Josh Howerton - Breaking the Anxiety Cycle (01/11/2026)

TOPICS: Anxiety

Summary:

In this candid message on anxiety from Philippians 4, Pastor Josh Howerton shares his own eight-month battle with acute generalized anxiety disorder while urging the church to replace worry with biblical practices. He promises that God’s surpassing peace is available to believers who meet three premises: worry about nothing (stop rehearsing worst-case scenarios), think about good things (filter thoughts through Philippians 4:8's eight-question test and focus on God’s nearness), and pray about everything (hand over uncontrollable concerns to God while taking responsibility for what one can control). Drawing from personal vulnerability, humor, and Scripture, he assures sufferers that anxiety will not last forever because the Lord is at hand and His promises are sure.

Good Morning and Super Bowl Fun
All right, well, good morning, Lakewood family! And hey, if you’ve got your Bibles, head over to Philippians chapter four; that’s going to be today, Philippians 4. And hey, happy Super Bowl Sunday, by the way! Let’s do this real quick: Where are all of our Patrick Mahomes Kansas City fans? Where are you at? Where are you at? All right! All right! All of our campuses too. Now, where are all of our Tom Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans? A little less loud now. I do just want to say this: my administration has always opposed Tom Brady in every form and fashion, but I do want to say this year I’m not rooting for Tom Brady; I’m just rooting for any athlete over the age of 35! That’s the team I’m on, and I’m really excited about the game. I came across this social media post—a funny little predicament a guy got himself into.

I want to show you this real quick. So, this is what he said: «Hey, my friend has two club-level tickets for the 2021 Super Bowl here in Tampa. He paid $10 for both tickets, but he didn’t realize last year when he bought them it was going to be the same day as his wedding. If you’re interested, he’s looking for somebody to take his place.» Then he said, «It’s at Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 2 p.m. Her name’s Connie. She’s 5'6», 125 pounds, blonde hair, green eyes, great cook. She’ll be the one in the white dress.» Thanks in advance! There you go. So, man, looking forward to the day!

Series on Mental Health
Well, hey, we are in the last week of a series that we’re just calling «Let’s Talk About It, » where what we’ve been doing is talking about the pandemic that everybody’s experiencing but nobody’s talking about, and that’s the mental health pandemic in our nation. I’m not going to throw stats out—I’ve been doing that for the last four weeks. You just need to know, if you’re new, our nation has never experienced a higher amount of mental health issues than in this last year. So we want to talk about it now. I did just want to say this: it’s been so encouraging. We’ve had hundreds upon hundreds of people in our church, new to our church, reach out because we said during this series we wanted to provide a perspective that was biblically informed, but we also wanted to provide resources that were practically helpful.

So we marshaled all the ministry resources of Lake Point to make sure that we could help you if you are suffering from a mental health issue—depression, anxiety, you know, that suicidal ideation kind of thing. And so we’ve got all those, and we are ready right now to help anyone with any need. We’ve got a counseling center; you name it. And so I did just want to celebrate this: you need to know that if you’ll just text the word «HEAL» to the number 20411, we are ready to help you. And it’s really encouraging to me because of the generosity of people at Lake Point: we are financially prepared to say yes to every single request and need that comes in. And so, listen, that’s right! We got a cup! That’s exciting! But listen, if you’re in that spot, you’re not alone, and it doesn’t have to stay this way. We’re here to help you, so we want you to know that!

Personal Struggle with Anxiety
Well, today we’re talking about the issue—we’re landing on the one that’s the most common issue in the last year. Today we’re talking about anxiety. And here’s what I wish I could do today: I wish I could preach a message from a position of success and strength and having never wrestled with this issue and experiencing kind of victory in this area of my life all my life. But that is simply not the case. Let me actually rewind two years to the beginning of 2019, and what I started doing around then is, like some of you, I started waking up for usually one to two hours at 2 a.m. every single day worrying.

