A Different Perspective Official Podcast

It's easy to imagine that miracles don't happen anymore these days.  But God is a miracle working God – he was 2000 years ago and He is today. Nothing's changed and I for one, still believe in miracles.
Have you ever needed a miracle in your life? Have you ever wondered even what a miracle looks like?
Well, I decided to go to Wikipedia – the internet based encyclopaedia to find out what it says about miracles. Well, here's the definition it came up with:
A miracle is an event believed to be caused by the interposition of divine intervention by a supernatural being in the universe by which the ordinary operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified.
A bit dry and clinical isn't it? But it's pretty much bang on the money. Except – I happen to believe not in the divine intervention of a super natural being in the universe, I happen to believe that the only God that performs miracles, real miracles, the sort that speak of His love for us – is the same God who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for you and for me on that cross. Now, that was a miracle, not just the dying bit – as if that weren't enough – but the being raised from the dead bit. That is one major miracle.
Now it's easy to believe in miracles, until we desperately need one for ourselves. Until someone we love has cancer. Until we're the ones in the jobless queue. Until it's our marriage that's in trouble. Then all of a sudden, it becomes incredibly hard to believe in miracles.
Miracles are a difficult subject for us to talk about. Because I know that there's someone listening today who believed that God would do a miracle for their loved one who was dying – and they died anyway. And there's someone who believed in a miracle when they lost their job and couldn't afford to pay for their mortgage and they lost their house anyway. And there's someone today who believed … you get the picture? God doesn't always do miracles when we want Him to? Why? Because He's God and He gets to choose.
See the statistics are that we live in a world where, the last time I checked, out of every 100 people – any 100 you'd care to choose – out of every 100 people – exactly 100 will die at some point. The body gets old, it wears out and it gives up. Either that or Jesus will return first. It's just the way things are. I watched my dad die over 10 years ago, he was only 74.
A good friend of mine in Africa, his brother was killed by rebel fighters and his father was injured in the fighting and died because of the lack of medical care. Now this friend is a humble, powerful man of God. He believed for miracles.
We live in a world that rejected God and the result of that is that people suffer and people die. Look around, there are billions suffering in the world today. People who believe in Jesus and people who don't. Jesus suffered. Jesus asked for the suffering to be taken away – but it wasn't. But still, still I believe in miracles. Sometimes God steps in for no reason that's particularly apparent to us and performs a miracle.
The first time I prayed for someone to be healed was a woman at church. She had bad knees, they were painful, I prayed. Now I didn't really expect her to be healed and I kind of avoided her after that. Months later she told me that she had been healed.
I was shocked. Back then I thought it had something to do with me. And that – that's the mistake that's so easy to make. If I'm really, really, really, really good, God will give me a miracle. If I believe until I bust, if I clean up my act, if I do this or do that or say this or pray that … then, then I'll get the miracle I've been hoping for. See, that completely and utterly misses the point.
Let me read you something, a letter that the apostle Paul wrote. This comes from Galatians chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. He writes:
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited and crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing? – if it really was for nothing.
Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by you doing the works of the law, or by your believing in what you heard?
Pretty simple isn't it. If we think we can get miracles by working our way into God's favour, by playing the game, ticking the boxes, getting it all right. Paul's saying, "you foolish Galatians! Did you see miracles happen because you did the right thing or because you believed in what you'd heard?" See, doing the right thing and ticking the boxes doesn't deliver miracles.
Now Gods not a sugar daddy. He's not a slot machine. You don't put the coin in, pull the handle, and watch the dials spin and see the cash fall out to the bottom. It's not how it works. Not some formula that we apply and hey presto – out pops the rabbit from the hat!
If there was – then God would be reduced to a performing poodle who does tricks on our command. It's not it at all. Somewhere deep inside God has a plan and sometimes that plan includes miracles, sometimes it doesn't. But the thing that causes God to perform a miracle is not what we do but what we believe.
