Anchored in the Present: Finding Peace in a Future-Obsessed World

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] Well, good morning, everyone. I'm glad you're here. I didn't think we would start off with tears that early, but here we are.
[00:00:09] And I know, like Pastor Taylor said earlier, and even Pastor Caleb, that, you know, this may be a little bit different for some of you.
[00:00:17] Now, I know some of you are part of our online family every single week, and that's incredible, and this is very normal to you, minus the fact that there's hardly anybody in the sanctuary this morning.
[00:00:27] But I know for some of you, it's not normal.
[00:00:30] And I know it's like I got four boys.
[00:00:32] I got another kid on the way.
[00:00:34] We don't know what it is yet, but we'll see.
[00:00:36] But I know what it's like to have a bunch of little kids in the house running around and it'd be noisy and chaotic and then throw in cars and we go from laughter to fighting to tears back to laughter.
[00:00:47] It's a myriad of emotions in a very short amount of time.
[00:00:50] So I get it.
[00:00:52] But there's something that I wanna share with us today on the two snow days of the year that we happen to have on a Sunday morning.
[00:01:01] And we're gonna start in Matthew chapter six.
[00:01:05] And if it is your first time, my name is Scott Broom.
[00:01:07] I'm an associate pastor here.
[00:01:08] I help lead all of our media here at the church alongside some awesome people, as well as our men's ministry on Wednesday nights, which if you're local and you're available, you should be there, all right?
[00:01:18] It's Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. at our Rock Springs campus.
[00:01:22] And if you're not local, all the messages are on YouTube the next day, so you can check those out.
[00:01:25] But I want to start in Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. And if you've been a Christian for any matter of time or you've grown up in church at all, I can pretty much guarantee that you've
[00:01:37] heard this scripture. But I want to start in verse 25. Verse 25. Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on is life not more than food in the
[00:01:58] body more than clothing look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father feeds them are you not of more value than they and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour
[00:02:13] to his span of life modern science would say typically the anxiety is gonna take away some time from your life all right but don't be anxious about that because then it's a never-ending cycle consider the lilies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor
[00:02:28] spin yet i tell you even solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these but if god so closed the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not
[00:02:41] much more clothe you oh you of little faith therefore do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the gentiles and in this case jesus by
[00:02:54] gentiles that was anybody who wasn't a jew but he means in this case anybody who's not a follower of christ anybody's not a believer right sorry it's the remedy of the tears leftover tears he says for the gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you
[00:03:11] need them all so jesus doesn't say well don't worry because you don't need clothes don't worry because you don't need food. Don't worry because you don't need a place to sleep, right? Don't worry because you don't need to pay bills. He says, don't worry. I know you need those things.
[00:03:24] He doesn't say you don't need them. He says, I know you need them. He says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these things, those other things that the
[00:03:33] Gentiles or the unbelievers worry about, he says, all those things will be added to you.
[00:03:38] And here's the verse that I really want to focus on. Therefore, because of what he's just talked about. He says, do not be anxious or divided or worried about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So Jesus's advice is essentially,
[00:04:00] don't freak out. I'll take care of tomorrow. You focus on me. Today's got enough trouble its own.
[00:04:07] Don't worry about tomorrow. All right. And you're like, if you're like me, you're like, I got it.
[00:04:13] But also there's some things tomorrow that I need to worry about, you know, right?
[00:04:17] Like this is, I mean, and if you've grown up in church, you've heard people preach this a ton.
[00:04:22] I'm sure I've preached it before about not worrying.
[00:04:25] And you're like, I got it.
[00:04:26] But now I kind of feel worried about the fact that I'm gonna worry.
[00:04:30] And how do I not worry?
[00:04:32] Because there's stuff tomorrow that could really hurt me.
[00:04:35] Or there's stuff tomorrow that I think could hurt me.
[00:04:36] Or I'm gonna make up 10 different scenarios that are worst case possible that will never happen.
[00:04:40] But I'm gonna be worried about them, right?
[00:04:43] And if we can laugh, but we're like, Yeah, also, kind of true.
[00:04:47] Okay, so first thing, Jesus says, don't be anxious.
[00:04:51] Don't worry about tomorrow.
[00:04:53] He says, seek first the kingdom and his righteousness.
[00:04:56] He said, I'll take care of all that stuff.
[00:04:58] All right, that's number one.
[00:05:00] Now I wanna go to 1 Thessalonians 5, 14 through 18.
