Happy & You Know It 10 | Life Without Anxiety

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9)

When anxiety presses in, Scripture gives a clear prescription: rejoice in the Lord, pray about everything, and fix your mind on what is true and good.

The World Recognizes Happiness Is a Big Deal

In July of 2011, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution inviting member nations to measure the happiness of their people and to use that measurement to guide public policy. That effort produced the World Happiness Report—part one in 2012, part two in 2013, and part three at the beginning of 2015. The UN and its member nations agree that happiness is a big deal.

We've been in a series here at Cross Connection on Philippians, called the letter of joy in the New Testament. That's why Evangeline was up here singing "happy and you know it." We're looking at this topic because not only does the United Nations recognize that happiness matters, but the Scriptures speak a great deal about joy, contentment, and happiness.

The 172-page 2015 report begins by noting, "Happiness is increasingly considered to be a proper measure of social progress and the goal of public policy." The 2013 report stated, "The word happiness is not used lightly. Happiness is an aspiration of every human being and can also be a measure of social progress." America's Founding Fathers declared the pursuit of happiness an inalienable right.

Anxiety and Depression: The Number One Cause of Unhappiness

Chapter two of the 2013 report began: "Mental illness is one of the main causes of unhappiness, and by far the most common forms of mental illness are depression and anxiety disorders." In their research across the member nations, they found that anxiety and depression are the number one cause of unhappiness. The report goes on to say that psychological well-being is integral to an individual's capacity to lead a fulfilling life.

On that point, we agree with the United Nations—even if that's not something you'll often hear from this stage. The report continues, "It is hard, if not impossible, to flourish and feel fulfilled in life when individuals are beset with health problems such as depression and anxiety." For once, I wholeheartedly agree. Where we may differ is on the answer. The UN's solution is low-cost medical care and proper medication.

What I Am Not Saying

Before we get into dealing with anxiety and depression, let me qualify some things. I am not saying that people who suffer from depression or anxiety disorders should not seek medical help. I am not saying that medication for such issues is wrong—some Christians and churches have said that, and I disagree. Nor am I saying that if you're being treated medically you should stop.

Many Christians have been magnificently helped by science and technology, whether in the area of mental illness or in dealing with cancer or other things. I am grateful for medical science. God gave these scientists and doctors the minds and ability to develop these things. Sadly, far too many Christians never seek help because of social stigmas, especially within the church.

Is there anything in the Bible that supports seeking medical help? Yes. In Proverbs 31:6 we read, "Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who have a bitter heart." Another translation says, "Give wine to those of a heavy heart." Even 3,000 years ago, the wisest man who ever lived recognized that certain substances had medicinal uses. If there's help to be had from science and medicine, it's important to seek it—not as an either/or, but alongside what the Scriptures say.

The Added Responsibility of the Believer

As a Christian, you have an added responsibility, which is what we'll see in Philippians 4. We must follow the prescription given in the Scriptures. The Bible tells us how to walk through this life when we face anxiety and depression. Christians face the same circumstances as everybody else.

Even the Apostle Paul experienced situations that made him anxious and depressed. Jesus himself went through trouble so severe that he sweat great drops of blood—an actual medical condition you can study. But there are ways we are to deal with these things as followers of Jesus. Whenever I counsel Christians going through anxiety, I always take them to Philippians 4:4-9. Many roll their eyes—"Yes, pastor, but is there anything else?" My answer is: let's follow what the Scriptures say and see if God is true to his word.

A Command to Rejoice

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice." This exhortation is so important that Paul already gave it one chapter earlier. In Philippians 3:1 he writes, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." In these ten words of 4:4, Paul begins and ends with the imperative rejoice.

In the original Greek, it is a command in the present, active tense—as if to say, in whatever moment and circumstance you find yourself, you need to actively do this. Many of us fail at this command regularly. Paul commands active gladness and rejoicing in the Lord in any and every circumstance. He repeats it again and again to safeguard our faith, changing the way we think through the things we go through.

