Journey to Eternity Podcast

God's Antidote to Anxiety: A Biblical Perspective

• Luisa and Mike Sirignano • Episode 53

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What if anxiety didn't have to be your constant companion? What if God's command to "be anxious for nothing" wasn't impossible but actually the pathway to freedom?

Anxiety grips countless believers today, manifesting through racing hearts, sleepless nights, and minds clouded with fear. Yet the Bible offers a profound antidote that looks nothing like the world's solutions. Through an exploration of Philippians 4:1-7, Luisa and Mike unpack what spiritual stability truly means and how it serves as God's answer to our worries.

This episode delves deep into understanding anxiety from both psychological and spiritual perspectives. We examine how anxiety differs from fear, why it affects us physically and mentally, and most importantly, how God's word equips us to overcome it. The conversation reveals six powerful steps toward spiritual stability: cultivating church unity, maintaining joy regardless of circumstances, embracing humility, resting in confident faith, practicing thankful prayer, and receiving God's incomprehensible peace.

Perhaps most striking is the counterintuitive approach of thanking God for our trials. As Luisa shares her personal journey through cancer, we witness how choosing Christ over fear produces a peace that "transcends all understanding." This isn't merely positive thinking—it's divine protection for our hearts and minds.

Whether you're currently walking through dark valleys or simply seeking to strengthen your spiritual foundations, this message offers both practical steps and profound hope. Discover why the solution to anxiety isn't found in human techniques or therapies but in a relationship with the sovereign God who orchestrates everything for our good and His glory.

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Mike:

Brothers and sisters, god did not send his son to die on a cross so we could wander aimlessly through life. He had a purpose for us to do his work, submit to his will and glorify his name. Join us on this journey, a journey to eternity.

Luisa:

So welcome to the show. I'm Louisa.

Mike:

And I'm Mike, and this is episode 53 of the Journey to Eternity podcast.

Luisa:

In every episode we help Christians use God's word to navigate everyday life in a sinful, fallen world.

Mike:

Hey honey, it's a beautiful day to do God's work.

Luisa:

Yes, babe, and it's all for His glory.

Mike:

We thank God for giving us an opportunity to help our brothers and sisters understand the Scriptures and apply it to their lives, and today we're going to talk about a topic that plagues many of us and that is anxiety, but we will look at it from a different perspective. That is unusual to the world, but it should be right in the forefront of the mind of a Christian. But before we get started, let's pray.

Luisa:

Heavenly Father, please let us both be led by the Holy Spirit as we speak the truth of your word in this episode. We ask you to guide us and lead us through your word. I pray that every listener who is going through a trial would get clarity, peace and comfort from you, and we thank you for making us usable for your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Mike:

Amen.

Luisa:

So, babe, what is anxiety?

Mike:

Amen. So, babe, what is anxiety? It's funny you ask. Babe. Anxiety is a natural response and a common reaction to stress or a perceived danger. It is characterized by feelings of worry, unease or fear about something that is happening or might happen. So there's two sides you could look at anxiety. There's a positive side and a negative side. On the positive side, it can help us prepare for a potential threat. It's kind of like a warning signal, and when you get this warning signal it gives you a chance to take some action and do something about it.

Luisa:

So we need to understand that if there's a potential threat, we often can do something.

Mike:

Right, and usually the best way to do that is by going to God, but that's something that, even as Christians, we tend to overlook.

Luisa:

Right, but anxiety is almost always a negative emotion.

Mike:

That's very true.

Luisa:

And I think that that's what stops people from going to God in that moment.

Mike:

Right they're overwhelmed by it and they forget that God is really there for them Right Overwhelmed by it and they forget that God is really there for them, right. So anxiety is often associated with anticipation of future challenges or potential problems, so I want to focus on these words a future challenge or potential problems.

Luisa:

Right, we get anxious about things that haven't even happened.

Mike:

yet that's right. More often than not, the things that we get anxious about never even happen. I've got to say that 90% of the time we worry about stuff that never happens.

Luisa:

And I think that's every one of us.

Mike:

Oh yeah.

