 |
| Rev. Brent Russett |
Pastor of
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/ _______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, August 17th, 2014:
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‘Anxiety and Trust’
Good
morning. And welcome to good news in the morning. My name is Brent Russett. I
am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church. It is my pleasure to look at
some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.
This
program is brought to you by Good News Christian Ministries.
You
can find Good News in the morning on the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca.
There you can hear past episodes and find interesting articles.
This
morning I want to talk to you about Anxiety
and trust.
I am
going to take you to a passage of scripture found in the Old Testament book of
Isaiah 30:8-22. Isaiah was a prophet
Here
is the background to this scripture that was written about 2700 years ago. Israel is in danger. Israel seemed to go
through these cycles. When Israel was faithful to the Lord God kept them safe. Then they would turn from the
true God, and they would allow idols and altars to infest their land. God would
warn them. God would send prophets to let them know that this is not going to
work.
But
usually they would not listen. They would continue their ways of worshipping false
gods, and promoting injustice. Then an enemy would overtake them. After a while
they would repent and God would deliver them.
Well
they are in one of those phases where they have turned away from God. The enemy
is at their borders. God is calling them through is prophets to repent and turn
back to them.
But
they say, we have a better idea. Let’s make an alliance with Egypt. Egypt has
chariots and horses, and if we make an alliance with them and pay tribute to
them, then we will be safe.
That
is the shorthand of the background. With that, let me read the scripture to
you. I am going to read the first part of this passage in a translation called
The Message – it takes a lot of interpretation license but tells the story
better. I am going to read the second part of this passage from the New Living
Translations – because it is a more accurate translation – which will be more
important for our purposes latter on.
Isaiah 30:8–14
(The Message) – VS 18
8–11 So, go now and write all this
down.
Put
it in a book
So
that the record will be there
to
instruct the coming generations,
Because
this is a rebel generation,
a
people who lie,
A
people unwilling to listen
to
anything God tells them.
They
tell their spiritual leaders,
“Don’t
bother us with irrelevancies.”
They
tell their preachers,
“Don’t
waste our time on impracticalities.
Tell
us what makes us feel better.
Don’t
bore us with obsolete religion.
That
stuff means nothing to us.
Quit
hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”
12–14 Therefore, The Holy of Israel
says this:
“Because
you scorn this Message,
Preferring
to live by injustice
and
shape your lives on lies,
This
perverse way of life
will
be like a towering, badly built wall
That
slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,
and
then one day, without warning, collapses—
Smashed
to bits like a piece of pottery,
smashed
beyond recognition or repair,
Useless,
a pile of debris
to
be swept up and thrown in the trash.”
NEW LIVING TRANSLATION
God Takes the Time to Do Everything Right
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into
battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
Now I
need to tell you that I like you have not put my trust in the chariots of the
Egyptians lately. But never the less, I do find myself in the same boat as the
people of Jerusalem from time to time.
Imagine
if you lived in Jerusalem at the time of Isaiah. The walls are high and thick
but within the walls the fear is palpable. The enemy is rumbling. The enemy is
stirring. Now the walls have not been breached in recent memory, but the army
that is coming is bigger and badder than anything we have seen in our life
time. The walls that have served us well in our lifetime – well we are not sure
that they can hold, that we can survive.
And
worse than that everything we are hearing from God lately seems negative. Well
we are not sure if it is God or not. To tell you the truth the people who we
are hearing it from, well they are really annoying.
After
all if I followed what they said, it would cost me money. But I could deal with
that, but they want me to get rid of the little silver idols that are in a
couple corners of my house. I like my idols. I need my idols, especially when I
am feeling stressed out. They bring me comfort.
But I got to say, they are bringing me a
lot less comfort than they use to. The anxiety, the fear, the uncertainty they
overwhelm me.
But I
know what we need to do. We need a strategy. The enemy is coming – if we could
just deal with the enemy then we would be ok. Everything would be fine.
I
know what we need to do. I am worried about the fact that we are not going to
be strong enough to deal with the enemy. So what we need is more strength.
Maybe we can buy strength.
The
Egyptian Army is pretty impressive. They have horses and chariots and
everything. If I were to make an alliance with them, well then they would help
me with enemy. Now, I know that back in our history that they enslaved us. But
I won’t let that happen. And I know that they will demand tribute for protection.
I know that there is nothing saying that the protection money won’t go up and
up every year. And if we stop paying it, they might attack us, but at least it
deals with the immediate problem.
I
know it is not perfect, but it is the best strategy I can think of.
Here is what God says,
Isaiah 31:1
(NLT)
1 What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help,
trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers
and depending on the strength of human armies
instead of looking to the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
But
at least our friend in Jerusalem would feel like he was doing something. We all
trust something. But God says to the people of Jerusalem, trusting in horses
and chariots and armies, creates sorrow.
Can
you imagine the kind of anxiety that the people of Jerusalem would be feeling
as they lived inside the walls. There are rumours of an army that is
coming. Food is in short supply. Life is
harder because everyone around you seems anxious.
The
crazy thing is that a lot of you will not have to go too far in your
imagination to get at that anxiety. Oh, you don’t have an army bearing down on
you, but some of you are under so much stress at work that it feels like an
army is against you. For others of you, you know what it is like to feel the
anxiety that comes with marital discord. For others you live in constant fear
because of something that has happened to you earlier in life. I could go on,
but most of us live with a fair amount of anxiety.