Both passages point to the focus and source of our rejoicing—the Lord. The focus is the Lord, and the source is the Lord; our ability to rejoice comes from him. Not every circumstance is joy-producing. My daughter Addison is always asking, "Daddy, are you happy?" Sometimes I don't wear the expression of happiness, and I have to remind myself, "Yeah, I'm happy; everything's okay." We go through things that don't produce happiness, and Paul knew that. The temptations and trials we face are common to man; they're not unique. Yet Paul exhorts us to find joy in the Lord, not in the situation.

A Life Without Anxiety Is Found in the Lord

Happy happenings can take your mind off pressing issues temporarily, but you cannot move from one happy event to the next forever. People go insane trying. Mood-enhancing substances can deaden anxious feelings for a time, but they don't deal with it indefinitely. Even laughter, as good a medicine as it is to the heart, doesn't last forever. Solomon said in Proverbs 14:13, "Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when laughter ends, the grief remains."

You might watch a comedy or go listen to Tim Hawkins and laugh, but then you get back in the car and the pressing circumstances are still there. Laughter removes them temporarily, but it doesn't take them away for the long term. A life without anxiety, though, can be found in the Lord.

Have a Reputation for Steadiness

"Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." The English translations of this word are all over the map—moderation, reasonableness, graciousness, mildness, patience. That tells us the translators had a hard time. The best way to capture the idea is: have a reputation for steadiness.

Think about the topic—rejoicing versus anxiety, the two ends of the spectrum. As Christians, our steadiness should be known to people because the Lord is at hand. One commentator wrote that the word means that which is fit or suitable—Christians are to indulge in no excess, to restrain their tempers, to be examples of what is proper in view of the Lord's soon appearing.

Picture a sailboat in the water. The wind that would push any other boat around only causes the sailboat to move more quickly, because it has a heavy keel beneath it holding it steady. Without that keel it would capsize. As Christians going through the same windy storms as everyone else, we can excel because we have a heavy keel.

What Do You Really Have to Be Anxious About?

Paul ends verse 5, "The Lord is at hand"—he's coming soon. If you're a Christian who believes Jesus will one day return, it's a reasonable question: what do you really have to be anxious about? Every pressing circumstance, in light of being with him for eternity, will simply dissolve. Paul also wrote that "the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

His perspective was beyond the sufferings of this world—but he was not doing the ostrich-with-his-head-in-the-sand thing. There's a school of teaching today that says you should never admit a difficult circumstance because it's a "negative confession." So people diagnosed with cancer say, "I don't have cancer." But they actually do. The world looks at that and calls it delusion or denial. Paul doesn't pretend the sufferings don't exist; he says they're not worthy to be compared with the coming glory. The perspective is different.

Trying Circumstances Are God's Tools to Teach Us to Trust

God knows our frame because he made us. He understands that in this fallen world and these fleshly bodies we are prone to anxiety and depression—even the great Apostle Paul was. In 2 Corinthians 1:8 Paul says, "We do not want you to be ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life." That's anxiety and depression.

It comes to that place where you pray the prayer of Elijah in 1 Kings 19—"God, just kill me." That's an actual prayer in the Bible. We cannot stop pressing circumstances from coming, and to a degree we can't even stop the emotional response. Imagine going to work tomorrow and your boss says, "Sales aren't going well; we have to let you go." You can't stop that, and you can't stop the adrenaline dump, the fight-flight-or-freeze. God created you to have emotional responses. That's why we need the body of Christ—Galatians 6 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

How did Paul respond to that stressor in Asia? The next verses say, "We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that he will still deliver us." God used the burden to remind Paul to trust him. Trying circumstances are often God's tools to teach us to trust. The source of your joy cannot be your job, your kids, or your spouse—those can be equally a source of anxiety. Your joy must be in something steadfast, enduring, and bigger than what you go through.