Luisa:

Every one of us go through this worry, go through this anxiety, go through this fear, and it's harsh Right, but we don't have to Right.

Mike:

So anxiety can manifest itself as excessive, worrying about various aspects of life, including things like health, money, relationships and work.

Luisa:

And anxiety can cause physical symptoms like increased heart rate, sweating, trembling and lack of sleep and change in your eating habits Right.

Mike:

I think this happens to a lot of people.

Luisa:

I know that it happened to me. There was a season that I was going through anxiety and I remember all of these things that I was going through. I remember the sweating. I remember I couldn't sleep.

Mike:

Right.

Luisa:

So it was harsh, but it was when I wasn't a believer.

Mike:

Right so.

Luisa:

I didn't know what to do with this anxiety and this emotion, but now that I'm a believer, anxiety doesn't grip me anymore like it used to, so I thank God for that.

Mike:

For sure, but it can keep you awake at night. I know it still happens to me sometimes. I mean, how many times did we lay awake and we got something on our mind that's kind of consuming us and again it'll keep you awake and it's a lack of sleep that doesn't do you well the next day.

Luisa:

Right, and that change of your eating habits is horrible too.

Mike:

It also can do that.

Luisa:

Yeah, because I know that when I used to go through that I had no appetite like zero.

Mike:

Some people the opposite happens. They eat out of stress, and most of the time when you're eating out of stress, you're not eating healthy. You're eating junk food, whatever it is. But if you look at the effects that it can have on you in a physical way, it could really be very debilitating. Now it could also cause mental symptoms. It can give you difficulty concentrating, restlessness, irritability, and when anxiety becomes excessive it can significantly impair daily functioning. So it messes with the way that you think.

Luisa:

Yeah, and I remember that too. I remember like I used to always tell you I was foggy, like I couldn't think, I couldn't read, I couldn't perform in my job. Sure, because it just took a toll of my body.

Mike:

Right, it impacts work, it impacts relationships, it could happen between family members, between a husband and wife, and it just messes with your overall being. So if you think about the work thing, just for an example, how many people call out sick due to anxiety?

Luisa:

How many times did I call out sick when I was going through that Remember.

Mike:

I just couldn't function I remember that very clearly. I mean, stress is really a killer. Now, while occasional anxiety is normal, persistent and severe anxiety can lead to mental health issues. Anxiety is often used interchangeably with fear, but there definitely is a difference. Anxiety is more of a future-oriented thing. We think about stuff like we said before, that hasn't happened yet. We focus on a wide variety of things because we don't know what's going to happen.

Luisa:

Because the fear grips you, because fear and anxiety go together.

Mike:

Right. Fear is present-oriented. It's a response to a very specific threat. So I want to use something as an example here, and one of the great joys we have in New York City is we get to ride the subway here.

Luisa:

You think that's a joy. I don't Well. I think at one time it was At one time back in the day, but I don't think it's a joy now.

Mike:

So let's look at the anxiety part of it. We sit here and we have a conversation and we have to figure out how to get somewhere Right, all right. So we think about the subway. We know there's a lot of crime on the subway. We know that it's dirty.

Luisa:

We know there's a lot of homelessness. It's late.

Mike:

It's always a problem on the subway and nobody wants to take it. So we sit here and we get anxiety thinking about all the different things that can happen on the subway and they may happen, they may not. You could have a subway trip that goes perfectly fine you get on, you get off and you get out of there. Now, if you look at a fear aspect of riding on the subway we know have spoken to many people, including family members, who have been on the subway and something is going on in the car that they're in. There's somebody in there a little deranged. They're shouting, they're yelling, they're threatening. That's a fear. It's very present-oriented and it's very specific. So, while anxiety and fear can be interchangeable, they are very different and we do have to make that distinction.

Luisa:

Right. So, babe, this is a rough topic, but unfortunately, it's a common one.

Mike:

So how do we Christians deal with it? Well, babe, we are blessed. Fortunately, the Bible always has the answer. So we wanted to make this episode on anxiety and we talked about it, and this weekend we took a nice long drive in the car and we had a lot of time.

