Humility and Anxiety

We're through with First Timothy.

I don't know what book we'll go through next. I'm waiting to get a word from the Lord on this. And so, usually, when I don't know what to preach on, I feel like the Holy Ghost just says, well, just preach on what I'm dealing with you about, what passage you're going through.

So the passage today that we're going to be studying, Psalm 131, is where God has been taking me personally, recently. And it's really talking about how to overcome anxiety. Statistically, anecdotally, I know that one of the biggest things y'all are dealing with, if you're like the rest of the culture, is worry, fear, and anxiety. And I'm going to help you overcome that today. Before I do that, I've got to ask you two questions about that.

And I'm not being sarcastic. First question when it comes to worry, fear, and anxiety is, do you really want to overcome this? Because I'm starting to find out now a lot of people want to sit around in their anxiety and worry, sad, sick, and sorry.

They don't want to be delivered from this mess. The Atlantic Magazine interviewed Darby Saxby, a clinical psychologist at the University of Southern California. Listen to what she said. She said that for many young people claiming an anxiety crisis or a post-traumatic stress disorder has become like a status symbol. Saxby said, quote, I worry that for some young people, it's becoming an identity marker that makes them feel special and unique. She says for a lot of young people in this generation, it's a badge of honor to say I've got trauma, or it's a badge of honor to say I deal with anxiety. Now, I do know genuine trauma exists.

I'm not diminishing that. There is legitimate trauma. But there's no reason this whole generation living in the most affluent society in the history of the world should be having this level of trauma, and yet they're claiming trauma all the time. What trauma?

The Wi-Fi went out at Starbucks, and it really tore me up. That's not trauma. Greta Thunberg said that the global temperatures are about to rise two and a half degrees, and it traumatized me. That's not trauma, okay? And so my first question to you is, do you want to be delivered from anxiety? Have you ever noticed Jesus did this before?

Have you noticed this? I always thought Jesus, I don't know why he's doing this. He'd go to these people who are lame or deaf or blind, and he'd say this. Do you want to be made well? I thought, well, of course I want to be made.

He's blind. I think Jesus understood. Now, some people want to sit around in their misery. Do you want to be made well? Do you want to be delivered from anxiety?

Second question I have for you is, when it comes to anxiety, do you have some unrealistic expectations? Because when I say you can't be made well, you're not going to be made well. You can live without anxiety. Some of y'all here, you can live without problems. Those are two different things.

You're going to have problems. Jesus said, in this world, you will have tribulation. So you can have problems, but you can have problems and not have anxiety.

And I think one of the reasons why some people are, quote, unquote, traumatized or anxious is they just have too high expectations. In fact, the Wall Street Journal recently talked about a businessman who was asked to speak to a college class at a Midwestern university, a business school. And so the professor said to this noted businessman, look, just talk to my class about your career. So he tells them about his career in the business world and how it was when I started, how it was when I ended, and then it was Q&A time. So all the students lined up with the microphones to ask questions. He said, I thought they were going to ask questions about education or this or that. So the first question was, how did you avoid burnout?

All those years. Second question was, how did you provide self-care for yourself all those years? And he said, every question was about, you know, how did you not get burned out?

How did you provide self-care? And the businessman finally said, look, my generation understood that sometimes work is hard. You push through. Burnout wasn't an option.

It was what you did when you retired. But you see, there's this expectation. I'm afraid in the next generation, I shouldn't have problems. I've been coddled so much that when I do have problems, there's something wrong.

Okay. So when I say you can live with that anxiety, you're going to have problems and don't set your expectations so high that you should not have problems. In fact, I'm trying to bash young people, but I was talking to a young guy in his 20s not too long ago. And the boss he worked for, the boss really was a jerk.

So I'll give him that. This young guy said, yeah, I've been recently diagnosed with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. I said, really? Where'd you get your PTSD? Well, the psychologist said working for this guy gave me PTSD.

You know, maybe we ought to leave PTSD for Afghan veterans who got both their legs blown off in combat and not apply that to a tough work situation. Okay. But number one, do you want to be healed? And the number two, don't set your expectations so high.

You're still going to have challenges, okay? The man who wrote the passage I'm about to share with you, he talks about being calm, yet this man had a failed marriage. His first wife left him. He had numerous deployments to battles and conflicts. For a season, he was homeless. One of his sons tried to carry out a coup and take over the guy's empire.

