Message: “When You’ve Had Enough” from Dr. Rick Mandl

Message: “When You’ve Had Enough” from Dr. Rick Mandl

Dr. Rick Mandl - May 23, 2020

When You've Had Enough

Sermon Manuscript: Anxious For Nothing Message 1- When You’ve Had Enough
Sermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, May 23 & 24, 2020 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Wherever you are and however you may be watching, I want to welcome you as we come together to open God’s Word. As Pastor Andrew mentioned, this weekend we're beginning a new message series. The title of this series is "Anxious For Nothing".  And the title of this particular message, part one is When You’ve Had Enough. I don't know if any of you've had enough, but for those of you who have, this message series is for you.

 

Right at the outset I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due for the inspiration for this series... Max Lucado has written a Book. John MacArthur Book. Craig Groeschel Sermon Series. And the material contained within these resources was too good to ignore, so during this series I plan on borrowing heavily from them as well as from others.

 

In Max Lucado’s book, I like the distinction that he draws between anxiety and fear. Lucado writes . . . "Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one." I like that distinction . . . In one sense it’s human nature to be thinking about, and to be concerned about what happens next. Anxiety comes with life, but I hope what we’ll see throughout this series is that Anxiety doesn’t have to dominate our lives. If you don’t struggle with anxiety yourself, changes are you know someone who does.

 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. In any given year, 50 million Americans will feel the effects of a panic attack, phobias, or other anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders in the United States are the “number one mental health problem among women, and second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men.” Stress related illnesses are costing our country $300 billion a year. Psychologists report that the average high schooler today, has the same level of anxiety, as the average psychiatric patient back in the 50’s. The United States is now the most anxious nation in the world. Can you say with me “We’re number one!” If Anxiety was an Olympics event, the U.S. would consistently win the gold. For MANY, anxiety is an occasional experience. For OTHERS it’s a constant companion. For SOME it can become totally debilitating, to the point where they find it difficult to function, and are almost paralyzed by their anxiety. Like this . . . [Big Bang Theory Clip].

 

Whether or not your anxiety rises to that level, I think you’d agree that there are plenty of things for us to be anxious about right now . . . In prepping for this weekend’s message, I googled the term “Coronavirus Anxiety” and I found 370 million results. I won’t share them all with you, but here’s one I particularly appreciated. . . 10 Sneaky Ways Your Coronavirus Anxiety Is Coming Out. Here’s their list. . .

  1. You’re feeling more tired than usual- Even if you’re not doing much during the day
  1. You aren’t sleeping well- Even if you’re tired all the time and you want to sleep, it doesn’t matter
  1. You startle easily- We all get startled from time to time, but if you’re more jumpy than usual it may be because your body and brain are on high alert because of heightened anxiety.
  1. You’re channeling lots of energy into hobbies- Are you baking banana bread like we’re on the precipice of a banana famine? Excessive enthusiasm, or extreme productivity, might be the way in which your anxiety is presenting.

Number 5, and this is on the flipside of number 4 . . .

  1. You don’t have much interest in anything- COVID anxiety can appear as apathy, and the reason is because routines that have given us structure and a sense of purpose, are now disrupted or gone entirely.
  1. Intense loneliness- Not surprising because physical distancing can lead to social isolation
  1. Reactivation of other mental health conditions- Coronavirus-related anxiety might undermine the progress that you made on other mental health conditions.
  1. You’re getting more headaches or other physical illnesses- The people who study this stuff say that these things can be a kind of a “check-engine” light to let you know you’re experiencing major anxiety
  1. You get angry- When some important aspect of your life is in danger ― like your health or the health of loved ones ― and you don’t have a lot of control over the outcome, it is not unusual to become angry”

And finally, number 10 . . . What was number 10? Oh yeah,          

  1. You keep forgetting things- Whether you find yourself on this list or not,

           

This is a message series for those of you that are worried. Or maybe battling with some type of anxiety. And these days, that’s just about all of us. What we're gonna do over the next four weeks is we're going to start in Philippians chapter 4, and I'm gonna take a small portion of that text, and highlight it, and use other portions of scripture to support the big truth. These four verses from Philippians 4, will be our MEMORY VERSES throughout this series. We’ll come back to them each week. What I want us to do right now is read them, give you the context in which they were written, and then pray that God would use it to calm our hearts. Before I read it, let me give you just a little bit of background…

 

In coming to this passage, what we need to know is that the one who wrote these words, the Apostle Paul is a prisoner in Rome. More than anything else, Paul had wanted to come to Rome to preach the gospel. Yet as he writes these words, he has come to Rome, in chains. He is locked away, 24 hours a day, chained to a Roman guard. He was in a situation where he certainly could have become anxious. He did not know how his situation would end. He did not know whether he would live or die. And it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that he wrote these words. Philippians chapter 4, beginning at verse 4. Paul writes . . . “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all." And here is the part I would challenge you to remember this week… "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything..." Another version says “be anxious for nothing.” "But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." And here’s the promise... "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That is an awesome promise because it’s not only the “peace that comes FROM God, but the peace OF God” The same peace that characterizes heaven, can be exported and experienced within our hearts.  Let’s pray together…

           

Father we pray that we could experience those words in our hearts. That your peace would be experienced by all of us, and that as we cast our cares upon you, we would be reminded of the truth that you care for us and you’re with us.In Jesus' Name.

