Overwhelmed: Winning the War Against Worry - Lesson 8

If you want to study along with our Sunday study group, and get the most from it, you will need to get the book "Overwhelmed:  Winning the War Against Worry" by Perry Noble.  You can get it from Amazon by clicking the title of the book link that is above or clicking on the image of the book at the end of the blog.  Join us as we learn to win the war against worry.

Introduction: 

Last week we talked about sin and how it can block God’s refreshment from being overwhelmed.  Sin isn’t the reason for every overwhelming situation but it is for  lot of them. God will identify anything that is blocking His refreshment.   When He does identify it  we need to immediately acknowledge it, confess it, and then repent.   Repenting, we said is a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior, so that we can walk away from whatever it is that is blocking God’s refreshment.  It’s not easy but we have to do it.  When we give up something that God wants us to give up then He will give us something even better.  We talked about three of the most common sin struggles  that create stress and anxiety.

1.  What were they?

Sex, Greed, Unforgiveness

Today we are going to talk about trust.

2  Do you have a problem in trusting people?  If so why?

They may be undependable, they don't know us, they have disappointed us before, we don’t really know them.

What I want us to think about today is whether we really trust God to be with us and take us through every stressful situation.  We've said that we have to make sure that our focus is on God and not the circumstance; and a couple of weeks ago, in Lesson 6,  we identified four reminders that God has given to us that He loves us?

3.  Anybody remember those four reminders?

Creation, The People We Meet, Circumstances, and Jesus

We say that God is our father and as Pastor Noble says in our book “Children will do anything their father asks them to do if they trust him”  

4.  Do you agree with that statement?

I’m not talking about a father that has done something that would cause you not to trust him, but even with those fathers children will trust up until that time that the dad blew it.    His example was trying to get his daughter to jump off the edge of the swimming pool into his arms.  She was reluctant until he assured her that he wouldn’t ask her to do anything that would hurt her.  When she did jump and he caught her he never had a problem with her not jumping into his arms from the side of the pool and she did it over and over and over!

It’s the same with us.  If we really trust our father and he  asks us to do something and we do it and he makes sure that nothing happens to us or what he said would happen really does happen then we trust him not only in that thing but in other things that he asks us to do.

For example God has instructed us to give and if we do He says that He will meet all our needs according to His glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (HCSB), and one of the our favorites of us preachers, deacons, and Trustees,  Luke 6:38 (HCSB) 38  Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”  

Those are the promises, in the Bible, the Word of God, of what will happen if we give.  We gave and what God said would happen did happen so now trust Him and will continue to give.  

5.  But do we really trust Him when it comes to giving?

I'm not sure that we do because if we did this church and other churches wouldn't be concerned about money for programs or even basic things.  Let's explore this a little more.

6.  Do you have a problem trusting God for everything?  

We talked earlier about how we have a problem trusting other people.  If we are really honest I bet you’ll admit there are times that you don’t really trust God.  What’s strange is we trust God for salvation and eternal life, we trust Him for things like, us waking up in the morning, that the sun will rise and set every day, that there will always be just the right amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, yet we don’t really trust him for every issue in our lives. 

I have to confess that I haven't trusted God in everything many times.  God wants us to trust Him for everything big and small but to do that we have to surrender completely to him and his timing.  I wrote a blog post, Having Faith in God is Trusting in His Timing,  about that just last week.  Until we can totally trust God for absolutely everything we will be trusting in ourselves or somebody else and we will have more anxiety and stress.  

When you  have a problem trusting God here are some scriptures to read and meditate on:

Psalm 9:10 (HCSB)10  Those who know Your name trust in You because You have not abandoned those who seek You, Yahweh.

Psalm 37:5 (HCSB)5  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act,

Psalm 56:3-4 (HCSB)3  When I am afraid, I will trust in You. 4  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Psalm 56:10-11 (HCSB)10  In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,

11  in God I trust; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Psalm 91:2 (HCSB) 2  I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Isaiah 12:2 (HCSB) 2  Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust ⌊Him⌋ and not be afraid, for Yah, the LORD, is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.”

There are many many more scripture in Bible that talks about trust in God.  Psalms is full of them.  Take a look at trust in your concordance sometime and just read the verses that have trust in them.

Trust Blockers

6.  Why don’t we trust God for everything?

Pastor Noble gives us three things that he calls trust  blockers which cause us to have a difficult time trusting God and he gives us some ways to get past them.  I’m sure there are other trust blockers but we are just going to talk about these three today.  

These things impact our ability to trust God in everything.

Trust Struggle #1 The Pace of Our Lives 

You can't burn the candle at both ends

Jesus was a very very busy person especially during the three years of His ministry.  He had crowds following Him all the time and there were several times when He actually tried to get away from the crowds to rest. A couple or examples of these times are in:

Mark 6:30-31 (HCSB)30  The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31  He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  

Matthew 14:23 (HCSB)23  After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.