He lived through the death of several of his children. And yet this man named King David wrote in Psalm 131 one, oh Yahweh, my heart is not exalted. My eyes are not raised high. And I do not involve myself in great matters or matters too marvelous for me. Surely I've soothed and quieted my soul.

Like a weaned child with his mother. Like a weaned child is my soul within me. Oh, Israel, wait for Yahweh.

From now until forever. I want you to look at verse one. In verse one, David says three things, but in reality, he's just saying one thing.

Here are the three things. He said, God, my heart is not exalted. That's a euphemism, which means I'm not proud. My heart's not cocky. My heart's not exalted. Number two, my eyes are not raised.

Now that's an example we call physiognomy, an outward appearance that indicates something that goes on in your heart. When he says my eyes are not raised, he says I'm not one of these cocky guys that walk around like this, thinking he's better than everybody else. My heart is not exalted. My eyes are not raised. And then number three, he says this, I don't involve myself in great matters.

Literally, in Hebrew, it means I don't walk around great matters. I'm not one of these know-it-all who has an opinion on everything. What's your opinion on the election? Well, here's what's going to happen. The Democrats are doing this.

The Republicans are doing that. Hey, what's happening? This is happening.

That's happening. I'm not one of those guys. I ain't got it all figured out. In fact, I remember talking to an old guy years ago, and you'd ask him about things like the election or stuff going on. He'd always say, have you heard this? You'd ask about it. He'd say, well, that's above my pay grade.

You heard him say that? I don't know. That's above my pay grade. David says, you know, when it comes to all this stuff and trying to figure it out, I don't have it figured out. It's above my pay grade. My heart is not exalted.

My eyes are not raised. I do not involve myself in great matters. Now, he's saying three things, but really, he's just saying one thing.

Ready? He's saying, God, I'm humble. Not saying that in a proud way. I'm just telling you, God, I'm actually humble, verse one. In verse two, he says three other things, but again, he's really only saying one thing.

He said, number one, I have soothed my soul. Do you see that in verse two? That's an agricultural term. Isaiah 28, 25, it describes a field.

It's like all rough, big old dirt clods everywhere, and you go and you plow that field, and you make that field really as smooth as glass. He said, that's how my soul is. I have soothed my soul. I have a smooth demeanor. I'm not ruffled. I don't have big highs and big lows.

It's kind of smooth. I have soothed my soul, number two. I have quieted my soul.

Do you see that? I've got a quiet soul. He says, number three, I'm like a weaned child.

What does that mean? The Jews felt that the weaning process took place in about 18 months to three years. An infant, a teeny, tiny infant, they're going to know it. Infants are going to scream. They're going to shout, I want milk, and I want my milk now. You put the kid down, the kid starts screaming. I want it.

I want it now. The mom, for those first several months, is driving herself crazy trying to provide milk for the infant because when the infant wants it, he's going to get it. You're going to jump to it. I'm going to let you know when I'm upset. A weaned child, though, is a child that has gotten off the milk and is having solid food and has a little bit of self-control. I'm like this calm person that just gets embraced by God, sits in the lap of the father. I don't scream and cry like an infant. Let me ask you something.

Are you an infant spiritually, or are you a weaned child? When things don't go your way, I'm going to let you know it. I'm going to shout. I'm going to raise a fit. I'm going to gripe. I'm going to complain. I'm an infant.

When things don't go my way, I'll let you know. Or are you like this weaned child that can just sit calmly and complacency. In the lap of God, and David says, I am like that weaned child. I've soothed my soul. I've quieted my soul. I'm like a weaned child. He's saying three things, but he's really just saying one thing.

You ready? He's saying, God, I'm not an anxious person. I'm not a worried, fretful, stressed out person. Therefore, I'm not anxious. Because I am humble, I am not anxious.

Beloved, I want you to listen to me. There is something calming in this messed up world where we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Everybody is losing their mind. Is it just me? Is everybody losing their mind out there? There's road rage all over the place. Crime's going crazy. Everybody's losing their mind. I'm going to tell you something.

There is a connection. When you learn how to be humble, you will no longer be anxious. Now, this isn't the only place you see this. This concept all over the Bible that humility destroys anxiety, it's all over the Bible.

Let me give you a couple places here. Look at Psalm 37-11. Turn to Psalm 37-11. I want you to see this connection between humility and no anxiety. I think I told you last week, I don't like visiting churches and everybody turn and shake the hand of the person next to you.

