Steven Furtick - Brave the Waves (Anxious for Nothing) (01/29/2026)
In Philippians 4:6-7, Pastor Steven Furtick teaches "be anxious for nothing" by turning every request to God with thanksgiving, promising supernatural peace that guards hearts and minds. Using Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4, he shows courage comes from speaking peace to inner waves of anxiety—through breathing in God's presence, remembering His promises, asking with thanks, and elevating praise—since many fears prove to be anxious for nothing when viewed from heaven's perspective.
Be Anxious for Nothing: Paul's Command
So now let's read from the great book of Philippians chapter 4. I don't know if I'll follow through with this plan consistently, but I want to read a little verse or two from this chapter each week of this new series because Paul is showing us how to be brave. And then I'm planning to share a little story from the Bible that kind of connects with what I read you from this. So be a double portion. You get a little bit of Paul and then maybe another little story.
How many of you learn best through stories? You're kind of a, yeah, experiential learner. Me too. So I want to read Paul's command. And then I want to show you a picture of it today. And I'm so excited about what has the potential to happen in your life over the next four weeks. Because maybe, um, maybe you thought you weren't a courageous person, but you just did not know how to access the courage that God had planted inside of you.
You know, the scripture says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. And so if you belong to God, and if you're his child and his creation, it's not right for you to live your life intimidated by every bad report that you hear. And we're going to talk about a lot of things in this series, but this week, I want to focus on kind of one word and one sensation from Philippians chapter four, verse six.
The Key to Peace: Prayer with Thanksgiving
Paul says, and I'm going to read this in the new King James version of the Bible, because I originally learned it in that version. And so I want to read it to you in that version because it's what I'm most familiar with. He says, "Be anxious for nothing." How you doing with that? Be anxious for nothing. And so, you know, we got to talk about that in a minute. And he says, here's how you do it, but in everything, everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving.
Now I reckon, to use a good southern word, one of the reasons we're so anxious about what's coming is because we're not thankful enough for what we already have. And so Paul says, if all you ever pray about is what you need, but you never stop and thank God for what you have, you'll always be anxious. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God. I want some more of that. That's the stuff I'm after. The peace of God. A peace that the world can't take away because the world didn't give it. A peace that the economy can't take away because it's not rooted in the economy. Listen to it. You're going to love this at University City, which surpasses all understanding. So, I mean, sometimes things won't even make sense in your life. And people will be wondering, how are you holding it together with what you're going through? And you're going, I don't know either. It's just an unexplainable, supernatural, life-giving peace that comes from God.
Will guard your hearts and minds. Holly, I had a thought this week. Paul was writing this verse from a prison cell. It's kind of hard to talk about peace and being unanxious. Is that a word? When all you see around you is bars and iron. But I wondered when he was... This is the end of the passage. Look, I wonder if when he got to this part, I wonder if he looked up and saw a guard standing outside his cell. And he's like, the peace of God will... What will it do? It will... Guard! Cool! Like this big dude standing outside of this cell, making sure I don't get out.
The peace of God will stand guard around your life and make sure that what gets in is only what God sends. The peace of God will guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus. Through Christ Jesus. How many of you want verse 7? The peace of God. All right. To get verse 7, we've got to go through verse 6. And I want to speak to you on that phrase today. Put it back up, please. Be anxious for nothing. Be anxious for nothing.
Irrational Anxieties We All Face
Turn to the person next to you and you can turn to three people actually. In case the first one is unresponsive. And just preach to them for a moment. Say, I wanted you to know you're anxious for nothing. I wanted you to know you're anxious for nothing. I wanted you to know you're... And you may be seated. Thank you, worship team. Thank you, Brian. Anxious for nothing. That's my little title today. Simple title.
Oh, it's dark. Hey, whoa. What was that? Let there be light. Are you excited about this series? You got a situation you're facing that you need God to give you some boldness for? I got something for you today. Anxious for nothing. Be anxious for nothing. We're anxious for nothing.
I was thinking about this, how all of my children, there are three. Sometimes I love one more than the others. Fluctuates with their behavior. It's a conditional love. They all have, at various stages in their development, usually around the age of three, exhibited irrational anxiety. With Elijah, it's always been bugs. There was a Kermit the Frog video that I believe traumatized him early in life. The opening screen, there was a fly that buzzed around. And I would make him watch it because I thought it was funny to watch him freak out. And I think it's backfired because now he will not take out the trash because of flies.
Recently, Holly sent him to brush his teeth and he came downstairs running scared. I can't brush my teeth. There's an ant in the bathroom. He's nine. He's nine now. Not three anymore. He's nine. And so I'm trying to teach him, boy, what you need to be scared of is not the ant in the bathroom, but the fact that I'm going to knock your teeth out of your mouth and you won't be able to brush them if you don't get in that bathroom and brush your teeth because it's an ant. You're not going to get married if you're scared of ants.
