Latest / REZ CHURCH Podcast / Hope for Anxiety - May 11, 2025

Transcript

Hope for Anxiety - May 11, 2025 · REZ CHURCH Podcast

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I mean I search for. Peace.
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I search for hope, I search for love and one day for release.
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God give me strength to accept the things that I just cannot
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know, that even when I lose control, I will not let you go.
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Excuse me? It's OK, Todd, you can leave
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your wallet here. I'll just give you the 5 bucks
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back later. That's all right.
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Say I'm Justin Emanuel and I said morning.
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There we go. That's Pastor Dave.
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So I served on staff here at Rez as the production director and
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as part of our preaching team. You know, I felt a little cold
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out in the worship when she was like, you're going to forget
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everything that I'm going to say, but you're going to
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remember that song. But you are going to forget
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everything I say, and you are going to remember that song.
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But today as we talk about sound mind where it's the intersection
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of faith and mental well-being, my journey for a sound mind
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where my faith and my mental well-being intersected started
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eight years ago back in New York.
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Picture this with me for a few moments.
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It's March 21st, 2017, the start of spring to bomb me. 57°
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practical heat wave in New York compared to the bitter February
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temperatures. I'm in my office, but I'm not
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getting any work done in the church that day because my body
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is vibrating from anxiety. Why?
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Because tomorrow's my birthday. Then I got the text that I've
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been dreading all day. It was from my pastor.
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Hey buddy, want to do anything this week for your birthday?
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I stared at that text and it put me in a Free State.
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I wanted to say no, but if I said no then I'm probably going
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to have to explain why I want said no and why I want to want
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to do it. But if I said yes, then I'd have
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to go and deal with it anyway. And trying to process it put me
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in this catatonic state where eventually I couldn't even sit
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in the chair anymore. I slid out of my chair and
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started laying on the floor of my office, bawling my eyes out
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and crying out to God. Why do I hate my birthday?
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After not hearing from God in the time I wanted to hear from
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Him, I did what we tend to do. I went to Google.
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I took on my phone. One of the responses that hit me
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is that birthdays are a milestone day to time you take
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stock in your life. Where was I in my life?
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I was trapped in my mind, full of perfectionism and self
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hatred. Any thought in my mind was
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saying that I'm worthless, that I'm a failure, calling myself a
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jerk to get it together. This was emotional trauma being
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inflicted on me all day, every day of my life.
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The harder I fought, the stronger it got.
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The more I tried to silence these thoughts, the more they
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spiraled in my head in what I call a misery go round of doom.
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Soon I was convinced that everyone I encountered believed
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that I was the failure, That I believed I was, so say, anxious.
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Does it not even begin to explain the state I was in?
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It was utter hopelessness. Hopelessness to the point that
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many nights in my office, thoughts of suicide would be in
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my head. I was already on the top floor.
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All I had to do was walk to the ladder, climb up it, step up
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onto the ledge, and jump. But my thoughts were so
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distorted that what prevented me from jumping off of that ledge
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was that I didn't think the building was tall enough.
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That I would be the moron who would try to end myself and live
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and become an even bigger failure at that.
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So here I am, the day before my 33rd birthday, lying on the
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floor asking why do I hate my birthday.
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Later that night I finally started to think that this isn't
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right, something's got to change that I can't keep going like
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this. Anxiety was ruining my life to
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the point that I almost took it. Lying on the floor crying my
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eyes out. It was the darkest place I've
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been, but I had no idea that God would take that moment and use
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it as a catalyst for the transformation that He began in
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my life that day. And He's continued in eight
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years since. That gives me a hope for my
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anxiety. Perhaps you're not even sure why
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you're here because your anxiousness and your anxiety has
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said that it's hopeless too. Maybe you're at the point I was
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where suicidal thoughts are dancing in your head.
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Maybe you're skeptical about this whole God thing.
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But sure, at the end of your rope, the good news is that
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you're in the right place today. It's the same God that took me
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off that literal ledge is the same God that could bring hope
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and transformation to you today. Now, if you're like me, you've
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seen how the church has a tradition of distorting anxiety.
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They'll take verses like if you had faith, like a mustard seed,
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you could say to the mountain move and it'll move.
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And they preach this myth that if you have more faith, your
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anxiety will go away. But if you pray more, if you do
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the Christian things, your anxiety will go away.
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And that if you can't get rid of your anxiety, if you're stuck in
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it, well that's a sin that you need to get rid in your life.
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Or maybe you've heard my favorite Bible says don't be
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anxious. So don't be anxious.
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To which my brain usually reprise.