[00:05:06] 1 Thessalonians 5, 14 through 18.
[00:05:10] This is Paul writing.
[00:05:11] He says, and we urge you, brothers, to admonish the idol, encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with them all so even if somebody's annoying or frustrating we should still be patient with them he says see that no one repays evil for
[00:05:26] evil but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone he says rejoice always doesn't say rejoice sometimes he doesn't say rejoice when things are going your way he says rejoice always he says pray without ceasing and then here's the one i really want to focus on verse 18
[00:05:44] he says give thanks or gratitude give thanks in all circumstances some translations say every situation every situation give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of god in christ jesus for you so paul says to the church at thessalonica if that's how you say it
[00:06:10] he says give thanks in every circumstance show gratitude to the Lord in every circumstance he says for this is God's will it's not often that you see something's explicitly this is God's will for you this is one of those times
[00:06:26] where Paul says it is God's will that you give thanks in all circumstances if you think it's a good idea to grumble and complain go read like Exodus didn't out well for the israelites okay but paul says give thanks in all circumstances or every situation
[00:06:49] for this is god's will for you in christ jesus so first can somebody bring me a kleenex at some point too i need to wipe my nose i'm going to keep going first paul says don't or not paul jesus says
[00:07:03] don't worry about tomorrow so we shouldn't worry about tomorrow and then paul says that we should give thanks in every circumstance so that's number one and two don't worry about tomorrow and give thanks in everything now if you'll jump with me to philippians 4
[00:07:22] philippians 4 we're going to go 11 through 13. philippians 4 11-13 not that i'm speaking of being in need excuse me let me start in actually in verse 10. i rejoiced in the lord greatly that
[00:07:38] now at length you have revived your concern for me this is paul talking to the church at philippi you were indeed concerned for me but you had no opportunity not that i'm speaking of being
[00:07:50] in need for i have learned in whatever situation i am to be content i know how to be brought low and i know how to abound in any and every circumstance thank you ma appreciate that
[00:08:02] Paul's team there we go we're back to it we'll just pretend I'm in the living room with you this morning you know what I mean and like if I was there and my nose is running I'd be like I need a tissue all right so low-key informal I
[00:08:20] want to go back Paul says not that I'm speaking of being in need this is verse 11 for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned
[00:08:39] the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him or through Christ who strengthens me. And you've probably heard Philippians 4.13 plastered on everything, including like football jerseys. We're going to win this game because I can do
[00:08:59] all things through Christ who strengthens me. Not quite how Paul was wanting to use the scripture in this instance, but what Paul is saying is the church at Philippi had basically sent Paul physical provision as a gift, and he was saying, thank you for that. I appreciate it, how you've
[00:09:15] partnered with me, and you're supplying my needs. He said, but, he said, not that I'm speaking of being in need, because he's saying, I've learned. Notice he didn't just say, I've always known. He said, I've learned, for I've learned in whatever situation, Paul's saying in whatever situation I'm
[00:09:32] in, I have learned to be content. I don't know about you. I feel like we're not a very content generation. We are definitely looking for the next thing all the time. But he says in any and
[00:09:48] every situation, I've learned to be content. He says, I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and every single circumstance. He says, I've learned the secret of facing plenty
[00:10:01] and hunger, abundance and need. And then he says, I can do all things through him. Meaning with Christ, I can be content and I can go through any situation. He says, I've learned that.
[00:10:13] I've learned it. Not that Paul innately knew it. He says, I've learned it. So what we have is Jesus saying, don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. And then we have Paul
[00:10:25] in 1 Thessalonians saying that one, we should rejoice always, but that we should give thanks in every single circumstance for this is God's will for us. And in Philippians, he says, I've just learned to be content in whatever situation I find myself, whether I find myself with very
[00:10:42] little or an abundance, I've learned to be content because through Christ, I will always have what I need. Because remember, when Jesus says, don't be anxious about tomorrow, he says, if you seek me, he says, you'll have everything you need. And that doesn't necessarily mean everything you want,
[00:10:56] but it means everything that you need. And sometimes we confuse needs and wants, and we have a lot of wants that we think are needs, but they're really not. And now I want to go through
[00:11:07] each one of these, because when we hear don't worry about tomorrow, now there's some people, kind of the type B people, where you're like, great, I don't like to think about the future anyway. I like to do everything in the moment right now. What is planning? You know what I mean?