But then he also has like an irrational bravery when it comes to heights. Like I'll see him climbing on rooftops and things and he doesn't care. So I don't understand that. Graham, our middle child, he's the athlete. He is irrationally courageous on a ball field. So he's not intimidated to dive after a ball. He's not intimidated. You could throw a baseball at his head as fast as you want to. And he's not scared of that. What he's scared of is robbers. And I know robbers are scary, but what I can't figure out is his frame of reference for this fear because he's never been robbed before.
Now, it would make a lot of sense if he grew up kind of rough and, you know, and had several windows shot out or something like that. But I can't figure out. It's not like I ever made him watch Dexter or something. And, you know, I don't know why he's so scared of robbers, but he is terrified of robbers. To me, it seems an irrational anxiety.
Abby, our three-year-old girl, bless her heart, she is anxious about everything right now. Everything. And I'll give you two examples to prove that she's anxious about everything. And the first would be the Disney Princesses on Ice show that I took her to with Holly the other day, during which she screamed the entire time, I want to go home, because the show was called Princesses and Heroes, Disney's Princesses and Heroes. But I kind of want my money back because they didn't title it correctly. It was a great show, but they forgot to talk about the villains. It's actually Princesses, Heroes, and Villains.
Fear of Villains and Even Billy Graham
And I know this because my daughter is terrified of every Disney villain, especially Ursula from The Little Mermaid. And yes, I had a crush on Ariel as a boy. And yes, Holly knows about it. And yes, I've worked through it. But Ursula does something to my little girl. It's kind of unexplainable. The whole time through the people skating on the ice, she was grabbing at my arm and pulling my arm tighter around her, which was adorable at first. But after 20 or 30 minutes of not being able to, you know, check my phone because I'm bored to death watching people ice skate, to be honest with you, it's kind of annoying that she can't even cope without my arm being around her.
So I'm like holding on to her. And then the Little Mermaid segment starts. And I'm excited to see Ariel, you know, childhood crush. And Holly looks at me and goes, Oh no, she's more afraid of Ursula than anything in the world. But I was so happy because Ursula never came. And I was telling Holly and Abby, I was like, see, Ursula never even came. And I was going to put that in my sermon about how Ursula never even came. about how sometimes you're afraid of something and it never even comes.
And they did the intermission. And wouldn't you know, when I went to go use the bathroom and came back to my seat, the first thing after the intermission, see, I thought the Little Mermaid segment was done, but no, the lights go down and here comes Ursula. Sing, Ariel. And so Abby said, Daddy, you lied to me. She did come, Ursula. I messed up my sermon illustration and everything. And I'm not going to put any pictures of Abby crying on the screen. We did take a few. For future reference, black male purposes. You never know what you'll need in the teenage years.
But we also visited as a family just a couple days ago, we visited the Billy Graham Library that's here in Charlotte, North Carolina, here where our ministry is located. My kids had never been before. It's just a great tribute to his life. You should go if you've never been. It'll just help you see that God will use one life surrendered to him. And maybe you won't be the next Billy Graham, but it's just inspiring to see somebody who's just sold out like that to Jesus.
And so I've been several times, always get a little either emotional or inspired, fired up watching it. But Elijah had to do a report. He's doing a report on Dr. Graham for school. So we took all the kids, Graham, who is named after Dr. Graham, our middle child, and we also took Abby. And will you believe me if I tell you that Abby was actually terrified of Dr. Billy Graham? Now, this takes the cake, y'all. It's one thing to be scared of the Sea Queen or the evil underworld on Disney, but it's Billy Graham.
In fact, you would have thought we were going through a haunted house with a chainsaw massacre. Every room we would go in, she'd look at me and go, it's Billy Graham. Can I come out now? And I'm like, no, Abby, but he's not coming. But if he did, you would love him. He's so nice. And it didn't work. It's every room. It's Billy Graham. And it come out now. It's Billy. That's where Billy Graham's going to come. My little girl is scared of Billy Graham. And she'll work through it. Believe my faith. She's going to get through this.
From Irrational Fear to Heaven's Perspective
All of my children have irrational anxiety, and I can see that it's irrational. You know, all of God's children have some irrational anxiety, too, Paul says. And he wants to correct that in Philippians 4. He says, there are some things that you're afraid of that make no sense from heaven's perspective. There are some things that are causing you to shut down, that are paralyzing you, that are senseless when you put it in the context of who God is in you and what you mean to him. And he says, I want you to train your heart to be anxious for nothing.