Faith, the faith to believe, come what may. Irrespective of the outcome – I'm gonna honour God and I'm going to obey Him and I'm going to love Him and I'm going to bow my life down to Him and I am going to believe in Jesus for a miracle.
Just believe – call me crazy. Call me simple. Call me whatever you like. I just believe. Like the three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They refused to bow down and worship an idol that King Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to worship. He threatened to throw them into a furnace and this is what they said:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defence to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up. (Daniel 3:16-18)
And they were thrown into the furnace and God did deliver them. But even if he hadn't, they still weren't going to bow down to any other god. Sometimes I've believed mightily for a miracle and God hasn't done it. And I remember on a few occasions how painful and distressing that was. Like having my heart torn out – but God had something different planned.
Other times, just recently in fact, I've under-believed in God. I had low expectations and God has done such mighty miracles, opened doors for the Gospel that for years have been tightly shut to me. Moved the hearts of people that I've never even met to grant me favour.
And I've stood back in awe of what He's done. Why? I don't know, I'm like you, I'm just some little guy. I believe in Jesus, I worship Him, I do my best every day to honour Him. I fall flat on my face some days. And every now and then, He does something amazing – and you know what I've noticed? It's invariably for His glory not mine. His name is lifted up and yep, it helps me sometimes, but that's a side benefit really.
Do I believe in miracles? Absolutely! Do they always work out like I've planned – not on your nelly. It's just the way it is.

Maybe you've been listening to the messages on this program during this week, we're we've been chatting about getting rid of fear and worry out of our lives – and thought, well, OK – but I just don't have enough faith to do that.  Well – if that's the case then his next program is definitely for you.
We're talking this week, on the program, about banishing worry and fear from our lives. Five practical things that we can do. And my hunch, my hunch is that there'd be a few people. Maybe one or two. Sitting there, listening to it all, saying, "Well, I'm not sure if I can believe that". The guy is saying pray and let God take the worry away. That's what His word promises (Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7).
Replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts (Philippians chapter 4, verses 8 and 9).  Believe that you can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthens you (Philippians chapter 4, verses 10 to 13). And get still before God. Let Him give you gladness and peace (Psalm 46).
It's all really good stuff. That's what we've looked at over the last four days on the program. But there is someone saying to themselves right now, "Yeah right. That all sounds really good but I'm not sure that I can believe that it works. Maybe it works for other people who have more faith than me. But I just don't think it's going to work for me. In fact, I know it's not because I don't have enough faith."
And if that little thought is running through your mind today, it's okay. Because you are not alone. Truly. Lot's of us have those thoughts from time to time.
If you want to get rid of the worry and fear and stress and anxiety in your life. If you kind of believe that maybe, just maybe this stuff might work but you don't feel as though you have enough faith. Then this program today, well it's just for you.
Each one of us has at least a few issues in our lives causing us stress. We do. No-one's immune. Sometimes they're external. Sometimes they're internal. And sometimes, in fact, most of the time it's both. It's not just the circumstances we're faced with but how we see them and process them and react to them and deal with them.
I don't have to go through some exhaustive list. You know exactly what they are in your life. And I know what they are in my life. And we know them because they tower above us like, like big mountains. So big and so dark and so impossible and so immovable.
The person who hurts us who's just never ever, ever going to change. The sense of inadequacy and inferiority that we have inside that it's just never ever, ever going to go away. The anger we feel, the resentment. The financial hardship. There I go, I'm making a list. Couldn't help myself.
These are dirty great immovable mountains. They just won't move and budge out of our lives. They're too tall and steep and frightening to climb. They're too wide to go around. And as for shifting them out of the road. Well that's completely and utterly impossible.
Got the picture, right? And as we each survey the landscape of our lives. The relationships, the circumstances, the situations. Pretty quickly we can spot those mountains. Two, three, four, perhaps a half a dozen. Maybe even a mountain range where they're all kind of linked and we can't really tell where one of them stops and another one begins. And it's those mountains that we worry about. The thought of what they mean that strikes fear in our hearts. They rob us of sleep as our minds look at them. Just the sight of them. Just the thought of them. You can feel the knife of fear stabbing in your heart.
