I’d like to talk with you today about one of the most important legacies that every one of us would love to pass on to the next generation.

I’m reading in Psalm 55, where it says…

“My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.”

Psalm 55:4

You know, one of the realities of life that our current physical science-based medical system has had to admit in recent years is that there are non-physical causes to poor health and disease. One widely accepted non-physical cause is “stress.” It’s quite well known today that the presence of stress in one’s life, and how one deals with that stress, has a direct impact on our health. Unfortunately, the solutions the medical system most often prescribe today for mental and emotional health are expensive drugs. And they often have serious side effects. So many people are “stressed out” that anti-depressant drugs have become a growing and prosperous business for pharmaceutical companies.

Well, King David, the second Jewish king, lived a thousand years before Christ.  He was a man who faced tremendous stress in his life. Few of us today will ever face the kind of anxiety David experienced for more than 10 years of his life when he was constantly on the run from his enemies who were trying to kill him. As he wrote in Psalm 55, it wasn’t just his enemies that caused problems. It was his “friends” and fellow believers. He said…

“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.”

Psalm 55:12-14 

 Can anybody relate to that?

Notice the signs of stress that David wrote in that Psalm:

“My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught… My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.”

Psalm 55:2, 4, 5

If David confessed these feelings to a psychiatrist today, he’d probably have been prescribed anti-depressant drugs immediately to try and stabilize his emotional condition. He had all the signs of “mental disease” including the temptation to try and escape from all of his problems by running away from them.  Remember what he said in that passage:

“Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest—I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

Psalm 55:2, 4, 5

Sounds like he was unstable, neurotic… he was desperate. He’d probably be labeled as “insane” today and be committed to a mental health hospital of some kind.  But …

What was David’s solution to his enormous stress?

David did not seek out physicians in his anxiety. He appealed to God for help, trusting that God would hear his prayers and change his condition. If you read the psalms of David, you’ll notice that David consistently took two approaches to dealing with anxiety and stress.  Both approaches involved prayer and a personal relationship with his Creator.

David prayed to God, asking him to intervene in the circumstances of his life … the things that were causing the stress:

“Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city… Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave, for evil finds lodging among them. But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict them— men who never change their ways and have no fear of God.”

Psalm 55:9-19

When you think about it, as strong and powerful as David was, in many circumstances he was powerless against his enemies. But he knew first hand that God was not powerless, and so he appealed to God to intervene.

David cast all of his worries and cares on God. He trusted in Him to take care of them all, and to sustain him with strength to endure everything.

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”

Psalm 55:22

These two ways of using prayer to deal with stress are just as relevant to us today.  We’re in the age of the New Covenant of course. And that was instituted by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The believers in the early church were often arrested and persecuted, suffering tremendous stress. But the same two principles were used to deal with their anxiety and stress.

Principle 1 – pray for God to intervene – In the stressful situation… we really need God, don’t we?

Here’s an example of what was prayed after the believers were arrested and released for preaching about Jesus and miraculously healing a man (they didn’t follow the routine protocol for the healthcare of their day! Watch this.):

“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and to perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

Act 4:23-31

And that really demonstrated the principle of praying to God to intervene in our stresses.

Principle 2 – cast all our anxieties and care on God, trusting him to take care of all our problems and to sustain us with his strength:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7 

Now, that’s a pretty good prescription for mental health, wouldn’t you say?

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 5:7-11

These are the two biblical principles for dealing with anxiety and stress, and they are the guiding principles for mental health. No drugs are needed … but there is a requirement. It requires a relationship with God through Jesus.  And this is not just an intellectual knowledge about Jesus.

So, the first step is the spiritual rebirth.  That’s something we need to seek and find for ourselves.