I refuse to do that because I just don't like that kind of stuff. Say after me, I ain't anxious. I don't get all that stuff. But I would be curious, how many of y'all in this place today are dealing with some level of worry or anxiety about something? We're brothers and sisters.

Raise your hand, you're concerned about something. See, there's this connection all over the Bible. Look at Psalm 37-11, if you would. But the meek, that is the humble, shall inherit the land and delight themselves in what? Abundant peace. Do you see that connection?

The humble will not be anxious and stressed out. They're going to have this. Here's what the Bible calls you.

Have you heard of this? The peace that passes all understanding. It just don't make sense.

Let me give you another example. Psalm 37-28, Jesus is talking. Here's what he says. Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary, you're heavy laden, you're anxious, you're worried. And I will give you what, church?

Rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Look at verse 29. Jesus says, hey, come and learn from me. This is the only time Jesus describes himself in the Bible.

Did you know this? He says, I am humble, I am meek. He says, learn from me how to be meek and as a result, verse 28 and 29, you will find rest.

Here's what he's saying. Humility destroys anxiety. Let me give you one more passage and this passage is so important. This is Peter who writes this in 1 Peter 5 verse 5.

I want to see this connection again. 1 Peter 5, 5. He's supposed to be proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Do you see that? You humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and you won't have any more anxiety because you've cast all your anxiety on him. I've done it but I need you to listen to me right here because this is so important. If you don't get this, I'm afraid you're going to get to heaven. Look, is worry a sin? Yes, worry is a sin because Jesus says, don't worry. When you worry, you're disobeying Jesus.

You say, great. Now you've given me one more thing to worry about. I'm not worried that my worry is going to send me to hell. It's not going to send you to hell. What I'm saying is you're living in disobedience.

Jesus has a better life for you but you've got to get this connection. When you are humble, it destroys anxiety. Do you see that connection? Here's the logical question. If humility destroys anxiety, what is humility?

Now watch this. Humility has two levels or two directions. One is this horizontal direction. It's my relationship with you. How am I relating to you? That's a very important component of humility. There is a vertical dimension.

Today I'm talking about the horizontal dimension. Humility as far as my relationship with God. So watch this. Humility destroys anxiety. Because I am humble, I am not anxious.

Great. What do you mean by humility as it pertains to your walk with God? What is it?

What are you even talking about? Psalm 131-3. Look at this. Psalm 131-3. O Israel, wait for Yahweh from now until forever.

That word wait in Hebrew, the Hebrew word is yachal. Here's what it means. It means to pause and to wait expectantly for him to do something. Here's what he's saying. You're not in charge. He's in charge. You're not in control.

He's in control. It means I relinquish control. I stop trying to make it work. I stop getting upset when God doesn't do what I think he ought to do. I stop and I wait and I say, I'm not in control.

You are. I'm giving you this problem. It belongs to you. That's humility. In fact, Peter says the same thing. Go back to the passage I just shared with you. 1 Peter 5-6.

Go back there because you're going to see the same concept in 1 Peter 5-6. Humility destroys anxiety. What is humility? Humility is he's in control. I'm not. I'm going to stop telling God how my life ought to be run.

I'm going to just submit to his leadership. Peter says the same thing in 1 Peter 5-6. Look at this. Therefore, humble yourselves under thee, what does it say?

Mighty, what? Hand of God. That term, hand of God, it's used all over the Old Testament. Here's what it means. Power, the sovereign control of God.

We see that all over places like this. Look at this. Isaiah 48-13. God says, my hand laid the foundation of the earth. My right hand spread out the heavens. Exodus 15-6.

Your right hand, oh God, shatters the enemy. Isaiah 15-9-1. Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Jeremiah 18-6.

Behold, like clay in the potter's hand, so you, your family, your job, your car, your education, your future. God says, this is my hand. Psalm 31-5. God, my times are in your hands. Listen, when Peter says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, here's what he's saying. Come to the point in your life where you stop trying to control everything and you say, God, you're in charge, you're in control, you're powerful, you love me, you're going to supply all my needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus. I don't know how you're going to get me through this, but you're going to get me through it because you're God. I give it all over to you right now. That's humility. Beloved, that, that will change your life. Trust me, I know.

I've told you before, a lot of these things you've seen pastors, every week it seems like another pastor has fallen morally. Let me tell you what my struggle is. I've told you my struggle before. My struggle is, at times I get angry. I'm getting over that. It's that Irish blood that I got or whatever. Sometimes I deal with anger. But for a lot of years, I really dealt with fear and worry and anxiety.