[00:11:25] And the type A people, shout out to J-Dog behind camera two over there. That's Pastor John Doggett if you didn't know. I realized I said J-Dog with no context, which is more type A, which is we are
[00:11:37] making plans. But I want to talk about the difference for a second between the good part of planning for the future versus the bad part of trying to live in the future because of worry or
[00:11:50] ambition. Planning for the future is a good thing. We have to do it as a church family. Hey, there's budgets that we got to decide on and we got to pray through and feel like,
[00:12:01] where is God leading us? There's stuff in Proverbs that talks about the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but a slack hand causes poverty and without vision, the people perish. Like there's a place and a time for planning, but planning for the future versus
[00:12:19] living in and worrying about the future are two different things. So planning for would be let's take last week with snowpocalypse that for us turned out to not be as bad as maybe what we're in right now I don't know planning for would be like hey we
[00:12:39] need propane like every single other person in the south in North Carolina three days before the storm okay so if we need that in four days I'm just gonna go I got time today so I'll go out and I'll get some and I'll plan for then
[00:12:53] that's just I see the future and I want to plan for it worry is more like oh my gosh what are we gonna do we're gonna go and then they're gonna be out and then
[00:13:04] we're gonna call somebody else they're gonna be out and then you know what happened we're gonna starve to death and there's this is the end this is the it starts with I can't get propane today they're gonna be out of bread and milk
[00:13:14] they probably already are because as soon as people saw the forecast 14 days ago bread and milks gone all right hamburger buns are gone every all the any type of bread it's all gone but living in is i am going to focus so much on the future
[00:13:29] that i'm not able to enjoy or be in the present there is looking at the future and saying there's things i need to do now to get ready for then but i'm going to go about and i'm going to trust that
[00:13:40] god's going to do his thing and that if something happens that i can't get propane well then god will provide a way for me to get it whether that's a neighbor drops it off or something else i'm not
[00:13:48] going to fret about it but i know i have a responsibility and then living in is this dread and worry that's robbing me of present joy and i'll tell you how i've noticed this in my life
[00:14:02] is if you're planning for the future there's some type of action step if i'm worrying about it it causes me to not enjoy where i'm at right now if i'm honest this happens a decent amount when i'm
[00:14:21] I'm preparing for a message, ironically enough, is I love my children and I love hanging out with them.
[00:14:30] But if I'm focused and I'm worried about what I'm gonna be speaking, what typically brings me joy now feels like a bother or something that's almost gonna get on my nerves because I'm stressed and I'm worried about the future.
[00:14:41] I can't enjoy right now.
[00:14:43] Or if we're at dinner, I don't know how many times I've sat at dinner before with my family and I'm physically at dinner, but my mind is in tomorrow because I'm worried about tomorrow.
[00:14:53] There's no planning happening.
[00:14:54] I'm not doing anything.
[00:14:56] My mind's just there because I'm worried about it.
[00:14:59] And so I wanted to give that distinction because some people may hear that and be like, well, then you just don't ever even think about tomorrow or you don't think about next year.
[00:15:08] There's no planning at all.
[00:15:10] And I don't think that's necessarily it, but we should always have a loose grip on our plans for God to intervene in whatever way he wants to.
[00:15:18] And you see that even in Jesus's life that Jesus knew when he started his ministry that he was going to go die on the cross.
[00:15:27] But he wasn't like, all these people in the meantime between me and the cross for these three years are getting in my way of the thing I need to do.
[00:15:34] Like even when he was going to heal, who was it that he was going to heal when the lady with the issue of blood came to him?
[00:15:42] The centurion's son.
[00:15:43] If that's wrong, you guys let Terry Broom know.
[00:15:47] All right.
[00:15:48] But he's going, somebody's come to him and he's going to heal somebody.
[00:15:52] And the lady with the issue of blood comes up and touches his garment.
[00:15:54] He says, I feel that power's gone out for me and she got healed.
[00:15:57] But Jesus was walking along and he had time to stop with her.
[00:16:00] He wasn't like, I don't have time for you.
[00:16:01] I got more important stuff to do.
[00:16:03] But how often is that us?
[00:16:05] Because we're worried about tomorrow.
[00:16:07] We got to anxiously do all these things today and we're not present with whatever God's put in our life today.
[00:16:12] Like it may be a good idea to kind of plan out your day, but with confidence that if God wants to interrupt it with somebody else's need, then that's okay.
[00:16:21] Because the most important thing to God ultimately is people and souls.
