Worry tells you whether you're gonna sleep tonight. Worry is concern on steroids. And although worry can control you, Dr. Tony Evans says you have the final say over it. If you want to get victory over worry, you must decide to rejoice in the Lord.
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Even though we can't control the future or even see the future, that doesn't stop us from worrying about it. But that's a habit we can't stop. In today's message, Dr. Evans tells us how.
Let's join him as he begins. Worry drains you. It sucks the blood out of you.
It incapacitates you to function like you know you should function. We got the pain of the past we worry about, the problems of the present, and the unexpected of the future. And it just keeps on coming. And now, with everybody being able to talk to everybody else all the time about everything, folk want to dump their worry on you. One man said, I've got so much to worry about, it's gonna take me two weeks to get around to it.
I got a backlog of worry. Another man was so, so just overcome with all the stuff to worry about, he says, I will pay somebody $1,000 who will do my worrying for me. The man volunteered. He said, I'll take that $1,000 to do your worrying for you. He said, okay.
The man said, okay, well, where's the $1,000? He said, that's the first thing you need to worry about. It drains our emotional tanks. And so I want to tell you today to be happy and don't worry.
I know that's easier said than done. Now, let me clarify what I mean by worry or its nickname anxiety. Worry is when a person, place, thing, or an idea controls your life, your thinking, and your function. Worry is different than concern.
There are a lot of expressions of concern in the Bible. Concern means that there is a person, place, thing, or idea that is negative in nature, that needs to be addressed in some way, and you're trying to figure out how to address it. Worry is when there is a person, place, thing, or an idea that you are no longer dictating to.
It is now dictating to you. Concern you control. Worry controls you. Worry tells you whether you're going to sleep tonight. Worry tells you whether you're going to cry. Worry tells you whether you're going to be depressed or discouraged. Worry tells you whether you need to pop some pills because worry is the dictator. Worry is concern on steroids. Concern is legitimate.
Paul was concerned for the churches. So if you're concerned about some things, but you are controlling the concern, you're telling it when to come or go. You're telling it, I can't deal with you now, I'm checking with you later.
Okay, you're good. But if that thing that you call concern is owning you, that's worry, that's anxiety. And Paul says in Philippians chapter 4 verse 6, be anxious for nothing. Worry about nothing.
And we all know that nothing from nothing leaves nothing. Whatever is worrying you, Paul says, is out of order. And he says, you are out of order for letting it happen. He says, be anxious for nothing, which means whatever is messing with you is not allowed to be made an exception by you. You cannot say, well, you don't know what I'm going through. You don't know how bad this is. You don't know how deep it is.
You don't know how long it's gone. Paul says, be anxious for nothing. It is not a request.
It is a command. He says, it is unacceptable for you to be anxious about anything which makes anxiousness and worry a sin. So when you or I allow something that concerns us to grow to become a worry for us, we have in actuality rebelled against God. Because we're told to worry about what? Nothing. So I don't care what your something is, whatever your something is that is causing you to worry, something is out of order.
Because we're to worry for nothing. The book of Philippians is a book about joy. All through the book, he keeps on bringing up this word, joy. He says in chapter one, for example, verse four, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. He says in chapter one, verse 25, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. Says in chapter two, verse two, make my joy complete. Verse 29, receive him then in the Lord with all joy. So he's consumed with joy.
But notice the context in which he is consumed with joy. That context is given to us in chapter one, verse 12. Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian God and to everyone else. And that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some are from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. So Paul is writing about joy from prison.
He's in jail. In fact, Paul doesn't know if he's going to live or die. And yet he writes to the church at Philippi and to the church at Oak Cliff, keep your joy. Not only was he imprisoned on the inside, but he had folk working against him on the outside. He says, some are preaching Christ to increase my stress, to bring me more distress. So he's in a prison, locked up, can't get out. He's got folk outside working against him in the name of Christianity.
He's not in a good situation. His circumstances are not in his favor, and yet he writes about joy. He says, be happy, don't worry. And Dr. Evans will walk us through the steps we can take to beat worry when he returns in just a moment.
Don't go away. Dr. Tony Evans' latest book, Thy Kingdom Come, emerges as a light amidst the sin-ridden depths of our world, guiding you through the murky waters of uncertainty. Within these insightful pages, wisdom intertwines with revelation. You'll dive deep into the mysteries of enigmatic prophecy, where solace awaits the weary soul.