How do you deal with anxiety and stress? The two principles written about here are time-tested principles. They’ve been used for thousands of years, long before modern-day pharmaceuticals came into the market place with our current medical system. And, they’re backed by a guarantee from the Creator himself, the one who formed and fashioned you while still in your mother’s womb. Best of all, they’re free!  It says in First Peter Two…

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

1 Peter 2:24-25

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift (the free gift) of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

So, let me ask you…

Do you want a prescription for drug-free mental health?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

You know, this whole idea about stress and about dealing with it, is something that the believer can go to the Lord about. We can talk to the Lord Jesus… we can talk with Him by the Holy Spirit… and lay those burdens… lay those fears… lay those anxieties before Him, knowing that He will take care of them. And He will guide us through the choppy, stormy waters. But we have to know Him and we need to talk about that.

When you think about it… this thing about “knowing God” so that we can actually pray, and then leave our burdens …our cares… our anxieties… on Him…

As people are facing so many stresses in today’s high tech world, one thing is becoming glaringly apparent… 

The Limitations of Science?

Who you know is more important than what you know!

It says in John 17 that…

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

John 17:3

That was part of Jesus’ prayer in the garden, just before His crucifixion.

A word that has changed in meaning quite a bit since it first entered the English language is the word ‘science.’

Our modern-day English word ‘science’ was originally a French word derived from Latin, and in the 1300s its meaning was very similar to the word ‘knowledge.’ It meant the opposite of ‘ignorance.’  And generally, it meant something obtained by ‘studying.’ It was not originally restricted in meaning to any particular branch of study. In fact, in the 18^th and 19^th centuries its usage was becoming more restricted, referring to a ‘body of regular or methodical observations or propositions… concerning any subject or speculation,’ and was often linked to the study of ‘philosophy.’ (ref: science @ Dictionary.com  Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian).

Now, you can read about this… but it’s kind of interesting how the development of that word ‘science’ came to be. From the 20^th century, up until today, the meaning of ‘science’ is restricted even further. As we can see by this definition that I just read… “knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws, especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method. [… and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena.]” (science.Dictionary.com. Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary).

This is a pretty narrow understanding of ‘science’ or ‘knowledge.’  And it only looks at what can be observed in the physical realm… and it’s now equated with ‘truth.’ It’s considered by modern society to be more valuable than any other kind of knowledge. It’s become the religion of modern man. But there’s much, much more knowledge in our world that cannot be observed in the physical realm, or ‘proven’ by scientific discovery! Think about it.

If you search the Bible in any modern English version for the word ‘science,’ you’ll get zero results. This is because today’s modern meaning of the term is very restricted. Ancient cultures though, didn’t have such a restricted understanding of ‘science’ that relegated it only to the physical realm and the modern ‘scientific method.’  The older King James English Version of the English Bible will turn up one verse in the New Testament where the translators chose to use the word ‘science.’

“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.”

1 Timothy 6:20

The original King James Version of the Bible was translated in 1611, long before ‘science’ took on its more restrictive meaning in modern English. More modern versions of the English Bible will translate this word (gnosis in Greek) in 1 Timothy 6:20 as ‘knowledge.’

When we read the Bible, we get a much different view of ‘knowledge.’ The most valuable knowledge is seen not as an accumulation of data, but in relationships.

To truly “know” someone is not possible by simply using modern scientific methods. You can know “about someone” by studying a book written about them… but to truly know another person is only possible by spending time with them. There is a huge difference between these two kinds of knowledge. Knowing someone on a personal level would mean that he would also know me.

 So, since there is valuable knowledge that can only be obtained via relationships (as opposed to scientific discovery or the observation of facts), which relationship is the most important? Obviously, man’s relationship to his Creator is the most important relationship of all! We know God by knowing Jesus. In fact, look at this:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

John 14:6-7

And further, He said in the same book of John…

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

John 10:27-28

Think about it.

You can get to know about a person by reading a book about them, but you cannot really know a person that way. Imagine if you tried to build a marriage relationship by simply studying facts that were written about your spouse! Even if you could read libraries of books about a person, you would never really know them personally. You cold never truly have a love relationship with them simply by knowing things about them without ever meeting them in person.  A different level of knowledge is required – one based on experience – the subjective interaction that come from spending time with them and developing a relationship with them.