He is the example for us that we should a break from time to time and rest.  I am certainly guilty of not taking enough time to refresh and recharge my batteries and I can tell you that causes a lot of stress. Ruth will tell you that when I don't get enough rest  I get irritable and short tempered.  We often keep up a hectic pace in our lives because we are concerned about what people think about us.  Back in Lesson 3 we talked about how being concerned about everybody liking us and us not keeping an unrealistic pace causes stress and  anxiety.  That was the same lesson that we 

In the week before Jesus was crucified we have a great example of how quickly what people think about us can change.  

7.  What changed in that last week?

Things  went from Hosanna (which means please save or save now) to Crucify.  Those who wanted to deify him wanted to crucify Him in the matter of a few days.  So depending on what people think about you and their praise is a very shaky way to go, and trying to stay in the deify category creates a lot of stress and anxiety.  Believing with people say about you rather than what God says about you can be very dangerous.  This can go even for people close to you.

The Danger of Drifting

After the people who went from Hosanna to Crucify got their way and the two Marys went to tend to the body of Jesus and found that He had risen, Mary Magdalene went and told the apostles and some other folk  that Jesus wasn't in the grave the way that they reacted showed that they  didn’t believe that Jesus has actually risen from the dead..

8.   How do we know that they didn't really believe it.

It's right here in Luke 24:9-11 (HCSB)9  Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest.  10  Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things.  11  But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. (emphasis mine)

In his book Pastor Noble describes the experience of two of the “all the rest crowd”.  These two followers were on their way home to Emmaus very sorrowful.  They were talking and arguing about what had happened and it looks like they had given up.  They were questioning whether Jesus was really the Messiah despite all of the things that they had seen Him do.  Pastor Noble describes this as drifting away from Jesus.  They were drifting, Jesus caught up with them, engaged them in conversation and  still they didn't recognize Him for some time.  The Bible says that they were prevented from recognizing Him.   Even when we are drifting and not looking for Jesus He will come after us when we are overwhelmed and disappointed as were these two men. 

Let’s read  Luke 24:14-18 (HCSB) 14  Together they were discussing everything that had taken place.  15  And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus Himself came near and began to walk along with them.  16  But they were prevented from recognizing Him.  17  Then He asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped ⌊walking and looked⌋ discouraged.  18  The one named Cleopas answered Him, “Are You the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that happened there in these days?”   

The Danger of Busyness

Not only were these two men drifting away from Jesus because they didn't really trust what He said would happen they were also on a mission they were busy.    These two men were in a hurry to get home to Emmaus and they were walking very fast. Much like when we get on a mission we put on blinders and want to get what we want done done.    The danger in that is that it is hard to pay attention to God when we have on blinders.   We don’t see or hear anybody or pay attention to our surroundings.

We are always busy we have a schedule to keep and a long to-do list to deal with.  Places to go and people to see.   We say we're are working for the Lord and if I don’t do my part the kingdom will come tumbling down.  I’m exaggerating of course but that is our mind set as we try to prove our faith by our works because after all “we all know that faith without works is dead”.  Remember a few weeks ago when we talked about depression one of the warning signs that you are headed for a crash is when we refuse to take some time to disconnect and rest, claiming that the devil never takes a day off.  As we learned then, devil isn't supposed to be our example Jesus is to be our example and He took the time to get away every now and then.

9.  Other than what we think and where we choose to focus what else do we have control over?

We have control over our schedule.   Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you have to do it.  Many of us have a problem with prioritizing.  In order follow Jesus and really see that He loves us we can’t be constantly rushing through life.  In order to fight and win in the war against worry we have to slow down so that we will realize that hope is not lost and that we can trust God.

Trust Struggle #2 Disappointment

Disappointed

10.   How did you feel when you prayed for something and God didn't answer the way you wanted Him to answer?  

When God doesn't come through for us the way we want Him to, then we do get angry.  Let's be honest because if we're not honest we will not become victorious of stress anxiety and worry.  We've talked about this before and how that causes stress.   When we didn’t get the job that we wanted, my relative didn't get healed or saved.  I didn't get I didn't get, I didn't get.  When we think back about those things then we have a tendency to not trust God.  Pastor Noble makes a very good point when he says “We have a hard time trusting God because we take our preferences and turn them into His promises - even when those aren't actually things He has promised to do."   

Hoping for the Right Thing

11.  What happens when God doesn't do something even though we quote what we think is the right  scripture?

The two men going to Emmaus were disappointed because they had misinterpreted the prophecies about the Messiah thinking that he was going to liberate Israel from Rome and restore Israel to it’s glory days.  Luke 24:17-21 (HCSB)17  Then He asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped ⌊walking and looked⌋ discouraged.18  The one named Cleopas answered Him, “Are You the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that happened there in these days?”19  “What things?” He asked them. So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a Prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people,20  and how our chief priests and leaders handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him.21  But we were hoping that He was the One who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened (emphasis mine).  

