Best of 2020: God's Answer to Fear, Worry, & Anxiety: Look to Christ Not Our Crisis

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. To find out how to know God personally, go to knowgod.org. K-N-O-W, knowgod.org.

Hey, would you do me a favor? Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. Sometimes we're doing well, and then we look at the winds, and we begin to sink. Like Peter, who walked on water until he focused on his situation. Pastor Greg Laurie says we need to look to Christ, not our crisis. We turn on the news, and it causes us to panic, and our hearts begin to sink. So I want to tell you what will get you through this storm.

And it's not an it, it's a him. It's Jesus. Keep your eyes on the Lord. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Oh, can you hear when the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins. As the sun sets on 2020, we're all hoping next year is a lot brighter.

For some, it's hard to imagine it getting much darker. But no matter how promising 2021 is, we'll all still encounter challenges. But in the midst of those challenges, Jesus will walk right beside us. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie launches a collection of most requested messages from the past year. And to kick off this series, he offers God's answer to fear, worry, and anxiety. This is the day, the day when life begins. Grab your Bible and I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 14. I've got my green Bible here with lots of ribbons.

And I want you to grab your Bible if it has ribbons or not and join me as we talk together. I heard a story about a little boy that was scared. He was in bed at night and he cried out, Daddy, Daddy, I'm scared. The father said, son, go back to sleep. Everything's fine. Daddy, Daddy, he said, come to me.

Come to me now, my room. And the father said, now son, God is with you. And the little boy shot back, right now I need someone with skin on. That's who Jesus is.

Jesus is God with skin on. And in many ways I feel like we're in sort of a collective nightmare in America. And indeed around the world. We're like scared little children. And we need the light turned on. And we need the comforting, reassuring words of our Father in heaven who is here with us. And here's what the Lord says to us in Isaiah 43 verse 2. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze.

When the coronavirus is spreading, you will be protected. Oh wait, that's not in there. But it's implied, isn't it? Because God is bigger than what we're all facing right now. And here's a thought I want you to consider. The Christian is indestructible until God is done with him. You're indestructible.

Now what does that mean? It means you're going to live as long as God wants you to live. And he will protect you until that day. The Bible even says, though a thousand may fall at your side, it will not come near you.

If God still has a plan and a purpose for you or for me, we're going to continue on. Here's a story in the book of Acts. When the apostle Paul was shipwrecked, his boat came apart. And the Bible says the boards, they were on boards going into the shore of a little island there. And I'm wondering, by the way, if one of them stood up. Because if they did, that's the first case of surfing ever.

Even before the guys over in Hawaii. So did Paul surf? Did Paul hang tin? I don't know. But they rode boards to the shore.

Just saying. Anyway, so they arrive at the shore. They're freezing. They're drenched. And they're warming themselves by this fire.

And they're the people that live in the island. All of a sudden, a venomous snake fastens itself to Paul's arm. Paul's like, oh, venomous snake shakes it off, falls into the fire, and dies. All the people are waiting for Paul to die. Because it was a snake with venom that could kill him. But he just continued on because it wasn't his time. Here's the point I'm trying to make to you.

You're going to live as long as God wants you to live. There's an interesting passage in Mark 16, 18. It says they'll pick up snakes with their hands. And if they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. Now clearly this verse is not saying that we should have services where we hand rattlesnakes around as they've heard it done.

That's crazy. That's not trusting the Lord. That's testing the Lord. But what I'm saying is you're going to be around as long as God wants you around. So as God said to Abraham in Genesis 15, 1, do not be afraid. I will protect you.

And that's great for us to know. But then you ask the question, well Greg what about that moment when death comes? Then death comes. But here's what the Bible says. To live is Christ or to die is gain. Or as another translation puts it, living means living for Christ and dying is even better. Listen, nobody wants to die. But we are all going to die. But the reality is as a Christian we don't even have to fear death itself because God is greater even than that.

So listen I want to talk to you about how to deal with your fear, anxiety, and worry. And we all experience it. Okay. I'm not exempt.

Nobody is. So let's read a story from the Bible. Matthew chapter 14. I'm going to start at verse 22.

Here's what we read. Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And then he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. You might underline those words.

I'll come back to them. And when evening came he was alone there but the boat was in the middle of the sea. Tossed by the waves so the wind was contrary. Now when the fourth watch of the night, by the way that's the last part of the night right before the sun will rise. At the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled and said it's a ghost. And they cried out for fear. Listen that's us right now. We don't know where we are but we're like in the middle of the sea bobbing around.

We don't know what's coming next. So what does Jesus do and say? We read that immediately Jesus said to them be courageous and don't be afraid. Verse 28 of Matthew 14. And then Peter says, Lord if it's you tell me to come to you. Jesus said come. And Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water to go to Jesus. But look at verse 30. I'll come back to this.

