Getting Rid of Anxiety - Episode 35

Let's stop living in fear.

Hosts Justin Olbrantz and Dr. Don Schaefer discuss how to handle and completely get rid of anxiety through spiritual means. They emphasize the importance of relying on God as a remedy for anxiety, citing biblical references such as Philippians 4:6-7 and 2 Timothy 1:7. The hosts offer practical advice for Christians, including the need to pray, focus on the present, and build a relationship with God. The conversation also touches on the significance of positive thinking, gratitude, and the impact of external influences like media.  They share personal experiences and highlight the power of faith over fear, advising listeners to shift their worries to God and create a positive atmosphere around themselves.

Transcript

Episode 35 - Getting Rid of Anxiety

[00:00:00] Justin: Hi, everyone. This is Justin Olbrantz. And this is Don Schaefer. And you are listening to the wise and the wandering podcast for those who know “The Way” and for those who are led astray. And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories, then you're in the right place. So let's dive in…

[00:00:32] Justin: So Don, what are we going to talk about today? Well, 

[00:00:35] Don: Justin, I think we got an exciting one here that's going to help a lot of people. We're going to talk about getting rid of anxiety. Getting rid of the anxiety. Yes. Okay. That sounds pretty powerful. Yes. Yeah, because we're living in a real rough world.

[00:00:49] Don: Patch here right now. And a lot of people are struggling in this area. And I know scripturally it talks about the fact that our life can be consumed by anxiety [00:01:00] and we can lose all strength and focus in our life. And to be able to overcome this, I think is very, very important. But the one thing I wanted to mention is anxiety is something that everybody deals with.

[00:01:14] both: It's 

[00:01:14] Don: just a matter of how it's handled. 

[00:01:16] both: Yeah, 

[00:01:16] Don: and that's where people get themselves into trouble because they don't know how to handle anxiety and hopefully in this podcast We can explain some things that can connect and help anybody that's struggling. 

[00:01:28] Justin: Yeah, and I think we will I think we will I think getting a good handle on it is something that you want to do But the purpose in this sense is that we're gonna get rid of it.

[00:01:37] Justin: We want to completely get rid of it. Now there is scriptural references about anxiety in the Bible that maybe even people that don't read the Bible may not understand or may not be aware of. So one I just wanted to bring up was, , in Philippians chapter 4, verse 6, it says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by [00:02:00] prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God will be with you.

[00:02:08] Justin: which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Wow, that's good, Justin. So it's saying be anxious for nothing. Right, so it's saying in the verse that There's nothing that you should be anxious for no, so how are we gonna get to that point where we can get rid of all of this?

[00:02:28] Don: Yeah, well, you know what you're reading there is it's telling us it is a spiritual operation Yeah, and I want to do a little shout out. I talked to a young lady that's dealing with anxiety and And hopefully she's listening to this, but it is a spiritual operation. Everybody deals with it. I know I listened to a testimony of a boxer, a heavyweight boxer.

[00:02:47] both: Yeah, 

[00:02:48] Don: and he said there's anxiety every fight that they go into, you know A lot of times you look at these guys and you think there's a lot of confidence and stuff But the the thing they need to do is they need to [00:03:00] learn how to handle the anxiety And I know a lot of times in life Myself, I had opportunities for anxiety, but I used to look at it in a way and I brought God into it when I was younger, when I was younger, before God was a part of my life, you know, things would bother me.

[00:03:18] Don: A lot of people get into, you know, not that I was an alcoholic or anything like that, but you know, you get into drinking, you do a lot of things trying to kill the anxiety, you know, and I know in today's society, there's a lot of drugs you can take, things like that can calm you down. But God, I think has got an answer.

[00:03:35] Don: for anxiety. And that's where hopefully, Justin, we can explain a little bit, you know, what this means. Because I know myself, when I found God, it changed my picture. You know, I've gotten in a situation, I know I've talked about this, about the fact that I raised teenagers, and they give you room for anxiety.