Mike:

So we listened to a couple of sermons and we like to listen to John MacArthur he's one of the great Bible expositors of our time and we listened to a sermon on Philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. And it talks about being anxious for nothing and I'll be honest with you, his way of looking at it was so much more profound than what we were actually thinking. So in our talk today, we're going to make a lot of the same points that John MacArthur made in these sermons, and I really hope we can do it justice. I want to be transparent that a lot of the material that we have in here came out of these sermons. So the things that he was talking about was going through serious trials and even facing the prospect of death, and he asked the question how can a Christian be spiritually stable even in the most trying times? So let's look at some of these times that he's talking about. So one of the times is times of great temptation.

Luisa:

Sin is always crouching at the door. Temptation comes at us from every angle. How can we resist it?

Mike:

Right. So we have times of great trial. So you never know when life is going to hit you hard. It's always a surprise and it's never expected. So how do we endure it?

Luisa:

So we have also times of persecution. Persecution comes in many forms and it comes from many sources. How are we going to stay faithful?

Mike:

Another thing we have is times of great loss. Now, death is inviolable for everyone. Nobody is promised tomorrow, so how can you handle the loss of a loved one?

Luisa:

And then we have times of distress and illness. Maybe you lose your job, Maybe you get sick. Maybe you lose your job, maybe you get sick. Maybe your marriage is in a rough patch, your children are wayward. Life happens and we have to deal with it, Are we?

Mike:

equipped. Amen, that's the question. So there's a lot of things that we have to consider when we're going through trials, right. So let's define what spiritual stability and this is used by John MacArthur as the antidote for anxiety. And he points us to Philippians, chapter 4 and verses 1 through 7 for the scriptural reference. So, starting in verse 1, the Apostle Paul exhorts the Philippian church and, to the same degree, he exhorts us to be steadfast and unified.

Luisa:

Right. So verse one reads therefore my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for my joy and my crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends, Right.

Mike:

So the key phrase is stand firm in the Lord. In this way, Right. This is the basis of spiritual stability and it is the answer to anxiety. So what does it mean to stand firm in the Lord?

Luisa:

Paul wants the Philippians to be strong rooted and grounded in the Lord, Amen.

Mike:

He wants us to be bold and courageous, not wavering and not doubting. So what do we always preach, babe? The best way for us to do this is to read and study your Bible.

Luisa:

Right, the Philippians did not have this option, babe.

Mike:

Right. They had to depend on Paul to read it to them, so imagine the focus that that required no live stream to go back and listen to. They could not miss a Lord's day.

Luisa:

Right. So in what way are we to stand firm? They could not miss a Lord's Day, right? So in what way are we to stand firm? Paul tells us, starting in verses 2 and 3.

Mike:

Right. So in verses 2 and 3, Paul talks to the Philippians about an environment of love and peace in the fellowship.

Luisa:

Right. This is something for all churches to consider and follow.

Mike:

Right. So this fellowship is about being in the church All churches, not only ours. They need to cultivate a spirit of harmony. Now there were members in the Philippian church who were at odds, and Paul urged some of the stronger members to be peacemakers. So this is something that we need to do.

Mike:

There's always going to be funny stuff in the church okay, there's no church that doesn't have this kind of thing, but as strong members, we're called to kind of put that fire out. So yeah, you want to make peace in a situation where there's no peace.

Luisa:

Right. So when a church is in a state of love, peace and harmony, it creates a spiritual, stable environment.

Mike:

Right Now, on the opposite side of the fence, disunity, discord and chaos will destabilize the environment and cause anxiety among the brethren. So the first way to be spiritually stable is to cultivate unity in the body by being a peacemaker.

Luisa:

Proverbs 17.9 says whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends.

Mike:

Right. So you have to make a choice here Now. Another way of gaining spiritual stability is maintaining a spirit of joy.

Luisa:

Verse 4 says Rejoice in the Lord, always. I will say it again Rejoice, amen.

Mike:

So we have to remember that joy is based on our relationship with the Lord. It's not based on circumstances. It's not based on circumstances. It's not based on other people.

Luisa:

I think a lot of Christians really don't get that or don't follow that.