You might underline it. When he saw that the wind was boisterous. That's a King James word. The wind was wild. He saw the wind was strong.

He was afraid. And beginning to sink he called out to Jesus saying, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said, Oh you of little faith why did you doubt. Then they got back in the boat and they all said truly this is the Son of God. Here's a few take away points for you.

Number one. Jesus is with you in your storm. And he's watching you in your storm. We read in verse 23.

He went by himself to a mountain to pray. And Mark adds a detail in Mark 6 48 commenting on the same story. When he saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. So Jesus was watching them. And Jesus is watching you. Not impassively but with great interest and great concern.

Though they lost sight of him he never lost sight of them. You are not alone in your little storm right now. Some of you are with family. You're kind of hanging out together. You've had some great family time. You've had a little stress too.

You've never been you know cramped up in that space for such a long period of time. But you know some of you are alone. And you don't have family.

You don't have friends. I want you to know that Jesus is there for you. Jesus cares about you. And the Bible says that Jesus is interceding for you.

Point number two. Jesus will come to us in our storms. In some ways he comes to us in a way that maybe we notice more when we're in a storm. You know when we have everything going on the supermarket shelves are filled. And there's movies to go see and restaurants to go eat at. And things to go to.

It's great. But things are different right now. And we're saying where's Jesus? He's right here. How did Jesus come to them? He walked on the water.

You know Jesus is God. That means he could do whatever he wants. He could have flown in. If I were Jesus I would have never walked anywhere. I would have flown everywhere. I would have said to the disciples we're going now to Jerusalem. And then I would say and how I go you do not know. What does that mean?

I'll just meet you there. Don't worry about it. Then I would just flow in there madame. I was going Jesus walked among us as a man. He ate food like we ate. He slept like we sleep. He felt human pain like we feel. He walked in our shoes. He lived our life. He died our death.

But he came to them on the waves to show him that the thing they feared, the wind and the sea, was only a staircase for him to come to them. I heard a minister say the other day chaos is never the evidence of God's absence. It's the arena in which he moves. So we're in chaos right now aren't we? And we're saying God's gone. God's not gone.

This is the arena in which he moves. This is the opportunity for the church to step into the vacuum and help people. Maybe you know somebody that's elderly like me. And maybe they need help. Maybe they need someone to go to the market for them.

Maybe a neighbor needs a hand. You start talking to them. You start communicating. This is something that we have not had before. It's a whole new time and a great opportunity for us to show the love of God. Chaos is never the evidence of God's absence.

It's the arena in which he moves. Pastor Greg will have more encouragement for us in just a moment. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here, personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study. It's a worship service. It's church in your home. Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so, join us for Harvest at Home. People are listening in from around the world. Listen to this. We have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg is taking us to the moment when Jesus is approaching his disciples in the midst of a storm walking on the water.

Let's continue the message. Well the disciples are terrified. They think it's a ghost. Why didn't they know it was Jesus?

Answer, because they weren't looking for him. And a lot of times we miss Jesus, not because he's absent, but because we're not looking for him. Sometimes in storms we'll become more aware of his presence.

Job put it this way, Job 42.5. I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. So someone listening to me right now would say, yeah, I've heard about how God answers prayers, but now I see it. I've heard how God is close to people when they're facing hardship, but now I've personally experienced it.

And you can experience that as well. So Peter says, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come. Jesus says, come.

And Peter is walking on the water. Let's give credit where credit is due. Nobody else volunteered to do this. Not James and John. Nobody else.

Just Peter. And the Lord did say, come. But then what happened? Matthew 14, 30, when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. See, sometimes we're doing well, and then we look at the wind, and we begin to sink.

We turn on the news, hear the latest report, and it causes us to panic. And our hearts begin to sink. Peter sank because he was afraid.

He sank because he took his eyes off Jesus. Because when fear reigns, faith is driven away. Fear and faith don't hang out together. Faith is either going to be there or fear is going to be there. But when one comes in, the other walks out.

I heard a doctor say something I'd never heard before on the news. He said, quote, courage uses the same pathways as fear, end quote. So you can make a choice. You can be afraid.

That's easy. Or you can be courageous. And that's what Jesus told them to do, to be courageous. But Peter sank because he took his eyes off of Jesus. And when we get our eyes off of Jesus, we're going to sink.

When we forget God's promises to us, we're going to sink. Listen, I want to tell you what sustained Kathy and I and Jonathan, our son, to the darkest time of our life. It was when our oldest son Christopher, at the age of 33, was killed in an automobile accident.

It was devastating. And our whole life changed overnight. And unlike the way things are now, we could go out. You know, and we did, you know, a few days after we went out, we went into a restaurant.