When that didn't happen they were disappointed and had lost some trust in Jesus because what had been promised isn't what happened.  We do the same thing we take scripture and try to make it match our overwhelming situation and when it doesn't we get angry at God and feel we can’t trust Him.  They didn't see the big picture which was Jesus was the Messiah but his mission was to set them and all of mankind free from hell for eternity not Israel from Rome.  We don't see the big picture either.  We quote scripture out of context trying to make it fit our situation and when it doesn't we get angry at God lose trust in Him that He really loves us and we stay stressed out.

God as a Promise Keeper

If we focus on our disappointment then we can’t see when God is really moving on our behalf.  We pick things out of the Bible many times out of context and try to make them fit our situation and claim victory because, after all  God said it.  Then when it doesn't happen the way we thought it should happen because we misinterpreted the promise or took it out of context, and be honest, we think that God didn't keep His promise.  We get angry then we don’t trust God.

11.  What are some example of scripture that we try to make fit our overwhelming situations?

Romans 4:17 (HCSB)17  in God’s sight. As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.  

The one who calls things into existence  is God not us!  Our words can't do anything.  Our prayer should be that the One who calls things into existence that do not exist act on our behalf.

Isaiah 53:5 (HCSB)5  But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.  

The healing here is of our soul not our physical body.  Jesus did heal people but what happened during the crucifixion was for our soul not our bodies.  If we quote this scripture to claim healing we are barking up the wrong tree.  Our prayer should be that Jesus who healed the sick and raised the dead heal our bodies according to God's will.  We need to pray that God's will be done.  So when we do pray and we continue to have the same illness we should then quote the scripture that says My grace is sufficient for you.    Point is like the one made earlier “We have a hard time trusting God because we take our preferences and turn them into His promises - even when those aren't actually things He has promised to do." 

So when we quote those things and they don’t happen then we are disappointed and think that God has not kept His promises when He in fact did and will keep them we have just misinterpreted them. The one promise that we need to keep in mind as we continue this study is the one in  Romans 8:28 (HCSB) 28  We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Trust Struggle #3 Spiritual Blindness 

Spiritual Blindness

12.  When did the two Emmaus disciples  finally realize that they had spent all that time with Jesus?

Luke 24:30-31 (HCSB)

30  It was as He reclined at the table with them that He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.31  Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, but He disappeared from their sight.

When the pace of our lives and our disappointment cause us to focus on our situations and circumstances we can’t see that God may just have something bigger in store for us.  Like the two men on the road with Jesus.  They were in a hurry to get back to Emmaus, they were disappointed in what they thought Jesus was going to do so they didn't even recognize Him.  They were blind in a manner of speaking.  It wasn't until they sat down and had a meal that there was the opportunity to then recognize Jesus.   Luke 24:32-35 (HCSB)32  So they said to each other, “Weren't our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?”  33  That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together,  34  who said, “The Lord has certainly been raised, and has appeared to Simon!”  35  Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.   

When He broke the bread they would have seen the nail marks in His hands!

To really know what our Father wants for us, and to know what He has done for us, and what He wants us to do, we have to slow down and spend time with Him in His word the Bible.  The Bible is where we find the promises of God and taking time to read them and meditate on them and ask God what He is really saying.  Listen to Him not our own emotions, or looking back on the times we thought that God disappointed us.  Then and only then can we learn to trust God and to lean not to our own understanding Proverbs 3:5 (HCSB)5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;   

We want control and when we decide that we are going to take control then comes the stress and anxiety.  When we trust God because He is in control and we spend time with Him we will see reminders that He has given us that He loves us.   The greatest of these reminders is Jesus who gave His life for us and He can be trusted with everything.

Next  Week

Over the past few weeks we have been talking about reminders that God loves us, and this week trusting God.  Next week we are going to ask the question again.  “Does God Really Love Me?”  Why do we keep talking about this?  It’s because we sometimes doubt God’s love and doubting His love  keeps us stressful and anxious and overwhelmed.  So for next week read chapters 26 through 29.  Chapter 26 asks the question does God really love me, and chapters 27 through 29 deal with the disciple that Jesus loved, John.   What’s important to know here is that the one who called John the disciple Jesus loved was John himself but when we read the other gospels John was at times not lovable.  One example is when he and his brother whispered in Jesus’  ear asking that they sit on his right and left hands.  Mark 10:35-37 (NKJV) 35  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."36  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  37  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."   

As it turns out and as we will see John is really bragging about not himself but about Jesus.  We’ll develop that the next couple of weeks and how that fits in our battle against worry.



Show the world that we really do know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and, because we do, we are winners in the war against worry.  Get one of the T-Shirts and join the adult bible study group of The Church of Divine Guidance in Los Angeles and the many others studying with us via the blog http://faiththeevidence.blogspot.com/ in declaring victory over worry, anxiety, and stress. Order your T-Shirt here.