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Don't be stupid. Anxiety is not a moral failure,
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it's not a spiritual failure, it's not a character defect or
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anything of the like. Jesus himself experienced
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anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane hours before he went
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to the cross, and he lived a perfect, sinless life.
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So when it comes to the mountain, it's not about moving
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the mountain, it's about the work God wants to do in you on
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that mountain. And this is our big idea.
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Write this down. God doesn't always move the
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mountain. He pulls you up it.
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It could be that the mountain you so desperately want to get
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off of is the mountain that God wants to transform you on if you
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would persevere. And if you have anxiety, it's an
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uphill climb. It takes time, it takes work,
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but if you persevere, God takes your suffering and He transforms
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it into hope. So I'm in the right room who
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hear battles with anxiety, Who had anxiety today?
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Who has anxiety right now? Who got more anxiety because I'm
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asking questions about anxiety and you don't want to raise your
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hands. It's safe to say anxiety affects
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us all. None of us are immune.
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Whether your anxiety is wrecking your life like it was for me or
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it's a low simmer, that mountain that you face is the mountain
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that God does his best work in. So let's keep this in mind as we
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go to our passage for day first Peter 5.
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We're going to start in verse 5. It says this clothe yourselves,
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all of you with humility toward one another.
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For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
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Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.
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So here we see the importance of humility in our relationships
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with one another. Whether you're young or old,
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whether you're a guest or an elder, whether you've been in
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this room for 10 minutes or you were holding the hammer when
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they built this building. The same is true for us all is
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that we are to have an attitude of humility towards one another
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and to clothe yourself. That phrase literally means an
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apron that a servant wears. So to clothe ourselves in
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humility is to put on the apron of service and put others needs
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above our own. Who am I wear to go people?
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Our volunteers from wear to go. Red's Mania.
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You guys all put on the apron of service last year for our 10
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minute window and all 900 people who came right this year.
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You have an opportunity right now to put on that apron and
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sign up for camps and volunteer and give up of your time to
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think of their salvations and their health and their needs
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above your own. This is an opportunity for you.
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So now this humility, it's an attitude to have.
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And now Peter UPS the stakes in verse 6 because now it says be
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humble. So now humility is not just an
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attitude to have, it's an action to take.
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You can be humble, but until you sign up for something, until you
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actually be humble, you're not taking action.
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This is your opportunity. And this isn't because God is a
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tyrant. Look at the promise, as Proverbs
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334 is quoted. Be humble, because God's grace
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is found on the other side of humility.
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God's grace, it's his power, His love, His compassion, His care,
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His unmerited and unworthy love for you.
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And it's on the other side of humility.
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Now, humility sounds good in theory, right?
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Let's be honest, what do we crave?
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We crave honor, right? The pride inside of us, he goes,
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look at me. Look what I've done.
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Did. Did you see what I did when I
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put it on Facebook? All right.
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And sometimes in our pain and our anxiety, we still have those
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same desires. But instead we call it sympathy.
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Oh, man, look. Look at how horrible my life is.
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You see what's going on in my life.
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What do you mean? You didn't know stuff was going
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on? Did you see my tweet?
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Right. We want that recognition.
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We want that honor. And even humility has become
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distorted. Humility has become #humblebrag
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and picture. It didn't happen.
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You know, we can so easily turn even our own blessings into
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opportunities for self promotion.
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But here's the danger, especially with suffering and
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with struggles, is that our anxiety can be so high that we
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are drowning on the inside. But we are so busy presenting
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ourselves as a selfie worthy person on the outside, we want
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to look like we've got it all together even though you're
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silently suffering beneath the surface.
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So write this first principle down when it comes to your
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anxiety. The mountain is for taking
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X-rays, not selfies. Mountain is for taking X-rays,
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not selfies. The mountain isn't about taking
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selfies to show off how good you are when you're going through
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something. The mountain is to let God take
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his X-rays so that he can take what's inside of you, bring it
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to the light so that he can transform it and He can heal it.
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When it comes to anxiety, and as you find yourself facing that
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uphill climb of the mountain, the best thing you can do is
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invite God in to take his X-rays.
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They, like the psalmist says in Psalm 139, cry out to God and
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say, Search me, O God, and know my heart.
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Try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way
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in me. Know my anxieties God, because
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my anxieties are signaling me that something is off and I need
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you to show it to me. Reveal my wicked ways because
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that phrase wicked ways, it actually means hurtful ways of a
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wicked habit. We need God to reveal our sins
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to us because our sins are what is hurting us and He needs to
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bring it to our attention. So in that love, God will use
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His X-rays to reveal what needs to be changed.
