Telling the Truth

Female Announcer: Scripture reminds us to guard our hearts and minds so that we may focus on the peace of God in every situation. Today on Telling the Truth, we'll hear from Stuart Briscoe about looking to God's word for true peace. You'll hear that message in just a moment.

In their two-message series, "Worry Less," Stuart and Jill Briscoe help you break free from worry and experience the joy and peace God wants for you. We'll send you a copy of this resource, plus Jill's booklet, "Me Worry," as thanks for your gift today to help others experience life in Christ. So call today to request your copy of "Worry Less" and "Me Worry."

1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, let's hear from Stuart with today's message on Telling the Truth.

Stuart Briscoe: Now, we're going to look into Philippians chapter 4, continuing the series entitled, "Whatever Happens." We've been reminding ourselves that life is full of happenings, many of which come our way, and without any warning, we are required to respond or react to them.

Given that we have no forewarning very often of the things that come our way, the reactions that we have are very often either intuitive or instinctive. And they are indicative of what is actually going on inside us. In the same way that if you squeeze a tube of toothpaste, the kind of toothpaste that's inside squirts out. Whatever happens to us, that which is inside squirts out.

And so, it's a timely word for us that Paul gives us when he says, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ." The big question, of course, now is, "Well, what's a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ?" And that's what we've been trying to answer as we've looked in other parts of this epistle.

Now, today we're going to notice that what Paul is telling us is, "Whatever happens, don't worry." That's right, you heard it right. "Whatever happens, don't worry." Now, I know, I know that some of you are sitting out there and saying, "Well, if he was sitting where I am instead of standing up there, he wouldn't say, 'Don't worry.' If he was having to go through what I'm going through, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera."

Well, the fact of the matter is this, that you don't know what I'm going through, and I don't know what you're, well, I do know what some of you are going through, but that is basically irrelevant. Let me tell you why. Because I'm not going to tell you, "Hey guys, this is how I've learned not to worry, and you should do it too." That's not, that's not the approach.

The approach is that the scriptures, listen very carefully, which are eternally true, and therefore are always contemporaneously and universally relevant, tell us how to handle worry. Did you get that? The scriptures which are eternally true, and therefore are always contemporaneously and universally relevant, tell us what to do.

So this isn't Briscoe who, you say, "Well, he's a pretty laid-back sort of fella. He doesn't worry. He's not wound up tight. He's not a worrier like I am." Don't say that. Just simply let your heart hang over this scripture and see what it has to say to you, and and to me as well.

So whatever happens, don't worry. That's the theme. Let me read to you now from Philippians chapter 4, commencing with verse 4. This is what he says.

"Rejoice in the Lord always." "I'll say it again, rejoice." "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you."

Now, there's a very straightforward, really quite startling passage of scripture. Notice it gives us some very definite instructions, and it gives us two monumental promises that are relevant for all of us at all times.

Now, we're going to be talking about the fact that we need to learn how to handle our anxieties. Given that our world is full of anxiety-inducing situations and an anxiety-inducing people, it is not unusual for people to be worrying and anxious about their lives. That's as far as the people they know and the events that they're experiencing.

But there's another dimension to it as well, and that is the future. The unknown, the uncertainty. It's the uncertainty and the future and the unknown aspects of life that often are the anxiety-inducing factors. Mark Twain said, "My life has been full of many problems, most of which never happened."

Now, think of that for a minute. "My life has been full of many problems, most of which never happened." And what's he referring to? He's referring to the fact, presumably, that he had looked at the future, the unknown, with a degree of uncertainty and trepidation, and had spent a lot of time being anxious about things and worrying about things that actually never happened. "My life has been full of many problems, most of which never happened."

What then is anxiety? I thought I better make sure about this before I talked about it, so I checked in the dictionary, and I was really quite interested in the definition. It said, "Anxiety is concern respecting some event future or uncertain, which disturbs the mind and keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness." Well, that was rather interesting. In fact, a rather graphic description for a dictionary.

"Concern which disturbs the mind." I was intrigued by that statement because the Greek word that is translated anxiety or anxious is made up of two words actually, one word for the mind and the other word for divided. And it has the same idea that anxiety is all about the disturbed mind, turmoil in our thinking.

But notice that it goes on to say that this disturbance of the mind keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness. This chronic sense of pain, this ongoing sense of uneasiness or, if you like, disease. That is the anxiety that so often we experience, either because of the situations that we're in that we can't change, or because of the things that we dread in the future.