Come on, get real, Paul. This is preacher talk. Be anxious for nothing. Did you see the Dow Jones this week, dude? Do you ever watch CNN? Haven't you heard about what they're putting in kids' Legos these days? And if our kids touch the Legos, they'll be exposed to chemicals that could cause them to have babies that are born with hairy backs. Don't you know the sound of gluten and the... Paul, there's a lot to be anxious about.
Paul says, I'm in prison, bro. And I've earned the right to tell you after they beat me and flogged me and thought they were going to kill me that if you're following after God's purpose, you've got no reason to ever be anxious. Be anxious for nothing. Nothing. Anxious for nothing.
So you know I don't like to do a lot of complicated word studies in church because I think most of us do good just to obey the English in the Bible so we don't have to go Hebrew, Greek. But the Greek word for anxious is pretty interesting. It appears 17 times in the New Testament. And the word... Let me go back here and read it so I can make sure I don't say it wrong. I didn't do too well in my Greek class in seminary. I was gifted in other areas. But the Greek word here that is translated anxious is merimnate. I'll spell it. M-E-R-I-M-N-A-T-E.
Again, class, I see all of you furiously taking notes. You want to know this Greek treasure. Merimnate. The way I kind of remember it in my mind is it sounds like marinate, which is an interesting word association with anxiety. Because if you marinate in the wrong thoughts, come on, somebody. Come on, somebody. If you soak in all the wrong stuff, you're eventually going to be full of all kinds of fear. And then I like how it has, it's merimnate. Like, I like the idea of how anxiety gets us all tied up in knots. Just wake up in a big bundle of nothing but dread. Just a big old knotted up, like double knot, triple knot. Spend half your day just unknotting your emotions. Just wake up feeling that way sometimes.
Genuine Concern vs. Needless Anxiety
And he uses the word merimnate and he says, be merimnate. Do not be merimnate for anything or for nothing in your life. Just don't get all tied up in knots about stuff. And so if I'm you, I'm thinking, okay, but, you know, don't we need to worry about some things? Don't we need to be concerned about some things? Yes, be concerned. No, don't worry. That's what I think Paul would say. Because that same word, merimnate, he also uses in Philippians 2. Philippians was a letter that he wrote to a particular church. And so in Philippians 2, he's talking about how he wants to send one of his ministry associates, Timothy, to check on the church since he can't get out and check on them.
And he describes Timothy. Look at this verse. He says, I have no one else like him who will show genuine concern. Guess what the Greek word that is translated into English genuine concern happens to be? Merimnate. But here it's translated genuine concern because, you know, you can have the same situation, but the way you deal with it determines whether or not it's a genuine concern or a needless anxiety. Come on, somebody. It's pretty preaching.
So, part of this being brave is about learning to discern in your life between a genuine concern and a needless anxiety. But I would say to you that sometimes you can interpret the same event in both of those ways. So, you can turn a genuine concern into a needless anxiety by the way you approach it. Because it's the same word. Sometimes you go through a situation and you deal with it and you handle it with strength. You're brave about it. That's a genuine concern. Sometimes you go through a situation and you're tied all up in knots about stuff you can't do much about anyway. That's a needless anxiety. Wisdom will show you the difference. The difference between needless anxiety and genuine concern.
It's Nothing But a Thing: Perspective Shift
And here's how you can do it. Here's how you can do it. Be anxious for no thing. I was talking to a friend one time and this was many years ago. He spilled orange juice on his computer while he was on the phone with me one morning. But he was so calm about it. He said, Oh, hang on a second. And he was gone a long time on the phone. I said, What happened? He said, I just spilled a whole glass of orange juice on my computer. It's not working anymore. I said, And you're not using profanity? And he said, No, it's nothing but a thing. It's nothing but a thing. Fix it. Fix it. If they can't, they can't. It's nothing but a thing.
I thought, I want that. Do you remember that phrase? We used to say it a lot when I was coming up. I think Paul is trying to get us to see here in Philippians 4. Be anxious for no thing. Be concerned about the state of your soul. Be concerned about the state of your children's soul. Be concerned about God's work in the world. That's a genuine concern. But when it comes to the things, you have to learn to look at some things in your life and just say, Hey, nothing but a thing. It is nothing but a thing.
Let me show you this in Romans. Paul is talking in Romans about some pretty heavy stuff. And he says, verse 31, Romans chapter 8, What then shall we say in response to these? Say it out loud. Every location. Say it out loud. In response to these things, if God is for us, who can be against us? That's what gives me courage sometimes when I feel opposed. I just say, Well, if God's on my side, I'm good. And if he's not, God, I'm in trouble. So it really doesn't matter what they're saying about me. It just matters what God sees in me. Because if he's for me, who can be against me? Take a number, line up. It won't matter because I'll still be standing.