But in our modern-day culture which worships a narrow view of knowledge called ‘science,’ a knowledge which only recognizes the observation of the physical realm, subjective experiences are considered invalid ways of knowing truth. So, the accumulation of data, bolstered by the belief in evolution, becomes the most valued knowledge in our modern society. And what does God think of this ‘knowledge’ which attempts to deny (or at least ignore) His existence?

 Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:19-21… (quoting Isaiah 29:14)

“For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

1 Corinthians 1:19-21

We can’t know God simply by studying his physical creation. Such knowledge may teach us some things about God, but it will do us no good when we die the physical death and then meet Him face to face for the first time. The only knowledge that will lead us to eternal life is the knowledge that comes with a personal, subjective relationship with Jesus Christ:

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true god, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

John 17:3

When we know Christ, we come to love Him, and to know His love for us. And this love is more valuable than knowledge, and more powerful than any knowledge on earth.

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:14-19

Think about that kind of knowledge!

And Paul also wrote:

“Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know, but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.”

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

The Bible makes it very clear that the people who go around pretending to know Jesus, but really only know some things about Him (maybe they read His book), but they don’t know Him personally, and they’re NOT going to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said it plainly in Matthew 7, beginning at verse 21…

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ and then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

Matthew 7:21-23

In the end, it really is true, that who you know is much more important that what you know. If you know the love of Christ, first hand, and have experienced Him personally, you don’t need anything else to enter the kingdom of God.

“But whatever things were gain to me, (the Apostle Paul said, in Philippians chapter 3) those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:7-11

Do you know Jesus?  Have you experienced His love first hand – the kind of love that led Him to voluntarily give up His life as a sacrifice for your sins?

Or do you only know some things about Him – simply an intellectual (“scientific”) knowledge about Him?  With Jesus, the intellectual knowledge about Him isn’t worth much. The personal subjective knowledge, however, is infinitely more valuable, both now and in the future. It’s more valuable than anything else this life has to offer! So, get to know Jesus and His love for you. Your life depends upon it!

Whether or not you’ve taken the time to make a long study to satisfy your questions about the authority and truths of the Bible, eventually every true child of God makes a great discovery.  He discovers that the Word of God (the Bible) is actually like a seed that God Himself “sows” into our soul.  What’s His purpose?  That spiritual “seed” is designed to grow into God-intended results.  By God’s Holy Spirit, His Word breathes faith and life into our souls, even though we were lost and completely dead in our sins, cut off from the life of God (Isaiah 55:11; Colossians 2:13). Jesus starts us off with a simple command: “Turn around!”  That’s what the word REPENT means. Change the direction of your thinking. Change the direction of your actions.

What does this Biblical idea of Repentance require of me?

Are you willing to accept God’s gift of the love of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10)?  Then you start being aware that you choose to turn your loyalty to God (Romans 12:2). That means you choose to reject the false idols you’ve bowed to in your life. And that includes your own self-centered willfulness.  Turning around and changing your mind is what the Bible calls the gift of “repentance” (Acts 11:18)

God’s Word in many places tells us that you will find Him WHEN you seek after Him with your whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

Whenever you put your whole heart into something, are you pretty determined about it?  Even passionate about it? Should we expect it to be any different when we decide to really seek after all God has for us? And our Heavenly Father has so many promises in store for us.

I was given a plaque by my mother when I was young. It had on it the words of Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Some years later, when I was in a stressful time of uncertainty I found another invitation from God in His Word.

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5

The legacy of a stress-free life is not just an intellectual knowledge about Jesus being the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins (James 2:19).

The thread of truth throughout Scripture tells us we’re all given the choice to commit our lives to God through His Messiah (Christ) Jesus of Nazareth as both Savior and Lord (2 Peter 1:10-11). 

If we repent and receive His atoning sacrifice, Jesus forgives our sins. And He gives us His salvation and eternal life (Acts 2:38; John 5:24)

Bonus

Another truth that never ceases to amaze me about our Creator is His infinite mercy for those who call Him Master when we’ve faltered, blown it, and feel awful about it…

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and (return) to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55:6-7

And don’t forget these precious promises either.

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. (John 1:12)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)