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Now. Anxiety is not a punishment by
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God, but God will use anxiety that gets you to look up to Him,
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to signal you that it's time to look up, that there is a hurt in
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your life that He needs to heal, that there is a sin in your life
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that is hurting you and it needs to be dealt with.
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And as anxiety signals us, if we continue to ignore the anxiety,
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God may turn up that pain of the anxiety and He's going to keep
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turning it up until we finally humble ourselves before Him and
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say, God, I hear you, search me. Take your X-ray.
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You know, if you're on the mountain and you want to ignore
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anxiety signals and you want to take selfies of showing off how
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good you are and all of these things despite the pain that is
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ravaging you on the inside, then you're in danger of being a
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statistic to death by selfie. Do you know selfie related
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deaths are a thing now? 2018, they did a study.
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Across six years, 250 people died in selfie related
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incidents. The top cause was falling from a
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Cliff or a height, followed up by fire, animals and water.
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Their final moments were spent focused on how good they look to
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everybody else, and they were ignoring the danger that was
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about to take them out. My friends, some of you are
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standing on the edge of the Cliff and your focus is on
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trying to capture a selfie of your life to show off how good
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you are and you're ignoring the danger that you're about to
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encounter. The mountain is for taking
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X-rays, not selfies. The mountain is a selfie free
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zone. Put up a sign that day in my
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office in 2017 was me standing on the cliffs edge but God
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pulled me up the mountain enough that I cried out and said I need
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help. I can't fix this on my own.
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My pastor had been suggesting counseling to me for months and
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I refused. I instead would answer him
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here's my 10 point plan of how I'm going to fix this and when
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that failed I said here's my next 10 point plan.
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And when that failed I said here's my next 10 point plan.
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Have you ever been there? Here's my plan, I'm going to fix
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this. I'm going to work on it.
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But no, now things are exploding, my own life
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exploding. Everyone around me is being
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covered in the shrapnel that is my anxiety that I'm trying to
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fix myself. So I'm not one for taking
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selfies personally, but I was working overtime to look as good
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as I could, that I could handle this on my own.
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My pride of I can fix this. Do you know where it got me?
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The edge of suicide selfie time was over.
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It was time for God's X-rays because anxiety had ripped
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through me like shrapnel and I desperately needed healing.
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My pastor connected me with the counseling center and for six
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months, every week, I went to talk therapy.
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We began to unpack my thoughts, my distorted view of God and my
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fear of failure was killing me. The next step led me to get my
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brain scanned and now they find attention deficit hyperactivity
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disorder, they find obsessive compulsive thoughts, they find a
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mood disorder and past emotional trauma.
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These 4 heavy hitters were the contributing factors to my toxic
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thought life for 33 years of struggling.
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I finally had some answers. I wasn't crazy, I had brain
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dysfunction. When I stopped trying to be
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selfie worthy and I allowed God to X-ray me, that's when he
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moved me further up the mountain.
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How about you and your mountain? Is it X-rays or is it selfies?
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Have you been trying to fix it on your own without letting
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anyone in? Is it time to drop the facade
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and finally tell someone I need help?
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You know who that person is who's asking you how you're
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doing and you keep saying fine, take out your phone, text him
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right now and say I need help. You're on the mountain for a
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reason. But remember this God doesn't
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always move the mountain. He pulls you up it.
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If you're ready to trade your selfies for X-rays, you're ready
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trade them. Let's continue on.
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In our text, we're going to verse 7, verse first.
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Peter 57 says this, casting all your anxieties on him because he
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cares for you. The word casting literally means
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to throw upon the visual. We can think of as a fisherman
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casting his net out into the sea to catch fish.
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The detail here is that in order to cast, you have to fully let
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go of the net. You can't hold onto the corner
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until you can pull it back later when you get a little lazy.
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And here it says to cast all your anxieties on God because he
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cares for you. It's to humble ourselves before
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God, taking our anxieties, our burdens, our worries, our
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stresses, our addictions, and throwing them at God, fully
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holding nothing back. This means there's no hiding.
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This means there's no corner of your life that you do not give
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to God in your prayer life. Your prayers should be a no hold
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barred event where nothing is off the table.
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But look, it's an active event. It's not passive.
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So if you find yourself sitting in your circumstances going,
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there's nothing I can do, There is everything you can do, which
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is getting on your knees, humbling yourself before God.
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Giving them all to Him. Because these are not your
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burdens to bear. Jesus is the one who bears them.
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If you continue to candle your anxieties on your own, it will
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consume you. Your anxiety is not your cross
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to bear. That's meant to be carried by
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Jesus. Because what happens is this.