And here’s what was happening: it was right after Jan and I had just gotten here to Lake Point, and so there were all these things I would wake up and I would just think about. We had just left the church that I watched my dad plant in my dad’s living room, and then I became the senior pastor at that church for 10 years. I loved that church with all my heart! We just left that church, moved here; I didn’t know anybody within 800 miles of our house, neither did my kids, neither did my wife—worry! And then every day I started coming to the office here—this enormous ministry that God has done incredible things in through the leadership of Pastor Steve Stroup for 40 years. And every single day I’m walking in, and I started going like, «Man, I’ve got to follow Steve Stroup.» And heads up: if you’re following a leader in an organization, it’s a lot easier to follow a loser than a legend.

And so, every day I was just walking around— to be really transparent, I was walking around kind of asking the question inside, «Are these people glad that I’m here? Are they disappointed? Can I measure up? Can I do this?“—worry! And then Pastor Steve had just let me know a couple months in advance that I was going to be doing the Easter message in 2019. The anticipated attendance for that Easter was 35,000 people. The most people I had ever spoken to in one room at the same time before then was a thousand—worry! And then two older staff members, very prominent staff members on our Lake Point staff, let me and Pastor Steve know that they were going to be retiring because of family situations. And I knew before I got here that what everybody was going to think as soon as that happened is, „Oh, new young pastor pushing all the old people to the side”—worry!

And then we got a phone call from the adoption agency right around that same time that, „Hey! We’re real excited—you’ve been in the adoption process! Hey, there’s a baby boy that’s ready to be adopted! Picked up at the hospital tomorrow!“ Oh, but by the way, he was born with severe colic and his birth mom used drugs during the pregnancy, and so he’ll be detoxing at your house for the next few months. And so we brought him home, and he cried, guys, day and night—capital D, capital N—for the first five or six months. And honestly, our family, especially Jana, was really starting to struggle, and I was watching that—I was worrying! And then, on top of all that, at the exact same time, our dog we’d had for 11 years died. It was like all at the same time—worry!

And so, on May 7, 2019, I was standing right about here preaching a message in the „Seven Words to Change Your Life“ series. Wow, it was a sermon on worship, and something started happening to my body. I didn’t realize until later—I had the first of many anxiety attacks on stage in front of thousands of people. And that triggered the eight most hellish months of my life. There are no words to describe what that little season of my life was like until finally, I stumbled into a panic specialist in downtown Dallas’s office. He ran some tests and diagnosed me with AGAD—Acute Generalized Anxiety Disorder—and it lasted for eight months. I know exactly when it started; I know exactly when it ended. There are not words to describe that waking nightmare.

And here’s what I know: I know some of you are in that exact same spot, and you’re asking these two questions: Will it be like this forever? Because if so, I can’t keep doing it! And two: How can I get out?

The Promise of Peace
Now, what we have in the Bible today in Philippians 4 is we’ve got a promise from God: it’s Philippians 4:7—there’s a promise here! So, let me start with some hope: this is just what the Bible says—Philippians 4:7. It says, „And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, a peace that won’t make sense given the circumstances of your life, will”—it’s a promise—“will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.“

Now, let me say two things, and I love you, so I need to speak really honestly with you. If you’re not a Christian, that promise does not yet apply to you because that’s a promise that’s given to the children of God. But number two, if you are a Christian, if you’re asking the question, „Will it be like this forever?“ —the answer is no! Because your future is as bright as the promises of God. And God has given us this promise to His children that He will give us a peace; He will take us out of that anxiety—it won’t stay this way forever! Because God is not just a promise maker; He’s a promise keeper, and we’ve got that promise in Philippians chapter 4.

Now, the whole purpose of this message today is I just want to point this out: there are 7,000 promises in the Bible, and with every promise, there’s a premise: if you do this, God will do this. Promise, premise: if you do this, God will do this. What I want to do in this message is I want you to see the premise for this promise, and there are three things that God says: if you do these things, you’ll get this promise that I can give you peace in the middle of a storm. And just like a good kid that was raised Baptist, I’m going to tell you where I’m going in the message, and then I’m going to go there, okay? There we go. Here are the three premises to the promise: you’ve got to worry about no thing, you’ve got to think about good things, and you’ve got to pray about all things. Worry about no thing; think about good things; pray about all things. Here we go.