 

We read those words “Be anxious for nothing” and we wonder, is that even possible? In this time in which we’re living . . . With so much uncertainty, how is it even possible to be anxious for nothing. Today I want us to look at an Old Testament prophet – a man who, I believe in may ways is a lot like us. In fact, if you doubt that . . . Take a look at what James writes about him in James 5:17. There we find these words... “Elijah was as human as we are,” Elijah was a man who loved God. He was a man who had seen the faithfulness, the power, the provision of God. And yet he was a man who still struggled massively with anxiety. I’m going to share with you a snapshot of an incident in his life, but before I do, I want to give you a little bit of background.

 

Prior to the episode that we’re looking at, Elijah had confronted a very evil king named King Ahab, Elijah had called King Ahab out on his sin, And Elijah had prophesied a drought that would strike King Ahab's kingdom. The result of this was that the king came after the prophet Elijah with all the forces of his army, and he told Elijah that he was going to kill him. For three years, Elijah was on the run. He was hiding out, And yet through it all God was faithful. Just before the portion of scripture that we come to here, Elijah had stood up against 850 false prophets and defeated them. This victory on the part of Elijah, enraged King Ahab’s wife Jezebel, and she resolved to do what her husband the King, had not been able to do. She vowed to hunt down Elijah and kill him. Elijah took her threat seriously, and he ran. He ran for his life. And that’s where we pick up his story. I’m going to read for you, 1 Kings 19:3-4. And as I read these verses, I want you to listen and see if you can spot four mistakes that led Elijah to the point where he felt as if he’d had enough.

 

1 Kings 19, beginning at verse 3 . . . “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” 1 Kings 19:3-4

           

Prior to this point, Elijah had been strong. As I mentioned, strong enough to stand up against 850 false prophets and defeat them. And yet now, he’s at the point where... He’s Had Enough. Why? As I mentioned, he’s been on the run. In fact he had literally . . . Run himself into the ground And when...

 

  1. We RUN OURSELVES into the GROUND- It’s going to take a toll.

 

Our text says Elijah had run from Mt. Carmel to Beersheba, which was a distance of about 100 miles. He had run about as far as it was humanly possible to run. He had run the equivalent of four marathons. He was exhausted. That was mistake number one. . . Running himself into the ground. And often anxiety can strike us when we’re exhausted.

 

His second mistake . . . And a lot of us do the same thing...

 

  1. We SHUT PEOPLE OUT

           

At the point of exhaustion, when he really could have used somebody to lean on, he made the decision to go it alone. He left his servant, He said to his trusted friend, “I don't need you anymore,” And he struck off on his own. Big mistake. If you’ve been around our church for any length of time, you know that one of our core values here is COMMUNITY. We believe that we’re better together. And that’s one of the reasons why we’re always talking about LIFE GROUPS.

 

You heard Pastor Andrew mention that earlier. This is a picture of the group that I’m in . . . For those of you who are newer to our community Life Groups are Small groups that get together during the week. During the time in between the weekends we meet and We study together We pray for one another. Right now, we’re doing it via Zoom, but we’re still doing it. And the reason is, that we know we’re better together. We learn better together. We’ve got some really smart people in our group, but none of us is as smart as all of us. And so We learn better together. We pray better together. And particularly during this stay at home time which has been so tough for so many. We need each other. This is exactly the time that you don’t want to try and go it alone. And yet, that was what Elijah did. At his time of greatest stress, and exhaustion, he made the mistake of trying to go it solo. He shut people out.

 

A third mistake he made . . . He chose to . . .

 

  1. We FOCUS on the NEGATIVE

           

And we do this as well. He said . . . ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ He said. ‘Take my life; He said , I am no better than my ancestors.’” He descended into a cycle where all he could see was the negative, and he exaggerated what he saw. You read on further in this chapter and we’re told about a conversation that God had with Elijah. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”////

 

Because Elijah had run himself into the ground… Because he had shut other people out… He felt like he was all alone. He felt as though he was the only one left who hadn’t bowed down to the false God Baal. And God had to correct him and tell him that the reality is that he wasn’t all alone. There were at least 7,000 others who hadn’t bowed down. Elijah ran himself into the ground. He shut people out. He focused on the negative. And maybe most tragically . . . He ….  

 

  1. We FORGET GOD

 

Which is crazy because . . . Every step of the way through Elijah's life. Every moment of time, God was present, God was faithful, God's power was visible, God's provision was real, and even though God had been faithful. . . Elijah did what so many of us do, He was facing his problems while forgetting his God. What was God’s Remedy? You see it in the verses that follow. . .

 

  1. REST your BODY- Relax. Take care of your physical needs. That's the first thing you do when you're overwhelmed with anxiety.