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What you choose to bear alone today will become your tombstone
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tomorrow. Let's be clear about what
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anxiety is. So anxiety at its core, it's our
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body's alarm system. It's when your brain detects
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that there's danger and an alarm goes off.
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But this alarm system, sometimes it can malfunction, whether it's
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to a learned behaviour, A trauma, A substance abuse, a
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body, or a brain dysfunction. Doctor Reed Wilson breaks this
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down and he says that anxiety is either a signal or a noise.
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Good anxiety is a signal. It is signaling you that
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something needs your attention. It's the check engine light on
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your car's dashboard. It prompts you to take action to
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identify and start resolving an issue.
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When good anxiety comes, this is the anxiety to listen to,
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address and bring it before God. Bad anxiety is noise.
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It's like static from an old TV set.
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Anxiety that is bad that is noisy is anxiety that wants you
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to focus on the anxiety. It's thoughts that want to get
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you to focus on your thoughts. And as that continues, you now
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enter the misery go round of doom in your mind.
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This is the anxiety that's destructive.
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Doctor Wilson would say. Of this anxiety's best strategy
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is to convince you to spend most of your energy worrying about
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how to protect yourself or someone else against harm.
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It scores points by getting you to worry and then step back
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instead of step forward into the action.
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If you organize your actions against only a defensive
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strategy, you will continue to lose to this skilled tactician.
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Maybe you're a sports fan. What's the best defense?
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It's a good offense. You got it.
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So when it comes to destructive anxiety and that noise, the
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offensive is to start with. Second Corinthians 10/5 says
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this. Take every thought captive to
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obey Christ. The first step is to capture our
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thoughts and hold them accountable.
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Our thoughts lie to us, and just because you think it does not
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mean you have to accept it as true.
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Our minds. Can default to negativity.
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Doctor Daniel Ayman, he calls these automatic negative
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thoughts A&T. These are the ants of your life
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and some of our thought lives are Ant infested.
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Are you with me on this have? You had these or am I alone?
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That as you think about this, your brain goes, you start to
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mind read, you start to fortune tell.
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I'll never get over this. I'll always mess this up, right?
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So what have you tried? Have you tried techniques?
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Have you tried to work through things?
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What do we really need? We need Jesus.
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That's always the answer, even if you wake up in class and
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you're not sure what to say. But when your ants.
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Come, have you thought about breaking out your Ant eater?
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Anteater eats those ants. Here's the anteater that God has
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provided for us. And actually, I lied.
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To you, before I even get to that, we're going to go over the
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worst kind of Ant there is because it's vital to your
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health. There is one Ant automatic
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negative thought that will destroy you if you allow it to
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pervade in your life and that is this.
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This is the aunt of blame. It's a victim.
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Mentality. It's blaming someone or
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something else for the problems you have.
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It's. My parents.
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Fault they raised me this way. I can't change.
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I was Born This Way. God, you let.
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This happen to me. Blame.
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Is the handcuffs we put on ourselves while complaining
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about being restrained. This Ant.
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Is deadly because it keeps us powerless by our own choosing.
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So when you have this Ant, this is the Ant you break your Ant
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eater out on immediately. And when those other negative
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thoughts up, it comes out and here's your Ant eater.
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It's Philippians 48. Whatever is true, whatever is
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honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
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lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if
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there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
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things. This Ant eater verse eats ants
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for breakfast. So you.
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Take your thought, especially your blaming thoughts, and you
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ask of it, is it true? Is it honorable?
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Is it just? Is it pure?
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Is it lovely? Is it commendable?
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Is it excellent? Is it worthy of praise?
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If your thoughts fail any of these tests, it's lying to you
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and it's time to replace it with true and accurate thinking.
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And this is how we. Start to steer our thoughts in
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the right direction and starve anxiety of its power.
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Now. I've just shared some anxiety
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fighting tools with you, with the ants, with the verses, and
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they're excellent. They're research backed.
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It's from the Bible. These are tools.
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But here's the raw truth. The tools weren't enough.
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My counseling was from the best treatment center in New York and
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across the world. I read all the books, all the
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podcasts. I did the nutrition plan, the
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supplement plan. I did all the mindfulness
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exercises but I still couldn't do it my.
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Inventory of. Mental health power tools could
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stock a Home Depot and I still couldn't do it.
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I know what to do. I know how to do it.
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I just told you how to do it and I still couldn't do it.
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And maybe. You're with me on this.
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Maybe you're not in because you know exactly what I'm talking
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about, that you're doing everything right and still
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losing the battle. Who's with me on this one?
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Doing everything right and you're still losing the battle.