Mike:

Right, because there's a lot of Christians that don't have joy Right and they're allowing their circumstances to kind of beat them down. And it's easy it happens real easily to some. So we always have to stay strong in the Lord. So this joy transcends difficulties, trials, temptations and persecutions. Yes, and it should move us closer to the Lord, not further away from him, and we see that a lot. Right we see people who are going through stuff and what happens.

Luisa:

They move away from God. Instead of moving closer to the Lord, and instead of praying and instead of crying out to the Lord, they just-.

Mike:

They shut down, shut down, they don't come to church.

Luisa:

Right. They don't come to church, they don't read their Bible.

Mike:

No.

Luisa:

They don't pray and they just get caught up with their own anxiety and their mess in their head.

Mike:

Amen. So our relationship with the Lord should always be a cause for joy, no matter what difficulty comes.

Luisa:

And there is never an excuse for a believer not to experience joy, correct?

Mike:

Because, first off, the Bible commands it Right. Second off, your relationship with Christ if you're really rooted in Him, and you're really grounded in Him.

Luisa:

And you really understand what the Word says about everything including joy. You're going to be joyful. You're going to be joyful.

Mike:

So when we recognize the privileged union we share with Christ, we will have spiritual stability, Amen. So let's move to verse 5. It says Let your gentleness be evident to all. A spiritually stable person exhibits gentleness in many ways.

Luisa:

And there is humility in gentleness. Baby.

Mike:

Right. That's one of the aspects of being gentle Right.

Luisa:

Accepting less than what you deserve.

Mike:

And knowing that as a sinner, you deserve nothing but the wrath of God. Amen. But to think that you deserve anything is a sign of pride. You don't deserve anything from God. You don't deserve anything from anybody in the church. When we get caught up in that, we start to get anxious. There's also patience and forbearance and gentleness, so that means having mercy and leniency towards each other.

Luisa:

And the key is to understand this and know it, so you can walk in it.

Mike:

Right. One of the things we have of others is we have expectations. So when we expect somebody to do something for us, when we expect something out of them and they don't meet it, it does create stress, right? And we see that happen all the time, even in Christians.

Luisa:

And it doesn't even create, not even stress, it creates anger. And then you get into sin.

Mike:

One of the other things we have in gentleness is contentment. Pastor John says it is the idea that you expect nothing and you demand nothing.

Luisa:

So this again deals with the unmet expectations.

Mike:

Right.

Luisa:

Who are we to expect people to meet our needs?

Mike:

Amen.

Luisa:

Who are we to tell them what to do? Right, and we do. People do walk around thinking that they can tell people what to do.

Mike:

Right.

Luisa:

They can demand what they want, right, and when they don't get it, then then oh, forget about it.

Mike:

That never goes well, right and there are people in the church that do that. So when you rightly assess your worthiness, this is a way to become spiritually stable. But when you wrongly assume that you are worthy of much and deserve much and then don't get it, it produces anxiety and, like you said before, sometimes it even produces anger.

Luisa:

And I don't think it's sometimes. I think that that's just automatic. When you don't get something, what happens to you? You become really enraged. You get angry because that person is not feeling a need for you and you don't like that.

Mike:

So what happens? And then, after we just did a podcast on anger. So yeah, here it is again rearing its ugly head.

Luisa:

So the bottom line is you have a choice here in assessing your worthiness, so pray that you choose correctly, according to God's will.

Mike:

Okay, so let's recap right now. We see that the way to spiritual stability runs through the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians, chapter 5. And so far we've seen love, joy, peace, patience and gentleness, and you see how a lot of this ties together. And now we're going to add another good fruit, which is faithfulness. So let's look at the end of verse 5 and the beginning of verse 6, as they flow together naturally.

Luisa:

And it says the Lord is near, Do not be anxious about anything.

Mike:

Amen. When we look at the statement, the Lord is near. We can look at it in is he near to returning? Like is he going to come back. But I don't think that's the context here. What is really meant here is in terms of his presence in our lives. It's a sense of space, a sense of closeness to us. If you're really rooted in the Lord, you can feel it. You have the Holy Spirit. You can really feel how-.