And you can have that confidence as God's child. It's not cocky. It's just confidence. That's what Paul is saying. It says, It's just a thing. He said, It's a thing. Look at the next verse. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? It's nothing but a thing.
Skip to verse 37. He starts listing some things. He says, No, in all these, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. What kind of things are you talking about, Paul? Spilling orange juice on the computer? Big deal. No, I'm convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, this is heavy stuff, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor any… Let me just put a blank here so you can fill it in. Nor anything else in all creation, bankruptcy, joblessness, homelessness, addiction, whatever, will be able to separate us, nor any… Oh, I love it. Nor anything else. Nor any… You see it? Nor anything else.
Reach everybody you can reach and tell them, It ain't nothing but a thing. It ain't nothing but a thing. This is a thing. Be anxious for no thing. I want you to do that this week now. When you're faced with something, and if it doesn't fit in Paul's list, that's what the blank is for. That's what the anything is for. It is nothing but a thing. Shift over from needless anxiety to genuine concern, controlling what you can and trusting God where you can't. Easier said than done, but that's our goal in this series. And I'll help you week by week if you'll come back. If you don't, I won't be able to help you.
Anxious for Nothing: Many Fears Prove Empty
But watch this. Another way to look at it. Another way to look at it. Anxious for nothing. Come on, say it out loud. I'm anxious for nothing. Yeah, that's a good goal to have, right? But isn't it also a statement of reality about how many times in our lives we've been anxious for nothing? Think about it. I'm just playing with the phrase a little bit. I enjoy doing this. I was thinking, how many times have the people in our church, have I as a pastor, have we as a family, been tied up in knots, merimnate, for something that turned out to be anxious for nothing?
And we were freaking out the other day because somebody that's close to me, they rent a home. And one of their neighbors told them that the home that they're renting is about to get sold out from under them. And this person spent the next week freaking out, losing sleep, not eating very much. And I know you say, well, it's not a big deal. Get another place. But this person is, you know, over the age of 60, kind of settled into this place, and was just thinking, well, I don't even know where to go. I don't know what to do for a week. Until they found out that the nosy neighbor that told them the rumor had actually misinterpreted what the owner of the home had come by and said, which was, if my husband died, I could see myself maybe selling the home one day.
Now, you know the telephone game where I tell you something, you tell her, and she tells her, and he tells him, and she tells him. By the end of the row, it gets from, if they die, then one day I might sell this house to, we're going to sell the house tomorrow. You need to find another place to live. You're out on the streets. And it creates anxiety. And I was talking to this person. They said, I wish I could get my sleep back that I lost for nothing. I wish I could get all those moments that I was planning about stuff and scenarios that weren't even upon me yet, that might be upon me.
I like what Joyce Meyer says. She says, worry is down payment on a problem you may never even have. Thank you, Joyce. We appreciate the help. Because sometimes you're anxious for nothing. I go out of town for a couple weeks every summer in June because you get tired of my preaching. You need to hear other people. And so I go away. But while I'm gone, about the first week it feels good. Second week feels good. Third week feels good. But about the fourth week I'm freaking out because I haven't been to church. And I don't feel... I don't wonder, is the church still there? Are they still showing up? And I watch online and stuff. It's just not the same. And I'm like, is everything cool? Has Hewbacca started his own church while I was gone? And I don't ever wonder that. He's awesome. But I'm just saying, your mind can go to all these crazy places.
And it's like, what's going on back home at the church? And this summer we were gone. And I sent a text to one of our team members named Chunks. I know his name is Chunks. And I sent a text to him and I said, everything cool back home? And 10 minutes went by. 10 minutes in, I'm thinking, oh no, there's... And I have some scenarios. 30 minutes went by. This guy usually responds quick. I pay him too. An hour went by. By the second hour. I had so many scenarios in my mind. I won't mention them to you here. It's a little embarrassing. Let's just say there was no church left. All of our campuses had simultaneously burned to the ground. The fire department didn't get back in time. And then two hours later, I finally get a text. Like two hours, 10 minutes later, I finally get a text. So sorry I missed you. Been in the mountains. No cell signal. Everything's never been better. I forgot it was Friday. It was the day off back home for our church staff. And here I am with my family on vacation. Anxious. Weren't they responding? Must be something wrong. Must be something real wrong. It's never taken them this long before. I'm going back and checking the timestamp on the text. Did it go through? It went through. It says it was delivered at 12.57 P.M. It was on. What's going on? What's going on? Maybe I should get back on a plane. Maybe I should charter a flight. I can't wait for the commercial one. I've got to get back home. For nothing.