But, you know, the food seemed to have no flavor. And I would watch other people laughing and having a good time. And I'd resent it because I was in such deep pain. I couldn't escape the pain. No matter where I went, it was there with me.

In fact, if I went to a place that I'd gone to previously with my son, I would have all these memories of our time together. So I want to tell you what got me through it. And I want to tell you what gets me through it. And I want to tell you what will get you through this storm.

And it's not an it, it's a him. It's Jesus. It's Jesus that got me through. It's Jesus that gets me through.

And it's listening to Jesus speaking to me from the Word of God. Listen, we need to be together right now. I know we have to keep our social distance. We can communicate virtually, texting, emailing, posting, using the phone.

I saw a little video where an elderly woman was having like a hundredth birthday. And her family gathered outside singing to her through the window. That was beautiful. But we need to be communicating. Let's reach out to one another. Make sure nobody is left alone.

And keep your eyes on the Lord. Years ago, Jonathan wanted to learn how to scuba dive. How old were you when that happened?

Do you remember? I think I was like 10 or 11 years old. I was just at the age where I could legally go and learn how to scuba dive.

Yeah, so we were on Maui. And I'm certified as a scuba diver. I was certified years ago, which means that I can dive when I want.

I can go get tanks and such. But Jonathan wasn't certified, so we went through a training course all day long. And I said to the instructor, hey, when you guys go on the dive tomorrow, I'd like to go. He said, are you certified? I said, yes, I am.

I have a PADI card, P-A-D-I, which means I can get the tanks. But what happened is the next day comes in, the weather went south, and the boats were bobbing around. And I thought, oh, man, I don't want to go out there.

Because I hadn't doped for a long time. And so the dive instructor says, we're going to go. So we get on the boat, and we go out and think about this. You're strapping on all this equipment. You have your BC vest, your inflatable vest. You have your very heavy scuba tanks.

You have your regulator that you breathe through. You've got your fins, a weight belt. And then you sit on the edge of a boat like this, and you hold onto your mask, and you fall backwards.

That's the last thing you want to do when you're strapping on all that weight. And we went in the water, and we start to breathe, and I started to freak out. I was scared. And I looked over at Jonathan. His eyes were as big as saucers. He was terrified. And I didn't want him to see.

I was scared because I'm certified, and I have a paddy cart. So I was really scared, and I looked over at the instructor who turned to Jonathan, and he said, Jonathan, look at me. And Jonathan looked at him, and I'm looking at him, too. And he said these words to Jonathan. Remember your training. And Jonathan remembered, started to breathe.

We went below the surface, and everything was fine. So in the same way we start to panic in this storm, Jesus would effectively say, look at me. Look at me. Don't look at the wind.

Don't look at the circumstances. Look at me, and remember your training. Remember what you've learned in the Word of God. So what did Peter do as he began to sink? He called out to Jesus. Folks, if ever I've seen a wake-up call for America, I think we're seeing it right now.

He's allowed this to happen. We don't know why, but America, Christian, it's time to pray. I'm not talking about a laid-back, casual prayer.

I'm talking about a fervent, storm-the-gates-of-heaven type of prayer that calls out to God in desperation and urgency. We need God in America, and we need God to intervene and turn back an invisible enemy. We need to pray for our scientists.

We need to pray for our president, his task force, and all the others that are working tirelessly to help us through this national crisis. Call on the Lord. Here's what God says.

Call on me, and I will show you great and mighty things that you don't know. Here's another verse, a familiar one, but boy does it fit right now. 2 Chronicles 7, 14. The Lord says, If My people, which are called by My name, listen now, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and churn from their wicked ways.

Those are the conditions. Now here comes a promise. God says, Then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. It's time to pray. It's time to churn from your sins, too, and call out to the Lord.

Peter started to say, what do we read? We read, Immediately Jesus reached out and grabbed him. I'm talking to somebody now that needs to call out to the Lord, somebody who is not sure that their sin is forgiven. You know, if you're not a believer right now, you can't do all the stuff you normally do, can you?

You're alone, and some of you are very scared, but I want you to know something. God loves you, and God wants a relationship with you. And God isn't mad at you.

God wants to show to you the wonderful plan He has for your life. Jesus Christ came to this earth, as I said earlier. He walked among us as a man. He breathed our air. He lived our life, and then He died our death.

And then He rose again from the dead. And now He is ready to forgive you of your sin, no matter what you've done, but you have to admit you're a sinner. You have to say, Lord, I know I've broken your commandments.

I know I've fallen short of your standards, and Lord, I'm sorry. And then you must receive Jesus into your life. Becoming a Christian is not just reading a Bible. It's not just saying religious things.