[00:03:52] Don: And I remember a lot of times, you know, them going out and stuff. And , you know, wondering. What they're going to be doing [00:04:00] and the situation, things you're getting into. Not that we raise our children in a bad way, but I'd always come to God and I'd tell God, you know, we're in this business together now, you know, so they're your kids as well as my kids.

[00:04:12] Don: So I'm going to leave, you take care of them this night and I'm going to go to sleep. But, um, you know, and that's where a lot of times if we can channel our anxieties. And be able to pass them over and allow God to reach in and take care of them This is a stepping stone that a lot of people never reach.

[00:04:31] Don: They never 

[00:04:31] Justin: reach this Yeah, they don't and it's maybe easier said than done to say we're going to get rid of anxiety. I think There are, there are drugs, there are medications that people can take that do help deal with anxiety. But there's also remedies, like you're saying, this is also a spiritual thing that could be more properly dealt with.

[00:04:51] Justin: I know , myself, I've, Struggled immensely with anxiety in the past and even sometimes in the present, but like you were [00:05:00] saying I think it is a lot of that happens before you find God in your life, before you are saved, before you maybe are born again, because, because anxiety and faith are opposites.

[00:05:13] Justin: Right. Yeah. So we did an, we did an episode. Anxiety is kind of like a, a subtle form of fear. It's all fear based. Yeah, that's right. And when fear controls your life, , so many different things can grow from that. You know, worry can grow from that. Right. Doubt can grow from that. Yeah. There's, there's so many different branches, I guess, that can grow from that seed of fear.

[00:05:37] Justin: Right. But when it comes to it, We did an episode about faith and it was called misplaced faith Right and the opposite of fear is faith, right? It's kind of the same with anxiety since anxiety stems from fear You have to have faith like you were saying when you have trust in god knowing that god You're putting your trust.

[00:05:58] Justin: You'd like you were saying this. These [00:06:00] are your children to Lord, right? These aren't just my kids are your kids, too, right? So you're putting your trust in God, whatever happens It's in your control. It's in God's control That's right And when I think that's going to be the concept of this podcast That's going to be the remedy as putting your trust in God We're recording this episode a day before You our presidential election There's a lot of anxiety going on right now in the in the world There's a lot of anxiety as to what is going to be the outcome of tomorrow.

[00:06:33] Justin: Yes But in matthew, it says do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself That is so we cannot be troubled by what's going to happen tomorrow Because if we are we're feeding into our anxieties. We're feeding into the fear. Yes, because what is the news doing? They're trying to They're trying to bring fear into your life, right?

[00:06:53] Justin: They're trying to sensationalize everything. It is kind of what they do, but , we are in a different kind of business. [00:07:00] . We have a different kind of purpose in this world now. We have a different kind of purpose in our life. We have a different kind of trust, and we have a different kind of person that we can put our trust in.

[00:07:12] both2: Yeah. 

[00:07:13] Justin: We talk about the Holy Spirit and stuff like that. That's right. You mentioned it just being spiritual. I just want to say, the reason I think it's a spiritual thing is because, uh, I like to think of it as energy. I like to think a lot of this stuff anxiety is you are depleting you're wasting Energy, right?

[00:07:30] both: Yeah, 

[00:07:30] Justin: and when you place your trust in god and only god and you know that god alone Is the only one that can change such things in your life, right? Is he is the only one that can change such things in the world? Yeah, so being Anxious about such things that you cannot change as a waste of energy. It is.

[00:07:51] Justin: I like to think of it that way How much do you care about preserving the energy that you have in your life because the lord wants to do [00:08:00] Great things with that energy. He He wakes you up. He blesses you enough to wake you up that next day, right? You woke up another day and he's placed You're refreshed.

[00:08:10] Justin: He's placed enough energy into your life to get you through that day. Now, how you expend it is going to be up to you, but if , if you can preserve it, if you can conserve it for him, he's going to do great things in that one day. Oh, yes. So it's all about how are you going to preserve that 

[00:08:27] Don: energy?

