GOD’S CURE FOR YOUR ANXIETY

Matthew 11:28-30

INTRODUCTION: Ours is an age of anxiety. Though we have less to worry about than previous generations we have more worry. We see far too many furrowed brows today. We are more anxious today about the journey of this life than we are with the destination we will arrive at when this life is over: Matthew 6;25-34. Sadly today many people are having a civil war in their own hearts because instead of their body being subject to their soul, they live with their soul subject to their bodies. Like Adam and Eve we try today to cover our nakedness with the fig leaves of this world but sadly material things provide no protection for a naked barren soul. Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are all centered on the things of this world and we pay no attention to God and his will for us. Matthew 6:25.

I. MAN’S REMEDY OR GOD’S PROMISES?

The basic cause of much of our anxiety is beyond the reach of the psychiatrist and the physician. They can tinker with the symptoms of our anxiety but only God has the cure. Matthew 11:28-30. That is where our Great Physician, Jesus Christ comes in. He heals the soul as well as the mind of those who will look to Him. Many people today worry with just cause. They have the burdens of this world on their minds and do not have Jesus Christ in their hearts. Faith and obedience in Jesus Christ will not remove all our problems but God has promised that faith in Jesus Christ will give us a genuine peace and a sense of assurance that the worldly person can never know: John 16:33.

II. LEARNING OUR FIRST NEED!

Anxiety exists when our basic needs are not met. We can never come to the point of not being anxious about the things of this life apart from a knowledge of our Creator God: Psalm 42:1. There are two ways to learn in this life: the easy way or the hard way. You can learn from others mistakes or your own, but you will learn. The prodigal son had to learn the hard way: Luke 15:17-20. A lost man or woman chief need is to know the Lord. Modern psychiatry probes into the minds of people for the cause of their frustrations but the Gospel of Christ diagnoses the soul and provides a cure for our sin sick soul. Matthew 6:31-33. Anxiety is to be expected if our basic need of knowing Christ has not been met. People who have not yet been reconciled to God are unpredictable, untrustworthy, worried, and anxious.

III. DON’T TRY TO CARRY LIFE’S BURDENS ALONE!

Yes, it is true that even some Christians are anxious people. And that brings us to our third point: we have anxiety when we try to carry life’s burdens alone: 1 Peter 5:6-11. Sadly, the truth is that even many Christians have yet to learn that we are not meant to go through this life alone: Matthew 11:29. God never meant for us to go into this life alone. The souls of men and women boys and girls cries out for the living God and they will never have peace until their soul rests in God. The sad truth is that we spend far too much time worrying about things we were never meant to control and not enough attention to those things God has called us to control. Look at Out of my Control and in my Control. 1 Corinthians 15:22. Jesus Christ mended our separation from our God by His finished work on the cross. We need to seek God’s kingdom first. We need to get our eyes off ourselves and focus them on God first and others second. Commit yourself fully to Christ. Don’t be half-hearted in your commitment to Christ. Luke 23:46. The truly happy Christian is the truly fully committed Christian. Philippians 1:21; John 1:12-13; Philippians 4:4-8; Romans 5:1-5; Matthew 11:28-30.