And even when we turn our backs on them. Or shut our eyes. Or pretend that they aren't there. The worry eats away inside us like a, like a worm eats away inside an apple. And that joker on the radio has the hide to get up and say that we can be free from fear and worry in our lives if we do this or do that. I just don't have enough faith to believe that.
That's good. Because nor do I. Truly. Invariably we start off with just a tinsy winsy little bit of faith. It's all we have.
There was a time when Jesus saw a fig tree and He was hungry. So He walked up to it and there wasn't a single fig on it. And the reason was, it wasn't fig season. So He curses the fig tree. Now, it's not exactly what we might expect the Son of God to do. But He does. And the next day, He and His disciples are walking past that very same fig tree and it's all withered and dead. And Peter says, "wow, look at that! That fig tree you cursed, it's dead."
At this point, Jesus stops in His tracks. Turns around to them. And as if to tell them the blindingly, glimpsingly obvious. As if to say, "You still don't get it do you?" This is what He says, Mark chapter 11, verses 22 to 24. He says:
Have faith in God. Truly I tell you. If you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea', if you do not doubt in your heart but believe what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
Now you and I, we find that pretty hard to believe. We've heard this extreme faith preaching. Name it and claim it. Blab it and grab it. So what we do is we say, "Mmm, I know it's in the Bible but actually, I can't cope with that. It doesn't work. So mentally I'm going to strike it out. At the very least I just don't have enough faith. I can't believe it in my heart. So it's no good for me."
Well evidently, His disciples had the same problem. Because in another particularly impossible situation, He explains it to them in a slightly different way. In a way that would have made a whole bunch more sense to them. See, they asked Him why it was, that this boy they tried to heal but they couldn't and Jesus turned around and healed him. And they thought, "well, how come we couldn't heal him?" And this is what Jesus told them in Matthew chapter 17, verse 20. He said to them:
Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain 'move from here to there' and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.
Now my Holman Bible Dictionary says this about the mustard tree and it's seeds. Let me quote it directly. "Mustard – a large annual plant which grows quite quickly. Its seeds were once thought to be the smallest seed in the world."
See, I have this tiny little mustard seed in my hand. Insy winsy little thing. We have them in our spice cupboard in the kitchen at home. The thing you see is not so much the seed but the empty hand. What you see is how much faith you don't have rather than the faith that you do.
But there are two things about this mustard seed that the people that Jesus was talking to would have understood. Firstly, how small it is. And secondly how quickly it grows when you put it in the ground.
Jesus is saying something powerful here and we all need to get a handle on it. He's saying you only need the smallest amount of faith to get started. When we put that in the ground, when we put it to work, not only is it enough to move those mighty, immovable, impossible mountains. But as sure as God made little green apples, it's going to grow quickly.
And you know, that's exactly been my experience. We can sit there and bemoan the fact that we only have a small amount of faith. Or, we can take Jesus at His word. That this little mustard seed is more than enough and start praying with just that amount of faith.
Plant it. Put it in the ground. Put it to work. Come on, just don't sit there:
I can do all things in Christ Jesus.
Put the faith to work because faith without works is dead. Do It! And when we do that. We get up in the morning. We take those Scripture verses. We read them. We say them. We memorise them. We stop still for a moment during the day. We remember them again. We rest in them. Before we go to sleep we do the same thing.
Let me tell you, two things are going to happen. Firstly, one by one, our mountains will be lifted up and will fall into the sea.  And secondly, our faith is going to grow so quickly. Just as sure as God made little green apples.

So many people out there are running round like chickens with their heads cut off.  Flapping and carrying on.  And we wonder why stress and anxiety are the scourges of our lives.  It's time to sit down and shut up.
This week on the program we're looking at five practical ways to banish worry and fear from our lives. Today is the fourth of those and it's really simple. It's this. Sit down and shut up.