[00:16:25] And if you and I have an agenda that squashes people's souls in order to get done what we think we need to get done, we're probably missing the point.
[00:16:32] But the first thing is Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow.
[00:16:38] That's different than planning.
[00:16:39] Worry is I'm living in such a way that I'm robbing myself of being present now because I'm focused on something in the future that I think may happen that's bad.
[00:16:52] And then Paul says, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
[00:17:04] Sometimes that's really easy, right?
[00:17:08] Like maybe you've been praying and God finally provided housing for you.
[00:17:13] It's pretty easy to give God thanks in that situation.
[00:17:16] Or you've been dealing with an illness and you prayed and God decided that now is the time that he wants to heal you.
[00:17:21] That does happen.
[00:17:23] It's very easy to give God thanks for that.
[00:17:25] Or when things are going really good in your marriage or maybe your kid just got baptized or your wife just got baptized or things are going really good in your life, that's pretty easy to give God thanks for.
[00:17:38] Now, sometimes we still don't.
[00:17:41] I've been guilty of this too.
[00:17:42] You're like, that was an amazing blessing.
[00:17:44] The next day you've forgotten about it.
[00:17:45] You're onto the next thing.
[00:17:47] But it's very easy to give God thanks in those situations.
[00:17:53] But how do we give thanks in every circumstance?
[00:17:59] Because there's a lot of circumstances in this fallen world that's full of sin that you and I don't naturally wanna give thanks for because they're painful or they're uncomfortable or they caused hurt or they've caused grief.
[00:18:14] So how's Paul saying be thankful even in those situations?
[00:18:18] Because it's really easy to be thankful when God's done something for me.
[00:18:27] But there's a lot of times that what we have to look at and really be thankful for isn't necessarily what's going on on the outside, but we can be thankful for what we know God's going to do in us.
[00:18:37] because a change in your external circumstances but leaving you with the same mind will never make you satisfied.
[00:18:47] Changing anything on the external but leaving your mind the same that it is now, if you are unhappy now, a change in the circumstances, you will be unhappy then.
[00:18:58] Neuroscience would even suggest that basically our brain just creates problems.
[00:19:04] So the more problems we solve, your brain just finds new things that are now considered problems that were never problems.
[00:19:09] so there's a never-ending loop of we will find problems because we have a negativity bias as neuroscience would say but giving thanks for what God's doing in me versus maybe what he's done for me because he will do a bunch of amazing things for us but he also wants to do a lot of
[00:19:32] things in us like as conformance to the image of Jesus as it would say in Romans 8 and so what does that look like to be thankful for what god's doing in you rather than necessarily just for you a very
[00:19:52] practical example would be like for me in my life i don't like to look stupid sometimes i do but i'd prefer not to and there have been times where i've done something like you know what that was probably
[00:20:06] dumb or i said something and that didn't make a lot of sense or they whatever it may be and instead of going around and feeling down about myself i'm just like you know what maybe i was being prideful
[00:20:19] and God wants to use the opportunity to humble me and show me how I'm prideful.
[00:20:23] And Lord, I'm thankful that you love me enough to expose my own heart to me when I'm operating in pride or when I'm doing something that he's gonna intervene in and show me where the position of my heart really is.
[00:20:36] He's doing something in me because I've said it many times.
[00:20:40] I know Mr. Terry said it, ma, is that the thing that makes you and I miserable is us.
[00:20:47] Like it is us.
[00:20:48] It's our own concern for ourselves, our own concerns for our own reputation, our own concern for how our life's going to go, our own belief that we don't really have a good father who will take care of us.
[00:20:59] It's us that makes us miserable.
[00:21:02] And so giving thanks for God doing something in me and having that disposition of thankfulness, it doesn't mean that I have some type of toxic positivity to where I don't ignore hardship or where I do ignore hardship, excuse me.
[00:21:21] I was thinking today even about like, how do you give thanks in grief?
[00:21:29] One of the ways is that grief is evidence that you had the capacity to love.
[00:21:37] Grief is evidence that you had somebody or something in your life that was worth loving.
[00:21:42] And you had the opportunity to experience that great joy of love.
[00:21:46] And grief, because without grief, you can't have love either because that's numbness of emotion.
[00:21:52] You'll have neither.
[00:21:54] And so if something happened in your life, you've lost a loved one, And you don't, this giving thanks isn't an ignoring of the pain.