 

Verse 5 tells us . . . Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

 

It's interesting that when Elijah started having a pity party and started contemplating suicide and started saying, "God, I just want to die!" God didn’t scold Elijah.  He did not give him a sermon which would have only added to his guilt. God's remedy - Step one was rest. It was simply eat, sleep, eat sleep. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed. It's amazing how a good night's rest will do wonders for your attitude. Weariness and fatigue promotes depression, and getting in shape is an excellent preventative to overwhelming anxiety. You will be a lot stronger emotionally, if you're physically strong. Relax. Rest your body. And then next . . .

 

  1. RELEASE your FRUSTRATIONS- Tell God how you feel. 

 

In that conversation that God had with Elijah, God asked him what he was doing there, and he allowed Elijah to unload, to get it all off his chest. And Elijah did just that. He told God how he was afraid, and resentful, and angry and lonely, and worried. You know what’s interesting? It’s interesting that throughout that conversation God never said, “I did not know that.” God is not shocked when you complain to Him. He knows exactly how you feel even before you tell Him. What He wants you to do is get it off your chest. To cast our cares on Him. God says Rest your body. Release your frustrations. He allowed Elijah to go on and on until Elijah ran out of words.

 

God did the same thing with David in the Psalms. I wonder, have you ever read those Psalms where David is angry at everybody? Places where he says, "God, I don't like it!  Kill all my enemies. Bash their babies. Knock their teeth out!"  You look at that and you think, "Why is this in the Bible?" It’s in the Bible because it’s real. Every single emotion known to man is contained in the book of Psalms. It's a very honest book. In many of the Psalms, David is just unloading on God. They're there in the Bible, to let you know it's ok for you to do that. God's not going to walk out on you. He wants you to unload so you can be healed emotionally. Rest your body. Release your frustrations. And then third . . .

 

  1. REFOCUS on GOD- You need to do that. Get your eyes off the problem, Get your eyes onto God.  Get a fresh awareness of His power, His presence. If you look at the world, you'll be distressed; If you look within, you'll be depressed; If you look at Christ, you'll be at rest.

 

Take a look at verse 11 . . .  “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” And it was in the gentle whisper that God spoke.

 

You look at this story and you wonder . . . "What's the point of all this? Why is God demonstrating all His power like this to Elijah when he's had enough?" God's reminding Elijah, that God is still in control. He’s reminding him, that he has the power to handle any situation. He’s reminding Elijah, that he is God and Elijah is not. The purpose of this whole Earth, Wind and Fire eclectic light show is because . . . When you refocus on God's power, it’s then that your problems become a whole lot smaller. But there's one more step you Elijah needed on his path to healing, and that was to . . .

 

  1. RESUME SERVING- You need to do that to get the focus off of yourself.

 

Notice, God gave Elijah a new assignment. In verses 15-16 we read these words . . . The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, And anoint Elisha son of Shaphat, from Abel Meholah, to succeed you as prophet. God told Elijah, "I want you to get back involved in ministry and do the things that prophets are supposed to do." One of these three guys -- Elisha -- would become his best friend. Every anxious person needs a close friend. From this point on, Elijah would minister with a buddy, not by himself. He wouldn't be the Lone Ranger. Elisha, would become his protege. Why is it important for anxious people to get back into some kind of service and ministry? Because it’s important to get your eyes off yourself. 

 

When you're anxious you tend to become very introspective. All you see are your problems, and your needs. All you see are your hurts. And how tired you are. God says, "Elijah, it’s time to get your eyes off Elijah. You need to get yourself out there, helping other people, serving again. The quickest way out of anxiety is to get your eyes off yourself and get involved in giving your life away to help others. When you only look at yourself, you're just going to get down and down. Jesus said it like this, "You lose your life to find it." The more you give out the more God gives to you.

 

Elijah thought God was through with him. He had, had enough. He's one of the two guys in the Bible that said, "God, kill me!" He was that depressed. But God was not through with Elijah. Not by any sense of the word. Some of you can identify with this. You feel like you’ve had enough. You need to know that God's not through with you. He's got a plan for your life.

 

My guess that is that some of you can really relate to Elijah right now. There may be some mornings you don't want to get out of bed. You’re emotionally tired, and physically tired. Maybe even sick and tired of being sick and tired." Maybe you feel like Elijah:  "Life isn't worth living. I want to quit. I want to quit my job. I want to quit my marriage. I want to quit school." To those of you, I've got some good news. In the first place, God knows exactly how you feel. He really does. And number two, He cares. He cares about how you feel. You're not alone. God wants to work in your life. He's not finished with your life. You will come through this.

 

First, you open your life up to Jesus Christ. You develop a relationship with Christ. He loves you. He wants you to know Him. He made you for a purpose. He has a plan for your life. Say, "Jesus, come into my life and give me the power to do these four things: To rest my body, To release my frustrations, To refocus on God,  To resume serving others and find a place of ministry where I can give out." You do that, and he’ll take care of the rest. . . Let’s pray together . . .

           

Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.

 

 

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