It's actually having Christ come and live inside of you. And here's my question to you as I close. Is Jesus living in your life right now? You might say, well, I'm not sure. Let me ask you a question. If a family moved into your house in the middle of the night and were cooking things in the early hours of the morning, do you think you would know?

Of course you would. I'm not suggesting God is like that. I'm just saying if someone moved into your house, you would know. If Jesus is living inside of you, you will know.

Let me flip that around. If you don't know that He's living inside of you, maybe it's because He isn't. You see, you're not born a Christian. You have to be born again, Jesus said. Being raised in a Christian family doesn't do it.

Going to a church doesn't do it. You have to say, Lord, I'm a sinner. I believe you're the Savior. And I ask you to come into my life right now and forgive me of all of my sin.

He'll do that for you. And I think I'm talking to some prodigals out there right now. You haven't been to church for a while now, have you? But the good news is, church has come to you.

And even more, Jesus is here, ready to come into your life, ready to forgive you. So prodigals, sons and daughters, why don't you come on home? We all know the story of the prodigal who ran away from home, lived in a distant land, blew all his inheritance that his dad gave to him, made a mess of his life. But one day he came to his senses and he said, I'm just going to go home and ask dad to hire me as a worker. But the Bible says, and by the way, Jesus told the story, while the boy was still a long ways away, the father saw him, ran to him, threw his arms around him, kissed him, and said, now my son is home.

He who was dead is alive again. And that's how God feels toward you. God isn't mad at you.

God is mad about you. And God loves you. And God will accept you as you are if you will come to him and ask his forgiveness. So if you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you would like to be forgiven of your sin, if you would like to know with certainty that you will go to heaven when you die, then pray this prayer with me right now. You could even pray it out loud if you like. Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that You're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life. I call out to You. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Now, if any interruptions came up during today's study, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org.

Now, if any interruptions came up during today's study, you can hear what you missed by listening again online at harvest.org. The title to look for is God's Answer to Fear, Worry, and Anxiety, Part 1. You can request a CD copy by calling 1-800-821-3300.

That's a 24-hour phone number, 1-800-821-3300. You know, Pastor Greg, we're excited about making the DVD of A Rush of Hope available to our listeners, and I really think there's sort of a pent-up demand for that. Personally, several friends have asked me if a DVD was available.

In fact, a lady that used to be our neighbor some 30 years ago tracked me down on Facebook just to ask me, does Pastor Greg have a DVD of A Rush of Hope? So I'm excited to say yes, finally, it's available, and we're making it available to our listeners right now. That's right, Dave, it's available. Get ready for Echo, Dave.

A Rush of Hope is here! Yes, Dave, I've heard the same thing. People would comment on my social media. I loved it. I watched it five, six, seven, eight times because, as you know, over a given weekend, Labor Day weekend, we showed it multiple times, and people just kept watching it and watching it and then wanting to share it with friends. But, of course, we never archived it. You couldn't watch it on demand.

You could only watch it for one of the showings. But now you can watch it whenever you want, wherever you want, with whomever you want to watch it with, because A Rush of Hope is on DVD. And not only that, but we've added some special resources to this offer. We're including a special little book called A Rush of Hope, a little booklet where we answer life's most difficult questions that you could give out to somebody who is not yet a Christian.

There's also a little piece that we wrote on how to host a watch party. So the idea is you invite a bunch of neighbors over and you show A Rush of Hope, and then you can follow up on them so they can make a commitment to Jesus Christ. We saw thousands of people make a Profession of Faith after we showed this on Labor Day weekend.

Well over 17,000 people. And now we believe thousands and thousands more will come to Christ as well. And so we're going to put this resource in your hands, and all you've got to do is order it. You say, well, what do I need to do? We'll send it to you for your gift of any size. And we'll take that gift that you send and we'll use it to continue to expand our ministry. You know, we want to be good stewards over what God has given us. We're strong believers in paying our bills and doing the things that we promise that we will do financially. But we also want to expand our territory.

We want to go into new areas, and as you give, we have resources to utilize to go into a market, as it's called, that we've never been into before. So if you think more people need to hear this radio broadcast, The New Beginning, if you think more people need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ through films like A Rush of Hope, then I would encourage you to send a generous financial gift to Harvest Ministries, and we will put it to work for the kingdom of God. And again, it's my way of saying thanks. We'll rush you your own copy of our cinematic crusade film, A Rush of Hope. Will you let us hear from you today? Time is of the essence. There are just hours left here in 2020, so thanks for sending your end-of-the-year gift today, and this DVD will be on its way to you. Also, we'll send a digital download code so you can watch online right from your computer or tablet or smartphone.

That way you can take it with you and share it with a friend. You might say a cinematic crusade right in your pocket or purse. So write today, A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, even more insight on how we can chart a course for a worry-free life in 2021. More of our Best Of series of most requested messages next time on A New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.