Here is what you need to know, anxiety can
be your friend. Because in anxiety can be God’s sign post. It can show you what
your soul hungers for, and what your soul finds security in. It can show you
what your soul is thirsty for. Anxiety
is the megaphone of the soul. It lets you know what your soul is saying.
Music
(Fear not? – Trust)
Some
of the most peaceful, joyful people I have met have been brothers and sisters
in Christ from very poor countries. I know this one pastor from Egypt who knows
what it means to have his life threatened, and he knows what it means to go
without. And yet there is a peace and a joy in that man’s life that is
incredible.
I
know another man from Sierra Leone. He came through the war where the rebels
were cutting off peoples limbs. He lives in one of the poorest country in the
world. Yet you meet this guy and there is a genuine smile on his face and there
is real peace and joy in his life.
I
have also sat with millionaires who are really stressed out. I have sat with
people who have everything and their anxiety is through the roof. I have had
periods in my life where my anxiety has been through the roof.
And
when I look at my friend from Egypt whose life has been in danger, that danger
has caused him to turn towards to Lord and he has found the Lord to be sufficient.
When
I look at the lives of those who are living in high anxiety, I often see us
turning towards our equivalent of Egyptian horses. If we are worried about
finances, then we need to figure out how to make more or save more. If we are
worried about job security we need to figure out a way to minimize the risk.
Here is what God says.
Isaiah 30:15
(NLT)
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
God
says, you have a choice. If you will return to me you will be saved. If you
will trust in me and put your confidence in me you will have the strength to do
what you need to do to live well in the face of the enemy.
But
he says to Israel, “You would have none of it.”
Isaiah 30:16–17
(NLT)
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into
battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”
And
the same thing happens to us, when we refuse to trust God with our issues. We
implement our strategies, we trust in our own abilities and the cycle of
anxiety continues in our lives. The sleepless nights and the worried filled days
continues. Then we make decisions based on fear, which are often bad decisions.
Often
in our fear, we wall ourselves in, and others out. We hunker down and hope the
storm flies by and all the while are souls shrivel. Our hearts grow cold. What
a description
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”
Where is God in all this,
Isaiah 30:18
(NLT)
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
The
Lord is longing to show you his compassion and love. He is waiting for you to
turn to him, and put the full weight of your life on him. He is waiting for you
to trust him.
Isaiah 30:19
(NLT)
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.
He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
God
is waiting on you to trust in him.
So
the questions are, will you trust him with your reputation? Will you trust him
in your finances? Will you trust him with your career? Will you trust him with
your future? Will you trust him with your life? Will you trust him with your
death? Will you trust him with your eternity? Will you trust him with your
family? Will you trust him with your kids? Will you trust him will all of your
life?
Now
if you have been around the church for a while, and if you have given your life
to Jesus, then you will know that the right answer to all of those questions
is, “Yes, I will trust him.”
But
sometimes knowing the right answer, even telling God the right answer, doesn’t
do it.
So
what do you do with the anxiety and fear that is in your heart. I would
encourage you to think of it as God’s built in way, of allowing your soul to
talk to you. Anxiety is the soul’s megaphone.
This
is sometimes where we need Christian Counselors, or Spiritual directors, or
spiritual friends, or people with pastoral gifts. Sometimes just taking up the
discipline of journaling will help. But sometimes it is hard to hear what our
own soul is saying to us.
Our
fears speak so loud that we can’t seem to hear what our soul is hungry for, and
what our soul is trusting in. Some people find journaling a helpful way of
hearing their soul.
But
in the middle of your anxiety and fear, God wants to teach you about himself
and yourself. God will give you over to your own anxieties until you come to
him with your anxiety.
Isaiah 30:20–22
(NLT)
20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21 Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
whether to the right or to the left.
22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols
and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
saying to them, “Good riddance!”
As
you start to listen to what your own soul is saying, God is going to teach you.
You are then going to hear what God is saying, you are then going to hear him
directing you.
As
you do that, you are going to see the idols in your life. Those idols can be
made of gold or silver like in Jerusalem, or they can be made of comfort and
pleasure and security and significance and a whole lot more materials.
As
you see what God is offering you and what they are offering you, you are going
to throw them out and say, “Good riddance.”
Isaiah 30:23
(NLT)
23 Then the Lord will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be
wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your livestock.
The
passage goes onto say of what the blessing of God will look like in the life of
Israel. I don’t know what the blessing of God will look like in your life, but
it will be good. He will take care of the enemies of your soul and he will do
what is good and right both now and to eternity.
But
that all starts out by answering the question, what is my soul saying to me?
And
when you answer that question, are you willing to turn to God with that. Are
you willing to trust God for that? Are you willing to deal with the idols of
your soul.
Here
is what you need to know. The answer to those questions will dictate your
journey into the future.
Let’s
Pray:
Lord, for many
who see what their soul is saying and the anxiety is overwhelming, I pray, Lord,
that you would reveal their soul to them, what’s their soul saying to them. And
Lord, that you would show them how faithful you are to them.
Lord, I ask these
things in your name. Amen.
Thank
you for your words of encouragement, and for keeping us in your prayers. Keeping this program on the air continues to
be a work of faith. If you can help with that, please make out a cheque payable
to Good News Christian Ministries, Box 184 , Rideau Ferry , On. K0G 1W0. Or you can give online by going to
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May you know Jesus Christ personally and
profoundly. May the Holy Spirit reside
deep within your heart . And may the
heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying
love
MUSIC
–
-
Rev. Brent Russett
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa
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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:
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