Why am I Anxious?

Psalm 139:17-24

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 

I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Elevation Church recently did a sermon on the most-watched topic that people search for in regards to sermons on Youtube.

Anxiety.

This sermon hit me hard and I don't think of myself as an anxious person. So this can completely apply to just life in general. Here is a 6-point 'self test' so to speak - to help you or someone you know figure out why you are anxious.

El numero uno...

///// Intake

How full am I of what? You're praying for the peace of God and He has nowhere to put it - we weren't meant to have the entirety of the world at our fingertips whenever we want. (phones!) No wonder we are anxious. The devil has a shockcollar in our back pocket. It can go off and instantly we check it to see who's doing the latest of what and how we're not measuring up. The devil must love how we are such slaves to our technology! Why don't we rule our phones, put em on mute, and WE decide when to check them instead of it dinging every 5 minutes.

So... What's your intake? What are your thoughts dwelling on and taking in? Is it the Word of God or the words of the world?

///// Imbalance

Check for imbalance. If, in your life, everything is urgent, it can often be a sign of imbalance in your priorities. An automatic yes to something maybe unimportant is an automatic no to something that is. What are your priorities? What do you give importance to? Is it something weighty or insignificant? Don't worry about something that God has already worked out.

///// Indecision

Make decisions - walk in step with the Spirit and walk in integrity and just make em! Unfortunately we live in a culture where there are just way too many options at our fingertips, so it's harder and harder to decide on things. But just make a decision! If they're the wrong decisions, apologize and move on. Don't put off decision-making saying you'll get around to it - because you're just waiting for it to show up again. Don't worry about the things that aren't worth worrying about.

 ///// Intention

Help others instead of wondering what they're thinking about you. Odds are, they're not! They've got their own things to worry about. Don't say, 'why didn't she talk to me?' Well, why didn't you talk to her? Stop begging for scraps of love from other people. Fill up on the love of God and pour it out onto others. (that last bit was from Lysa Terkeurst's book which should totally be another blog post. AMAZING!)

///// Imagination

Your imagination is a sacred space. It's God's house. Don't give Satan a foothold in your mind - retake that sacred space, reestablish a child-like faith, and dream big dreams. The good thing is, that if you're good at worrying, you'll be great a worship. It's just a reverse of what you've been doing - a rerouting of your energy from something negative to something positive.

///// Isolation

In the middle of the word anxious is... I. You can't fight anxiety on your own. Anxiety ends with anxioUS. We realize in a community of a faith family that we're not the only ones. We don't have to live with the burden of thinking that we're the only ones that have done something or thought something. We're not alone. The seed of the word doesn't grow unless it's watered throughout the week. Seek community that will love you as God loves you.

Here is the sermon if you want to watch it. I highly recommend the whole series he's done on the life of David called Bars and Battles.

May you all be blessed this week and fill up on the good Word of God and live life loved.