The Storm on the Sea: Anxious for Nothing
I told you a scripture and a story. Turn to the person next to you and say, You're anxious for nothing. A lot of the times, most of the time, you find out later, all that was for nothing. So one day, Jesus wanted to go on a trip, and he has his disciples prepared to take him where he needs to go. Look at Mark 4.35. It says, That day when evening came, here's the story, he said to his disciples, Let's go over to the other side. Everybody say, Other side. Okay, remember that phrase. It'll come back in a moment.
Leaving the crowd behind, Jesus has been teaching all days. He taught the parable of the sower and the soils and how the farmer goes out and scatters seed, and some of it produces good fruit, and some of it doesn't produce good fruit. It just depends on whether or not the soil is good or whether it's thorny or whether it's rocky or whether the birds come and eat it. He shared about the kingdom of heaven as like a mustard seed. This is all in Mark 4. Then Jesus, after teaching all day, he gets tired, and he whispers to Peter. He's like, Hey, man, I've got to get out of here. Let's sneak out now. These crowds aren't going to let me go, but get the boat running. I'll be there in a second.
And so they left the crowd behind, and they took him along just as he was because he didn't have time to go back and change. And so he gets in the boat, and there were also other boats with him. Now, you never hear anything else about the other boats, but it lets us know by putting that detail in that what Mark is giving us is an eyewitness account. because Mark would, the way he wrote his gospel, there's four accounts of Jesus' life, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and Mark would write down what Peter said. And that's why Mark's gospel tends to read a little faster than all the other ones because Peter gets right to the point. You know, Peter's the guy who's just all about the action. And so he's giving the details to let us know, this isn't just something I heard about. This is something from someone who was there. This is an eyewitness account because sometimes you don't need to hear about how to have bravery from people who have never been through anything that was difficult.
Sometimes you don't want to hear advice from somebody who's never been through a broken season in their life about God's healing or who has never faced down a giant about how to stand in strength. So this is an eyewitness account now of a time when the disciples of Jesus were anxious for nothing. Now check this out. A furious squall came up just out of nowhere. I've been studying a lot about the Sea of Galilee this week where this event happened and it was notorious for unexpected storms because the Sea of Galilee is in a basin surrounded by mountains and when the cold air pushes through it creates furious squalls. Okay? And the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped.
You ever felt nearly swamped in your life? Like, I'm still showing up but barely. I'm making it and I'm smiling but nobody knows what's really behind this smile. The things I think about some days I just want to run away from it all. Maybe it's just me. Jesus was in the stern. Listen to what Jesus was doing. All powerful, all loving, compassionate, gracious Jesus who if you call on him he'll answer. Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. I love the Bible's sense of humor.
And the disciples woke him and said, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? Don't you want to live? Don't you want us to live? Harkens back to the book of Jonah, doesn't it? Where Jonah, the prophet, was running away from God in Jonah chapter 1 verses 5 and 6. And a great storm came upon the ship because Jonah was running away from God. And sometimes God will send a storm to get you back to the place and reroute you to get you back on your assignment. You ought to thank God for some of the storms he sent because if he hadn't have sent the storm you'd have ended up in the wrong place. You were headed the wrong way and he used the storm to turn you around.
Jesus Sleeping: Confidence vs. Complacency
But in Jonah's case it says, all the sailors verse 5 were afraid and each cried out to his own God and they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. And the captain went to him and said, man, how can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish. And I'm thinking, man, Jonah was sleeping because he was complacent and didn't want to pursue God's purpose. Jesus was sleeping because he was confident and he knew, I'm right where God wants me to be. So it stands to reason that there's no reason for me to get anxious now. So I might as well get some beauty sleep.
And it's just a comparison here at our Blakeney campus. Isn't it kind of cool that the rain started falling while I'm preaching about a storm? I don't know if you can hear it at the other campuses, but I just think it's kind of cool like a sound effect that God wanted to give us an audible analogy for what's going on in some of our lives today that some winds are blowing and some waves are breaking and some things are happening and some uncertainties popping up and some difficulties you're facing and you don't know what to do. And Jesus, watch, seems to be asleep in the stern. And you wonder, don't you care? Aren't you supposed to be the one who keeps my life out of trouble? But you told me to get in the boat.
Because, see, I have this theory, okay? Jesus, in this situation, he tells the disciples, get in the boat, we're going to the other side, and the next thing that happens is a storm hits. Now, for anybody else, you wouldn't think anything, but Jesus is the one who created the world and he probably knows the weather patterns. So it kind of bothered me that he sent them into a storm. Sometimes we create our own storms, though, don't we? Write these down. Five ways we create our own storms sometimes. See, some waves are God-ordained in our lives, but some waves are waves we make and sometimes we create our own anxiety and then we ask God for peace, but how can he give you peace in a situation that you're currently creating?