[00:08:28] Don: We're going to keep it, Justin. We're going to keep it. No, you're absolutely right. So many times people put all their energy into the things that they have to worry and get 

[00:08:37] Justin: anxious. And they do. And we have these energy drinks, right? They're called energy drinks. Yeah, we do. I like to drink these. But what I've realized is that They say their energy drinks, but then they kind of, they, they get your mind racing and they get you thinking about a lot of different things.

[00:08:52] Justin: And a lot of the times get you caught up in anxiety. And then what are you doing? You're actually wasting the energy. This is true. That you were supposed to be getting, right? This is 

[00:08:59] Don: [00:09:00] true. You know, and that's where too, you know, uh, , I'm hoping that we can get a little wisdom here, you know?

[00:09:05] Don: And I think when Jesus Christ came into the world, he gave wisdom. And he was basically talking, you know, we don't need to worry about a whole lot of things. In fact, there's some of the scriptures you were going to there, Justin, talks about how, the heathen or the Gentiles at that time, they worry about their food, they worry about their clothing, they worry about everything.

[00:09:23] Don: Where he finishes it up and he says, Seek ye first the kingdom, God, and his righteousness, and the rest shall be added unto you. So basically, it is a spiritual operation, but we have to be wise enough to realize what is happening to us. Sometimes I, um, when things have come up, and it could be something I could worry about, I wonder sometimes, how much worry do I need to put into it to make it successful?

[00:09:45] both2: You know? If something 

[00:09:46] Don: might be bad, you know, how much worry do I need to do? Need to pack in about three, four days of worry to make it successful. It seems like it never changes anything. You know, it seems like it's just a fruitless exercise we go through, [00:10:00] but a lot of times we're not wise. And sometimes what I like to say in life is we have to be careful what channel we're tuned into because we get sometimes into a negative type channel.

[00:10:11] Don: Like you're talking about the news and all that. That channel a lot of times does put out a lot of things that causes anxiety and worry and all that But if we can sit there and realize what channel is starting to show us here and feel it coming on We need to change that channel just like I mentioned the boxer Listening to that boxer, he says, you know, every time I fight, he says, there is anxiety and fear, he says, but I've learned to handle that, you know, I don't allow it.

[00:10:40] Don: Some people, he's talked about boxers where they have the stare downs. He, he says, I can look in their eyes and I can see that they're not handling it, you know, because they do not have the confidence. They're not prepared, all this sort of thing. He can see it right in their eyes. He says, I know I've got that fear.

[00:10:56] Don: Fight, you know, and in our life too, sometimes, you know, [00:11:00] people are walking around and they are easy targets for a lot of stuff in life because they're not channeling their mind and they're just taking on these worries. And sometimes it affects them physically. People are losing sleep, they're losing all this sort of thing.

[00:11:14] Don: And that's where if you can come to a place realizing that this is a spiritual battle, God doesn't give us a spirit of fear, but of a sound mind, you know, he wants us to have a sound mind and we. Get ourselves into a place where we control our thoughts. If I see something that comes up, and every once in a while you do get things.

[00:11:34] Don: I, myself, I get opportunities to do stuff and I could get anxious about it. I usually put it out of my mind until the day before and then I put thoughts together and figure out how I'm going to handle a situation. I don't allow worry to be something that's going to trigger me. Drag me down, but you it isn't it's easy to talk about this stuff, but it's hard You know you have to realize this is a spiritual operation And this is a place where you pray to god and you get [00:12:00] yourself into a place where you create a positive Atmosphere around you you start reading things that are positive Listening to things that are positive like podcasts like this and putting that inside so that you become wise You realize what's happening to your life, you know and I know a lot of young people struggle because and It'll probably continue on because if you don't have a real relationship and understanding of what God can do for you He created all of us and he wants to take care of every atmosphere of our life You know, and he doesn't want us to worry.