1. Worry About Nothing
All right, number one: worry about no thing! Philippians 4:6 just says—this is very straightforward—Philippians 4:6 just says, „Do not worry about anything!“ Don’t worry about anything! Now, here’s what worry is: let me define it so you know what I’m talking about. Worry is you talking to yourself about your problems. It’s you going in your mind to all the „what ifs”—and what if this, and what if that? It’s you rehearsing the worst-case scenario in your mind. Somebody in sermon prep this week, they described worry as an internal false prophet that prophesies a Christless future of doom. That’s what worry is. Worry is you spending enormous amounts of emotional energy on things that may never even happen. That’s why somebody said—I like this—they said worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have.

This is what worry is. Now, what I want to do is I want to describe your relationship with worry and show you how many of us relate to worry. When our son Hudson was about one year old, we gave all our children a Boppy. It’s a comfort item; it’s something that helps them feel safe and secure, and they can take it everywhere with them. But what we noticed is, Hudson did this weird thing for the first year of his life: he wouldn’t hold on to the Boppy. Every day he would choose a random household object and he would treat that thing as his Boppy, and he would just carry it around and clutch it everywhere. So for his first thing, he chose a toothbrush, and so all day long he would just clutch this toothbrush everywhere: „Boppy, boppy, boppy, boppy.“ He would just hold it everywhere, kind of hug it, clutch it real tight: „Boppy, boppy, boppy, boppy.“

And then he started doing this thing where he would carry it around in his mouth: „Bobby, bobby, boppy, boppy, boppy.“ Oh yeah, can’t do that, everyone! And this is what made him feel safe. But then he started changing objects, and my Hudson’s a little bit like his dad; he’s a sneakerhead. And so Hudson has this real fascination with shoes. And so he picked a shoe, and Hudson just went, „Boppy, boppy, mommy! This one makes me feel safe! Boppy, boppy, everywhere I went!“ He was carrying it around in his mouth—sometimes I should have cleaned this shoe off before I did that.

Well, there was one day I came down—true story. I came down to the kitchen. Get this camera so I can block the view. I came down to the kitchen, and Hudson had chosen his Boppy for the day: it was a large serrated knife! „Boppy, boppy, boppy, boppy, boppy.“ And when I came downstairs, what Hudson was doing—he was doing this with a large serrated knife in his mouth. Now, once you think about this: the thing that Hudson thought would keep him safe would actually kill him. That’s exactly how many of us relate to worry: we think that our habits, our mental habits of worrying about all of our problems, stewing on everything that might happen, the what ifs, the evenings, the worst-case scenario—we clutch it because we believe subconsciously the lie. Here’s the lie that we believe subconsciously: „If I worry about it today, I can have peace tomorrow.“ That’s the lie we subconsciously believe!

We think worry is going to keep us safe and protect us from harm. It won’t; it will kill you! Jesus unmasked this lie like the master teacher He was with this penetrating question. Jesus just said to His followers, who were so fearful one time, „Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?“ He unmasked the lie. He said, „Hey, look how foolish this subconscious belief is. Worry doesn’t do anything!“

Now, let me just riff on this for a second, and I’m going to give you a bit of a warning. I’m going to use a strong word here in a second, but dire situations require strong words, so I’m just going to speak to you in a very straightforward way. Guys, worry does nothing for you! Worry can’t make you one inch taller; it can’t make you one inch shorter; it can’t take 10 inches off your waist no matter how much you wish it could. It can’t lengthen your life, although it can shorten your life. It can’t change the past, it can’t control the future; all it does is make today suck—that’s the word! That’s all it does! Worry doesn’t work. It’s stewing without doing! To worry about something you can’t change is useless, and to worry about something you can change is stupid—just go change it!