[00:22:02] Paul even talks about that God had mercy on somebody that was Paul's friend.
[00:22:07] He said, he didn't die, he lived.
[00:22:09] He said, lest I have sorrow upon sorrow.
[00:22:12] Now, Paul had a very, very strong view of the afterlife and us being with Jesus.
[00:22:18] And he wasn't going to grieve as those who have no hope.
[00:22:22] And yet he still said, I'm thankful that God healed him because I would have had sorrow upon sorrow if I wouldn't have had him in my life.
[00:22:31] And so I can be thankful even in grief, not that I'm necessarily thankful that I'm in pain, but I can be thankful that it means I had the capacity to love somebody.
[00:22:44] And then in some situations, the thing maybe that I can be thankful for is the fact that I know God's using my situation to benefit somebody else.
[00:22:55] And I believe this gets to the heart of Christ ultimately, because Christ allowed something very, very traumatic for himself because it was a benefit to us.
[00:23:05] He hung on the cross and died for our sins because of what it meant for us.
[00:23:13] Just like we, if we've experienced hardship or we've had to be in the hospital or we've had to go through something painful, maybe God has you there because there's a doctor that does not believe in him that he wants to save.
[00:23:26] And we can give thanks that God would use a person like us and even let us go through suffering and hardship to save somebody else.
[00:23:37] When Paul says, give thanks, rejoice always, it's not to be removed from reality and it's not to be removed from hardship and it's not to be removed or disillusioned about the fact that we live in a broken in a fallen in a sinful world
[00:23:52] it's that in everything if Romans 8 28 is true that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for those who have put their faith
[00:24:04] in Christ and they're following after him for those of us who have put our faith in Christ that means everything works together for my and your eternal good, which is us being conformed into the image of Jesus
[00:24:18] to look more like Christ.
[00:24:21] Then that means I can give thanks in all things because there's something that God is doing in everything that is making me more like him.
[00:24:31] Now, I can resist that for a while.
[00:24:32] Like Ma has said before, sometimes you might go through the same thing for a long time because you ain't passed the test.
[00:24:39] All right, God's like, you know what?
[00:24:40] We're gonna let a person into your life again that you thought they'd be gone and they're back because you've got some lessons to learn, right?
[00:24:48] But still that's God doing something in me.
[00:24:50] And so I think what we have to understand is what we love.
[00:24:53] And I get it because I do too is when God does great things for us.
[00:24:57] And that's awesome.
[00:24:58] And I believe God means for us to celebrate that.
[00:25:00] Like if I was giving my kids something and they're like, I don't wanna be excited, but I'll be like, that's dumb.
[00:25:05] Like you should be excited about this.
[00:25:07] I've given this to you because I want you to enjoy it.
[00:25:09] I've given Gaines a new basketball because I want you to enjoy it and I want you to go shoot basketball.
[00:25:12] If God's given you good things, he wants you to enjoy them.
[00:25:16] There's nothing wrong with that.
[00:25:19] But also in the times that are what we would just consider less enjoyable, God's doing something in you that is going to produce in the long run a greater joy and satisfaction in him and less worry in you.
[00:25:36] And so you can give thanks in all things because whether he's doing something for you or he's doing something in you or he's doing something both in you and while he's doing it in you,
[00:25:47] he's doing it to do something for somebody else too.
[00:25:50] That we can genuinely give thanks in all circumstance because there is something God is doing that is good.
[00:25:57] That is good.
[00:25:58] Like even take, let's say you're in a season where you said yes to too many things and you're just too busy.
[00:26:07] Now there's some people you're in a season and you're just really busy because you have four kids, one on the way and life's a marathon from beginning the end of the day right but we also sometimes get ourselves in a situation where
[00:26:20] we've made ourselves too busy and we're like i don't know how i'm going to get anything done because i have said yes to far too many things and god may be using that remember because we can give
[00:26:33] thanks in all things god may be wanting to use the fact that you've said yes to too many things to expose to you that you have a problem with pleasing people rather than pleasing god now does
[00:26:45] does that feel good? Not necessarily. Are you going to have to maybe walk through either working really hard for a little while to get some stuff done or tell some people, hey, I overcommitted because really I just hate disappointing people. And I'm sorry, I can't do it right now. Like you
[00:26:59] may have to walk through something that's uncomfortable, but God may be using that reality right there to do something in you that you said yes to way too many things. And he wants to show you, hey, you care way too much about what people think and way too little about what I think.