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You and powerlessness have become so close that your
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roommates and you're the one paying all the rent, right?
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So I had. Everything I needed, but I was
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still drowning in anxiety. But this was the.
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Place where God was waiting for me.
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This was the place I needed to get to for the real
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transformation to begin. My thoughts continued to lie to
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me that I was a failure. You went to all the counseling,
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you did all the work. You have your diagnosis and
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you're still a failure. My prayer life became venting my
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frustrations to God, blaming Him for everything.
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God, if you've called me to serve in your church, preach the
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word to your people, and do all these things, then why did you
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allow me to have these brain disorders that keep me from
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doing it? Why have you not taken this away
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so I can have a normal brain and get things done?
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Didn't happen instantly, but after many days.
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Of pleading with him to take it away.
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One of the passages he led me to was Second Corinthians 12, which
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says this. So to keep me from becoming
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proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan,
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to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
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Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.
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Each time He said, My grace is all you need.
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My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about
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my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me.
29:53
That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, for when I am weak,
29:59
then I am strong. What I thought.
30:04
Was the failure of having these brain disorders was actually the
30:09
fuel that God uses the power, his own power through me?
30:14
I had all the power tools to fight anxiety, but by refusing
30:19
to obey and move forward, I was disconnected from the power
30:23
source, the true power source. My false beliefs that mistakes
30:30
and failures were bad had crippled me from moving forward.
30:34
If you started believing that before, that mistakes and
30:37
failures are bad and letting that hold you back from moving
30:40
forward exactly where I was. Anxiety gains power when it gets
30:45
me to focus on believing that I was a failure who couldn't
30:48
figure it out. Anxiety increases the more you
30:53
try to do it on your own because you're working in your own
30:57
strength. You can't tap into.
31:03
The power that God has for you in your weaknesses and failures
31:07
until you bring them to Him, and you cast all of your anxieties
31:12
on Him because He loves you, and then you move forward relying on
31:17
His strength. Write this next principle.
31:20
Down the mountain is where your failures fuel your strength.
31:25
The mountain is where your failures fuel your strength.
31:30
The more failure and weakness you have, the more strength you
31:33
will find in God's power. Anxiety.
31:39
Gains power when it wants me to believe I'm a failure and try to
31:42
figure it out. Anxiety increases when I work in
31:46
my own strength. When I bring my failures.
31:49
To God, that is when I operate in strength, because it's not my
31:54
strength that God wants, it's my weaknesses.
31:57
Spurgeon says it this way. God does not need your strength.
32:01
He has more than enough power of his own.
32:04
He asks your weakness. He has none of that himself, and
32:09
He is longing therefore to take your weakness and use it as the
32:13
instrument in His own mighty hand.
32:16
Will you not leave your weakness to Him and receive His strength?
32:24
The more. Anxiety that you have, the more
32:28
fuel you have to give to God to work with.
32:34
That's how God. Works in His power in your life.
32:37
And what is the power of God? This is the power that raised
32:41
Jesus from the dead. This is the power that created
32:45
time, the universe, the power that created you.
32:52
So if this is the power. You may be asking right now,
32:57
what does one do to tap into this power source?
33:04
How do I give? My weaknesses to God so he can
33:07
demonstrate his power through them.
33:11
You might not like the answer because I don't like it either.
33:15
It looks like obedience even when it feels impossible.
33:20
It's about actually doing what God is asking you to do in your
33:24
life. Let me ask you this.
33:28
What has God been calling you to do in your life that you've
33:32
refused to obey because you don't think you can do it?
33:39
On the other side. Of that obedience.
33:43
Is God's power. For your life.
33:47
So I'm not. Saying that the tools and the
33:51
knowledge to find anxiety are fruitless.
33:53
It's the exact opposite. Counseling, treatment, care,
33:57
books, podcast techniques, nutrition, supplements,
34:01
medications, they're all on the table when it comes for treating
34:05
anxiety. They have all been vital in
34:07
treating my anxiety. Here's.
34:09
What I am? Saying is that these tools can
34:12
help you, but it's only the power of God through the work of
34:16
the Holy Spirit that can transform you.
34:22
These are power. Tools.
34:24
And when they're connected to the true power source, that's
34:27
when transformation happens. That's when they work together,
34:31
and that's when your failures that you bring to God turn your
34:35
anxieties into hope. So remember our.
34:41
Big idea. God doesn't always move the
34:43
mountain. He pulls you up it and he uses
34:46
your failures as fuel to strengthen you to climb higher.
34:52
As we head for a. Close.
34:53
Let's head back to first Peter verse 6.
34:56
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so
35:02
that at the proper time He may exalt you.