The only thing worry changes is you. It makes you miserable—that’s all worry does! So here’s the lie: the lie is, „If I worry today, I can have peace tomorrow.“ Here’s the truth, in the words of Charles Spurgeon: „Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it only empties today of its strength!“

2. Think About Good Things
So number one, we’re going to worry about nothing. Now, you may hear that and go, „Great, Josh! Awesome! I’d love to do that! In fact, I almost—I’m always trying to think of a good intro to a sermon to get people’s attention to make you lean in. Here’s how I almost started this sermon: All of our campuses, play along! I almost just asked everybody in the room that’s like me, ‘You’re a worrier? ’ Raise your hand! Do it right now! Everybody—at all of our campuses—raise your hand!“ „All right, stop it! Let’s pray.“ You know, it doesn’t work like that; we don’t want to do it!

So how do we stop? We stop by replacing worry with something else. So we’re going to worry about no thing, but watch this: we’re going to think about good things. Now look at this in Philippians 4:8. You can, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! All right! We’re going to call this our eight-question test for everything you think about. What most people do is they don’t think about what they’re thinking about, and so they go through their whole life with what people have called „stinking thinking.“ All right?

Now, Philippians 4:8 says this: it says, „Finally, brothers, [eight-question test] whatever’s true, whatever’s noble, whatever’s right, whatever is pure”—oh, my generation doesn’t know how to do that! —“whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; if there’s anything excellent, if there’s anything praiseworthy, think about those things.“ That’s your eight-question test! Every thought that pops into your head, you ought to stop and go, „Man, is this true? Is it noble? Is it right? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it admirable? Is it excellent? Is it praiseworthy?“ If it is, I’m in! If it’s not, it’s out!

Now, you may hear that and I anticipate an objection. You may hear that and go, „Josh, that’s really easy for you to say! I’m going through a real bad season in my life!“ Can I tell you something I’ve learned just kind of getting a few years under my belt? Okay, let me tell you something I’ve learned about life: what I used to think is that life was a series of hills and valleys; there were good times and there were bad times. In fact, I literally used to preach this in sermons. I would say, „Here’s my line: ‘Man, life’s a season of hills and valleys, so if you’re in a good time, enjoy it because a bad time is coming; and if you’re in a bad time, endure it because the good times come! ’“ That’s why I used to say that! That is so stupid!

Now, let me tell you why I think that is so stupid: what I started realizing is that when I looked at my life, it wasn’t that there was never a time when everything in my life was good and nothing was bad, and there was never a time in my life when everything was bad and nothing was good. What I started noticing is that the great things and the bad things very often happen simultaneously! Back in 2007, it was one of the best things in my life happening, one of the first years of mine and Jana’s marriage, and I really enjoyed those years; they were great years! That was also the year that Jana was diagnosed with cancer!

Okay, 2019—I got my dream job! Like, guys, I’m literally doing what God called me to do, what I wanted to do since I was 13 years old: got my dream job! Hi! That was the same year I experienced eight months of anxiety attacks—low!

Now do you know what I’ve learned? Here’s what I’ve learned: there’s never a time in your life when everything’s good and nothing’s bad, and there’s never a time when everything’s bad and nothing’s good.

And so, what life is really like is that there’s not good times and bad times— there’s good things and bad things that are always happening all the time! Life’s not hills and valleys—here’s what it’s like: life is more like a set of railroad tracks where good things are always happening and bad things are always happening!

Now, here’s what that means: what that means is that no matter how good things are, there’s always something you can work on, but watch this, no matter how bad things are, there’s always something you can thank God for—always!

We don’t get to choose what we’re going through; we do get to choose what we think about, and what we think about determines our level of peace.

Now, let me get super practical right now, especially for my generation down: let me talk to you for a second. A lot of you are 24 hours per day filling your mind with everything that’s not true, everything that’s impure, everything that’s ignoble and undignified—things that are not excellent. Honestly, there’s just a load of disgusting things! And here’s how you’re doing it: you’re doing it with this death machine every single day. Some of you, you wake up and the first thing you do is you click on the news app on your phone, and if that’s the first thing you put in your mind every day, God help your soul!