No offense, I love y'all, but y'all are the root of some of that years ago. Because I get so worried and stressed out about the church and wanting the church to do well. Tuesdays, Tuesdays are offering days. That's when they count up the offerings that took place on Sunday.

And I always, wait, bite my fingernail really quick. Okay, what kind of offerings come in? Am I going to have to cut salaries? Am I going to have to cut jobs? Am I going to have to cut ministries?

What's going on? I was always worried about that. Or like, if there's a crisis, you know, going on in church, I tried to go to bed at night, and I couldn't go to sleep.

Because, well, what if this thing blows up? What if people leave the church? What if I lose my church?

What's going on? And I finally got to the point where I started practicing this. And I said to myself, wait a second. My church, what if I lose my church? What happens to my church? And I finally realized, it ain't my church, it's your church. You're in charge, you're in control. If you want this church going to the ground, I told y'all I want to be a truck driver.

I watched BJ and the Bear back in the 1970s, y'all remember that? I want to drive across America with a little chimpanzee. So if it falls apart, it falls apart. And I'd say, God, I'd be going to bed. God wants for this church. If his death isn't sufficient, my death ain't going to help. So I finally got to the point, and I just said, Father, this is your church, this crisis has come up, you're in charge, you're in control. If you need me, you know my address, you can come wake me up, I'm going to bed. There's something about saying you're in charge, you're in control, and I'm not, it destroys anxiety. Let me give you another example of this. The upcoming elections, who's going to win, Trump going to go to jail, is Biden really Biden?

Don't know, don't care. Daniel 2 21 says it's God who raises up presidents, and it's God who deposes presidents, it's above my pay grade, God, you're in charge, I'm not. And it takes a lot of warring stress off my back. Here's another one, your business. I had a guy a little while back, I said, I know I'm not supposed to be frustrated with God, but I'm frustrated with God. I said, Why are you frustrated with God? He said, I handed my business over to God, I dedicated my business to God, and now my business is falling apart. I'm going to go bankrupt, and I'm frustrated at God. I said, Wait, I thought you said you turned your business over to God.

He said, I did. I said, Well, then it's not your business, it's God's business. If God wants to bankrupt his business, he can bankrupt his business, because it ain't your business, it's God's business. There's a story about John Wesley that had given everything over to God. It is said that after John Wesley got through preaching one time, some people came up and they said, Mr. Wesley, we got really bad news.

We got really bad news for you. Wesley said, What's happening? He said, Well, your house is caught on fire, and it has burned to the ground. There's nothing left.

And Wesley said, You must be mistaken. I don't have a house. And they said, Well, yeah, you do.

It's at this address. And that house is burned to the ground. Wesley said, I don't have a house. That's your house.

He said, No, you don't understand. I turned that house over to God. It's God's house. God wants to burn it down. He can burn it down. If he wanted to keep it, he should have taken better care of his house. But it's not my house. It's God's house. And so when you come to that point in your life, it's just not, it's not mine.

It's God's. I turn it over to you. Let me give you another example. I mean, just even little things. Now, Chad, you're talking about the big stuff. What about the little stuff? Can I tell you something? When you're God, it's all little stuff. There ain't no big stuff when you're God, okay?

Even little stuff, like you go to the airport. Can we speak to Mr. Chad Harvey, please? You come to the counter?

Yes, sir. I'm sorry, you've been bumped. You won't be on this flight. We don't have another flight. You've got a flight going out tonight. You've got to fly tomorrow morning.

Now I can get mad and I can get angry. And God, how can you do this to me? I just want to go home.

I want to be my family. Or I say, God, you're in charge. I'm in control. I'm sorry, you're in charge. You're in control. That's kind of how we do it. You're in charge, but I'm in control.

That's kind of interesting, isn't it? God, if you wanted me on that flight, I would have been on that flight. But evidently, you don't want me on that flight. And so God, look, what if, what if you were going to sit beside somebody for six hours with a really bad body odor? And that's why God bumped you. And he said, I'm doing you a favor here.

Well, I don't know what it is. But at some point, you have to say, he's in control. I can fight him and I can get mad. But God, I just remembered 1 Peter 5 says, cast all my cares onto you. It's not my problem. It's your problem, God. And look, even with illnesses, it's going to sound cruel, and I'm not trying to be cruel. But a man, you don't know him.