And so I got five things for you. Just real quick, I won't take long on them, but number one, often we create anxiety and waves in our lives with the words that we speak. Just write that down. Words. Words. Have you ever made unnecessary waves with your words? Words that you speak out of anger that you then have to go back and fix. It takes a week, two weeks, three weeks. Words of doubt. Words of... Some of you just... You frame your day with the wrong words and then you're disappointed with the world that you've built, but your world is created by your words. And sometimes we make waves. You know, we create choppy conditions in the morning just by the way we get up talking. And then one thing is another. My grandmother used to say this phrase all the time. She'd say, Y'all about to worry me to death. And she'd say it about anything. You know, the TV's too loud. Turn that TV down. Y'all about to worry me to death. You're about to worry me to death. And she was a wonderful lady, but you know what? As a result of her saying all the time, You're about to worry me to death. She was worried. A lot. Because she said she wanted to be worried.
We read a teaching one time in a book. It said, After anything you say in your life, don't say it if you can't follow it with this phrase, And that's just the way I want it. And that's just the way I want it. So try it out on the things you say. You're about to worry me to death, and that's just the way I want it. I'm just running around like chicken with my head cut off. I'm so stressed out, and that's just the way I want it". You have your own phrases, but the words we speak create waves of anxiety. Check your words.
Five Ways We Create Our Own Storms
Number two, your approach. Sometimes it's not what we're going through. It's the way we're going through what we're going through. Some of us live with no margin, and so we're always nervous. It's our approach. Anxious about money because we spend too much and don't make enough. No margin. It's your approach. You start your morning frustrated with people in traffic. You know there's going to be traffic. You've never adjusted the time you get up and leave your house. Now you're wondering why your job is so stressful. Your job is not stressful. The way you got to your job was stressful because of your approach.
I'm going to help a student. Your class is not stressful. The fact that you knew about the assignment for three weeks before you thought to look it up is the approach that made it stressful. She's just so mean. She's not mean. You're just a procrastinator. You're making your own waves. Can I get a parent? Back me up in the house. That's the second one.
The wrong voices. The wrong voices can create unnecessary and needless waves and anxiety in our lives, can't they? Man, if you checked the news or your Twitter feed on your phone before even getting up to use the bathroom in the morning and you wonder why the outlook on life that you have is so dark, I'm going to just tell you, and I'm going to preach more about this week three. We don't have time to talk about today. I think 24-7 news stations and news is one of the worst things that ever happened to our peace of mind as people. No offense to the media. No offense to a journalist. But I mean, I was reading through just some headlines the other day. Do you really need to understand the dynamics of every disease? Like every disease? Do you really need to understand the dynamics of every conflict in all these countries that you can't pronounce? Do you need to meditate? No wonder you're marinated. You're marinating in the wrong reports, the wrong voices.
They'll come in and tell me from time to time about a problem in the church, and when they get to a certain point, I'll say, thanks. That's all I need to know. What am I doing? I need good information to make a good decision, but I don't need so much information that it clouds my outlook, so I can't let the wrong voices just keep on playing, keep on going, and then they said this, and then they did that, and they might do that, and it could be that. At some point, you just have to say, I'm creating waves by all the voices I'm listening to. I listen to depression. I watch depression. The people I hang around are depressing. I'm making my own waves.
Our expectations can create waves. I love how Lisa Turkhurst taught us over the last two weeks. Wasn't that good? About not over-committing? About making sure we make decisions with wisdom? Look at this. Sometimes you go out in your life, and the anxiety that you feel is a result of the expectations of others that you created by not being willing to manage your own energy. Sometimes the anxiety we feel is because we get up in the morning and we don't expect any battles that day, and so we feel like it's a surprise attack when something hits us wrong. Why are you surprised? He said, put on the full armor of God. That suggests you're going to be in a fight. He said, take up the helmet. He said, take up the shield. He said, take up the sword. He said, you've got to get dressed for battle when you get up in the morning. Don't be surprised. You need to learn to expect some storms. I think the fact that it's unexpected is often the reason it's so difficult.
Then there's the master wave maker in our souls. It's called shame. Shame. Shame. You walk around anxious because you're hiding stuff, and you wonder, when are they going to find out about my secret? Or maybe because you're tormented by something that God already forgave. See, there's a difference between conviction and shame. Conviction is good. It shows you what to fix, and it gives you God's power to help fix it. Shame tells you that because of what you did, who you are is now fundamentally changed, and it makes you walk around paranoid, and it makes you walk around feeling helpless, and it makes you walk around feeling like people don't love you who do love you, and people are judging you that aren't judging you, and you've got to learn where to take your shame, or it'll just rock you. Waves.