Because hey, newsflash! The job of the news, they are never going to report what’s true, what’s admirable, what’s lovely, what’s excellent, what’s praiseworthy, what’s pure. They’re never going to do that! Do you know why? Because that doesn’t sell! That doesn’t sell!

What sells? Fear is the most powerful motivator in the human condition. So, their strategy is to sell you fear because fear motivates and drives viewership and clicks! Every single day they are waking up strategizing how we can instill fear in our viewers so that they get addicted to our content. Some of you, you’re not doing it with news—what you’re doing is, you know, it’s not news; it’s social media. And you just need to know this: they ought to call it „anti-social media.“

That’s right! Every study that’s been released in the last five years says the exact same thing: the more social media you intake, it increases three things drastically—loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Social media! In fact, here’s how it works in your life: when you get on social media, here’s all you see: you see, „Oh, that group of friends hung out without me!“ You get on social media and you say, „Oh, my friend has this insanely stupid political opinion! I can’t believe how stupid this person is! There are people out there that actually believe this thing!“ Or you get on—do you know what social media is? It’s the comparison trap!

You thought your vacation to Broken Bow was awesome until you saw that Sarah went to Bali, and now all of a sudden, that’s all you can think about—that everything in your life is—
Think about this: have you ever noticed in the top right part of the screen there’s a circular arrow button? Remember what they call that button? The refresh button! And some of you, what you do all day is you’re clicking „refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh!“ But you’re never refreshed! You know what they call it when you’re scrolling on your social media platform? You know what they call that? You’re scrolling on your feed! And some of you, what you’re doing all day is „feed, feed, feed, feed!“ But you’re never fed! You’re never fed!

Why? Because it’s not filling you with thoughts about what’s lovely, pure, excellent, admirable, praiseworthy. Let me just speak to you in a very straightforward way. God wants to put peace in many of your minds. He just doesn’t have any place to put it because you’re filling yourself with these things.

So here’s what we need to do: we need to learn to focus: think about the promises of God, not the problems of our day. Let me be real practical: here’s how Josh Howerton reads his Bible. You may think it’s a bad way to read your Bible—I’m just telling you it works for me; I think it’s great! I read a very short—usually half a chapter to one chapter—in the morning, at noon, and at night right before bed.

Here’s how I read my Bible: I’m not trying to get the whole narrative or do a big Greek word study; I do that in sermon prep. What I’m trying to do is I’m just looking for that one verse! I’m looking for that one sentence—that’s my daily word of hope for the next six hours! I’m going to make that sentence the wallpaper of my life for the next six hours! That’s what I’m doing!

And what you’re going to notice is when you get into God’s Word, you’re going to notice there’s a promise of God for every circumstance! Man! Are you in a season where you’re afraid of people? You need Psalm 27:1: „The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?“ Are you walking through money issues? You need Philippians 4:19: „My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.“ Guys, there’s even a verse for going to the dentist: „Crown Him with many crowns!“ You know, that’s—I just joke! That’s not really a verse! That’s not really a verse! But there is a verse that says, „Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.“ That actually is a verse! I love that joke!

Let me just—so here’s what you need to do: we need to fill our mind with those things. Now, Philippians 4 tells us there’s one thing you especially need to fill your mind with. Look at Philippians 4:4. It just says this: „The Lord is at hand!“ That’s the truth you need to fill your mind with: the Lord is at hand!

Now, have you guys ever heard a well-meaning but uninformed preacher talk to you about how—well, this part’s true—the most repeated command in the Bible is the command „fear not“? Now, 170 times in the Bible, it explicitly says „fear not.“ Now, here’s what a lot of us think: here’s how we read that verse: we read it as a command: „Fear not”—that’s how you read it! Fear not!