[00:12:33] Don: Worry usually is a sign that we're not trusting him. We're saying that some of our worry might be able to change something. It really doesn't. We have to get into a place where God is going to take care of everything. I just believe you, Lord. And life takes a whole new meaning. You're free. 

[00:12:51] Justin: Amen. You're free free.

[00:12:52] Justin: Yeah, and I think he not only does he want to do that, but he will do that 

[00:12:56] Don: Yeah, 

[00:12:56] Justin: because I think that when you think about [00:13:00] god and the way he prepares things for you I I don't think that he I don't think there is a need To store up anything for future needs when it comes to god. I don't think he's created us I don't he I don't think he's designed us In wanting us to store up anything for future needs.

[00:13:18] Justin: Everything is about the present And the now right he's going to take care of you in the now So not only is he going to take care of you now, it means he'll take care of you tomorrow as well I hope so and there's no need to I think what that says is when it says Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

[00:13:42] Justin: Right. It says do not be troubled. And I think that's another way of saying there is no need to borrow trouble from the future. No. See what I'm saying? The future will take care of itself. Yes, it will. Because God will be there. He did not intend for us to [00:14:00] consider all of our needs beyond the present. The world makes us do that.

[00:14:06] Justin: The world makes us always focus on what we need tomorrow. We need to always be focusing on our future and preparing for the future. And while that might be wise in some cases, If it creates a bunch of anxiety a bunch of crippling anxiety in our lives where we can't even be functional Yeah, but it's not good.

[00:14:26] Justin: No, it's not coming from god anything that makes you crippled in fear Like you just said in that in that passage that second timothy for god did not give us the spirit of fear But that of power and of love and of a sound mind, right? That's right. So that means the spirit of fear It's a spirit. Yeah, and all those things that come from fear From fear, like we're saying anxiety, worry, doubt, all these things, unbelief, all these things that come in depression, they all come from the spirit of fear, right?

[00:14:56] Justin: So it is a spiritual thing. So one really has to [00:15:00] be focusing on the present. Our second episode that we did on this podcast, if you guys are following along, It was your purpose is your present. Ah, that's good. Your purpose is the gift. Your purpose is the present. That's where the gift of life is. Because everything is happening , in the present.

[00:15:17] Justin: Right. God has prepared you. He has given you all that you need. If you trust in him, he's given all that you need for the present. The disciples, he said, leave all, sell all, and follow me. 

[00:15:30] Don: Amen to 

[00:15:30] Justin: that. Not only did they just leave what was behind, they sold all their possessions, and then they gave it away to people who were in need, right?

[00:15:37] Justin: His, his disciples. 

[00:15:38] Don: Yep. 

[00:15:39] Justin: And for them to do that, they had to be completely free of anxiety. Amen to that. Because, I mean they had to have Okay, because they had to have realized that before they knew jesus and they found this figure who told them to follow him Right, right They knew of no gracious God. They knew of no figure like that [00:16:00] to help them. So, therefore, anxiety for them is reasonable, right? Right. It's reasonable because we don't know of God.

[00:16:08] Justin: We don't know of the Son of Man, the Son of God, who's speaking right to us and telling us to follow Him. So it's reasonable. , however, the disciples now realize, in that situation, they received their Messiah. 

[00:16:22] both2: Mm 

[00:16:23] Justin: hmm. So everybody Was talking about the messiah they were prophesying about the messiah the anointed one who is going to come That's right who's going to be their savior who is going to save?

[00:16:34] Justin: Israel, right? Who's going to save the promised people, right? Of Abraham. And later it was extended to the Gentiles, meaning anyone outside of the Jewish people, right? That's true. But they were all speaking of the Messiah. So now they have received Jesus, they've followed him, and they now have a father in heaven, essentially, that knows exactly what they need and will not fail them.