[00:27:16] and so he's wanting to use that situation to do something in you and for that we can give thanks and be like god i'm thankful that you love me enough to show me this about myself because
[00:27:31] newsflash fam god's going to be showing us stuff about our own wicked and depraved hearts most likely until the day that we die we've talked about this before pointing to ma right here on the bottom that if god showed it all to us at once we'd probably be like we're giving up we're going
[00:27:52] home we're just we can't do this but he's gentle and he's kind and he exposes our own hearts to us over time but that's going to constantly be a thing in our lives and we all carry different
[00:28:03] struggles some are the same but that's going to be part of it is that he's going to continually be exposing who we are not to shame us or anything else but to heal us to make us more like him and
[00:28:17] and that's a good thing, and that leads to a greater joy.
[00:28:21] That leads to greater joy.
[00:28:28] Because what I've found in my life, when we're talking about not worrying about tomorrow, we're talking about genuinely, because if I'm gonna be thankful in all situations, it requires me to start to be in the present
[00:28:42] and to look at what's around me right now and to be thankful for that and the circumstance I'm in right now.
[00:28:48] Even if you're in a small apartment and you got a bunch of kids, there's something you can be thankful for right now, God's got a roof over your head.
[00:28:56] And if you feel like you have the bare minimum of anything, then you can be thankful that Jesus Christ died for you and he wants to save you.
[00:29:06] Or if you've put your faith in him, he has saved you.
[00:29:08] And you get to be a son of God or a daughter of God.
[00:29:12] There is, in every single circumstance, there is something that we can be thankful for to God.
[00:29:19] And to be thankful for that thing, it requires me to start to be in the present and to look at the here and now and to point out what I'm genuinely thankful for.
[00:29:29] And that will point me to God's goodness in my life, and it'll start to point me back to Christ, because I cannot tell you the amount of days that I've lived with at least half of my brain power
[00:29:48] in the future, whether it is half of my brain is in tomorrow, or it's in next week, or it's in next month, and how much I have missed.
[00:30:02] And I'm a pretty happy person.
[00:30:04] I generally have pretty good days.
[00:30:07] But still, even with that, how much I've missed the present joys that God has given me every single day of my life.
[00:30:18] Either because one, I'm worried about the future in some capacity or worried about a conversation to have or a meeting or any number of things.
[00:30:29] Or there's some type of false belief an unchecked ambition about what the future may hold.
[00:30:42] And I'll give you kind of an example of what that is and what to do because if there's worry about something in the future, if there's a practical step that you can take, take it.
[00:30:56] If not, you trust God.
[00:30:57] And I'll give you what I mean.
[00:31:00] This year, signing up for insurance, it's always a good time, all right?
[00:31:05] But before I'd whip, Pastor John had talked to us and we realized that some of basically the benefits got with health coverage would be gone and health insurance was probably going to be more and i was
[00:31:15] like perfect that's what i wanted to hear and so um my natural predisposition when i like to worry about something is to pretend it doesn't exist and put it off as long as humanly possible until
[00:31:28] 11 50 on december 15th when you have to file for insurance i did it a couple days earlier but that's that's kind of my natural thing that i just want to do i want to be like ah we'll kick that
[00:31:40] can down the road as far as possible but i was like okay i feel anxious about this just that low level i'm kind of worried about it and i'm like is there something that i can do well yeah
[00:31:53] i can fill out the paperwork and send it in i don't have any control over what the cost is that comes back but i do have control over the fact that i can send it to him and so for me i was
[00:32:04] like okay i'm going to do my part which is this practical action step and then i'm going to trust that god will send back and he'll take care of whatever else but there is a practical action
[00:32:16] step that i knew i could take and you see this throughout scripture too that sometimes god says to like king david yes go fight and then to other times he'll be like to joshua you have to only be
[00:32:27] still i'll fight for you you see that with king hezekiah when sennacherib was coming against him god just sent an angel out and slaughtered 185 000 people in a night and then hezekiah and israel won
[00:32:38] the war they didn't do anything but if you look at scripture there's so many times that david was out to battle and so trusting god in our response to him and our response to worry may mean that
[00:32:49] we sit and we do nothing if that's what he's called us to it may mean there's a practical action step that you can take faith doesn't just sit still and faith doesn't automatically move it
[00:32:58] obeys and so that's the way worry is showing up for me and then when you talk about the deceit that there's something in the future that will make me happier than i am right now
[00:33:11] and I'll share just again an example from my own life about how I've seen this for me is that if possible at some point in time, I would love a couple acres of land for my family to run around.
