WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - LovingKindness: God's Grace for the Worried

Episode Date: February 23, 2024

In today's episode, Carissa and Emma discuss the importance of surrendering anxiety to God and living a life transformed by His peace.  

Welcome to the Loving Kindness Podcast on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Emma Church. And I'm Chris and Eisley. And today we're going to be talking all about God's grace in our worry. We are going to start off just by examining scripture. The best way to start. Amen. And also, there is so much in scripture that talks about worry and anxiety.

So much. So if you're ever like struggling with anxiety, go back to the word because he has provided more than enough answers for us. But we're going to start in Matthew 6, 25 through 34. I think this is beautiful because the section heading in my Bible like itself is do not be anxious, which is really sweet. It says, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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? Look at the birds of the air.

They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing, Consider the lilies of the field how they grow. They neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so coals the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, oh you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink? or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow. For tomorrow be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So at first I want to talk just about where we're in. comes from where anxiety comes from and what they are. And one place that I think it's really obvious is it says, oh, you have little faith. I think that anxiety at its root is a lack of faith in who God is, in God's plan for your life. And so that's what the Bible says. What are your thoughts. Do you agree? Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. I think when we are in a state of worrying, we are doubting the goodness and the sovereignty of God. Because we are actively saying, I put my own trust in my own thoughts and feelings about the future and what's coming and whatever you're worried about. And you're saying, this is the all-consuming state I choose to be in,

rather than laying it at the feet of God himself and saying, I trust your plans. and what you have for me, you know? I think that we get stuck in that a lot, and I think that it's really beautiful that Jesus lays that out so perfectly in that imagery of what considered the lilies. God has care even over the smallest of things, and then he looks at you with all this love and detail. He knows exactly how many hairs are on your head and knows what you need for your life.

And so it's just kind of silly that we look at all of these things and we say, I'm going to choose to worry. Right. Yeah. And I think that, you know, it begs the question. Like, where do you find your security? Are you finding it in your money or clothes and your food? If you are, that's a root. And you're not finding your security in the Lord who will provide. And so I think that a lot of times, like, we worry and then we, you know, hoard, whether that be possession or thoughts, we like, hoard. We, like, hoard. these like thoughts of worry that's a crazy word for that yeah but then in that process we become less and less dependent on god and more and more dependent on ourselves yeah and how we're going to solve the problem and um and like you said at the root of it it is denying god's sovereignty and god's goodness and plan for our life. The answer to worry is is trusting in God's, you know, providence and God's fatherly affection for us because he, we say this all the time. He is good

and he is kind and he has a perfect plan for our lives. And so we have to trust in that. Yeah. I think that's actually really cool, though, that you talked about Horde as a word for. it because not only do we see that with material possessions or things that we want and desire, but also visions and dreams that we want for the future. We hoard these ideas and we put them above the vision that God has placed in our life. And we say if my life trajectory is not panning out the way I vision this to, then something must be wrong. Then something must be, you know, I need to worry and be stressed out and fearful and just totally determined to place that void with our own understanding.

And, you know, Proverbs 3, should not lean on your own understanding. It's like all these things we are so inclined to do. And then God says, don't do that. Trust in me. Trust in me. Lean on me. Let me show you what I mean by that. And so I just think that use of that word hoard.

It's like really actually the best depiction of that. And it's only when we lay everything at Jesus's feet and say, you know what, I choose to do your will, not my will. Just like Jesus prayed to God, saying, your will be done, not my own. That in itself is how we need to be living our life daily. Amen. We need to find our security, not in anything of this world, but instead in the Lord, who will meet our needs, no matter what they may be. And like you were just saying, this is a phrase that like just keeps popping up over and over in my life. And it's something that I constantly have to remind myself, we know what we want, but God knows what we need.

And that is beautiful because I might be worrying because I'm not getting what I want, but I have to take a step back and surrender, knowing that the Lord knows exactly what I need and will provide that for me. Yeah. No matter whether it be like, I don't know, a job position, you know, money, even if that's something that you worry about. If it's, you know, being single and like worrying about what the future holds. Yeah. Like no matter what situation, he knows what you need. And when you take a step back and surrender that to him, that's when you can find the greatest

peace. It comes in laying everything at the father's feet, coming with open hands. and saying, like you just said, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. It's so beautiful. Oh, wow. I think that God wants us to be in a place of surrender of these anxieties because of how, like I mentioned before,

all-consuming anxiety and worry can be. I looked up the actual dictionary definition of worry, and it says, giving way to anxiety or unease, or allowing one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. that's the Oxford Dictionary. And I think that just describes so well the feeling that tends to encroach upon someone. You find yourself with just intrusive and obsessive thoughts about fear of like one thing.

Or it's like you think that's the entire world. And God calls us to live in his peace that surpasses all understanding. And it really also shows you how much you are trusting in the Lord. If you see other Christians and if they are really struggling with that, that's kind of where you can come alongside them and say, hey, you know, have you laid this down with God and really allowed him to lead the situation? And so I just think that prayer and surrender are really what God desires from us because he doesn't want his children to be enslaved to something that just brings them down so much,

you know? Yeah. And that's a beautiful thing too in itself is because we have a God who we can't trust. We have a God who is in control. And who is good, who, like, we can come to and surrender these things to. And we can know that his plan is always better. If you don't believe me, look at the Bible. Like, God promised so many things to us in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in Jesus.

And I can speak to this. I have, at times in my life, been plagued by worry. And I've gotten to points where I've, like, had. to surrender it to Christ. And I've found so much peace in that. But how good is that feeling when we do surrender it and how beautiful is that thing that we can, number one, surrender it because we have a God who we can trust?

