Dharius Daniels - I'm Putting Anxiousness Under Arrest - Part 2

Everyone, I want to read a few verses of Scripture found in the book of Philippians, chapter 4. We are in a series called «Arresting Anxiousness,» and I want to continue a lesson I started last week, taken from Philippians 4:4, where Paul says these words: «Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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.» So, I will stop the reading of the Scripture there. We are still discussing this subject: «I am putting anxiousness under arrest.» This particular passage allows us to eavesdrop on a conversation that a spiritual leader named Paul is having with a burgeoning group of believers in northern Greece in a colony called Philippi; hence, the book is called Philippians. It is Paul’s letter to believers in Philippi, and in Philippians chapter 4, we gain insight into a conversation Paul is having with people who have new life but need to learn how to live life in a new way. They have new life—they’re what we would call saved, born-again, converted. They have new life, but they need to learn how to live this new life in a new way. In this particular part of the passage, Paul is giving them exposure in terms of how life can be lived regarding anxiousness. This letter to believers in Philippi shows us the power of the principle of exposure. Exposure awakens an appetite for something we didn’t know we wanted because we didn’t know it existed. Good exposure awakens in us an appetite for something we didn’t even know we wanted because we didn’t know it existed. Once a person has been exposed, they can’t be unexposed. Once I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it; therefore, exposure is an instrument of God’s Providence. It is something that God uses to accomplish His purpose in our lives. Therefore, exposure is a gift of grace. What you’ve been exposed to isn’t random, haphazard, or coincidental. God strategically arranges for us to be exposed to certain things at certain times because He wants a certain appetite to be awakened in us—not so that we want what He did for them, but so that we want what He wants to do for us. Did you hear what I just said? Somebody say, «Exposure!» This is why jealousy is simply mismanaged exposure. It’s when you become envious of something you should be inspired by. And if exposure is a gift of grace, it means we should all, from time to time, pause and ask ourselves the question: «Why me? Why has God allowed me to see all the things He’s allowed me to see? Why has God allowed me to witness all of the things He’s allowed me to witness? Why has God allowed me to be exposed to all of the things that He’s exposed me to?» Has He exposed me to what He’s exposed me to just so I could see that He could do it for them, or is He exposing me to what He did for them to anchor a belief in me regarding what He can do for me? What Paul is trying to provide believers here in Philippi is some exposure. He is saying, «You’ve been living life in a way that you don’t have to live.» He says, «You’re anointed, but you’re still anxious. You’re saved, but you’re still stressed. You are a worshiper, but when you get back in the car, you become a worrier.» He is saying, «You can live that way if you choose to live that way. You can live that way all the way to heaven if you choose to live that way, but you don’t have to live that way. I want to expose you to another way you can live, where you’re not arrested by anxiousness, but instead, you put anxiousness under arrest.» So, Paul writes to these believers in Philippi and says to them, «Be anxious for nothing!» Now, the command itself, the instruction itself, is education. Whenever God says something, He’s teaching us something, okay? Whenever He says something, He’s teaching us something. So, when God uses Paul to tell believers in Philippi to be anxious for nothing, He is letting believers in Philippi know that they don’t have to be anxious. That when He instructs us to do something, His instruction is revealing potential we possess that we didn’t know we possessed until He gave us the instruction. So, when He tells you to do something, He’s telling you what you can do, even if you hadn’t done it before. You missed it! So, when He says, «Be anxious for nothing,» it’s as if He’s saying, «I know that, up to this point, you’ve lived your life in anxiousness, but I’m telling you not to be anxious because you might not even know you don’t have to live the way you’ve been living.» Anxiousness is an inner feeling; it is a feeling of inner unrest and worry that is fueled by the fear of outcomes we may never experience. It’s an emotional thief that robs us of today’s peace in anticipation of tomorrow’s problems, so good! And Paul is telling believers, «You can be free from this.» Now listen to this: he’s telling believers, «You can be free from this.» Okay, they’re believers, and he’s telling them that this feeling of inner unrest is something they can be free from. This is an emotional Emancipation Proclamation; this is their spiritual and emotional Juneteenth! Y’all missed it! Come on, think about it: Juneteenth!