I started a study in my adult bible study class today. The study "The Overwhelmed Challage" is based on a devotional reading from YouVersion of the same title. The study is to show us how to deal with stress, anxiety and worry which are things we all struggle with at some point in our lives. We will be using the book "Overwhelmed: Winning the War against Worry". The book and the devotion were written by Pastor Perry Noble of New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Pastor Nobel is the pastor of a very large and successful church yet he has struggled with depression and in this book he talks about the struggle and what he learned in overcoming the battle against stress and and anxiety. I will post excerpts of the study each week here in my blog. When we complete the study I will post the entire study on my website Face The Evidence If you want to follow along with us or you're in my bible study class and want to get the book it's available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lighthouse Christian Books, and most Christian Book stores.
Here we go with excerpts from Lesson 1:
Key Scripture Romans 8:28 (HCSB) We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Stress, anxiety and worry are something we all struggle with at some point in our lives. But what about when it gets to a point where you feel completely overwhelmed? In a devotional series Perry Noble, senior pastor of New Spring Church, explains five ways that we can begin to win the war against worry.
Between financial struggles, marital issues, health scares, and the run-of-the-mill problems of everyday life, it’s easy to feel weighed down and trapped by your circumstances. In times like these, it’s tempting to just throw in the towel and quit. With all the bad things that are happening and will happen like the storms that have ravaged the southeast and Midwest where people have died and property destroyed, how about when a police officer on duty or a young girl or boy is killed by a drunk driver, or in a fit of rage and man kills his whole family or someone goes on a military base and just starts shooting or, to make it more personal when we lose a loved one or lose a job or lose our home and all these things happen in succession, how can Paul say to his readers and eventually us what he did in Romans 8:28.
These words from Paul are not from a person who has had it good all his life but from a guy who was"under great pressure" and "despaired even of life" (2 Cor. 1:8); he was "hard pressed on every side" and "perplexed," "persecuted" and "struck down" (2 Cor. 4:8-9); he experienced "beatings," "imprisonments," "riots" and "hunger" (2 Cor. 6:4-5).
Well to be free from the realities of sin and death does not mean that we can live our lives unaffected by the continuing presence of sin and death in this world. So what’s the good? Doesn't make sense does it? Here’s what it means. It is the destiny of those who love the Lord to be like Jesus. God is committed to produce in us all the love, all the joy, all the patience, all the long-suffering, all the goodness, and all the gentleness of Jesus. But until that happens we are still subject to the realities of sin and death. It is God's love in Christ that sustains us and empowers us—even in the midst of our experiences of sin and death—"to be conformed to the likeness of his Son" (Romans 8:29). God works in all things toward that good purpose. But only "those who love him" know that, because they are participants "with him" in the outworking of that purpose.
So with that let’s start our study.
Don’t look at what is wrong, look at who God is and his character!
Lets go to Romans 5:8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
Instead of the word for let’s replace it with "for the benefit of," "on behalf of," and "instead of." then the full significance of Christ's death "for" us hits home.
Isaiah 43:1-3 (HCSB)1 Now this is what the LORD says— the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel— “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.2 I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and ⌊when you pass⌋ through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.3 For I Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior, give Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place.
This passage is the beginning of Isaiah’s prophecy about the nation being redeemed from captivity and so what he saying is that God said that after the period of captivity, which was 70 years, Israel would be restored to its place as members of his own family; he would claim their rights and fulfill their obligations for them. The ground for these promises was not on merit but on God's unmerited favor and grace, and his self-commitment as Father to his covenant people, that's us now because of Christ's work on the cross. He had given the Persians, Egypt as a reward for them releasing Israel from Babylon.
Philippians 1:6 (HCSB) 6 I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Paul's was confident that the Philippians partnership in the Gospel would continue because of the faithfulness of God who, having begun a good work, would most certainly bring it to completion. And that completion as we talked about when discussing Romans 8:28 is our being conformed to the likeness of Jesus. So the reliance, therefore, is on God.
So at the most stressful moments in your life, at the times when you feel most overwhelmed go back and read on meditate on these verses and stop and focus on God. Here is what Pastor Noble says he does and I think it is great advice. He looks at who God is and he made a list that helps him and it can help us and keep us from freaking out..
GOD IS
• SOVEREIGN — He reigns over everyone and everything and has never been stressed out.
• UNSTOPPABLE — and so are those who follow Him.
• HOLY— God is perfect, which means everything He wants/desires for my life is far greater than anything I could have thought of.
• CONSISTENT — I don’t have to worry about Him being in a bad mood.
• GREATER — than any temptation the enemy throws my way.
• BETTER — than anything the world has to offer.
• BIGGER — than any sin or failure in my life.
• GRACIOUS — He knows every stupid, foolish, sinful thing I’ve ever done (or will do), and yet He loves me anyway!
• ALWAYS — here with me — God has NEVER walked away from me. He doesn't always deliver me from the fire, but He has ALWAYS walked with me through it!
• FAITHFUL — If I fail to see His faithfulness in my past, I will probably not recognize the fruitfulness of my future.
• THE ONE WHO PURSUES ME — He pursues me even on the days I tend to walk away from Him.
• RELENTLESS — He has NEVER given up on me!
• PASSIONATE — His passion and zeal that the scriptures reveal cause me to be in AWE. I could go on and on, but what I want you to see is that when stress comes into our lives it is an awesome opportunity to KNOW GOD.
So, if you are stressed out, freaked out and feel like you are about to give out, then “check out” for 10 minutes from your busy life, sit down with a piece of paper, make a list of who the scriptures say GOD IS, and focus on that rather than your circumstances.
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