Sorry to be that blunt and that direct. But sometimes I think that what happens is that we get so caught up in the hurley burley of life that we never stop to rest and reflect. You know what happens. Everybody else is so caught up racing around and doing this and doing that. And so we all go racing around and crashing into one another. It's like a pressure cooker without a release valve. And that pressure causes stress and anxiety. Worry and fear. We lose sight of the big picture.
And there's something very special that happens when we just get still for a bit. Just pull away from it all and get still before God.
So if you remember just one thing from today it's this. Sit down and shut up. Get still. Get still before God.
That's what we're going to be talking about today on the program. And I can tell you, from my life. Which is far busier than I would ever like it to be. This really, really works.
God's peace. God's rest in our hearts. How do we get our hand on that? How do we actually experience that amidst a busy life? Well the answer is in one of my favourite psalms, Psalm 46. Let me share it with you:
God is our refuge and strength. The very present help in time of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change and the mountains shake in the heart of the sea and the waters roar and foam through the mountains. Though the mountains tremble in it's tumult. 
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. The holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of that city. It shall not be moved. God will help when the morning dawns. The nations are in uproar, the kingdoms totter. He utters His voice and the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come; behold the works of the Lord. See what desolations He had brought on the earth. For He makes wars decease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the shields with fire.
Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations. I am exalted on the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
See the psalmist here, at the beginning, with the earth-shaking and the mountains shaking and the sea foaming. He's painting a picture of uproar and tumult. I mean the Hebrews love picture language like that.
Now when it comes to fear it seems that we have short memories. We go through something scary and God shows up and somehow it works out fine. Perhaps, maybe we remember to say, "thank you God". Maybe we don't. And then things calm down again. And they go along just brilliantly for a while.
And then BANG, the next storm hits. And it's raging and we're afraid and we're fearful. And life's a mess. We're running around like chooks with their heads cut off. And we're living through that excruciatingly, debilitating, immobilising fear that comes when the ground moves beneath our feet.
And we forget. We forget to look back and remember all the times that God's brought us through those storms before. And even if we don't have many of those to look back on. Let's say we have none of those to look back on.
Let's assume, worst case. Let's assume that you and I have just, this moment, given our lives to Jesus Christ and come to faith in Him. Just this moment, we've put our lives in His hand. So we don't have a single experience to look back on. Where we know without a doubt that He's stepped in and saved us. What we then do, we forget to look back on the God of the Bible and see how many times He's stepped in to help His people.
It's what He does and that's what the psalmist is reminding us here, with these words:
Come, behold the works of the Lord. See what desolations He's brought on the earth. He makes wars decease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow. He shatters the spear. He burns the shields with fire.
God's saying, "Don't you realise, this is what I do? I protect my people. I make sure it all works out. Get a handle on this."
But God, how? How can I get a handle on this? You don't understand. I've got all this pain happening. I've got all this fear happening. People are after me. My finances are in a mess. My loved one is sick. My emotions are on a roller coaster. The mountains are falling into the sea. The sea is angry and foaming. The ground is shaking. The nations are raging. How can I get a handle on what You want to do for me?
Here's the answer. Here it is. Right here in God's word. Listen to it. Remember it. Let the Spirit of God write it on your heart. Psalm 46, verse 10:
Be still and know that I am God. For I'm exalted among the nations. I am exalted in the earth.
Sounds so simple. Be still and just know. But you know something. When we're afraid, often the last thing we do is to get still before God. Even when we're praying. We rant on. We don't shut up for long enough. We don't stay there for long enough to hear God speak.
Over and over and over again, I've had to learn this one. I'm like you. This doesn't come naturally. It's something I've had to learn. When I'm travelling through fearful places and situations and times, more than ever, I take the time to get still before God. I open a few simple passages. This psalm is my favourite one. And Philippians chapter 4, verse 13, that we talked about yesterday:
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Romans chapter 8, verse 31:
If God is for us, who can be against us? 