Luisa:

But it's not even the feeling. It's not about feeling, it's about knowing. We have to know that, no matter what we go through the. Lord is there. We don't walk on feelings, baby Right.

Mike:

So because the Lord is near, we should not be anxious for anything. Spiritual stability is based on a confident faith in the Lord.

Luisa:

Amen. The level of our spiritual stability is a reflection of our view of God. Let's list some of his attributes that will help us to have the right view of him. And that's the key. Okay, we need to know who we serve, we do. We need to know his attributes. We need to know them like we know the back of our hands.

Mike:

Amen. So now we're going to state a few and then we're going to back them up with Scripture. For the first one says God is loving. 1 John 4. 8 says God is love.

Luisa:

So he's all-knowing. Psalms 139, 2,. You know when I sit down and when I stand up. You understand my thoughts from far away.

Mike:

Amen, he is all-powerful. Job 42 2. I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.

Luisa:

Amen, amen. He is everywhere, at all times. Proverbs 15, 3. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, observing the wicked and the good Amen, that's a good one.

Mike:

Imagine that you have to remember. We have the Jesus bobblehead on the dashboard in our car and his eyes are always looking at us. Listen.

Luisa:

I'm telling you that bobblehead that we have in the car when I'm driving sometimes and somebody cuts me off and all of a sudden the thing starts going like that and I'm like oh, I'm not going to say nothing. I stay real quiet and I'm telling you, it helps me not to respond.

Mike:

Amen. His eyes are everywhere.

Luisa:

Yes, and he's watching us.

Mike:

Okay. Another attribute is he is unchangeable. Hebrews 13, 8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Luisa:

Amen and amen and amen. He is sovereign Psalms 115.3. Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases.

Mike:

He does whatever he pleases, right? That's great, even if we don't like it, right? He is in control of everything in your life. Psalm 19, verse 21. Many are the plans in a person's heart, but the Lord's decree will prevail, and we have that on the wall in our prayer room.

Luisa:

Yes, that's always a good reminder so we can get out of God's way. It's not what we think and not what we think and we're not that strong to make things happen. So he is orchestrating everything for our good and his glory. Romans 8.28,. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God who are called according to his purpose. We need to really understand what the scripture means. We really have to believe it. God is in charge of everything.

Mike:

And he knows better than we do for what we need and what's going to work.

Luisa:

And what we're going through. He knows, he knows everything, he knows everything.

Mike:

So if you understand all this, you can rest in the confident faith that he is near. And if he is near, what is there to be anxious about? Where is the cause of anxiety? If you see God's purpose in your trials and difficulties, then your faith will sustain you through them and you will be spiritually stable in the most serious of times. Amen.

Luisa:

Now let's look at verses 6 and 7, and we'll take them one at a time. It's a much-quoted short passage that is on the wall of our prayer room, so we can see it and read it every single day.

Mike:

We have a lot of scriptures on the walls.

Luisa:

Why do we have scriptures on our walls?

Mike:

So we could read them every day and what was it, babe, when?

Luisa:

the time when we both got sick, we had a rough long season we're both getting sick and I said to you I need scripture in my face Because sometimes you're not reading your Bible if you're walking around your house, like we do when I sit here and I have dinner. I see 1 Thessalonians 5, 16, 18.

Luisa:

When I'm in the prayer room, there's a whole bunch of them on the wall, because I sit in there and I meditate. When I'm studying, when I'm walking to the living room, I have one right there in front of me, do not be afraid.

Mike:

And be still and know that I am God and be still that I know I'm God.

Luisa:

That be still and know that I'm God. If you know me, you know that's my favorite scripture.

Mike:

And it's appropriate for this podcast also. Be still and know that he is God and know that he's God. That'll give you peace.

Luisa:

And then when we're going down the stairs and then out of the house, we have another one in front of us, I think bathroom.

Mike:

That's going to change now.

Luisa:

Because when I get up in the morning, what do I have? I have a scripture right in front of me first thing in the morning and that's the first thing that I read. And if we, as believers, keep God's word always in front of us, then when things start happening in your life and life happens these scriptures come to my mind all the time.

