so that they did not bear grain.”(it yields no crop) Mark 4:7
Jesus using the parable of the sower gives us a picture of what anxiety does. He tells his disciples about four soils in Mark 4. He explains that sometimes a seed can fall on thorny soil, that chokes the productivity of the seed so that it can not bear a crop. Anxiety, Jesus teaches us, has a real destructive power. He explains to his disciples in Mark 4;19, “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Jesus is the Sower. He is at work sowing his truth into our hearts and lives.
Anxiety sprouts up like a weed or a thorn and literally can choke out the power, life and peace of God’s Word within us. Jesus makes a direct connection between the devastating effects of anxiety and those of strangulation. Anxiety is choking us and God’s Word is telling us that it makes us unproductive. We allow ourselves to worry thinking that if we go over every detail we will be able to do a better job or we can avoid something bad happening if we think of every possible bad outcome. Jesus tells us that the opposite is true.
Worrying is making us unproductive and unfruitful. When we worry, we are focusing so much on the worries of this life that what God is doing gets choked out.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34
Eugene Peterson gives us his insights on Matthew 6:34 in The Message.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Jesus knowing that anxiety makes us focus on the future and project our fears into the future tells us what to do. Don’t worry about the future.
When we worry about tomorrow we are allowing the pain of a future event to evade our present circumstances. What we are worrying about may or may not happen, but that worry is depleting of us the abilities to handle what is really happening in the present.
Now we are going to try meditating on these verses and try a spiritual exercise on how to deal with worry and anxiety
Exercise....
1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
2. Meditate on the verses shared here in the devotional. Matt. 6:34, Mark 4:7, Phill 4:6-73
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to take over your imagination and help you overcome anxiety through God’s word.
4. The scripture that we have studied tells us that worry is choking out the seed of what God wants to do in our lives. Allow God through the Word and through your imagination to show you how and where anxiety is choking you. Even if you are sensing fear and anxiety, do not run from the picture. Stop and pray against the feelings of fear and anxiety and tell those feelings that they can not control you. Allow yourself to see what anxiety is doing to you. Maybe it will look like a weed choking out the good things God wants to do!
5. See yourself pulling up the weed that worry and anxiety have been in your life. Untangle the weed if it has wrapped around you or the things in this life that are dear to you. See yourself pulling up anxiety and worry and offering it to God.
6. Philippians 4 tells you to be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer. As you offer the weed to God pray about any concern that that weed represents. Envision what it would mean to you for God to take the weed and the prayer concern and for you to not have to feel the
choking any longer.
7. Philippians 4 tells us that when we give those things that worry us to God in prayer, that then the peace which passes all understanding can come and be our guard. Ask now for the Holy Spirit to come and bring you that peace.
8. Ask the Spirit to create within your mind a safe place where you can meet the Lord and where His peace stands like a guard protecting both your heart and your mind.
9. Rest there for as long as you like, enjoying all the peace and comfort God has for you. Worry has robbed you of strength but experiencing God’s peace will rebuild your strength.
10. Spend time thanking God for helping you navigate through anxiety.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your request be made know to God. And the peace of God
which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Discussion Questions for Growth Groups
1. The Bible teaches that you are a complex person that 1) You are a Spirit 2) You live in a body 3) You have a Soul i.e., mind, will and emotions. Accepting that this is a correct assessment, have you developed a multi faceted approach to anxiety and worry? This is important since it's affecting the three-fold-nature of who you are.
2. A Christian psychologist advises, “Avoid being alone. Force yourself to be with people. When you pick people to be with, choose uplifting positive people. Stay away from the drama kings and queens.” Do you believe that this is good advice and what experiences have you had?
3. He also advises, “Look at your physiology. That means your breathing patterns, your eye movement, your energy level and your speech patterns. Find someone that can teach you how to change this. It will work wonders.” Would you be willing to go to greater lengths to overcome anxiety and worry?
4. “Music can uplift your spirit as it did for King Saul (1 Samuel 16:14-23). Lean heavily on the power of God's Word. Meditate on the psalms. It heals your soul.” How do react to this as an approach to anxiety? Do you have any experiences when worship music changed your mood or outlook when you were anxious or worried?
5. In our devotion for this week Jesus explains that the seed of God’s word gets choked out by anxiety and worry? How would you share this truth with a friend from an experience in your life?