[00:16:59] Justin: [00:17:00] Therefore, right? Anxiety for anybody who is a child of God makes no sense at all to them, because they're always provided for in the present. Yeah, 

[00:17:09] Don: yeah, they really are. And I love what you said about purpose, you know, once you find your purpose in God, then you realize that God supplies your every need.

[00:17:17] Don: You know, everything is about that. And when you brought up those disciples, I can't imagine, you know, selling everything you had in front of God. I mean, is there anything to worry about in that? I mean, you'd have to have total, total trust. 

[00:17:31] both: You 

[00:17:31] Don: know, total trust in Jesus Christ, which they had. And I know the Bible talks about putting on Christ.

[00:17:37] Don: And, , it's the same terminology as putting on clothes. 

[00:17:41] both: See, 

[00:17:41] Don: when we're born in this world, We are born completely naked. It's our parents that clothes us. They make sure we're taken care of keeping us warm and whatever. And today we find nice clothes and all that, but we have to put on Christ, you know, and that's where when we do that, it's when [00:18:00] we're clothed.

[00:18:01] Don: Christ clothes us and takes care of us in all of our areas of life. And a lot of times what happens when we get involved in worry and anxiety, we show that we're not clothed real well. 

[00:18:12] both: Yeah. 

[00:18:12] Don: And I know when we put on good clothes, I myself, , I don't know about you guys, but When I put on good clothes, I feel good about myself.

[00:18:19] Don: You know, when I go out and stuff, I think people are looking at me and saying, Hey, Don looks pretty good today. You know, he's got good clothes on. But, you know, and that's where I think when we put on Christ, we allow Christ to clothe us, and then we have a way about us. You know, smiles on our face, our whole life's about us.

[00:18:34] Don: seems to be at peace. And there's nothing more, , easy to be around than people who are at peace with themselves 

[00:18:42] both: and 

[00:18:42] Don: with their savior and being able to love people and not have to worry and carry anxiety about everything going on. Trusting that everything will be okay because God, I know in the Bible even talked about the birds of the air and, uh, you know, how God takes care of their every need.

[00:18:59] Don: I don't [00:19:00] see birds losing feathers from worry, you know, they seem like they always manage to find food and everything that they need And I don't know myself. I don't think I've gained a whole lot in life because I worried a lot You know, I got I got rich because I was worrying every day, you know No, I you end up probably just the opposite if you're worrying, you know if we can get God in our life and allow him to work our life We can allow ourselves to be free of Something that is a torment and it's real, you know Anxiety and worry are are real and people struggle with this along with a lot of things in life But god truly does want to free us from all of that.

[00:19:41] Justin: Yeah, and sometimes it leads into procrastination Because you get so anxious about something that now the fear builds up And what happens is you have a fear of failure. Yeah. So, so you don't even actually want to try something or the amount of time that you are [00:20:00] thinking about something or preparing just gets prolonged because you're thinking about all the ways that it can go wrong.

[00:20:06] Justin: And, but all of that stems from the spirit of fear. So I think really recognizing where that comes from um, pivoting and turning to a position where you . You look to God to solve your problems. Putting it in his hands, right? And trusting him. I think that is the ultimate solution. But the first thing is just understanding where that comes from.

[00:20:29] Justin: Once you have a realization that this is a spiritual thing, 

[00:20:32] both2: this 

[00:20:32] Justin: is not just normal, what's going on in your thoughts? What's keeping you into this fear of failure mentality is not God given. It's not God inspired. It was never, it's not coming from God. As the scripture says, he didn't give us a spirit of fear, which tells you there's two things.

[00:20:53] Justin: It is a spirit, fear is, and that , it's not from him. Right. So who did it come from, [00:21:00] right? . There's only right, there's only one. There's only one other alternative. Oh, yeah. So if, if it doesn't come from God, then you cannot, you cannot meditate it. You can't accept it. You can't come into agreement with it.

