A word about worry from Dr. Michael Youssef as he begins this episode of Leading the Way Audio. All of us are worry warts in one way or the other. The question is, what do you do with that worry? What do you do with that anxiety?
Will you let it consume you or will you let it deepen your love for the Lord Jesus Christ? It seems that recent years have been filled with increased angst about health, politics, economic uncertainty and more, dimming long-held hopes and dreams of people worldwide. Hello, welcome to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Up next, words to get you through uncertain times when worry pushes hope aside. And he's poised to share some relatable life experiences to take you into the pages of God's Word for tools available to face life in times of uncertainty. So if you'd like to connect with Dr. Youssef or members of the Leading the Way team, ltw.org is the best place to start.
Or you can call us at 866-626-4356. But do that a little later because here now is Dr. Michael Youssef with his message in times of anxiety. Every statistics that I've been looking at of late is showing how our world is becoming far more anxious than any other time in recent memory. Regardless of the circumstances that do surround us, regardless of all the evidence for worry and anxiety, I am convinced there are people who are going to be anxious even if they have no reason to be anxious.
You know some of them? I just read this week of how anxiety may well be the most common psychotic melody in the United States of America. I read that 65% of all new prescriptions physicians write are associated with anxiety. Now I know and you know that some of our anxiety is self-induced. I know and you know that some of our anxiety is self-imposed. I know and you know that some of our anxieties is a lifestyle issue. Let me give you an example. This man was suffering from severe anxiety and he went to seek counseling and after he told his counselor about his deep severe anxiety, the counselor said to him, he said, you know what you need to do?
You need to get on a plane and go far away to an exotic place and there sit on the beach, enjoy the sunshine and relax and forget about your troubles. Well the man said that won't work. He said why? He said I just got back from Hawaii. He said okay, go out and buy yourself a very expensive luxurious car and drive into the countryside and watch the sunset and enjoy yourself and relax.
He said that won't work either. He said why? He said I drive a hundred and fifty thousand dollar Mercedes. The guy said finally said look, go out and buy a luxury home and just sit and enjoy yourself and the guy said that won't work either. He said why? He said well I live in a million dollar home. He said now let me think about this. You just got back from Hawaii. You drive a hundred and fifty thousand dollar Mercedes. You live in a million dollar home. Well what are you anxious about?
He said I make only a hundred dollars a week. Well I told you some of our anxieties are self imposed. The truth is that all of us are worry warts in one way or the other. I think all of us worry about something. The question is what do you do with that anxiety?
What do you do with that worry? Will you let it consume you or will you let it deepen your love for the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you try to tranquilize it? Will you try to sedate it? Will you try to drunk it? Will you try to deny it? Or will you use it as a stepping stone to elevate you into deeper love for Jesus Christ? Now there are only two choices to deal with anxiety. You either let it destroy you or let it deepen your love for Jesus.
And you know that is why the Bible exhorts us so many times. Don't be anxious. Don't be anxious. Don't be anxious. I'm not going to go through these verses but every time the Bible says don't be anxious immediately goes on to say something else. Don't be anxious but rather cast your anxiety upon the Lord. Don't be anxious but rather give thanks and praise and adoration to the Lord for all the great things he's done for you.
Don't be anxious but rather remember that he cares for you always. Whenever the Bible said don't be anxious it tells you what to do with your anxiety. Because the truth is we all have different reasons for anxiety.
We all have different reasons. Someone may not be anxious about money and another person may be anxious about illness. The person who may not be anxious about his illness or her illness may be worried about their children. Those who may not be worried about their children they may be anxious about their health and the varieties of reason that people become anxious about. We get anxious for different reasons. In fact I heard about two mothers of two teenage girls were talking to each other and one said I am worried sick with anxiety because my daughter never tells me anything. The other mother said I am so worried sick with anxiety because my daughter tells me everything. So we all have different reasons for anxiety. Let me read to you how a soldier in the army philosophies about anxiety and worry. Listen to this very carefully. Here's what he said.
He said one of two things are certain. Either you are mobilized or you're not mobilized. If you're not mobilized there's no need to worry. If you are mobilized one of two things are certain. Either you're behind the lines or you are at the front.
If you are behind the lines there's no need to worry. If you are in the front one of two things are certain. Either you are resting in the safe place or you are exposed to danger. If you are resting in a safe place there's no need to worry. If you are exposed to danger one of two things are certain. Either you're wounded or you're not wounded. Wounded. If you're not wounded, there's no need to worry. If you are wounded, one of two things are certain. Either you're wounded seriously or you're wounded slightly. If you're wounded slightly, there's no need to worry. If you're wounded seriously, one of two things are certain. Either you recover or you die. If you recover, there's no need to worry. And if you die, you can't worry.