Now then, listen very carefully to what the scripture says. "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I'm afraid that very often, because of our worrisome situations, or because of our fears and trepidations about the future, we settle into an anxious state of mind and decide it's normal. That's just how it is. Hey, these are my circumstances. What do you expect me to do but worry? What do you expect me to do but to be riddled with anxiety?

Well, over against that normal attitude, we have these remarkable instructions of scripture, which tell us that something should be done about it, and we do not have to be living in that ongoing sense of a state of painful uneasiness.

Female Announcer: This is Telling the Truth, and you've just heard Stuart Briscoe's message, "Don't Worry." Coming up, we'll hear from Stuart as he answers a few questions. Life is full of stressful situations, so it's no surprise that so many of us these days struggle with things like anxiety, fear, and worry.

That's why Stuart and Jill Briscoe created their two-message series, "Worry Less," to help you take hold of the peace and joy God intends for your life. It's our thanks for your gift of support today. These encouraging messages uncover the root cause of worry and give you practical guidance straight from God's word on how to overcome worry so that it doesn't overwhelm you.

Plus, when you give today, we'll also include Jill's booklet, "Me Worry," as an extra thank you. Generous friends like you keep broadcasts like this one going, reaching others with God's healing love, so they can experience God's peace and the joy of life in Christ. So if you haven't given before, consider a gift today to help keep God's word going out around the world to you and many others.

And remember to request your copy of "Worry Less" and "Me Worry" when you call and give. Just call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Now, let's hear more from Stuart about today's message.

Stuart Briscoe: How can a person rejoice in the Lord when they may feel like life circumstances leave little room for rejoicing? Well, this is a very interesting question. Let me, let me just repeat the question and then pass it for you in just a few minutes. How can a person rejoice in the Lord when they may feel like life's circumstances leave little room for rejoicing?

Well, let me point out to you that it's talking about two entirely different things here. On the one hand, it is, it is talking about living in the light of life's circumstances, and the other is talking about living in the Lord. Now, if you live purely and simply in life's circumstances, the reality is sometimes they're going to be good, sometimes they're going to be bad.

Sometimes the bad will seem to outweigh the good, and you are pretty miserable. On the other hand, occasionally things are really good, and you really enjoy it and you feel pretty good about the whole thing, but it's up and down, up and down, up and down like a roller coaster. Now, obviously we all have to live in our circumstances, but if we've committed our life to the Lord, and we are living in Him, confident in Him, trusting in Him, looking to Him to lead and guide and direct, then our focus is not on the circumstances.

Our focus is on the Lord, and then we can begin to focus on Him when the circumstances are difficult, and we find what He has promised to do and what He is able to do in our lives will generate rejoicing in our hearts.

Female Announcer: For the believer who wants an intimate relationship with God, but whose relationship feels lackluster, how does that person with God's help begin to make that change?

Stuart Briscoe: Well, there's no question about it that life can become mundane and circumstances can be less than pleasant on occasions, and we may find that with the best will in the world, we're feeling down, we're feeling dry, we're feeling empty, we're feeling lackluster. "Lackluster" is a great word. I'm not sure where it comes from, but it, it describes this down feeling, this dry feeling.

Well, can this happen to believers? The answer is yes. It can happen to believers, of course, of course it can. So the question now becomes, well, if that's not what I want, how can I get out of this situation? And I would say there's a very simple basic way to start getting out of it, and it is this.

The two principles of living the Christian life are what the old hymn calls "trust and obey." We are to live the Christian life trusting God to do what He says He will do in our lives, and as a result of that, we live in glad, trusting obedience to Him. Now, trust and obey.

Sometimes we stop trusting, and we get focused on all that is happening to us, and we lose sight of the Lord. Check to see if there's something wrong with your trusting. The other possibility is we are told in response to God's grace that we should live a life of glad obedience. Check your obedience. And I would say, if your life is lackluster, it's probably because you've stopped trusting or you are disobeying. There's a way to start refreshing your experience of the Lord.

Female Announcer: Thanks, Stuart. Before we go, just a reminder that when you give to support Telling the Truth broadcast like this one, we'll send you the Briscoes' two-message series, "Worry Less," and Jill's booklet, "Me Worry." These encouraging resources will help you start to worry less and live with more joy.

So please, request your resources when you call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Tune in tomorrow on Telling the Truth for the second part of Stuart's message, "Don't Worry." Join us and experience life.