Now, let me just ask you: if you read all those verses, „Fear not, ” can’t you just feel the anxiety just melting off of your soul? You know what’s interesting? Because I’m a Bible nerd, and this is my job, I read through a study of every one of the 170 times the Bible gives the command not to fear. Do you know what’s almost always in the orbit of that command? It’s God’s reminder: „I’m with you; I’m with you!“

You see, „fear not, ” it’s not a command; it’s an invitation from your dad! When Hudson—our little baby Hudson, he’s 20 months old—when he has a night terror, I go into his little room, and I rub his back, and I say, „Hey, buddy! Hey, buddy! You don’t have to be afraid; Dad’s here; Dad’s here!“

Now listen, you are a child of God! You don’t have to be afraid; Dad’s here; Dad’s here! He’s with you!

God Carried Through Weakness
Man, I mentioned earlier, May 7, 2019 is when the floor of my life caved in. Let me give a little bit of that backstory so you know what I’m talking about. Standing on this stage preaching the worship sermon, in the middle of the sermon, my legs started getting tingly; I couldn’t feel my fingers; my head started going kind of numb; I started feeling lightheaded; thought I was going to pass out; and then my throat constricted really aggressively, and I started choking—some of you might have been in that service. I passed it off as a coughing fit. What I came to find out later was that I had the first of many anxiety attacks!

What happened for eight months? Before that, I always thought an anxiety attack was somebody’s little special word for „I was having a bad day.“ For the next eight months, every single time I would get ready to preach, I developed this phobia or this fear of being in front of people.

My brain—the brain part of your brain called your amygdala—when you go through a traumatic experience, your amygdala takes a picture of your surroundings, and then it starts setting off alarm bells in your nervous system to say, „Run away! Fight or flight! You know, run away!“ And what my amygdala took a picture of was this: me standing in front of a bunch of people with lights on me and that red light on that dang camera! And by the way, that’s not real convenient when you speak for a living! And so for eight months, every single time I would get ready to speak, it was just this hellish unbelief! There are no words to describe what that was like. It’s like my brain broke! And I couldn’t think about anything all day, every day, except the next time I had to speak, and I was gonna have another panic attack on stage.

I would eventually get to where I could never speak again. I’d have to go sell insurance, God forbid! You know, that’s what I thought was gonna happen to me. I showed the video—I’ve never gone back and watched the video from that sermon. I don’t know how my mind would handle that yet; I might give it a little more time. I showed it to a pastor that was walking through that season with me—Daniel Lucas; and when he watched it, I texted him and I said, „Hey Daniel, did you see it? I was in my fear!“ I said, „Did you see it where I almost melted down on stage this way?“ He said, „No, I saw the moment you were talking about, but here’s what I saw: I saw God was with you! I saw God carry you through the rest of that sermon, and you finished the whole thing; and what I saw was powerful, and God used you in your weakness. I saw that He upheld you with His righteous right hand, and God and God did.“

For the next little season of my life, that’s what it was. I was sitting in that dang chair, and my heart was beating out of my chest. There were a few months where Pastor Steve sat right behind me. We had a little thing where I could just tap him in; I never had to do it, but he was ready! And what I did is every time—what I noticed was that every time I wouldn’t think I’d be able to make it, and then I’d get up here, and every single time God was with me—the Lord was at hand! And He brought me out of that season.

Here’s why I think He brought me out of that season: He put me here on this stage now on the other end of that so that I could be here to tell somebody who needs to hear it. Guys, the goodness of God will always carry us through! The Lord is at hand; He will never leave you, and He will never forsake you! You are His servant; He has chosen you, and He has not cast you off! So fear not, for He is with you! Be not dismayed, for He is your God. He will strengthen you; He will help you; He will uphold you with His righteous right hand. When you walk through the waters, they will not overwhelm you. When you pass through the fire, you shall not be burned. Why? For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. He is a hiding place for you; He preserves you from trouble; He surrounds you with shouts of deliverance. He forgives all your iniquity; He heals all your diseases; He redeems your life from the pit; and surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and then you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

So listen to me: if you’re walking through anxiety, it will not last forever! Sorrow may last for the night; joy comes in the morning! So that even if it’s a struggle until your dying breath, there will come a day where you awake to joy unspeakable and full of glory! Because in the words of D.A. Carson, „You’re not suffering from anything that a good resurrection cannot fix!“ God—that is what’s true for us, because the Lord is at hand! The Lord is at hand!