He's not here. Don't worry about it. But a man called me up and said, Chad, I got prostate cancer.

And it's rocked my world. I don't know what I'm going to do. And I said, what are you going to do? We're going to pray and fast and see God's face and believe in God for healing.

Y'all believe God can still heal today? I said, that's what we're going to do. Yeah, but what if I die? If I said, okay, if you die, I promise you, we'll get you a good funeral. We'll put you in the ground. And I'll see you again in the presence of Jesus Christ one day. And what do you want me to say? I'll give you a 100% guarantee.

I can't give you that kind of guarantee. I do know this. God is not only the God of this world in this dimension, he's the God of the next world of the next dimension. And when I leave this dimension, that God is still there. And he's going to take me from this place to that place.

He is in control. I told you this. I've shared this story before Bruce Larson is a he's a psychologist in Manhattan. And he said, when when people come to me dealing with anxiety, he's trying to find out their spiritual walk.

And so when I find out they're Christian, he said, I always do the same thing. I said, you know what, let's leave my counseling office. And let's just go walk downtown Manhattan.

So so we leave my my counseling office, and we go downtown Manhattan. And there's a statue, I think it's off of Fifth Avenue, of the Greek god Atlas, you know what I'm talking about? And Atlas is there's this humongous statue, and he's bent over like this. And he has the globe, the world on his back, and he's training, and he's trying to keep this world up.

And he's there. And he's always tell my patients, Christian patients, you can live your life like that. He said, then I always take them across the street to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

And behind the high altar there, there's a little statue of Jesus as a little boy. And his hands are like this. And the the earth is right there in his hands. And he said, or you can live your life like that. You live your life like Atlas. I'm in charge. I'm in control. I got to keep things going.

Or you can live your life like that. Jesus is in charge. He is in control of my earth. He's in control of my world, my times and my life are in his hands, which way you're going to live. And that that's this connection between humility and no anxiety that I'm talking about.

I got to give you a warning here. You live like that, you will be an oddity in this world. Actually, you live like when everybody else is losing their mind, and everybody's upset. And you're sitting there with the peace that passes all understanding.

Trust me, they're not going to like you. Have you noticed this miserable world wants you to be as miserable as they are? So you live with this peace that passes all understanding. He's in charge.

He's in control. I'm just going to rest in him. I'm not going to panic. I'm not going to be anxious. That's fine.

But not everybody's going to like that, understand that, or appreciate that. I heard Pastor Kenneth Hagin talking about that years ago. He said, I got saved as a young man. And he said, I started reading the Bible. And I read that Jesus said, he said, I started reading in Matthew.

He's only gotten a couple chapters. And I read Jesus said, therefore, I tell you, do not be worried. He said, I read that. And I said, Wait a second, all my life. I've been worried. And now the man right there is telling me I can't worry.

So he said on July 4 1933, I made a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ from this day on, I'm going to obey you. I'm not gonna worry about anything. And he said it was hard. It's not an easy thing. It takes time to break that worry thing. I think I think breaking the worry addiction.

The anxiety addiction is harder than breaking the crack cocaine addiction. But he said, I broke that. And he said, what I found throughout the years, is everybody who would get upset when something happened, will get mad at me, because I'm not upset. He said, my wife didn't understand it.

He said, I'll never forget. We're trying to get back into those that we have this little teeny tiny church parsonage. He said, we're trying to get in there one night. And he said, we got these two little kids, little infants, we're trying to hold our two kids.

Manage the kids. It's dark. We're trying to unlock the door.

We're having a hard time. He said, my wife's getting frustrated and aggravated. She drops the key. She's mad. He said, I'm not.

And she finally looked at him. She says, you make me so mad. She said, you probably wouldn't get mad. You probably wouldn't worry. You probably wouldn't be anxious. If me and the two kids drop dead right here right now.

He's Well, yeah, I'd be a fool to stop start worrying then because you're already be dead. There's nothing I can do about it. So I want to live like that. Where there's just in the midst of the storm. Jesus is standing up in my boot and he's saying, just peace be still. And the wind and the waves just see.

You can live like that. When you start taking God at his word. He's in charge. He's in control. He loves you.

He's got your best. Y'all believe he's got his best your best interest at heart. You believe that? Then why are you worried?

I love this story. I was listening to a pastor. He's talking about this.

You know, when you go through the Bible, you just see this all over the Bible from Genesis all the way to Revelation. He is sovereign. He's in charge. He's in control.