35:06
So the scripture. Promises that at the proper time
35:09
he may exalt you. To be exalted means to be lifted
35:12
up with anxiety. It means to be freed and
35:15
released from the grip anxiety has on your life.
35:20
But. Notice the key phrase at the
35:25
proper time. How many of us want?
35:31
Exaltation right now. What does God?
35:35
Say to us in the verse. It's not about being exalted.
35:40
Right now, it's about being exalted at the right time.
35:47
We want our anxiety. To end immediately.
35:50
But God works on his timeline, not ours.
35:54
Pastor Daniels preached on this many a Sunday that we want that
35:57
microwave transformation, right? We want to push it in, push that
36:00
button that we don't have to enter 30 seconds anymore.
36:03
We push that one button and it cooks it for 30 seconds for us
36:05
and we want to come out cooked. But no.
36:10
God's that slow heat, that long lasting heat of the crockpot.
36:16
And when there's anxiety? Involved that crockpot becomes a
36:19
pressure cooker, but it doesn't speed up the cook time, it just
36:23
increases the pressure. So when?
36:28
Is God's proper time to free us from anxiety?
36:32
The answer is only he. Knows his transformative work
36:36
will continue until the purpose in it is complete.
36:40
For some. God's healing work will be
36:43
finished in this lifetime that He will guide you up the
36:46
mountain and you will reach the summit, or He will take that
36:49
mountain and move it in your life and anxiety will be healed
36:52
from you in this lifetime. For others like Paul with his
36:57
thorn in the flesh, like me asking God to take my disorders
37:02
away, His God's answer may continue to be, My grace is
37:07
sufficient. My power is made perfect in
37:10
weakness. Some of us won't.
37:14
Experience complete healing from anxiety or other burdens until
37:19
we're on the other side of heaven, which uses in eternity.
37:23
But either way, 2 constants remain. 1 Humble yourself under
37:29
God's mighty hand, because that is where the power is found, and
37:34
two is keep climbing the mountain, relying on His power
37:39
to pull you up. Write this third principle down.
37:43
As we close the mountain. Turn suffering to hope if you
37:47
persevere to the summit. The mountain turns suffering to
37:52
hope if you persevere to the summit.
37:56
Yes, there is suffering, but because of Jesus it is suffering
38:00
with hope and a purpose. As you on that.
38:07
Mountain. Keep climbing the mountain, for
38:09
it is in the mountain that you will find that hope.
38:13
Romans 5 says it this way. We also glory in our sufferings
38:18
because we know that suffering produces perseverance,
38:21
perseverance, character, and character hope.
38:27
We glory in our sufferings because it is in them that God
38:31
does His work, and in His work there is glory to be had.
38:35
We give glory to God as He does His transforming work, and then
38:40
as we are exalted, we receive glory.
38:43
And then we take that glory and we bounce it right back to God,
38:47
because He is our mighty God. Do every ounce of glory.
38:53
So as you stay on the. Mountain and let God pull you
38:56
up. That suffering will start to
38:58
transform into perseverance, and that perseverance will transform
39:03
your character. And that character
39:06
transformation is what gives you hope.
39:09
Because now you're not just hearing about the power of God.
39:13
You're not just seeing it happen in someone else's life.
39:16
You're not just theoretically now.
39:18
The power of God is happening in and through you, and that
39:22
undeniable power happening in you is lasting hope.
39:31
So reject the. Impulse to be finished now
39:35
endure on the mountain until God's proper time.
39:41
You know when I play football, the coaches hammered into us to
39:46
always keep playing until you hear the referee blow the
39:49
whistle. Because if you stop playing
39:52
early, someone else is going to come and blind side you and take
39:55
you out and you might be out for the game, you might be out for
39:59
the season, or it might end your career.
40:04
Same is true when it. Comes to being on the mountain.
40:07
Never stop climbing. Never stop letting God pull you
40:11
up, because if you slow down and stop climbing.
40:17
It is so easy to. Get taken out.
40:21
I can say this. Because somewhere along the way
40:24
I stopped bringing my weaknesses before God and allowing Him to
40:27
turn them to strength. I got blindsided.
40:32
Without even realizing it. And it took the love of the men
40:36
in my mentorship group to snap me out of it.
40:38
A. Few weeks ago.
40:41
I walked into my mentorship group and I took a seat.
40:46
Then all eyes looked to. Me and.
40:49
They said today's going to be a. Little different.
40:51
We're going to have a little intervention for me.
41:00
Somewhere. Along the way, I stopped
41:03
climbing the mountain. God's transforming.