Be Anxious for Nothing

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." This may be the most difficult command in the Bible. The command is clear—be anxious for nothing. Most of us are good at the first two words, "be anxious," but that's not the command.

Some of the hardest truths to apply are the simplest to understand. You don't need to interpret much. The ESV says, "Do not be anxious about anything." The New Living Translation says, "Don't worry about anything." The Message says, "Don't fret or worry." It's simple. And every one of us has probably failed at this command already today. It seems futile, like telling a man running into battle, "Don't be afraid." But God always gives the helpful how-to alongside the command.

The Key to Peace Is Prayer

When people come to me, Pastor Mark, Pastor Josh, or any of our pastors, going through depression or anxiety, we always go to Philippians 4:6—"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." About that time they give a look of unbelief: "Really? You're telling me I just need to pray? Don't you have anything better?"

There was a great military commander named Naaman who had leprosy. A servant girl told his wife that the prophet in Israel could heal him. Naaman traveled to Elisha's house, but the prophet didn't even come to the door—he sent a servant to say, "Go dunk yourself in the Jordan River seven times." Naaman left in a rage: how dare he not come out, and tell me to wash in that dirty river? Then his servant said, "If he had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it—why not try this simple thing?" Naaman dunked himself seven times and came up healed.

Christians often say the Scripture's answer is too easy. But knowing something is quite different from doing it. "By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving" is simply prayer in different forms—supplication is asking him for supply; thanksgiving reminds you that he carried you through a similar situation before; letting your requests be made known is asking him to do it now. It's all prayer.

Through Prayer God's Peace Supersedes Our Anxieties

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus." Anxiety and depression cloud your ability to frame things correctly. But through prayer, the peace of God guards your heart and mind. It's not that you'll never be anxious again, or that God will remove you from anxiety-producing situations—it's that his peace is greater than your anxieties.

When non-Christians watch a Christian go through the same pressing circumstance and have peace in the midst of it, they say, "I want that. How do you have that?" "I don't know—God gave it to me." The law of gravity is steadfast, but the law of aerodynamics surpasses gravity. It doesn't do away with gravity; it's greater than it. So God's peace surpasses our anxieties.

Right Thinking and Persistent Prayer Relieve Anxieties

The prescription doesn't end there. "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report... meditate on these things." This would be a worthy passage to memorize, meditate on, and apply. I've known it for years, and I'll keep coming back to it until I die.

Some people in our culture are uneasy with the word meditation because of Eastern transcendental practices—but that's not what this is. Let me make it easy: if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. All worry is meditating on the wrong thing—mulling over the pressing circumstance, examining it from every possible angle, until you're dizzy with anxiety because you can't find a way out.

Meditation is doing the same thing with the right object—examining from every angle whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. All those things point back to God; he is those things. So replace the broken-down car, the unpayable bill, the lost job, the lost house, the lost loved one, with him. Rejoice in the Lord; again I say, rejoice.

Verse 9 says, "These things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do." Circle that word—do. Don't just think about it; do it. Meditate, pray, and rejoice in him. "And the God of peace will be with you." Before we saw the peace of God; now we see the God of peace. The peace of God comes from the God of peace. So spend time with him and experience his peace.

Closing Prayer

Father, I am absolutely certain that it is the desire of every person here today, whether they believe in you or not, to live a life without anxiety. Lord, there are anxious situations we will all face this week—trying circumstances that cause us to fret and tempt us to worry and to fall into that place of meditating on our trouble, which is exactly what depression is.

God, would you help us by your Spirit to rejoice in you, to step back from the situation and remember that you are bigger than this, that you are at hand, and that you are with us in the midst of it. May we have that strong, heavy keel as the winds come against our lives, so that we excel through this life and people look on and say, "They're steady." Make that a reality in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters here today. Help us to meditate on those things that are true and lovely and good. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those who agreed said, "Amen."