Last week we began exploring God’s desire that we be at peace. We looked at peace expressed through Psalm 23 and discovered that peace requires that we be talking with God through all circumstances of life, whether those circumstances are gracious living or difficult challenges. The psalmist showed us that God desires our fellowship and conversation.
God has always desired that we have fellowship with him. We see God expressing his desire for fellowship and conversation in the earliest pages of the Bible. In Chapter 3 of the book of Genesis, we would find that the Lord God entered the garden he created. God was seeking the man and woman he created and whom he placed in the garden to care for it. When the man and woman did not come to God to speak with him, God called out and said, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9)
God has seeking fellowship with men and women since the time of creation. Why would God want to do such a thing? The answer is fairly simple. God desired fellowship with us because it was part of what God saw as being very good.
God was the first being to describe something as “very good.” We heard God speak those words earlier this morning when we read from Genesis, Chapter 1. God had created man and woman in his image and then blessed them. “29 Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:29-31a).
When God had completed creating, he said everything was “very good.” The beauty of the earth, the animals, birds, fish, plants, wind, rain, and humanity all working together was very good, meaning it had the quality of being excellent. The relationships between man and woman was very good. The relationship between the first couple was complete, compatible, and excellent. Finally, God’s relationship with the woman and God’s relationship with the man were equal and excellent. It was the moment in which nature, humanity, and God were at peace.
Peace in the original context was expressed through the Hebrew word, shalom, שָׁלוֹם, shaw-lome'. The word shalom carries with the meaning of completeness, safety, soundness, welfare, health, prosperity, quiet, tranquility, contentment, friendship of human relationships, and friendship with God. Things were right and, in that rightness, God sought to be in fellowship and conversation with the man and woman because that too would be very good for them.
And so, we have a picture, a mental image of peace, that God created and sustained. Well, we know the story. That peace, that sense of shalom, would become marred by sin. The man and woman had sinned and rather than seeking fellowship with God, they hid from God. Why? Because they became afraid and filled with anxiety.
Anxiety has at its root the sense of choking and squeezing people with an unending series of “What if” questions that drain the goodness out of life. So powerful is anxiety that it alone has the capacity to keep us from fellowship with God, as we mentioned in Genesis, and in even appreciating God’s Word.
Let me give you an illustration as to that latter point. One day, Jesus told a parable about a farmer sowing seed. He said some of that seed fell among the thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the plants. When Jesus explained the parable, he said the seed sown by the farmer was the Word of God and the “thorns referred to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22). Anxiety is a powerful choking force that strangles the goodness of life and is even strong enough for us not to hear God’s own words.
In our country, the number of people who are anxious continues to increase. One study I read examined anxiousness among us from the period 2008 to 2018. The report from that study stated, “Overall, our results are consistent with and extend prior findings that mental health has worsened in the US by showing that anxiety, too, has broadly increased among adults in the US over the past decade. Anxiety appears most common among young adults and has increased more rapidly among 18 to 25-year-olds than among any other age group. Anxiety also increased more rapidly among those never married versus married and among those with a high school diploma or some college versus those who did not complete high school. Anxiety increased consistently across racial/ethnic, gender and income subgroups” (Trends in anxiety among adults in the United States, 2008–2018: Rapid increases among young adults).
Another report having similar findings made this conclusion, “Unfortunately, no one seems to have an exact answer as to why anxiety is so common” (https://www.banyanmentalhealth.com/2019/03/11/why-is-anxiety-so-common).
One final study I want to mention, evaluated the work of 32 other studies, a study of studies. That inquiry looked to see if there was any linkage between human anxiousness and religion. The investigators reported, “This review showed, in almost every study, that religion in general, religious training, spirituality, faith, prayer, religious community and worship were associated with reduced anxiety (stress). These effects were observed in both healthy individuals and in various [anxiety] patient populations” (https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/ijda/international-journal-of-depression-and-anxiety-ijda-2-016.php?jid=ijda).
I find it interesting that medical studies show that our sense of peace is restored and sustained the more we commit ourselves to worship, to fellowship, to prayer, to faith, and understanding the Word of God.
It is fascinating those medical studies have concluded what the Apostle Paul shared with in his letter to the church at Philippi some 2,000 years ago. Paul said, “6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). Let Paul’s words fall on your ears for a moment.