Mike:

Right. These are much needed reminders of the spiritual tools that we have.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

And verses 6 and 7 have a scripture for verse 6, and then they have a result in verse 7. It's a promise.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

So let's read verses 6 and 7. Can you do that, Beth, please? Yes, Do not be anxious Right Now. This was written by Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit. It's not a suggestion. He's not saying maybe you shouldn't be anxious. He's saying do not be anxious. It's a command from God.

Luisa:

Right. So a fun fact, there are 1,050 commands in the New Testament for Christians to obey.

Mike:

Obey that's the key word. God expects us to obey, so when he gives us a command like do not be anxious.

Luisa:

He means he expects us not to be anxious.

Mike:

Right Right To not obey is a sin and God takes that very, very seriously Right and to be anxious indicates a lack of trust in God's wisdom, sovereignty and power. Yes, proverbs 3,5 states Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Luisa:

Continue on in verse 6. It says Do not be anxious about anything.

Mike:

Now anything means nothing. In fact, the New King James Version translates it Be anxious for nothing.

Luisa:

It does not mean we can be anxious about some things it literally means never Right.

Mike:

We can't pick and choose what we're going to be anxious about.

Luisa:

But sometimes I think that the anxiety just creeps up on you because there's some I have to talk from my own experience and because I had this experience I can understand somebody that something might happen to them, and the anxiousness just comes. You don't even have a thought to, even not choose it. Nobody wants to be anxious, Mike.

Mike:

No, I know that.

Luisa:

Nobody wants to feel like this, especially if you're going through it for many years. It's really. It's tough and as a non-believer it was so hard for me, but now that I'm a believer I understand it and now I get to choose. I know when something's happening in my life and I know that anxiety wants to start creeping up on me and I know it and I stop it and then I just choose. But everybody's not there. So we have to learn to give people grace when it comes to this.

Mike:

That's true, you're right.

Luisa:

So I'm big on giving people grace because I've had the experience and I really never got grace because I never was surrounded with Christians when I was going through that. So I'm very, very mindful with this anxiety. I really am.

Mike:

So let's continue building on this verse. It says do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation.

Luisa:

Every situation. That includes all things we mentioned earlier.

Mike:

Amen. So those were temptation, trial, persecution, loss, distress and illness.

Luisa:

And let's remember that God ordains and is in control of all things and situations.

Mike:

And he has a purpose for these situations. So what do we do in these situations? We pray.

Luisa:

I know I do that now, so thank God that I do pray whenever anxiety comes up for me. So verse six continues do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

Mike:

Amen. So we must react to our problems with thankful prayer. This is the relief from worry and anxiety. This is the practical step. We have to lay it at the feet of the Lord. Jesus implores us to come to him with our troubles. Matthew 11 and verse 28 states Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest 1 Peter 5 and verse 7 says Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Amen.

Luisa:

I love this verse. I love this verse because God is very clear in his word, Because he cares for us. We should always go to the Lord with our anxieties and with our fears and with everything that's keeping us stuck in our life.

Mike:

He'll never let us down. He's the only one that will not fail us.

Luisa:

And I think that a lot of people, and even some Christians, forget about this and they end up going to other people with their stuff, their anxiety, and they're not going to get what.

Mike:

God gives us.

Luisa:

God gives us peace, he gives us comfort and he helps us through our trials.

Mike:

Right. Jesus says come to me.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

He's not saying come to your neighbor next door.

Luisa:

Right and, as believers, god is telling us very clear what he expects us to do in order for us to get out of that rut that we're in. And usually the enemy comes from our mind, and once the enemy is up here, then forget about it.

Mike:

And look at the promises in here. It says I will give you rest. It says I will give. He cares for you. So we have to stand on his promises. Another thing we have to do is we have to be thankful in our prayer. When was the last time you thanked God for the difficulties that you face?

Luisa:

And didn't I learn that when I was going through my trials?

Mike:

what did I start doing, baby?

Luisa:

I started really going to the Lord and thanking him in advance for my healing. Thanking him in advance for delivering me from this anxiety. Thanking him in advance for my healing. Thanking Him in advance for delivering me from this anxiety.

