to our anxiety is to know and to acknowledge and confess we have no idea of tomorrow. Though many yesterdays might predict tomorrow for us, we still don't know. Only God does. And what is tomorrow?

Tomorrow is as spoken of in Deuteronomy 29 .29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God. Only he knows tomorrow. And Jesus Christ says do not worry about tomorrow. So that's what worry is. Worry is basically anxiety is essentially this concern about tomorrow.

This uneasiness about what is going to happen. This desire, if you will, to know. And dissatisfaction because I don't know what is going to happen. And this is what the Apostle tells the Philippians and tells us to stop doing.

Stop worrying about tomorrow. Stop being anxious for these things. What causes our worry? Where does worry come from? Jesus again, we go to him. Matthew 6 .25 says therefore I tell you do not be anxious, do not be worried, do not be concerned, you could say about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing.

We worry about our needs. We worry about being able to satisfy our needs and get the things that we need to survive. We worry, if you're a Christian I can say, that maybe God will not provide for me. And that by worrying perhaps I'm doing something.

By worrying maybe I can accomplish something, which of course the way I say that and the way you're hearing that I trust, you see that is a ridiculous premise. Jesus says do not be anxious about tomorrow, excuse me, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink.

Don't be worried about any of these things because your Father in heaven knows you have need of them. Anxiety is part of the human condition and shall be I fear until the Lord Jesus Christ returns and brings us back to himself.

And yet, I said a moment ago that while we can be anxious about tomorrow, we know nothing about tomorrow. Ultimately, a whole bunch of yesterdays can give us some comfort. I don't want to say confidence, let's just say comfort about what might happen tomorrow.

Yesterday, did God provide you food and clothing and shelter? The day before that, did God provide you food and sheltering and clothing? And the day before that, and the day before that, and the week and the month and the year and the decade, how long have you been walking with Christ?

And here we are, healthy, well dressed, alive. Has not God cared for your needs? Why then do you worry about these things? Jesus asked. The apostle says do not worry. You need to stop this worrying. This takes us to a point of faith, does it not?

Of trusting God. God who so graciously has given you a history of his watch care for you and has provided for your needs. And then could look down from heaven as it were and say, well, what are you worrying about if I have so faithfully provided and so faithfully met you at your point of need time and time again.

This really takes us back to Exodus 16. Do you remember that? Exodus 16, you don't have to turn there. But let me just tell you the story very quickly. This is when the manna first fell from heaven. And this is when the first lesson on the Sabbath came to Israel.

Because they were told, what was it? That on the sixth day, they were to take a double portion. Because on the seventh day none would fall. And so they were to trust God, not only day by day, each day that the manna would be there so they could go out of their tents, have what they need and have their needs met.

But then on that special day, a double portion would be provided to them. If worry is uneasiness and anxiety about tomorrow, about the future, does not God's history with you alleviate that concern? Should it not logically take it away altogether?

We worry about our needs. And this worry can so overcome us that we forget that our needs have been met time again. And on top of that, Jesus Christ says, your Father in heaven knows that you have need of these things, implying obviously that he will continue to provide for you.

The cause of worry is ultimately a lack of trust, a lack of faith in God. And it's an amnesia about yesterday and a behaving as if I could do something about tomorrow other than trust God. From where does worry come?

Worry is a worldly thing, is it not? If we are spiritual in Christ, by the faith he has given us in him, if we are inhabited by the Spirit of God as Jesus Christ makes so clear we are, then worry comes from without doubt.

It comes from this world. This is exactly what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 13 in the parable of the sower. You can turn there if you would to Matthew 13 in verse 18. I'm going to read down to verse 23 here.

Verse 22 is the real key to what I want to get across to you right now. I'll read the whole parable for context. He says, hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.

This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world, the worries, the concerns, the anxieties of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

As for what was sown on good ground, on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

Our anxieties are worldly. Though we have need of some worldly things, exactly the things that Jesus says your Father in heaven provides you, food and shelter and clothing, fellowship, church, cars and jobs, all these things, these are worldly things if you will, taken by spiritual people, and God over and over again providing them to us.

And yet, when I wake up in the morning, am I so sure that the man will be there? Am I still positive in my heart? We must not lack confidence in God. We must not go through life even concerning ourselves, because ultimately for the Christian, for you who are in Christ Jesus, to have this concern is to question whether God shall.