I love that. And as I thought about the times in which you deepen your love for the Lord Jesus Christ and we saw that in the times of loneliness are great times to deepen your love for Jesus. Then we saw in the times of doubt is a wonderful opportunity for you and me to deepen our love for Jesus. And today I want to tell you about the times of anxieties in our lives as a great time to deepen your love for the Lord Jesus Christ. And as I looked at this whole issue, I found that there are basically three headings under which anxiety comes. All the other forms of anxiety are a branch from one of those three. Anxiety about the future, anxiety about failure, and anxiety about feebleness. Basically this type of anxiety, the future anxiety, is the type of anxiety that has the most candidates. Anxiety about the future I suspect has the largest membership enrollment.
I'm convinced of that. And it stretches all the way from being anxious on whether you are in the will of God or not all the way to things like world peace and everything is in between. I have sat with people through the years who are rich by any standard of measurement and literally they sat in my presence or anxious about whether they're going to become destitute and homeless. And that is why worry about the future is irrational. Worry about the future is illogical. Worry about the future is useless, why? Because you do not know what's going to be coming in the future and even if you do, most times you have no power to do anything about it anyway. So why be anxious? Someone said anxiety is like rocking chair.
It's going nowhere but it gives you something to do. Well if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn with me to Philippians chapter 4 verses 11 and 13. No, I'm not going to talk about him saying don't be anxious. He says that in that passage but that's not what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to show you the application of Paul's exhortation about not being anxious.
Verse 11, 12, and 13, listen to what the apostle Paul said to the Philippians. He said, I have learned in whatever state I'm in to be contented. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
I thought long and hard about those verses afresh and in you. And I said to myself, can I write something like that? Well I've been in tough times, I've been in situations of hunger and pain and I said yeah, I think I can pull it off.
I can write something like that if I'm sitting on a Mediterranean sipping iced tea. I could do it. But could I do it in prison? I asked myself the question, well you know I may be able to pull some spiritual muscles if I'm in an American prison with a comfortable bed, color television, air conditioned library that I can go to.
I think I may be able to pull it off but I'm going to tell you something, listen carefully. I do not believe for the moment that I could have written those words if I had been sitting in that miserable cold, dark, wet, damp, mice infested Roman dungeon because that's what Paul was when he wrote these words. You see it's a lot easier to write like that when you're not, he was in the worst kind of a prison that you can think of. What does Paul say? Listen carefully. He wrote on this one. Here's what he's saying. He said look, I am not worried about the future.
Why? Because my future is in God's hand and I have learned from first hand experience that in all things God weaves the strains of my life into making a beautiful tapestry of his purpose and therefore I'm not worried about the future. You know I thought again about this and I want to come clean with you and I thought I said am I worried about the future? Did some self-examination.
I always do before I bring you a message and I said yeah. Probably my anxiety about the future personally can be summarized in two words. Finishing well. Finishing well. Whenever I hear of a preacher falling, whenever I hear of a preacher wandering away from the faith, whenever I hear of a preacher a ministry has failed because of moral issues or whatever it is, for a moment or two, that's about all as long as I can handle it, for a moment or two I become anxious and then immediately I say Lord am I going to finish well? And the Lord immediately takes me to his promises and I began to claim the promise of God that he who began a good work in me is able to bring it to completion to the glory of Christ Jesus. I began to focus on how God himself wants me to finish well as long as I stand close to him and walk with him and in those moments my love for Jesus Christ grows in far deeper way.
I sense the embrace of God in a way that I cannot describe to you in words and I believe the same thing for you my beloved friends. I believe God wants you to take those anxious moments and turn them around into claiming of the promises of God and that moment it deepens your love for Jesus Christ. Then there is the anxiety about failure. Let me tell you at the outset I'm an expert on failure.
I really am. I am qualified to write a book on failure and I will one of these days. I will. I have learned from failure listen to me I have learned that you can let anxiety over failure either to paralyze you or to drive you. You can let anxiety over failure either be your teacher or be your undertaker. You can let anxiety about failure either to be a detour or a dead end street. God has permitted a series of failures in my life and I believe not only that he may instruct me in order that he may teach me in order that he might humble me.
I believe that he allowed these series of failures so that I can share my experience with you that I can testify to the Lord through my failure. When I was completing my high school certificate and this was sort of the beginning of the school of failure that I entered into. I was about 18 years old and when I was about to complete my high school certificate two weeks prior to the national examination and this is big thing where I come from.
It's a big thing. You know why 20 percent of all who enter the national examination for high school certificate make it to university. The competition is fierce 20 percent two weeks prior to the examination.
I was struck with typhoid and therefore I went to the examination room with a temperature between 103 or 104. I passed the examination but wasn't good enough to go to university. There are no other options. So I had to repeat what we call here the senior year. I had to go back to school and go to repeat my senior year.