[00:21:11] Justin: No. It needs to, you need to get rid of it. Yeah. You need to, you need to pray about it like the scripture says, the Philippians, I thought that's so good because it says to be anxious for nothing, which, you know, it might be a little bit easier said than done, right? But in everything by prayer, it says by prayer, pray to God about your anxiety.

[00:21:29] Justin: Yes. Have you reached out to God? Have you just reached out to doctors, right? Have you just reached out to medications to help you or have you reached out to God? Right. Make that your prayer. Make that relationship known to him. Make,, tell him about your day. Sometimes I like to tell people, you know what, you ever like talk to yourself, Don?

[00:21:48] Justin: Do you ever like talk to yourself? Like, too much. But like, do you ever like talk to yourself? Like out loud? Yes. Right. So you say like, yeah, maybe I shouldn't do that. Hey, that looks kind of nice. You know, instead of talking [00:22:00] to yourself. Yeah. Talk to Jesus. Yeah. Talk to Jesus out loud. Yeah. Those in them in the moment, because why would you be talking to yourself?

[00:22:08] Justin: Just talk to Jesus, have that relationship. It gives you a great opportunity to build that relationship. And the more you do it, the more it catches on. It might seem a little weird at first, but you're going to start to get answers. You're literally, you're going to start to, once you grow a spiritual relationship with your creator.

[00:22:28] Justin: Uh, with Jesus, you know, who is God, who is the son of God, you know, once the, the Trinity, right? Once, once you have this relationship, you're going to receive answers instead of just looking to yourself for your problems. You're going to look to, you would normally look to yourself to just talk about your day.

[00:22:45] Justin: Yeah. Well, now you're going to start talking to your, you're going to start talking about your day with God and he's going to start, he's, he's going to just start putting things in there that you normally wouldn't get. From yourself, right? There's going to be some kind of, uh, divine revelation there because [00:23:00] he sees you seeking.

[00:23:00] Justin: He's a faithful God. He's going to be faithful to reciprocate. Right? Yeah. So just going back to that with prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving again, there comes that gratitude again, right? How do you gratitude? How do you beat spiritual attacks being grateful for what you have? Amen 

[00:23:19] Don: to that. 

[00:23:19] Justin: Because you cannot live in fear and live in gratitude at the same time.

[00:23:23] Justin: That's true. Those are mutually exclusive. You have to, so, once you flip it and you pivot to things that you're grateful for and let your requests be made known to God, like we were saying, having that relationship, it says the peace of God, that peace, which surpasses all. All understanding will guard your hearts and your minds.

[00:23:44] Justin: If your hearts, if your heart and your mind is being guided, then there is no point of being anxious about anything. 

[00:23:53] Don: This is true. This is true. And I want to just touch on something here. Okay. These actually could be some fighting words, but I don't know. Okay, let's see. [00:24:00] Ephesians chapter six, it talks about, Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

[00:24:05] both: So 

[00:24:05] Don: it talks about, One that does the battle for you. And I know, , then it goes on in that scripture. It talks about putting on the full armor of God, you know, and how God wants to protect us. And a lot of times it's not our power. We, we are powerless over this stuff. Anxiety. We are powerless over this. We can get drugs to keep us drugged under, but to be free of this, God has to step in and do that.

[00:24:31] Don: And that's where he wants. to do that. He wants to set us free of this sort of thing in our lives. And it starts with like Justin is saying, a belief. I remember, um, praying the first time I prayed, uh, I felt pretty clumsy because I never did this stuff before. Actually, the only prayer I said, Justin, at that time was stuff I read off a piece of paper.

[00:24:53] Don: Yeah. Rehearsed ones. Yeah. You know, so I never really just opened up my heart and just talked to, you know, Somebody I couldn't see, [00:25:00] you know, but but after a while you start to feel a presence I know I started when I started saying I love you Jesus all of a sudden I started getting a tingling inside me, you know, like you could actually feel a presence with you and I know myself I know Even at the workplace, I'll give you a little secret here, but at the workplace I used to take care of parts And sometimes, you know people when they'd get on the phone with me, they weren't nice to me They didn't say nice things and and it's very easy to get a lot of anxieties about you know the phone Phone ringing and all this stuff, but when I get to that point, that's when I would start to praise God.