3. Pray About All Things
So we’re going to think; we’re going to worry about nothing; we’re going to think about good things; and then last, we’re going to pray about all things! We’re going to pray about everything! The Bible just says it like this: it says, „But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.“

Now I’ve got a little visual here because what I learned when I was walking through this little season of anxiety is somebody explained to me that your nervous system is like a container, and when that container overflows with fear, that’s what starts sending a signal to your body to wig out—that’s what an anxiety attack is!

Okay, so let me explain. Let me land the plane with this! Here’s why most people experience tremendous amounts of anxiety: some people do it because they’re Christians who I’m gonna say like this: they over-practice faith—which is a bad way to say it, honestly, because what’s really happening is you’re under-practicing responsibility.

So for instance, let’s say I’ve got a friend that needs a job. I’m like, „Hey, bro! You need a job? Awesome!“ So I wait; wait, let me do it. So this is the „I can, ” and this is the „God can, ” and you’ve got to figure out what goes in the I can and what goes in the God can. There are things you can do; there are things God can do; there are things God’s not going to do for you, and there are things you definitely can’t do—only God can do for you!

All right? So for instance, you’ve got to figure out what goes in the „I can.“ If you’ve got somebody—I got somebody, let’s say I’ve got a friend that needs a job. I’m like, „Hey, bro! You need a job? So what are you doing? Are you networking? Are you getting your resume out there? Are you getting job interviews?“ And this has happened before—I asked that, like, „Oh no, man! I’m just trying not to freak out until God brings me something.“

„Okay, well, what might be better is you putting together a resume!“ What you’re trying to do is you’re trying to put what goes in the „I can“ in the „God can!“ And watch that; it doesn’t fit! And so you’re gonna overflow! And it’s like, „Okay, there’s going to be some anxiety!“

Let me do another one! Let’s say you’re always broke, you’re having financial problems. I’m like, „Hey, man! What are you doing? Are you trying to cut back on expenses? Are you making a plan? Are you getting a budget?“

„You know, man, I’m just, you know, buying lottery tickets and praying until the Lord gives me millions!“

„Hey, great! Well, actually what would be better is if you just made a budget; that’s going to be better.“

And see, if you’re just like, „Well, I’m gonna wait till the Lord gives me millions, ” you’re trying to put what goes in the „I can, ” you can take a shower, into the „God can.“

„Oh, it doesn’t fit!“

And so what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna overflow! You’re going to experience some worry! Let me do another one. Let’s say you’re looking for a spouse, and you’re like, „Man, I really want to be married!“

„Oh awesome, man! What are you doing? Are you asking some girls out? You know, you’re trying to get to know some people?“

„Oh man, I’m just praying until the Lord brings me Mrs. Right!“

„Like, ‘Okay, well, actually what would be better is if you took a shower—that’d be better! ’ And then maybe you could even put on a shirt that had a button on it! Like that? That’d go—and actually, it goes back to the other ball too! You could also get a job, because women think jobs are sexy. Like, that’d be good!“

And if you’re just like, „I’m just going to pray until the Lord brings me Mrs. Right, ” you’re trying to put what goes in the „I can, ” you can take a shower, into the „God can.“

„Oh, it doesn’t fit!“

And so what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna overflow! You’re going to experience some worry!

Now, when we worry, guys, here’s what we do: we take things like that—we don’t control—and we stay up awake all night worrying about things we don’t control! We can make resumes! We can work hard! We can make a budget! At the end of the day, there are some things we don’t control!

We don’t control the economy or our boss’s decisions! And so when we stay awake all night worrying about provision, we’re trying to put what belongs in the „God can“ in the „I can!“

And if all those other balls were in there, it wouldn’t fit, and you’re freaking out! Or if you stay awake all night worrying about the health and wellness of your children. See, there are some things you can do; you can do your best to parent; you can stay in touch; you can build the relationship! What you cannot do is be with them every second of every day to protect them from every type of trouble!