Jesus says in Luke 12, 29, do not seek what you should eat, what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. In chapter 21 of Luke, he says, Jesus says, but take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing drunkenness and cares of this life, and the day come upon you unexpectedly.

Anxiety comes from the world. Anxiety is to have our eyes fixed upon the world like Elisha's servant, who could only see the enemy, the Syrians, coming to take Elisha. And Elisha had the Lord, asked the Lord to open his eyes, and he saw the chariots of God surrounding him.

Anxiety comes when we're looking down at what is beneath and not up, as it says in Colossians, to where Christ is. It is a lack of confidence in God to be anxious. Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. In Matthew 6, again, Jesus speaks of the birds of the air who don't sow or reap, nor gather in the barns, yet our heavenly Father feeds them and takes care of them and watches out for them, who are of far less value than you.

And you all know that I'm paraphrasing there, so we can go through this quickly. It says, if the birds are okay, because God is watching over them, and you, being of much more value than them, how would it be that God would not take care of you?

Why do you worry about clothing? And he goes on to say, consider the lilies and how beautifully they're clothed, and they don't spin, they don't do anything. They just, as it were, trust. Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

O you of little faith? Anxiety is exactly that. It is, in that moment, a lack of faith. In Matthew chapter 8, the disciples are on the boat in the storm, and Jesus is asleep. Save us, Lord, we are perishing.

And Jesus said to them, why are you afraid, O you of little faith? And Peter walked out on the water. He walked those few steps, and they looked at the storm, took his eyes off Jesus. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

In Matthew 16, they began discussing among themselves, we brought no bread, but Jesus, aware of this, said, O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

You see, at any given moment, boy, we become anxious. We are, in that moment, neglecting the faith that God has given us. Has God given you faith to believe? He has not given you anxious. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, Paul says to Timothy.

He has not given you a spirit of anxiety, but a spirit of confidence, of strength, of belief in Christ Jesus. So, any moment that we're anxious, any moment that we're worrying, any moment that tomorrow is looming as a terror against us, is a moment when our faith has faltered.

O you of little faith. You know, in Psalm 42, we have many beautiful words from the Spirit to us, and it's usually read in some gentle tones. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me, hoping God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God?

You know, I've often said, if we look at 1 Corinthians 13, that love chapter so often read at weddings, if we read it correctly, it's not love is this and love is that, it's love is this, par end. What are you people doing?

It's a rebuke. Could we read Psalm 42 that way, that's written by David, who so often had been rescued by God, so often is seeing personally the works of God, the hand of God in his life. What if we read verse 5, him speaking to himself, preaching to his own soul, as it were, and say, why are you cast down, O my soul, why are you in turmoil?

Having this long history with God, having so many points of contact for God showing you the value of faith, and that God himself is faithful. Why be cast down? What business have I being in turmoil like this?

You know, there's a story preachers love to tell, and I don't know if it's a real story or not. One of my favorite preachers, Alistair Begg, has used it, so I feel freedom to use it. You've probably heard this before, the little girl on the jet plane, you know, the airliner, passenger jet, and they go through this terrible storm, and the plane is bouncing, it's going up and down, it's shaking all over, the wings are flapping, everything's gone wrong, and this is the worst storm that all these experienced travelers have seen.

And there's a businessman sitting next to this young girl, who's 7, 8, 9 years old, something like that, and she's just reading her book. She's coloring in her colored book, or whatever she's able to do, and she is calm as smooth water.

And the man says to her, how can you be so calm in this storm? Have you heard this before? And she says to him, I have nothing to worry about, because my daddy is the pilot. And my father is not going to let anything happen to me.

Well, that's just a story, it's an anecdote, nobody knows if it's true, and I doubt that it is, but it works very well for what we're saying. Do you have confidence in your heavenly father? I don't want to minimize the stirring up, and the difficulty of getting rid of anxiety.

As I said, some people have PTSD, veterans of wars have seen terrible things that have affected them in ways that you and I can barely understand. Some people have physical maladies, things that doctors need to take care of, that whether they like it or not, they're stirred up towards nervousness.

But in all these cases, even having sympathy for those other types of cases, anxiety is just that. It's forgetting that your heavenly father is at the controls. It's forgetting what your heavenly father has done for you day after week, after month, after year.

Anxiety is at its core. At least two things, it's a desire to look into the secret decrees of God, Deuteronomy 29, 29, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, he does not tell us what tomorrow will bring, so it belongs to him, and it's an amnesia.