[00:25:35] Don: And like you were saying, Justin, I would be thankful. I would say, thank you, Lord, that you take care of my issues. You know, I love you and , Lord, help me to continue on in a peaceful way, a peace that surpasses all understanding. You're talking about that. God wants to put that on us, but this is the victory.

[00:25:52] Don: Over anxiety and worry and all these things that can tear us down because we fall apart You know, our strength [00:26:00] is gone our everything it starts to diminish in our life You know many people fall into depression all this ugliness of life When this stuff can be free and that's what Jesus came to do and it's the wisdom of grabbing on to an Opportunity and I know I just tonight we talked about this a lot, but it all happens in a moment You know everything in life is a moment a person hears about something.

[00:26:24] Don: It's an idea It's something put into practice and it gives God an opportunity to operate and change things in our life And that is a real thing of beauty 

[00:26:35] Justin: Yeah, it really is. Because anxiety, having anxiety , over our own needs does not have any power to change our situation at all. No. God has the power to change.

[00:26:47] Justin: He does. He does. That anxiety, that worry has no power at all to change our situation. No, it doesn't. So, therefore, it kind of is pointless. Mm hmm. You know, and when it comes down to it, , when it comes down to it, I just want to say this. Mm hmm. [00:27:00] About Christians. 

[00:27:02] Don: Yeah, 

[00:27:02] Justin: and this is specifically for believers, right? I think a lot of the times we get caught up in our past and the fear of failure Always keeps us living from like a step behind. Yeah, and when I say that I mean then we're always trying to get into works right To get god to notice us right to get rewarded from god And then what happens is when we do this You We always end up judging ourselves for what we're not doing.

[00:27:35] Don: Yeah, 

[00:27:36] Justin: you see what i'm saying instead of Appreciating how much i've grown where my heart is How i'm continuing to grow right and how my desire Is increasing in the Lord in Jesus. I want to be more like him and I want him more than I've ever wanted him So what happens though is we get into those works, you know, and we [00:28:00] tell ourselves.

[00:28:01] Justin: Oh, i'm not reading my bible enough I didn't read my bible today I didn't say I didn't pray this Number of times a day and then we use that to condemn ourselves. We're actually living out of a state of fear We do that and those things are normal to a lot of christians But they're not Normal, because that's not coming from God.

[00:28:20] Justin: God is not telling you that you need to feel bad for not reading your Bible. God is not telling you that you need to feel bad because you didn't pray three times today. You only prayed one time a day. That is the enemy making you feel that way. He, again, the spirit of fear is not, for God did not give us a spirit of fear.

[00:28:40] Justin: So anytime that you feel fear, anytime that you feel condemned, and those things, like I'm saying, the branches that come from that seed of fear, it's not from God. No, it's not. That should be 

[00:28:52] Don: liberating, I think, for Christians. It should be, and that's where God is taking us into a place. It's usually, you know, In our weakness when we [00:29:00] come to him, you know, if we feel that we're strong enough to handle this ourselves Jesus really can't work in our lives But if we come to a point where we realize, you know, he is our source.

[00:29:09] Don: I can't do this alone And the life and the operation of overcoming anxiety. It's something that we can't do by ourselves God has to step in and there's so much in life that we come to him in our weakness We can't control ourselves in this area or whatever the area might be But we give it over to him and ask him into our life.

[00:29:29] Don: And as you were saying, Justin, when we draw close unto him, he gets close to us and he gets to work and he starts to change us. And that's what sets us free of the anxieties that will ruin a good life. 

[00:29:42] Justin: Amen. Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one, Justin. I think so too. Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today.

[00:29:53] Justin: And we hope you can join us again next week for another good word. Until then, stay blessed by the [00:30:00] best. See you guys.