Luisa:

Thanking Him in advance for giving me rest and comfort and once I understood that and I started praying in that way and giving God thanks, even though I was in the anxiety, even though I was in the, whatever I was in, I was praying, thanking Him, because I know who I serve, I know he's sovereign, I know what his promises said and I know that God will deliver me, if that's his will, for my life.

Mike:

Amen and he has a purpose. Never question his purpose. Thank him for it. Don't ask why me.

Luisa:

I think that, again, when you're in that space of feeling that way, you're so defeated and you're so fearful and you're so at the bottom of the bottom that you do ask why me? But you have to be really mindful that why not me?

Mike:

Right, okay, as a believer.

Luisa:

It's. Why not me, lord? Okay, you're putting me through these trials for your glory and the purpose that you have for it. So, again, God never leaves us, god never forsakes us, even though we're going through all that, the why not me? It's something that will help you understand that we don't deserve again nothing but the wrath of God, and we're never gonna go through anything as harsh as our Lord and Savior did when he died on that cross for us.

Mike:

Amen. So you're in a trial. Thank him that he's in control of it. Right, you're in a trial. Thank him that he can and will handle it and orchestrate it for our good and his glory.

Luisa:

And he knows the problem, he can deal with it. Thank him for that.

Mike:

Amen. People who are worried and anxious simply do not understand that God is in control for their good and his glory, amen. If you understand that nothing is outside of his control, why would you be anxious about anything?

Luisa:

Now let's go to verse 7, where we see the result of thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen, so clear.

Mike:

Peace, tranquility, contentment that's what we're all looking for in our times of trouble, correct Amen. Well, that's what verse 7 offers, but please understand when you are praying, thankfully you may not get the answer that you want.

Luisa:

And God may not solve the problems to your liking.

Mike:

Right. Think about some of the things we pray for. You might pray for healing from an illness, but he might not heal you Right. You might pray for a job. You might not get a job.

Luisa:

He might pray for your child being delivered from something and he might not answer that prayer.

Mike:

Right, okay, so you might pray for a family member to be saved.

Luisa:

Not get it, but that doesn't mean, because he doesn't answer our prayers, that we stop worshiping him and thanking him, right? We?

Mike:

don't stop. The issue is not the answer. So what he will give you is peace Right Now, not in the sense of two people fighting, but it's an inner peace that can only come from God.

Luisa:

And again I can talk about that inner peace, babe.

Luisa:

And you, again, I can talk about that in a piece, babe, and you know I can talk about it because I know exactly what that feels like.

Luisa:

I remember when I was going through my cancer and you know I spoke to you about this Amen, and I remember choosing In that moment when I found out that I had breast cancer, I remember being in my prayer room, in my receiving room in there, and I closed that door and I felt fear gripping me, gripping me from the bottom of my feet, and I said to myself in that split moment either I choose fear and I let this consume me, or I choose Christ and let the Lord do what he's going to do. And I felt this peace come over me, I know, and I came out of that room and you know I went in one way and I was crying and I was upset and I came out of there and I felt this peace from the Lord. And then the rest was history. Through my treatment and through everything, god always gave me that peace, that inner peace that you can't get from anybody else Right, that's a gift to those that pray thankfully.

Luisa:

Yes.

Mike:

So, when you exist in an environment of love and peace, when you have a humble and gentle heart, when you trust God with thanksgiving in the middle of all your difficulties, god dispenses peace.

Luisa:

And notice it says which transcends all understanding.

Mike:

This means that it's not human. We can't think of it in our own mind. We don't have the comprehension to even understand. There's no intellect. You can't place intellect on it.

Luisa:

And you can't rationalize either.

Mike:

You can't explain it, you can only get it from God. No man can give it to you, no counselor can give it to you.

Luisa:

Can't get it from God. No man can give it to you.

Mike:

No counselor can give it to you, can't get it from therapy.

Luisa:

There are no programs, no fancy techniques.

Mike:

You can't do anything to obtain it and I think a lot of people look that way.