And when you stay awake worrying about that all night, you’re trying to put what belongs in the „God can, ” their protection, in the „I can.“

„Doesn’t fit! Doesn’t fit!“

And so you’re overflowing, and that’s where the anxiety comes from!

Now, watch this! Here’s what we’re gonna do! Let me get some real-life examples because the Bible says that what we need to do is, „In everything, by prayer and supplication, present your request to God.“

In other words, put the things that you can’t control in the „God can“ because He can control them! All right, real-life circumstances: you’re in a season where money’s really tight, and you’re not sure you can make your rent payment or you lost, maybe, a job.

Okay, what can you do? You can work hard, and you can make a budget. What can God do? God can control all of the circumstances around you, and He is the only one that can make sure you get provided for at times supernaturally!

So guess what we’re going to do? We’re going to give that one to God in prayer, and we’re going to say, „God, You are my provider! You are the one that can multiply the work of my hands! You can make sure I have what I need, and You will give me my daily bread! And so, I’m giving this to You, and I’m done thinking about it! I’m gonna go to sleep because You’re staying awake at night, thinking about it! That’s done!“

Okay, let me do another one! Let’s do the person that I talked to in the lobby last night—who you have a spouse that has cancer. What can you do? You can go to the doctor, and you can work on that person’s health and diet. Can you guarantee the healing of the cancer?

No! Can God?

Yeah, He can!

So watch what we’re going to do: we’re going to give that one to God, and we’re going to say, „God, I’m laying my head on the pillow tonight, and God, You are a healer! And I trust that You’re gonna heal the person I love! You’re either gonna heal them here and now or You’re gonna heal them in eternity if they know You! And, God, I trust You! So this is Yours! I’m going to sleep because You’re staying awake!“ Healing belongs in Your can; I’m done; I’m done!

Let me do another one! Some of you are very, very worried about your children that you feel like are wandering away from the Lord and they’re hurting themselves.

Can you protect your kids from all danger?

No, you can’t! Can God give His angels charge over your children?

Yes, He can!

So at night, I’m gonna give that one to God: „God, You love Eliana, Felicity, and Hudson more than I do! And so, God, would You command Your angels concerning them? Would You protect them and guard them? Would You draw their spirits to You using people and circumstances that are totally out of my control? I give that to You, because You died for them, and I trust You with it! Protection’s all Yours! I’m done! I’m going to sleep! You’re staying awake!“

Now listen, that’s what God calls us to do with everything! Put it in the „God can“ because He’s the one that actually can!

Invitation to Salvation
Now here’s what I know: I know there are some of you who are carrying a weight that you have no chance of ever carrying, and you’re trying to carry the weight of your sin, and I promise you can’t do anything about that!

So let me say it like this: there are some of you who’ve been around Lake Point six to eight weeks, and you’re starting to realize that you believe this, and you need to cross a line of faith and give your life to Christ! If that’s you, would you do this at all our campuses? Would you just bow your heads and close your eyes? Everybody, bow your heads and close your eyes!

And if you’re realizing that you need to cross a line of faith and commit yourself for the first time to Jesus, would you just pray this prayer from a sincere heart? Just say, „God, I know I’m a sinner and that I’ve lived for other things beside you first, but You died for my sin, and You rose from the dead on the third day, and I believe that now You live to give life and forgiveness to all who call on Your name.

And so today, pray this from a sincere heart: ‘From this day forward, as best as I know how, I will live for You first. Thank You, God, for making me a son or a daughter! ’“

Now keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed. And if you crossed a line of faith today, on the count of three, when I count to three, I want you to slip your hand up in the air so that I can see it for two reasons: one, we just want to know who we’re praying for, but two, I believe something solidifies in you spiritually when you respond physically! So here we go: if that’s you on three: one, God loves you; two, you came here for a reason today; three, slip your hand up in the air right now where I can see it! Thank you! Keep them up; thank you! Keep them up real high! Amen! Keep them up! Keep them up! I’m all in, Jesus! I’m yours! Crossing the line today! Yes! Praise Christ! Yes! Keep them up! Amen! Amen!