Jesus Calms the Storm: Authority Over Waves
And they wake Jesus up, and they say, don't you see the waves? Don't you care... However, if we die, so verse 39, Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, quiet, be still. Now, if it was cool that the rain started falling when I started preaching about the storms, isn't it even cooler that by the time I got to verse 39, we can't hear the rain anymore? Now, this is just a blatantly. I don't know. It might be raining in another part. So, last thing is cool. He got up and he said, quiet, be still. Three words. Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
And he said to his disciples, why are you so afraid? Hey, don't you know that when I tell you we're going to the other side, we're going to get to the other side? Don't you know that I command the wind and the waves? And see, they didn't yet. They hadn't seen enough yet. They hadn't experienced enough yet. After you've been through a few storms, it's interesting what you learn. Do you still, look at it, have no faith? And then verse 41, it says, they were terrified and asked each other, who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.
If you thought they were scared of the storm, they really freaked out when they found out that with three words, he could shut it off like a shower head. Whoa. So, I want to suggest something to you today about the storms of anxiety in your life and the waves and the winds that are blowing in your life. Because, man, the winds will blow. They will blow. Absolutely. And the waves will break and they will crash. No doubt about it. And in those times when Jesus is sleeping in the stern and he doesn't take action and he doesn't fix your situation, it can be easy to deduce what the disciples deduce. We're going to die and God doesn't even care. Start playing it out all the way to the end. Man, this is how I'm going to die right here. This is how it's going to end right here. I'm never going to get another job. I'm never going to have any balance. I'm never going to... Anxious for nothing. Because they eventually got to the other side. Yeah.
And see, I wondered all week, why would Jesus send them into a storm? Just like we wonder in our lives, why doesn't God do more about the chaos in our world? Why doesn't he fix situations before they get that bad? We celebrate when God heals somebody of cancer, but silently we wonder, why did they have to have cancer to begin with? We celebrate when somebody's kid comes back to God, but we wonder then, why did God let the kid wander away to begin with? We celebrate that somebody went to heaven, but we wonder, why did God have to make it so that people die and we feel pain and sorrow? Don't you care?
And Jesus was upset about that. You know what? I don't think he was upset that they woke him up. I think they were supposed to wake him up. I think he wanted them to go wake him up. I do. I think it's the way they woke him up that bothered him. See, because they woke him up thinking, you must not care. You don't care. He said in Philippians 4 or 6, didn't he? In everything, make your request known to God. You're supposed to ask God. You're supposed to go down to the stern and say, Lord, I need a little help right now. Lord, this doesn't feel good. God is pushing against me. God is getting cloudy, and I don't know what to think, and the sky is growing black. Would you help me, Lord? Would you come, Lord? But don't assume he doesn't care. Don't assume that.
Storms as Teaching Tools for Inner Peace
See, because I believe… You don't have to take this view if you don't want to. I believe Jesus put them in the storm not to test them but to teach them. I can explain. See, Jesus wasn't going to be with them forever. We don't have Jesus in physical form. We have the Spirit of God inside of us as believers, but we don't have Jesus in our boat. What a cool picture. Just like Jesus was in the stern, the Spirit is inside of you, but we don't have Jesus anymore in physical form in our boat.
So I think Jesus, when he stood up and he said, quiet, be still, and the wind and the waves died down. You know what I think he was doing? I think he was using the wind and the waves like a whiteboard to draw a lesson plan for the disciples. Follow me, follow me, follow me. Because the real waves that take you down in your life are not the ones out there. They're the ones in here. And see, you think it's the circumstance that's making you anxious. It's not. You think it's the other person's reaction. How do I know this? James 1, verse 6. He says, when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Now watch what doubt does. Watch what doubt does. Because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind.
That's why God lets me experience winds and waves in my life, so he can teach me to calm the wind and the waves within. See, the real waves are within. And you'll never have peace until you learn how to speak peace to the waves within. So Jesus said, watch this. He said, be still. And the waves shut up. And he said, now it's your turn. What I just did to the sea, I want you to do to your anxious heart. And the next time the winds of what ifs start blowing and the winds of imaginary scenarios and negative emotions start blowing, I want you to get up and wake up your faith from the stern of the ship and get out and hold up your hand and say, quiet, be still.