Luisa:

Right, they do Right, try to get something from the outside world to help them with their anxiety, to help them with whatever it is they're going. And I'm not saying that therapy is bad and I'm not saying counseling is bad, but they cannot give you this peace that only God can give you.

Mike:

Amen. It's a gift from God to a believer who confidently understands and trusts his God and is thankful for his trial.

Luisa:

He said thankful. We all have to be thankful for our trials because God is very clear. We are all going to go through them. And what does this peace do, babe? It will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Mike:

And what does it guard us from?

Luisa:

Anxiety, difficulty, distress, dissatisfaction, discontent and doubt Amen.

Mike:

So, in conclusion, we're going to recap how we gain spiritual stability. How do we face trials like illnesses, job loss, family strife, even death? Let's recap the steps. Number one it requires the stability of the church. We need a strong, unified, peaceful and loving church. We have to hold each other up.

Luisa:

Amen. Number two we must maintain a spirit of joy, cultivating your relationship to Christ, no matter what's going on around you.

Mike:

Number three be humble and gentle, knowing you are not worthy of anything.

Luisa:

Number four rest in a confident faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mike:

Number five react to your problems with thankful prayer.

Luisa:

And number six understand and receive the promise of peace from God.

Mike:

Amen. So you look at those six things and those are the steps, but you never know how it's going to play out. Right? But for myself? I got to watch it play out just the other day.

Luisa:

And that's the grace that God gives us. God gives us so much grace to help us understand. Yes, yes.

Mike:

So there's an older man who works at my company and he's in his mid-70s and he's the only other believer at my job besides myself. Now he works for the sake of staying busy and he showed up on Monday and I asked him and there was a few of us standing around. I asked him and there was a few of us standing around. I asked him how his weekend was and he said well, good and bad. My family celebrated a nice Mother's Day, but I got some test results and I have lung cancer.

Luisa:

He just said it like that Like I almost fell over.

Mike:

So this is a man who never smoked a day in his life. Now, only a few years ago, God healed him from stage three colon cancer.

Mike:

I remember that and this is his second go around and the owner of my company was standing there and he asked him well, what are you going to do? And I think it was really an innocent question. He meant it out of concern. I really don't think that he knew what to even say to him, but it was the answer that the man gave that struck me. He said well, I might die, but I talked to the Lord and I know that it's up to him. Otherwise I might need some time off to get my treatment. Amen, he said it so matter of fact, but he said it with a sense of understanding who his Lord is and that his heart and his mind was guarded in Christ Jesus. And then he turned around and went back to work. Talk about spiritual stability. We should all have that confidence in our Lord.

Luisa:

Amen. Let's wrap this up, and I'll quote John MacArthur to finish. Let's wrap this up and I'll quote John MacArthur to finish. But when we have that confidence, trust in the Lord so much that we can thank him in the midst of our troubles, he will be the protector of the peace of our souls. Because you are in union with Christ, you have his guardianship. Let's pray.

Mike:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your son, our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. We thank you that we can trust him and bring our burdens before him. We thank you for his faithfulness and the promise of his peace, which he gives liberally to all his children. Help us all to have the confidence and trust that you expect from us, and for us to know that your promises will be fulfilled, as it says in your word, and we thank you for this in your son's precious name, amen, amen.

Luisa:

So that wraps up episode 53. We thank you for listening. We invite you to leave a comment or a question by going to our website at jtepodcastorg.

Mike:

That's jtepodcastorg.

Luisa:

Click on the Contact Us page and we will respond within 24 hours. If you don't personally know us, introduce yourselves. We would love to get to know you from across the states or around the world.

Mike:

Now, while you were there, you can subscribe to the podcast and receive an email the minute a new episode is published. You can also find all of our previous episodes, and we invite you to find one that resonates with you. In addition, the Journey to Eternity podcast can be accessed on any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple and Spotify, along with many other outlets across the web.

Luisa:

And, as always, please support us by sharing this podcast with a friend or on your social media page.

Mike:

Now until next time. We wish you God's blessings as you navigate everyday life in a sinful, fallen world.

Luisa:

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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Luisa and Mike Sirignano

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