[00:33:26] We got a bunch of boys, so just sit them outside and have at it.
[00:33:32] And is that inherently sinful?
[00:33:33] No, I don't think so.
[00:33:35] But what I've noticed is sometimes I've thought about that enough that I could be outside playing with my kids and what I'm thinking about would be, man, wouldn't it be cool if we're able to do that on a couple acres of land.
[00:33:52] And you know what hit me?
[00:33:54] Well, I could just enjoy the fact that we're doing it right now because it's basically the same thing.
[00:34:00] We got woods across from the house.
[00:34:01] It just snowed.
[00:34:02] We went trekking through the woods and the creek and everything else.
[00:34:06] But what I've noticed in my own life is sometimes there's something that God may have for me in the future and he may not and he's good and he's just, no matter what, he gives me or doesn't give me.
[00:34:16] But I've noticed that sometimes it's worry and dread that robs me of present joy.
[00:34:23] Sometimes it's the fact that I have the false belief that there is more joy in the future based on something external.
[00:34:29] When I'm sitting with the family, I'm daydreaming about enjoying them on more land when I could enjoy them right now at the house we have and the land we have that we don't even utilize all of right now anyway.
[00:34:43] And I'm living in the future either in worry or some type of ambition that I have the false belief that the future will be better.
[00:34:49] Instead of enjoying the right here, right now and giving thanks to God for what I have right now, not worrying about the future or not falsely believing that there's some joy in the future that doesn't exist now
[00:35:02] because scripture says that in his presence, in God's presence is fullness of joy and his right hand is pleasures forevermore.
[00:35:09] That the place that is the most joy is in Christ and spending time with the Lord and enjoying, like when my kids run out to see me or they run upstairs in the morning, that I give thanks that I get to be their father
[00:35:20] and I get to give thanks that we get to hang out together, that God's provided this day. What does Psalm 118 say? It says, this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. And so real enjoyment and real gratitude puts me into
[00:35:35] the present. It points my eyes back to God and his goodness, and it points my eyes on Christ.
[00:35:46] And so like, one of the reasons I think this is so not the case for most of us, that we don't don't relax in today, that we worry about tomorrow, that we don't really give thanks
[00:36:03] in every situation, that we're not content, is we don't really trust and we don't really have satisfaction in Christ. They sang before we even got started, tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.
[00:36:18] And you guys can join me. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. And it is, yet how many of us don't really do that? Because the idea of being present, the idea of being grateful, even in secular
[00:36:35] psychology as a good mindfulness practice. But for us to truly live that way, like Paul's talking about, I've learned to be content in every situation, he says. I've learned the secret that through Christ, I'll have everything I need, that Paul knew I have the satisfaction and the joy
[00:36:53] in him. And so I trust that he'll provide every single thing I need. Because this idea of being present and gratitude's not just like an intellectual pursuit. It's not just if you will yourself and you try harder, that you can just do this all on your own. But it fundamentally
[00:37:18] should happen from a heart that's been transformed, that trusts the Lord, that truly trusts him.
[00:37:26] And you're going to have to go through the process just like all of us have to, where you have to practice trust before you have innate trust. Practice trust means like, I'm not really sure if I can trust you yet, but I'm going to do something to where I'm putting
[00:37:41] my trust in you to see if you'll come through. Innate trust is, I don't even have to think about it. It's just my gut response is, I trust you. Paul is saying, I've learned to be content. I've
[00:37:52] gotten to the place where my gut response is, I trust the Lord with everything. And I look at my mom, Ma, Dylan, if you want to pan through, you can. You can wave at the camera. You're live.