It's all over the place. And he said, I'm so mad. I texted my friends who are also watching it. And I said to my friend, this coach has lost his mind. Why would he take this guy out? Friend takes it back.

What do you mean? He's already put him back in. No, he's not. He said, Yeah, he's already put him back in. He said, weird things like that were happening. And he said, then I realized there was something wrong with my Wi Fi. There was some kind of delay on my Wi Fi. He said, and as the game went on that lag time in my Wi Fi.

I got worse. So I'd be watching something on TV. But here in the announcer say something else. And he said, I would watch and like, Oh, man, my favorite team just turned the ball over. We're about to lose the announcer would say, the team just got a three pointer. It's like, as I finally realized the announcer was several seconds ahead of me. I'm watching one thing.

Everything looks horrible. But I'm hearing another thing. No, no, everything's okay. He said that I had to make a choice. Am I going to trust what I'm watching?

Or am I going to trust what the announcer is saying? And beloved, you need to listen to me. At some point, you're going to have to ask yourself, I know things look bleak. I know things look hopeless. I know things from this perspective doesn't look good. I can see it with my own eyes.

You supply all your needs according to your riches in Christ Jesus Christ, the no weapon formed against you is going to prosper. The God who began the good work is going to carry it on to completion in Christ Jesus. And I'm asking you right now, do you believe in what you see with your eyes, or what God the announcer is saying? That book right there says, he is in charge. He is in control. He has a plan for your life. And you can't thwart that plan. He's in control.

You can fight it. But in the end, he wins. And so I take you back as we close. First Peter five, seven.

It's beautiful. Peter says, Do you see this? First Peter five says, he says, cast or casting all your cares on him. In Greek casting which means a point in time once and for all action. And here's what Peter's saying.

How much longer you can be worn out, stressed out, killing yourself with anxiety. You need to come to a point of time in your life where you say, from this day forward, I am no longer in control. I submit to you God, you're in control.

Some of y'all need to do that today. I love you, but you're control freaks. Humility, destroys anxiety.

Pride builds up anxiety, because pride says, No, God's not in charge. I'm in charge. No, you're not.

He is. And there needs to come a point in your life where you say, I cast all my anxieties beginning today on you. It's interesting that word cast. Peter's actually quoting Psalm 37.

In Psalm 37, it doesn't say cast. It says this, roll your anxieties. In other words, you got some problems, they're too big for you to lift up and give to God, you got to roll it on God.

It's like it's in the back of your pickup truck, you just roll it off. God is saying my problem. This is your problem, right? I'm telling you, come to that point in your life where you now relinquish control to Him. You now submit to Him. I'm no longer, this is no longer my family is your family. I'm no longer in control. You're in control.

Your head to your toes just starts to take over. In fact, stand with me right now. We haven't used the altar in a while, but we're going to use it this morning.

If you're dealing with anxiety, worry, fear, just a few moments, I'm going to ask you to come forward to this altar. And we're going to do two things. Number one, we're going to submit to God. We're going to say, God, I am no longer in control. You're in control. God, I've tried to make things work.

I can't make it work anymore. God, I'm not in control. You're in control. And then we're going to take whatever those things are that's making you anxious.

It could be your health situation, your financial situation, your family situation. And no matter how hard you work on this stuff, it ain't getting better. What we're going to do is we're going to turn it over to God. You know, sometimes we come forward and we lift our hands in worship. Sometimes we come forward and we lift it in surrender. Whatever it is that's making us anxious and worried, we're going to turn it over to God like this. Once you give it to him, you can't take it back up.

You got to leave it right here. What Satan's going to do is two o'clock in the morning, he's going to wake you up and say, hey, what about that financial situation? He goes, hey, Satan, that ain't my financial situation. I gave it over to God at church today.

Leave me alone. This is God's problem. It's not my problem. You're going to roll over and go back to sleep. Satan's going to say, hey, what about his family situation?

He's going to say, what? Family situation. It's not my family situation. Satan, I gave that over to God at church this morning.

It's not my problem. Isn't that great that you can just give it to God and leave it in the hands of God. So right now, if you're dealing with worry, stress, anxiety, you've got something that's keeping you up at night.

It's making you afraid and anxious and you want to turn it over to God. Would you come right now? Let's just gather around the front and let's just turn it over to God right now.

Come, come, come, come real quickly. We're going to do two things. We're going to submit to God. We're going to say, God, I'm no longer in control. As of this moment, you are now in control. I give it over to you. And then we're going to take those specific things you've been worried about and we're going to give it over to God.