Dr. Tony Evans' unparalleled mastery and deciphering the complexities of Scripture will ensure clarity in the face of confusion and illuminate the path towards hope. Arm yourself against the impending storm, and let not the hour of reckoning catch you unaware. Be prepared for what's to come by picking up your copy of Thy Kingdom Come at TonyEvans.org. It comes with a bonus sermon series, Staying Right with God.
Do not be caught off guard. Well, just as there's an antidote for overcoming the worry of what's to come, there are ways to deal with the worries of today. And that's what Tony's been talking about in the series we've been presenting called Having Faith During Fear. Through these messages, we've been learning why the idea that we're in control is a myth, and discovering how much better life is when we admit the truth and recognize God's authority. If you've missed any of these broadcasts, want to review some of them again, or want to dig deeper into the extended versions, I'd like to encourage you to get a copy of them for yourself on CD or digital download. We'll send you all six full-length messages, and thanks for a financial contribution toward the ministry of the Alternative Broadcast. As an extra way of showing our appreciation for your generosity, we'll include a special bonus, our Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit, which includes the popular book by the same title, as well as additional material that make it perfect for leading a small group study or for your own personal spiritual growth. Get the Having Faith During Fear audio series and the Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit, along with our thanks, when you request them and make a donation online at TonyEvans.org, or call us at 1-800-800-3222, where a team member will be happy to help with your request. I'll repeat our contact information for you after the second part of today's lesson. Here's Tony once again.
I want to walk you through now how to get over your worry. The first thing he says in verse four of chapter four is to rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, in case you didn't hear me the first time, rejoice. There is worldly happiness and godly happiness. Godly happiness is called joy. The word joy in the Bible is the celebration term.
So he's calling for celebration. But here's the difference between joy and secular happiness. Secular happiness depends on what happens.
In other words, it's circumstantially driven. So, if things are going up, I feel up, and I'm happy. If things are going down, I feel down, so I'm sad.
Which keeps you on an emotional rollercoaster, because I am now being governed by the circumstances. But that is not the definition of biblical joy. Biblical joy has to do with celebration on the inside, regardless of circumstances on the outside.
Joy, from God's point of view, is not tied to circumstances, which is why Paul, who's in a bad situation, he's in prison, has folk working against him outside of prison, can talk about his joy, and can tell these folk to be joyful, because his definition of joy has nothing to do with what's happening around you. This church was even going through some difficult times. Because Paul tells them in chapter 1, verse 28, don't be alarmed by your opponents. They had folks working against the church. They had two women, chapter 4, verse 2, who were in conflict in the church, and was bringing problems in the church, and he has to tell the folks in the church, verse 3 of chapter 4, help these women, because they're causing a problem with the gospel. So, there was some disunity going on, and there was some opposition to the church going on, and in midst of challenges, he says, keep your joy.
So, whatever this thing is, joy, is not tied to circumstances. I remember one day I took one of my kids to the doctor when they were children, and I took them to the doctor because they were sick. They were sick. They weren't feeling well, but this particular doctor at this particular office had a playground, toys, in the playroom.
Well, we went to the doctor because they were sick. But in the middle of a sick environment, there was a playground. And I remember the kids playing with the playground while sick. In other words, on the inside of the location of the sickness was a playground. Joy is having a playground on the inside, regardless of the things sickening you in your experience. Can anybody use a playground here today?
Well, let me tell you how to build a playground in your situation, even while you have to deal with your sniffles of your circumstances. You see, the way to get joy, even if things are not joyful right now, is in the Word. He says, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Okay, let me reread it in a way it's not reading. It doesn't say rejoice in your circumstances always, and again I say rejoice. Because if you're rejoicing in your circumstances, it depends on how those circumstances are. He says, don't rejoice in your circumstances, rejoice in a person.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Well, notice the word joy is in the word rejoice. So the way, watch this, you get joy is by rejoicing. If you're not rejoicing, then don't expect to have joy because joy is in the rejoicing. You see, a lot of people want joy who refuse to rejoice. But you must rejoice to have the joy that's in the word rejoicing, and you must do it more than once. Again I say, rejoice. Rejoicing is celebrating God.
