John 14:27 NKJV Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Probably the greatest reason most of us are not experiencing peace is due to this thing called worry.
Matthew 6:25-27 NIV (25) “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (26) Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (27) Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Jesus uses the example of the little birds possibly sparrows. These little birds are some of the lowest form of animal life. Birds cannot save for the future. Birds cannot sow and reap and yet God takes care of them.
God takes care of and has a plan of provision for the lowest form of the animal world.
- If we, as humans, are so far superior to the birds, then surely God will take care of us.
Matthew 6:31-34 NIV (31) So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (32) For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
We have to have a greater understanding of what worry is and how it works, and that God does not want us to live this way – so much so Jesus paid a great price for us to be free.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV (23) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:15 NLT (15) All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
The spirit of man is the eternal part of you. It is the part of us that makes contact with God.
- The spirit of man is where God lives in you and this is where He speaks to you.
- The spirit of man is the place from which answers from the Lord come. It is the place where He reveals His solutions to us.
Where does worry come from?
Your mind is a wonderful tool, but your mind can only give out what you put into it. If you do not put the information into your mind, you cannot ever retrieve that information.
Your mind does not always do a perfect job of giving you back everything you put into it. It can sometimes give back what you put in it in a way that is a little bit inaccurate. Studied in school but still did not make a 100.
- Worry and anxiety is the direct result of a fruitless search for life’s answers out of your human mind.
- If there is an answer that you need, and your mind has never known the answer, then you will never be able to recall or get that answer from your mind.
There are just some things that your mind does not have.
Proverbs 16:1 NLT (1) We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.
If you face a new problem, then the answer is going to have to come from the Lord.
When you are searching for the answer in your mind by going over and over the problem to look for the solution, you only cause yourself more anxiety and frustration.
1 Peter 1:13 NLT (13) So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
You have to control your thoughts and prepare your mind for action.
- Don’t follow every thought that pops into your mind and every “rabbit trail” they can produce.
Chasing after all these thoughts is where confusion comes from. Confusion = lack of clarity or distinction, perplexity or bewilderment.
1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV (33) For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Philippians 4:6-8 NLT (6) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. (7) Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (8) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
In this story we see two principles that will help us to overcome worry and anxiety in our lives and show us where the answer comes from:
2 Chronicles 20:4-7 NKJV (4) So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. (5) Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, (6) and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? (7) Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
- Recall the promises of God’s Word and place your focus on them and pray over them.
2 Chronicles 20:12-13 NKJV (12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
Notice he did not just leave his statement at, “We don’t know what to do.” He ended it with, “…but our eyes are upon you.”
(13) Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.
- You must get peace in your mind so that you can get the answer you are seeking from God by focusing on God and His Word.
The peace comes when you begin by saying, “My mind does not have the answer but my God and His promises do have the answer.” If you don’t have peace first, the answer or solution does not come and it comes from your spirit.
2 Chronicles 20:14-15 NKJV (14) Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. (15) And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
There is always a way and always a solution! God has a thousand solutions to every problem we face; all we need is one!
- Cast or roll your cares on the Lord.
1 Peter 5:6-7 AMPC Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, (7) Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. [Psa 55:22]
Cast – to throw with your arm
Psalms 37:5 AMPC Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.
Commit – Hebrew: galal – to roll as you would a heavy stone or object