It's a forgetting of what he has done, and how often he has done it, and how good he is. It has terrible effects on us. It leads us away from God, not towards, but away. Psalm 37, 8 says, cease from anger and forsake wrath, do not fret, it only causes harm.

I think I read that in the New King James, but our ESV I think says, it only tends to evil. Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, Proverbs 12, 25, but a good word makes it glad. Worry leads us away from God, and when you stir it up like this, this is something you need to remember.

I am going in the wrong direction. You know the Pilgrim Psalms, Psalm 121 says, I look to the hills, from whence comes my help, my help comes from God, the Lord God who made heaven and earth, and too often we look up and say, I look up to the hills, from where does my help come from, and we stop, and we say, I don't know, all I can see is a big hill in front of me, and maybe on the other side of that hill are bandits, or a downturn in the stock market, or another pandemic, maybe behind that hill are robbers, bandits, thieves, violence, a storm that's going to come upon me suddenly.

Say, I look to the hills, from where does my help come from, we stop, too often we stop. Brethren, read the next verse, think the next verse, preach the next verse to yourself, my help comes from the Lord God who made heaven and earth.

Worry is even a momentary lapse of reason into a lack of faith, it's futile. Again, our Lord Jesus Christ's words, that worry does you no good, now it causes a lot of things, it causes ulcers, it causes sleeplessness, which causes more anxiety, it feeds on itself like some kind of a monster in a Star Trek show, it just gets worse and worse and worse.

But Jesus Christ tells us, which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature, cannot add one hour to your life, you do not know when the Lord will return. Nothing you can do about it, nothing you can do to bring it on.

Worry is futile, it only causes harm. You know, in the sci-fi series, Dune, back when I was a teenager, yes I was once a teenager, was just as popular, or almost as popular as Dune, and they had a mantra there, it's called, fear is the mind killer, fear is the mind killer.

What they meant was when you got fearful, you could no longer control yourself and address the circumstances at hand, fear is the mind killer. I want to borrow that and say anxiety is the spirit killer.

When you let anxiety rule you, it draws your spirit from God. Now I'm not saying God will abandon you, I'm not saying you can lose your salvation because both of those are impossible, I am saying that it draws us further from God.

They were saying, I have no trust in him, therefore I am going to have anxiety, I'm going to have turmoil, I'm going to lose sleep, I'm going to fret. Even where the scripture tells us it only tends to evil.

Even when Jesus Christ tells us, what good does this do, you cannot add one cubit to your stature by worrying, you cannot add one breath to your life through worrying. It's the spirit killer. It does have awful effects on us, does it not?

Now I don't want to see any smart phones working, but you can do this when you get home, there's an interesting study that can be done watching United States President's signatures. The first one I saw where this was studied and I saw the progression of the signature was Ronald Reagan's.

It starts out where it sort of says, RONALD REAGAN! Pump your fist once with that, and it was very confident, very clear. And as the cares and the worries and the anxieties of all the responsibilities it means to be the President of the United States worked on him.

And this is virtually all the presidents. His signature became a little smaller. It kind of trailed off towards the end. It became shaky. So anxiety is real, anxiety has really negative effects and very obvious effects on us.

Are you anxious? Do you fret? We all do at some point. It's part of the human condition. The New Testament never says that there's nothing at all to worry about. Jesus Christ said in John 1633, in this world you will have tribulations.

And just like the first part of that psalm, we need to go on as he says, in this world you have tribulations, can we say you will have cares and trials and worries and anxieties? Yes, that all fits. In this world you will have them.

I looked at the hills from where does my help come from? Don't stop. In this world you will have tribulations. Don't stop. Move on. But take heart, said the Lord Jesus. I have overcome the world. There are remedies for this.

Prayer, Supplication, and Thanksgiving

The Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the Philippians, he did say stop worrying. He did say, as I said several weeks ago, stop that. Just don't do it anymore. And he does sort of say that. He says, the Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything. If Christ's presence is near you, there's nothing to be anxious about. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

The answer to anxiety is of course the Lord Jesus Christ. And that answer comes to us as the Apostle Paul tells us here by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Prayer is very much part of the Christian life, is it not? We need to address God. We need to talk to God. We need to go to Him in prayer for all our needs. We need to boldly approach the throne of grace and there find help in our time of need, Hebrews 4 .12.