For one solid year listen to me. Every single morning and every single afternoon as I am dressed in this high school uniform I am facing all my friends heading the other way to the university into medical school into engineering school and all the different schools of the university and one of the sad part is that we lived our house was very close to the university so I couldn't avoid them. And every morning and every afternoon I go by I say hello to my friends who are going to the university and I'm going back to high school every morning and every afternoon and I go through that pain of why did this happen. But then toward the middle of the school year God began to teach me to pray. Every single day during that year I prayed Lord please use my failure as a springboard not as a ditch Lord use my failure as a springboard not as a ditch. And since that time I have faced so many failures but listen to me God more than answered my prayers and instead of developing anxiety about failure I have learned to love the Lord Jesus Christ in the times of anxiety.
Whatever failure that you might be facing right now whatever failure that you will be facing whatever failure that you have faced in your life listen to me do not let it be the monster that drag you down but allow it to be the springboard that will bring you to the embrace of Jesus and when you feel his embrace you're going to love him with all your heart. Anxiety of the future anxiety about failure then there's anxiety about feebleness. This is really the word supposed to be mean weakness but I try to figure out a word with F you know so make you remember it that's really what I mean is weakness.
I looked up the dictionary looked up the source I didn't make it up I did it was it's the right word that would help. What about fear of our weaknesses I just shared with the men of the church that one of the greatest hung ups that we men have is our anxiety of revealing our weaknesses. Men particularly are not very good at admitting weaknesses and we joke about men don't ask for directions and we joke about these things but really it's much deeper than that.
It really is much deeper than that. But for me when I begin to think of the apostle Paul a great man of strength a great man of courage a great man who lived his life shining for Jesus Christ and yet he could tell the Corinthians I will gladly boast of my weaknesses. I realize that we got it all wrong I realize that our culture has sold us a bill of goods I realize that we have allowed Satan to develop in us a stronghold of prideful arrogance.
We have allowed Satan to develop in us a stronghold of hypocrisy hypocrisy that Jesus condemned in the life of the Pharisees a stronghold of pretending there are people both men and women even young men and young women who are terrified lest someone will discover their weaknesses lest someone will expose their feebleness lest someone will find out that Achilles heels lest someone will divulge their frailty. But I want to tell you something this type of anxiety is rooted in pride and there is no virtue in that. Back yonder when I began to learn this lesson from the apostle Paul when I publicly confessed I am weak in every area of life that moment was a moment of liberation that moment became a moment of strength do you know why because I immediately became a candidate for the supernatural power and the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can be anxious that we might not match up we can be anxious that we might not may not meet the standards we can be anxious that we are not going to receive people's admiration if they really know what we're like forget it.
God knows what you like and that's all really that matter. Because the Bible from cover to cover tells us that it is only when you confess your weaknesses to the Lord do you become a candidate for God's strength. Hear me right on this one anxiety over the revelation of our weaknesses is Satan's way of creating a stronghold over our lives.
The only way to suck it to Satan is the only way I know to suck it to him is to say with the apostle Paul it is only when I'm weak do I really know the strength of God. It's a rough translation but you get the meaning and you can learn from that and you can use that time of anxiety over weaknesses to be a time in which you deeply appreciate the strength of the Lord and the power of the Lord and the victory of the Lord that he only gives to men and women who confess their weaknesses. And as you come to know the strength of the Lord you're going to love him more deeply. As you come to experience his supernatural strength your love for him will be cemented.
As you come to deepen your love for them as you come to depend on the supernatural power of the Lord your love for him will know no bounds as you come to live in his supernatural strength you will know how to adore him with all of your heart and love him with all of your heart when only when you come to learn the lesson of John the Baptist and saying that he must increase and I must decrease and without fear will you understand and receive and experience the supernatural power of God that he wants you to have. Thank you for making time to listen to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Did you know that just about every day our worldwide teams receive notes from viewers and listeners of Leading the Way sharing the impact of Dr. Yusef's gospel teaching and we love receiving them.
Recently we heard from a young man in Egypt. He shared that for much of his life he didn't know why he needed only one God. He viewed differing belief systems as alternative paths to the same God. He grew up hearing about Allah. But after hearing Dr. Michael Yusef he reached out to Leading the Way. He had questions about faith. Our field team boldly shared Jesus with him and he received Christ and told our team that he felt welcomed and surrounded by Jesus after praying. Leading the Way was able to provide him with a connection to a digital Bible so he could deepen his faith and the team continues to follow up with him guiding him in his faith walk. So please know that when you stand with Dr. Yusef and now is a great time to do that during the Open Door campaign you're making it possible for lives across six continents to be changed. Learn more when you contact Leading the Way today at ltw.org ltw.org or call us speak with someone right there at the Ministry Call Center at 866-626-4356. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Learn more at ltw.org.