41:06
Work in my life came to a halt. I stopped pursuing my goals.
41:11
I stopped working on personal growth.
41:14
I neglected. All my mental health care that I
41:17
needed to do to be healthy. I had become a.
41:24
Victim of my disorders. I can't do this I.
41:29
Have ADHD. I failed at this because.
41:33
Of my OCD. I became a.
41:37
Prisoner to them of my own choosing.
41:41
My speech. Became a complaint factory.
41:45
And all of this just. Intensified my anxiety.
41:49
It turned because what had happened is I turned my
41:52
conditions into my identity. I let that story.
41:59
Play on repeat in my head and I started to believe it again.
42:04
My mind and. My body recognized the danger
42:07
and started sounding the alarms of anxiety, but.
42:11
I kept hitting the. Snooze button retreating into
42:13
the comfort zone of distraction and isolation.
42:18
The more I ignored, the more. The warning signals got louder
42:21
and the more I would try to shut them down and let my victimizing
42:28
mentality silence me. But God does not relent in His
42:36
love for us, nor for me. Since I was silencing my
42:42
anxiety, He raised the anxiety of the men in my group that I
42:47
had something I needed to deal with and I wasn't dealing with
42:50
it. So as I sat down and they
42:56
confronted me on it, they looked me in the eyes and said, dude,
43:01
this is a problem. What's the plan?
43:06
For two months I've been dragging my feet.
43:09
I'm going to counseling. I realized I needed to go back,
43:12
but I didn't make the phone call.
43:14
Kept telling myself I don't want to deal with this, but I don't
43:17
want to go through a new therapist.
43:18
I went through all of this in New York and now I got to meet a
43:22
new therapist. And what if they don't work out
43:23
right and they don't understand me and all these lies I kept
43:27
telling myself, believing them is truth?
43:30
And so when I told them. That counseling was my next
43:33
step. They didn't leave it at that.
43:35
They looked me in the eyes and they said good.
43:37
Call them today and text us when you did.
43:43
That was 5. 30 in the morning on Friday 9 AMI called and they
43:49
said oh that's great, we have a 10 AM would you like it?
43:56
Yes. Please.
44:00
Within. 4 hours. God had used the men of my
44:05
mentorship group to become literal faces of anxiety that I
44:09
could not ignore. And from there the.
44:15
Transformation began again. Three years of being off the
44:20
mountain. Now my hiking boots are back on.
44:26
When you find yourself. Struggling with anxiety?
44:30
It's time to make a choice. It's decision time.
44:34
John Maxwell says adversity is a crossroads, which makes a person
44:38
choose one of two paths, character or compromise.
44:45
Anxiety itself is not a character flaw, but your
44:49
character needs to be transformed in order to
44:52
experience the hope that overcomes anxiety.
44:58
And as you weigh your. Decision.
44:59
You must determine each day if you're going to be an owner of
45:03
your life who is committed to staying on the mountain, or if
45:07
you're a victim of your life who's going to retreat to the
45:10
comfort zone of base camp and eat bon bons all day and blame
45:13
the world. Steve Chandler puts.
45:16
It this way, an owner will change his personality on the
45:20
spot in order to keep his commitment.
45:23
A victim will break any commitment to keep his
45:27
personality. I started as an.
45:31
Owner. Somehow.
45:34
I traded my commitment for the comfort zone.
45:39
I chose to be a victim. Instead, I was letting the voice
45:43
of God and His truth be drowned out by owning my limitations
45:49
instead of owning my identity in Christ as a child of God under
45:52
the care of God who has experienced the power of God.
46:00
I had all the. Tools and all the knowledge, but
46:05
I was disconnected from the power.
46:09
How about you? Are you connected or
46:13
disconnected from God's power? Are you on the mountain?
46:18
Persevering. Or have you fallen?
46:21
Back into the comfort zone are. You taking?
46:26
Ownership of your life or are you choosing to be a victim of
46:31
your life? Here's what I learned.
46:35
From Mark Clark, When you're born, you look like your
46:39
parents, but when you die, you look like your choices.
46:45
What are you choosing that's? Right, it's March 20. 1st 2017
46:57
It's spring. It's a balmy 57° outside
47:03
practical heat wave in New York compared to the bitter February
47:06
temperatures. And there I am.
47:10
Lying on the floor of my office, riddled with anxiety, days
47:15
removed from suicidal thoughts, asking why I hate my birthday.
47:22
Except this time. It's not 2017.
47:25
It's three weeks ago, and I'm not on the floor.