We need to go to God in prayer for everything. He says, but in everything, by prayer, being anxious about nothing, not being anxious about anything, which is to say, be anxious about nothing, but in everything, letting nothing pass notice by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Here, brethren, is the answer that God gives us to anxieties, to this uncertainty of tomorrow, to these momentary lapses of reason when we forget the goodness and the history that we have from God. It's prayer.

It's prayer, it's going to God on our knees and coming to Him. It's prayer and supplication. Supplication is that of the lesser to the greater, that of the vassal to the suzerain, if you will, that of the creature to the creator.

And supplicating, which is a confession of my need and a confession of my inability. And in this immediate case, what is that inability? To do anything about that tomorrow of which I'm so concerned. And so we go to God in prayer over it.

That's what supplication is. Confession of my inability and going to the greater, he who can, he who is able to do all things for with God, nothing shall be impossible, said Jesus. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

For those of us who suffer with anxiety, I have great sympathy for you. I'm more of a what me worry kind of guy, but not too excess. I mean, I know when to stop and be concerned and stop and pray. But do you suffer from anxiety?

Do you have a chronic case of just worrying about tomorrow? Being concerned with what's going to happen, so much so that it corrupts your relationships with others? That it's harming your body with ulcers and other things, high blood pressure that we know medically, physiologically can come upon people when they're anxious all the time.

Has it given you a distance from Christ Jesus? There's an answer here to this. And I want us to really think about this, especially you who suffer from constant anxiety and have not quite found the answer to it.

And it's right there. Let your requests be made known to God. And I spoke a moment ago about going to a doctor and just saying, hey, doctor, I just don't feel well. Is it your head? No, I don't know. I just don't feel good.

Well, what do you want me to do? Is it your stomach? I didn't know. I can't tell you, doctor. I just need my whole person. I don't feel well. Well, there's nothing a doctor can do with that. Now, not to say God is limited as a human doctor would be.

My point is this, though. As you must tell a doctor, my stomach is upset. My head hurts or words to that effect. What the Apostle Paul is saying here, let your requests be made known to God, is be specific.

Be specific. Here is hard work. Here is a discipline. Here is a spiritual exercise, which you need to confess to yourselves that you have anxieties that have made distance between you and God. If we reduce that closeness with you and him or to others, all these, all these bad effects, requests are specific.

It's going to God. And saying, Lord, I am anxious about this. Do you know what this is? Some of us are so accustomed to being anxious that we've forgotten what this is. We've forgotten what the specific thing really is that we're anxious about.

Some of us have so many things we're anxious about, we can't get a grip on any one of them. This is not an easy exercise. This is not a simple talisman that you can repeat, like counting the beads on the rosary or anything like that.

This is the hard spiritual work of being on your knees and working and working and working in prayer to God with supplication and thanksgiving. Making known to God your request, that thing, that one. It's a request that is specific to God.

Can you do that? Are you one who suffers from anxiety? If you don't suffer from anxiety, as I generally don't, do you have a big thing right now, as I often do, about which you are anxious? Here's your answer.

This is the gospel answer if you are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. You need to be specific. You need to tell him, as the apostles did, Lord, we're perishing.

Lord, we need help. What do you want? We just need you to do something. No, we're perishing. There's a storm. Peter was perishing. He's going to drown. Very specific. I don't say it's easy, but we really need to work on that.

We need to be in prayer before the Lord until we can rise from our knees knowing that we have done what he says here. Be very specific and to give our requests to him. 1 Peter 5, 7 says, cast your cares upon him because he cares for you.

So we must do that. You must cast your cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ because he cares for you. But don't forget what verse 6 says, which says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon him, casting all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you.

Well, before, I was saying, we need to read the next verse, Psalm 121, 1, don't read just half, go on to the next part, John 16, 33, in this world you have trouble, don't stop there, go on to the next part, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

Here, in 1 Peter 5, you need to go to the previous verse because what does it say? In order to cast your anxieties upon God, you need to humble yourself before God. This is faith again. This is right back to where we started.

Anxiety is a matter of lacking faith. And Peter says you need to be humble enough to admit your lack of ability to cover these things, to address these things, and then go to God with your anxieties. So in that sense, anxiety is what?

It is pride. It is saying that I can handle this. I worked many years ago on a team at PG, a big project and one of the members of the team was a lady who spent a lot of time worrying. And one time I and another member of the team asked her what she was doing, how she was contributing.

We had systems to document, we had financial reports to review, we had statistics to gather, we had all kinds of work to do, even to get started on this project. So what are you doing? And she literally said, this is not an anecdote, I'm worrying.