[00:38:06] I know, I told you, thanks for, it's basically, so we got a few of us in here. But when we were kids and growing up, there were a lot of times where she had to choose trust and God showed
[00:38:20] himself to be trustworthy over and over and over again. Now she pretty much just innately trusts him. She knows he will do what's best. Does that mean all the time she never has any fear or any
[00:38:36] worry? Probably not. But most of the time she doesn't. And she should maybe care a little more sometimes. I don't know. And you're not, the goal is not to be Ma. The goal is not to be Mimi or
[00:38:50] Terry Broom. There's going to be some of you. And God has put some of you around her to help her because she is not type A. We got the Rita's, we got the Emily Boggess's, we got the team
[00:39:01] that does the things that need to be done to help her plan. All right. You guys are great counterparts to her. But my point is, is there's been a long development of choosing trust to
[00:39:13] develop the innate trust, to genuinely be able to give thanks in all circumstances, because she's walked through so many things in her life to where she can say, I can be thankful right now because of what God's given me. I don't have to worry about tomorrow. She flew to Germany to see
[00:39:32] Becca when Becca was over there, my sister. I had no idea how to really get there or operate an airport or do anything. Some random lady shows up at the airport and basically guides mom through
[00:39:44] every single thing until she got basically to Becca's house in Germany. And my point in saying that is that when we're focused on Christ, when we're really not worried about tomorrow and we're really present and we're really thankful today, God begins to just take care of those things
[00:40:04] and he'll work in the planning and he'll work even in the gaps. But it's not just an intellectual pursuit to have gratitude and to be thankful in all things, but it is still a choice. And I think
[00:40:26] one of the great things that we can do is that when we feel worry rise up, when we feel a lack of gratefulness and a lack of thankfulness rise up, when we look at ambition in the future or
[00:40:41] worry in the future, let that be like a snap to, to let you know, I need to go the Lord in prayer.
[00:40:55] I need to trust the Lord with my future. I need to focus on what he's given me today and to have gratitude today because odds are you're going to be snowed in for a couple days maybe, either by
[00:41:09] yourself or with your kids. And we can choose to grumble and complain, or we can sit here and we can be thankful and we can say, God, open my eyes to the gifts you've given me right now.
[00:41:23] Open my heart to the gifts you've given me right now. And if you're single and you're like, I'm alone and I don't have anybody, well, then you have a lot of time to yourself to get into scripture
[00:41:33] and to pray and just to contemplate God and to have him speak to you.
[00:41:38] Paul even talks about in the New Testament that he wishes that all people were like him and they weren't even married because he said, if you're married, you're gonna have human concerns like how to please your wife
[00:41:45] and how to please your husband.
[00:41:46] And if you're married, you know that's true.
[00:41:49] So yes, marriage is a beautiful gift and kids are a beautiful gift, but being alone and being single and just you and the Lord is also a beautiful gift too.
[00:41:58] But if we choose to be thankful and we have gratitude, we get to enjoy, genuinely enjoy the life that God's given us and be thankful even in hard times.
[00:42:08] Because if you and I are constantly focused in the future, either because of worry or ambition, pretty soon our life's gonna be over.
[00:42:19] And we're gonna have lived our whole life in the future, worrying or waiting for something.
[00:42:26] When God wants us to have joy in him right now, he wants to enjoy our day right now.
[00:42:32] He wants us to enjoy our kids right now.
[00:42:34] He wants you to enjoy your husband right now.
[00:42:36] He wants you to enjoy your wife right now.
[00:42:40] And to be thankful because there's something he's doing for you or in you or through you.
[00:42:47] And that if we really have a heart that wants to know God, then we can always find something to be thankful for.
[00:42:56] Through every situation, if we trust him, he'll show us over and over again that he really is trustworthy.
[00:43:04] And so what I want you to know today is you're probably still gonna worry.
[00:43:09] You're probably still gonna find yourself in seasons where it feels hard to be thankful.
[00:43:13] You're gonna find yourself in seasons where it feels hard to be content.
[00:43:16] but let those emotions and those thoughts in your mind be something that lets you know that you're off base and that I'm off base because it happens to me too and that it points us back to Christ
[00:43:35] and we start to say, God, help me to be thankful for where I'm at today.
[00:43:37] Help me to be thankful for what you've given me today and let it be something that points you back to God's goodness in your life and causes you to worship him.
[00:43:46] And as you begin to trust God more and more, there'll be a bigger stack of evidence behind you that you can lean on to trust him for the future.
[00:43:55] But God doesn't mean for us to waste our lives worrying about the future or to waste our lives thinking there's some joy in the future that we're gonna find in this life apart from Christ.
[00:44:09] Because joy is found in him.
[00:44:14] True joy is found in him.
[00:44:15] True satisfaction is found in him.
[00:44:19] It's found in his love that he has for you, pouring through you and pouring out to the people around you, to your family, to your kids, to the people you work with, to genuinely be thankful
[00:44:33] and to have gratitude and have your heart transformed in such a way that you can actually enjoy every day.
[00:44:41] That's what he wants for us.
[00:44:42] Let's pray.