Paul’s words are exceptional and as many people realize it. Consider this point, Amazon has sold tens of millions of Kindles, electronic readers. One of thing those Kindle readers allow users to do is to highlight sentences in the books for later reference. Amazon tracks what gets highlighted. The most highlighted book across all Kindles is the Bible. The most highlighted passage of the Bible is Philippians 4:6-7. Paul’s passage on exchanging anxiousness for peace.
Paul point, noted by millions, was that anxiousness will come to us from the world and from living in this world. The antidote for anxiousness though is to talk to God and give that anxiousness to him. In fellowship and conversation with God, our anxiousness, that choking sense of worry, is replaced with peace. Paul was revealing here that God is continually seeking to restore peace, to bring us back to the garden where everything was very good. For it was in that garden, described in Genesis, that a peace that transcends all our understanding of today existed.
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message translation of the Bible put Paul’s thoughts this way, “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4:6-7, MSG).
I like what Peterson’s words, “It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry.” You see it is not enough for us to simply “stop worrying,” as some would counsel us to do. Even if we could stop worrying on our own, eliminating worry would leave a void in our life. Something else would fill the void.
Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life. (25) Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (31) But seek first his (God’s) kingdom” (33a) (Matthew 6:25, 31, 33). Jesus said hand over your worries and replace the void they leave in our life with God.
I have experienced this exchange of anxiousness for peace on several notable occasions in my life. In my twenties, anxiousness about the future was consuming my thoughts until I gave them over to God who filled my thoughts with reassuring peace. When our first-born grandson was to undergo major surgery at just one month old, worry and anxiousness was choking us, until we prayed the words of Psalm 139. Our hearts calmed and the awareness of God’s presence became evident.
Not that long ago, nearly everyone sought the kingdom of God first. Nearly everyone read the Bible and engaged in public and private prayer, as well as family prayer, and great numbers heard, once each week, sermons that expounded the gospel. Once a week there was a day that reminded all people of a dimension of their lives other than those of the surface. Now most of this is gone. Instead, of being settled in all circumstances, people are anxious even in the best of circumstances.
So what are we to do? We then need to return to fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-29 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you 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.”
Whenever we face anxiousness, as we feel it begin to well up within us to make its way to choke our life, we should immediately fellowship with God. We should say, “Lord,- I cannot bear worry and anxiousness alone. I pray that you give me the strength - not strength to endure - but strength to let go - to turn over my burdens and my fears to you. Let me do so - and find rest." And you know what - it does take strength to let go - to give your burdens to Jesus. It is part of trusting God’s word. Now here is some good news - it works. There is in that act or instance of sharing - that communion with Jesus - an easing of the anxiousness. We are reminded that whatever we are going through – we are not going through it alone, and that no matter how things turn out, we will remain in God’s kingdom.
“You know that Jesus did not come to earth to tell us merely what we ought to do; He came to do something for us. He came not merely to exhort but to help. He did not come to give us good advice. Advice is cheap, but what Christ offered us was infinitely costly. It was the power of God unto salvation” (Baille, Invitation to Pilgrimage (51)). It is this power that breaks the anxious thoughts that invade our life. It is knowing that God is at work constantly and continually sustaining us into eternal life with him that brings peace.
Consider for a moment, the thief on the cross next to Jesus. The thief had only one thought left. “42 He said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ 43 Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43). In that moment, the thief would be restored to the inexpressible sense of peace God had first created and preserved in paradise,
Consider Paul. He was likely speaking about himself, when he said a man “4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell” (2 Corinthians 12:4). Paul had a taste of the inexpressible sense of peace God had preserved.
Jesus said, “7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God’ (Revelation 2:7).
Knowing our ultimate destiny in life as the kingdom with God, shrinks our worries and anxieties of the present and gives us the strength to put those worries into hollow of Jesus’ hand.
To have the ability to know our destiny and trust Jesus, we need to be part of corporate, in-person, worship, frequently. We did to read the word of God daily and hear God’s Word talked about and preached every week. We need to pray daily to remind ourselves that God is working all the time to get goodness restored to us.
The psalmist practiced these spiritual disciples and discovered, “When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy” (Psalm 94:18-19). We can have that some peace and joy in the present because it is guaranteed to us for eternity.
And now, as we are in fellowship with God, let us pray for ourselves and for one another that we would have the strength to give to God what makes us anxious so that God may restore to us the joy and peace He first created and has preserved for us. Amen.