You must, watch this, if you want a playground in your heart, regardless of the sickness in your life, then you must in the midst of your circumstances become a rejoicer. Paul and Silas were in jail at midnight, and midnight is a dark time. They're in jail and it's dark. And it says Paul and Silas at midnight got their praise on.
They celebrated God at midnight. They praised God in the midst of their problem. This is why there is so much in the Bible about not grumbling and complaining, because what grumbling and complaining does is it reinforces your focus on the problem. Your problem doesn't need more help. It's already a problem. But we actually help the problem out by focusing on the problem through complaining and grumbling about the problem. Now you can't ignore the problem. It's a problem. But what he says you must do is you must decide to rejoice or celebrate God no matter what the circumstance is. You engage God. You don't ignore the problem. He says, I'm in prison.
That's a reality. Habakkuk spends two and a half chapters talking about how bad things are. It's only three chapters in the book of Habakkuk. He spends two and a half of the chapters talking about how bad things are. He comes to the end and says, but I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. In other words, he doesn't ignore the fact he's got all of this dilemma that he doesn't understand. He doesn't know why this is going on, why God has let me go on, why God has let me go on this long. He said, I don't understand this, but I'm making a decision to get my praise on in the middle of what I don't understand. What the enemy wants you to do is so focus on how bad it was, how bad it is, and how bad it could be that it gets your full attention and you never get around to building a playground in your soul, a place of celebration, because you want joy while refusing to rejoice.
You get joy by rejoicing in the Lord, that is, in who God is, in what God has done in other scenarios, you are rejoicing in the Lord. A woman in labor has a dual challenge, a conflict, because one, she's in pain. She's hurting because of the labor. So she's hurting. She's crying out.
She feels the pain. So that's a negative. But the negative is counterbalanced by the life. In other words, she's getting ready to give birth to life. So it's like a bittersweet thing.
She crying, tears are flowing down her face, but she's also celebrating inside, knowing that she's giving birth to life. It's a bittersweet experience. Life will make you cry.
Situations that you've caused or others have caused you will bring tears to your eyes. But God says, in the middle of your pain and imprisonment, in the middle of your discomfort, I want you to make a big celebration about me. And that's something you must choose to do. It will not happen out of nowhere. You've got to decide. He's not talking about when you're in church, because he's talking about when I'm in prison, I'm going to rejoice in who He is, in spite of where I am. So, number one, if you want to get victory over worry, because you've been commanded to worry about absolutely nothing, you must decide to rejoice in the Lord.
You must decide that. It will not just happen. Dr. Tony Evans, sharing important insights on keeping reasonable concerns from growing into overpowering anxiety, part of his six-part audio series, Having Faith During Fear. As I mentioned earlier, when you make a contribution to help support the alternative broadcast ministry, we'll say thanks by sending you this powerful audio series on CD or digital download, along with the Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit, which includes a book, study guide, study session materials, teaching videos, and more.
But this special limited-time offer ends in a couple of days, so don't wait. Drop by our website, tonyevans.org, to let us know you'd like to take advantage of this exclusive deal. Or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222, where the friendly people on our resource team are ready to help 24-7. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222, or online at tonyevans.org.
I'll tell you about what's coming up next week, right after this. Far too many of us want to throw in the towel before we've thrown up the prayers. Dr. Tony Evans says Christians have a habit of underusing or overlooking our most valuable spiritual resource. Grace is available, but only at the throne, and you can only approach the throne through prayer. You can deepen your connection with the Lord through our in-depth course on Kingdom Prayer at the Tony Evans Training Center. You'll discover how God has wired the world to work by prayer and experience for yourself how it connects heaven with earth and time with eternity.
You'll not only gain a new understanding and appreciation for prayer, you'll actually pray in transforming ways you've never experienced before. The course is intense, but you can work through it at your own pace and get all the help you need through our online forum. And, of course, there's custom content from Tony not available anywhere else. Connect with the Tony Evans Training Center at TonyEvans.org.
It's like having a seminary on your smartphone or other device. Start today. TonyEvans.org. There's never a shortage of things to be anxious about, and on Monday, Dr. Evans concludes his look at the plan God has for us when anxiety seeks to take hold of our thoughts. And coming up later in the week, we'll be digging into a powerful behind-the-scenes look at spiritual warfare. All of that next week here on The Alternative. Be sure to join us.