So, the waves within. Come on. I'm preaching about the waves within. Because if you learn how to calm the waves within, you can ride the waves without. Ooh, I found out that if you learn how to calm the waves within, it's about the atmosphere of your heart. Everyone's standing. No one leaving. We're going to go deeper into this teaching next week. How many of you are coming back or will at least lie? You have good intentions? The waves within. The waves within. You think the problem is that God won't calm the waves without. The real problem is you haven't learned to calm the waves within.
And we're going to learn how to be peace speakers to our own souls. See, I thought it was random when the order of this stuff. Because Jesus, Mark chapter 4, he's talking about the sower and the soils. And then we go straight into the storm. And I couldn't figure out why Mark edited those two together. But I realized that both are about atmosphere. Every heart has an atmosphere. I wonder today, what is the atmosphere of your heart? Can I tell you that nothing good develops in an atmosphere of anxiety? Nothing. And Jesus said, whether you're thinking about a farmer and a soil, that's the atmosphere of the earth. Or a storm in the sky. You've got to learn how to take command of the atmosphere of your heart. Because here's what's happening. You're creating an atmosphere of anxiety all around you because there's an atmosphere of anxiety within you. You're taking it out on people. And you're frustrated with people. And you're short with people. And you're withdrawn from people. And you're blaming people. But you've got to get up and wake up your faith, Peter. Jesus said, you see what I did? Now you do it. Speak. Speak. Awaken your brave within.
Practical Steps to Calm Inner Waves
So here's what I do. You want to know what I do? You want to know what I do? Check this out. When the waves start in my life, first thing I do, I breathe. Physically. Some of y'all are like, yes, the breath of God. No, no. Just I physically breathe. Do it now. You feel it? Do it again. They've suggested that the reason the Hebrew name of God is Yahweh is because the very name sounds like a breath. Yahweh. So that when you breathe, every breath is a prayer reminding you that he's inside of you sustaining. Here comes the waves, but I know how to breathe. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
So I breathe in his grace, and then I can breathe out. Breathe. Breathe, dog. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. And then I remember. Yeah? I remember that he told me we're going to the other side. I remember that, like, he started this. I tell God all the time that. You started this. And so I remember, oh, like David did when he was standing before Goliath. Wait a minute. Just like the lion and the bear, God's about to take this joker down, too. Breathe. And then remember. Trigger something in your mind that reminds you of the faithfulness of God. Watch the waves die down. Yeah.
And then I, um, I ask. He said, make your requests known to God. Lord, will you help me here? I'm up on a choppy sea. I just got a report about my mother's health. Lord, they just did that thing again that you know sends me off in that direction. Help, Lord. You don't have to say a lot sometimes. Just help, Lord. He'll hear you. With Thanksgiving, though. Thank you, Lord. Now help, please. Thank you, please. Thank you, please. Get in that rhythm of asking. Ask, and it'll be given to you. Seek, and you'll find. Knock, and the door will be open.
I ask, and I visualize, because the storms can wreck your visibility, can't they? It can cause you to lose sight of everything God's put around you, and you can't see anything but what's flashing right in front of you. So I ask, and then I open the eyes of my heart, and I try to get an awareness of, hey, look. God is here. Hey, look. There is strength. Hey, look. I am standing. Hey, look. There is help. Hey, I see you now, Lord. I have opened the eyes of my heart, and then you've got to elevate. You've got to elevate. I found out that atmospheric pressure gets less as elevation increases. Think about that spiritually speaking. Think about that spiritually speaking. Something hangs heavy over your life, and you can't make what's hanging over you less heavy, but you can get up higher in your perspective if you will elevate and worship God and lift your hands and begin to praise him in the storm.
So when the waves come, I've got to… What's that? I've got a cheat sheet. Did y'all see this? I've got… Oh, the words. And the approach. And the voices. Remember we talked about these just like 25 minutes ago. And the expectations. And the shame. That's the waves. When the waves come, you didn't know I was smelling anything. I snuck it in. I'm tricky. When the waves come, I need to check this wave and see if I made it or if God made it. Okay. Okay. Here comes the wave. But watch this. Just as soon as the waves comes. Breathe. Just as soon as the wave comes, breathe. Oh, that's the brave... Oh, so come here, come here, Dewey. Hold my mic.
So here it is in the series. When the waves come, because they will, get your brave stirred up in your spirit and wake up your faith in the stern of the ship. And when the waves come, because they will, here comes fear, here comes panic, here comes dread, here comes embarrassment, here come words, here come actions, here come voices, here come expectations, here come shame, but here comes brave. And my God has given me the breath of life, and his spirit is stronger than any storm. I'm pushing back waves. Come on, lift your hands. Lift your hands. Worship pushes back waves. Let the wind blow. There's a stronger wind called "worship". Elevate your praise!