47:29
I'm in the chair of my apartment with my counselor on the other
47:33
side of the video call, and we're working through that
47:37
moment in my life. That moment in 20. 17 was the
47:42
darkest moment of my life, but God took that as the catalyst to
47:47
begin His transformative work in me.
47:50
And now, three weeks ago, He took that same moment, and He
47:54
began again His transformation in me because I cast my
47:59
anxieties on Him. Because He cares for you.
48:07
If you're suffering from. Anxiety.
48:09
The good news is that you can make the choice to get on the
48:13
mountain and allow God to pull you up.
48:18
If you've fallen. Off the mountain.
48:21
We're all here today to talk. To you because this is your
48:24
intervention. It's time to let go.
48:28
Of the victim mentality, of the blame the world mentality and
48:32
blame everything else. If you choose.
48:37
To persevere, then God will transform your character and
48:42
that character transformation is what will give you a lasting
48:46
hope because you are working under the care of an almighty,
48:52
all caring, all loving, all powerful God.
48:59
So today. Is the day that things can begin
49:02
to change, and that starts not just by having hope, but by
49:07
knowing hope, because hope is not a concept.
49:11
Hope is a person. That person has a name, and his
49:15
name is Jesus Christ. And he loves you.
49:22
Too much to leave you there, he says.
49:24
Cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you and he
49:29
does not want to leave you in suffering.
49:32
He wants to bring you to a place of hope.
49:36
So. Today.
49:37
It's decision time because all have sinned and the penalty of
49:44
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus.
49:49
That while you were a Sinner, Jesus, in his love for you died
49:53
on the cross and paid the penalty for you.
49:58
That if you declare. With your mouth that Jesus is
50:01
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
50:05
dead, then you would be saved if this.
50:10
Is you. With every eye closed and with
50:13
every head bowed. Would you repeat this?
50:17
Prayer silently or quietly or something like it after me.
50:22
Jesus, I know I am a Sinner. I'm lost on my own and I can't
50:29
save myself. I know I'm incapable of living
50:33
perfectly. I want you.
50:36
To save me, I surrender everything to you in full
50:42
confidence. I receive your promise of
50:44
relationship, of the forgiveness of sin, of the Holy Spirit, and
50:50
of eternal life. Be my Lord and my Savior.
50:55
Please, Jesus. Now, while we keep our.
50:59
Eyes closed, if you prayed that prayer for the first time right
51:03
now, would you be brave enough to raise your hand for me to
51:07
see? Amen.
51:10
Amen. Amen.
51:14
Thank. You.
51:16
All right, everyone, let's look. Up here, if you said that prayer
51:21
and if you raised your hand, welcome to the family of God.
51:31
And this is a family, so you're not alone.
51:33
In the back are two tables that say, I raised my hand.
51:37
We want to celebrate with you. We want to help you get started.
51:43
And for all of us, anxiety was never meant to be carried alone.
51:50
As you've heard, God used the people in my life who love me to
51:53
work through them to quite literally save my life over and
51:58
over again. So here are your big practical
52:01
takeaways for today. One, it's time to have the
52:06
conversation. If anxiety or any.
52:10
Burden is crushing you in secret.
52:13
It's time to tell someone. It's time to talk to your group.
52:17
Call them, text them. And if you don't have a group,
52:20
if you don't have someone you can trust, our prayer team, our
52:24
staff, our elders, our pastors, they're coming up right now and
52:28
they're going to be up here for you to pray with.
52:31
It's for you to talk to. And for you in.
52:35
Groups. If there's someone in your
52:37
group, in your social circle, who you see suffering and they
52:42
don't want to admit it and they need help.
52:45
Time to have a conversation. With them is now.
52:49
Talk to them. And if someone sits you down and
52:53
in love tells you dude, there's a problem, what's the plan?
52:56
It's. Time to make a plan.
53:02
Secondly. Counseling, treatment, medicine,
53:05
or medical intervention might be your next step.
53:09
For some of your next step is professional help.
53:12
It's not failure. It's wisdom to seek counsel,
53:17
whether it's here at res, through res counseling, or
53:20
through a professional service. It could be you need to talk to
53:23
a psychologist or a doctor. These are all tools that
53:26
connected with God. God's power can transform your
53:29
life. Now let's all stand together.
53:33
The last thing for today is this.
53:37
Don't. Leave.
53:38
Here, with the burdens you walked in with today, the
53:43
burdens you are carrying are the burdens that will become your
53:46
tombstone if you do not release them.
53:50
So come forward. Today, talk to our prayer team.
53:54
They will pray for you. They will guide you and if you
53:58
raise your hands, head back to those tables now and we want to
54:01
celebrate your new life with you.
54:03
You move as the Lord leads church.