Now let me say this again. You can't tell God how to handle it. Once it's His, it's His. It ain't yours no more, okay? So if you want to keep manipulating it and managing it and get involved in it and mother-in-laws, if you want to kind of keep getting into your kid's business and trying to make things okay, well then you go on back to your seat because at this point you're going to say these kids that are driving me crazy, Father, that they're now your kids. This marriage problem with my kids, it's no longer my problem.

It's your problem. So I want you to do this right now. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just bow before the Father and say something like this.

It doesn't have to be just like this, but something like this. God forgive me for worrying. Say that then because it's a sin. God forgive me for being anxious. Forgive me for worrying. I plead the blood of Jesus over this sin, over this sin. Worry that I've been committed.

Just start with that. Just ask God's forgiveness. You can't keep, if you're having an affair, you can't keep having an affair. You got to stop having an affair. If you keep worrying, you got to keep worrying.

You got to stop worrying. God forgive me in the name of Jesus. And then say this to the most powerful words in the world. God, you are in control. Father, I yield to you. I surrender to you. I'm not in control. You are in control.

Say that then. Now I want you to do this. I want you to look at your hands and imagine that that marriage thing that's driving you crazy is in your hands.

Or that business situation or that financial situation. Imagine sitting right there in your hands right now. I want you to turn your hands like this. Turn it up and just give it over to God right now and say, Father, in the name of Jesus, I give you this and just name whatever it is. Father, right now I give you whatever it is you give to him right now. I give you this marriage. I give you these finances.

I give you this health crisis. It's not mine. It's yours. It's yours.

It's yours. You can deal with it or God can deal with it. If you want to deal with it, he's going to leave it in your hands.

If you want him to deal with it, turn it over to him right now. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, all over this place, we just say to you, we're not in control. Our anxiety, Father, has gone because we thought we were in control and we've been telling you how to make our life work.

We don't tell you nothing right now. You're God. We submit to you right now. Father, we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. You are in control. Father, you are in control.

We're going to keep saying it until we believe it, Father. You are in control right now. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we give you these challenges right now. Beloved, listen to me. Right now, keep praying. Right now, some of y'all are in a major, major battle in your life. I think God wants to say to you the same thing he said to the Israelites when they were about to be slaughtered by the Egyptians. Stand still and watch God. God will fight this battle for you.

You just keep silent and God's going to fight for you. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I proclaim to you right now, God is a warrior. He is putting on the armor. He has taken up the sword. He's standing up for you. He's getting in between you and your enemy. You be quiet.

You stand still. You watch as God the Father goes to battle for you and gives you victory in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can we sing to the Father right now? Let's sing this to the Lord right now.

There's power in the mighty name of Jesus. Every war he wages he will win. And I'm backing down from any giant because I know how this story ends. I'm going to see your victory. I'm going to see your victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm going to see your victory.

I'm going to see your victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. You take what the enemy meant for evil and you turn it for good. You turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil and you turn it for good.

You turn it for good. I'm going to see your victory. I'm going to see your victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord.

I've said this before. We lie in church more during our song time than any other time. We say things like, I want to get a victory. We don't think we're going to get a victory. The battle belongs to God.

Look, I've been here 21 years. The big thing I've been trying to instill in us for 21 years is this warrior spirit. Be bold, be strong because the Lord, you got us with you. I'm trying to instill that. And that's for women.

You all know women, you know you could be warriors too, right? You know that? You all read the story about a lady named JL in the Old Testament? You read about that? One of the wicked enemies of God was laying there and she comes up with a railroad spike and a hammer.

She puts that spike right through the guy's brains. I think I might preach that next Sunday with the kids in here. Men and women, we're warriors. I've said this before. When it comes to crises and conflict, there are two kinds of people in the world.

There are warriors and there are warriors. And I'm saying to you, I don't care if the forces of hell coming up against you this week, greater is He who's in you than all those forces combined out there. And so that's why every week, I hope you don't get tired of it, I keep saying the same thing every week because I just realized if I will get what I'm about to say to you and you get what I'm about to say to you, it's going to change your life. Raise your hands and receive this blessing from God. Be bold, be strong and don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of anything.

Why? Is that God, the God of the universe? He is going to be with you everywhere you go. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen and amen. God bless you, beloved. Let's go change this world for Jesus Christ. God bless you.