And then he provides peace for us when we do that. It's such a beautiful thing. And how good is our God to give us that solution so we don't have to worry. You're listening to the Loving Kindness podcast on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. We are just diving into worry and the solution that the Lord has laid out for us in the Bible. I wanted to read for us Philippians 4-6-through-7 and just talk about it a little bit and says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with

Thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Love this verse. It's so good. So good. But right above this verse in the Bible, it says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice.

which is so beautiful because the Lord is near to us. He is here with us and for us. And so when we look at this verse as it follows, rejoice, we realize that the reason for this rejoicing is the proximity of the Lord's presence. We are able to let our requests be known to God. That's a beautiful thing. Yeah, yeah. And so God conquers this anxiety that creates tensions in believers through petition with Thanksgiving.

And that in turn invites God all surpassing peace. So we're called to number one, pray, take advantage of this relationship that we have with the Lord and let your requests be made known to him. That's what the Bible says. And number two, we're called to have gratitude. Dwell on the blessings that the Lord has given you rather than worry about that which he hasn't. Yes. Yes, that's so good. And so we'll find that even though the Lord has blessed us in tremendous ways, anxiety robs us of the joy because we're focused too much on what we don't have instead of what we do.

We can recover that joy, which is a gift from the Lord once we surrender our anxieties to him. And because we are in a relationship with him, we have the ability to cultivate thankful, praying, peaceful hearts marked by a joyful reflection on what is good. I encourage you, if you find yourself anxious, prayerfully memorize and meditate on this verse. Find other verses in the Bible that have to do with anxiety. Prayerfully memorize and meditate on them. But no matter what, always, pray and have gratitude for the things that he has given you. Well, wait, Carissa, what is the importance behind memorization? Why do you say memorize?

Okay, I can speak to this. Whenever those thoughts pop into your head or you are tempted to worry, you can find it right away with scripture. Right then and there, I know this is the Lord and this is not my own. So I'm going to stop worrying about it because I have this verse that I just memorized and can speak into the problem that I'm facing right now. Well, also, we talked about the word dwell. Like the word dwell came in when we talked about the definition of worry. It also came when Chris was talking about gratitude. But memorization is also the dwelling of what you are taking in, right?

And so if you are dwelling on things that cause you to have anxiety or cause you to worry or to not trust in the Lord, you are dwelling on things not of God. And what is that? Sinful. And that's really hard to hear because we are naturally inclined to worry and put things above the throne of God. And that is not what God calls us to. And also, I have another verse because you can't have enough scripture in this podcast. But it's one of my favorites.

I always look at this verse. And also just another thing before I read this, not only does memorization help you with your thoughts, but the lies as well. So when you have lies of like, God doesn't actually care about your future. or have it all under control, you know, where I know the plans I have for you. And you go straight, you go straight to the verses of the Bible, and you know this is not true. But, okay, this is my favorite. Okay, John 1427, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you?

Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Peace, God leaves with us. And so when we are experiencing something that is not of peace and of love and a sound, mind is things that are not of him. We can address our heart and say, okay, Lord, I surrender. And I think surrendering is the first step to actually being rid of this kind of crippling fear. And that piece really does surpass all understanding. It really does.

Sometimes we're like, I should be worried about this. I should be. I should wake up and be like, oh my gosh, what do I do next? And also just like on a really practical side. We love practicalness. What does worrying do for you? Oh, I'm sorry. Does it add an hour to your day?

Does it? Yeah. What did God say about that? Does it add an hour to your life? Yeah. It's all in your head. It's all in your head. It's literally all in your head.

And thinking about it and dwelling on it is not going to change anything. It's the truth. And so that is where we need to go back and we need to surrender and not dwell on it. because it's not going to do anything for you. You're going to waste an hour of your life. You're going to waste, I don't know, like wrinkles and gray hairs. Well, literally. And it's not going to do anything.

Do you know how many hours I've spent, like, thinking something was going to happen? Me too. And I was like, oh, I was thinking of the most imagery and the most, like, cinematic view of something that could potentially happen. And then that thing did not happen. And I was like, wow, either I should go into film. Or I should completely rethink my life choices because this is not healthy. And I just want to bring it back to what you said at the beginning about not being a slave to our worry. We need to just ask ourselves the question, are you being mastered by your circumstances?

Or do you have faith and trust in the Lord who ultimately has a good plan for your life? And if you are, then you need to turn to the Lord, run straight towards him, and lay all at his feet, or else you are going to fall into the trap of sin, where you deny God's sovereignty. But, y'all, this is just a reminder. God is good, and God loves you. And God has a kind plan for your life. So trust in him. trust in who he is and what he has planned for you.

Also, just to add on to that, make sure you are in the word and that you are praying and have or cultivating the spiritual disciplines to be laying those worries down at his feet. Because truth be told, if you don't have it in your schedule where you are laying these things down, you're probably not going to do it. And you need that time one-on-one with the Lord where you're waking up in the morning or you're doing it before you go to sleep. I highly recommend in the morning. You're just saying, here you go, Lord. I let go of everything and you start your day and you do it over and over again because surrendering once is great.

But surrendering daily is where you will really see the fruit of beginning to not worry anymore. That's all we have for you guys today. We hope that it blessed and encouraged you guys. guys in your walk of faith the Lord. Come back next week where we talk about another topic where the Lord just shows his ultimate grace and we can all grow together as believers. You are listening to the loving kindness podcast on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.1.7 FM.