I let these passages just rest on my heart. And just sit still and focus on God and wait. Draw away from the noise of the day. Get alone with God. Remember these passages. Say them out loud:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I can do ALL things.
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Because what Psalm 46 tells me is that there's a reality of a God of gladness and power and protection that is so far above my circumstances. Psalm 46 promises me that. And then tells me just to sit still and wait. And you know what happens when I do that. I just sit and wait on God and His Spirit touches me. And I experience the confidence that I need to make it through.
Not self-confidence but God confidence. I get a handle on the great unseen reality - God Himself. His power flows into me and through me.
All of a sudden the panic goes away. All of a sudden the fear is replaced with faith. God does that. We don't do it. He does. But we just have to sit down and shut up. All of a sudden I have the clarity to think through the problem. To face the realities and to do what I have to do and to trust God for the things I can't do.
Oh, and let me tell you. 10 minutes later, half an hour later, half a day later, the panic wants to come back, it does. The fear wants to come back. And when they come knocking on my door I just get still with God again. I go back to Him, wait on Him. Expecting and waiting.
That's what it means to live in that city and drink of the streams of that river that make glad the city of God. We need to drink, to drink Him in. His presence. His Spirit. His word. And then a peace that surpasses all understanding guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
Be still and know that I am God.

Fear and worry and stress and anxiety are out there in plague proportions. But there's one thing – just one thing – that can make a huge difference in this area of our lives. In fact this one thing is the most important thing I know about banishing fear from our lives.
Isn't it amazing what a difference a comforting word can make from a friend. You know, when you're under pressure and stress and racing around. And someone just gives you call to say, "I was thinking of you. How are you going?" Or they see the pressure you're under and they say, "Have you ever thought of this?" Or they just give you different slant on things. And in an instant, a word from a friend can calm the spirit. It can set at rest the racing heart. Its like it's a word in time. Just at the right time.
Problem is, in this busy hectic world that we live in, it seems to happen less and less these days, doesn't it? But fortunately God hasn't stopped speaking. Fortunately He has some words of wisdom. And encouragement. And comfort. And when He drops them into our hearts, just at the right time, they have this incredibly calming, healing effect. Even for the most harrowed of souls.
A word in time from God. That's what we're going to be taking a look at today.
I want to share with you the most important thing that I know about banishing fear and worry from our lives. The most important thing. The most affective thing. And it comes from the last part of chapter 4 in the Book of Philippians. It's what we've been looking at this week on the program.
It's the apostle Paul. He is on death row. He is writing to his friends in the Church in Philippi. In the process he's sharing his experience and teaching us how to banish fear from our lives. From the most dire circumstances, you or I, could ever imagine. He's on death row. Here's what he says. Philippians chapter 4, verses 10 to 13:
I rejoice in the Lord greatly but now, at last, you have revived your concern for me. Indeed you were concerned for me but you had no opportunity to show it. Not that I'm referring to being in need for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little and I know what it is to have plenty.
In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry and of having plenty and of being in need. For I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Paul was an itinerant minister who travelled across much of the known world and a good part of that time he spent in jail. And he's writing here, to his friends in Philippi, about his physical needs. Obviously they've cared for him and provided for him. And sent him money and resources when he's been in need. And he's been saying 'Thank you', that's a good thing.
I love how much of God's word, you know, is about real practical things in people's lives. But even in this he takes the opportunity to teach them something. And I believe that God, today, is taking this opportunity to teach us something. Here it is:
For I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have a little, I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry. Of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Paul's saying, "You know something, it doesn't matter what circumstances I'm facing." How often do you and I think that our joy and our peace depend on our circumstances? Paul's saying, "No, no. Forget the circumstances. Doesn't matter what's going on in my life. Good or bad. Plenty or little. A full stomach or starving. I have learned, learned practically in my own experience, how this works. I have learned the secret. The secret of getting through any or all circumstances and that secret is this."
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Paul's saying, "It doesn't matter what the world throws at me 'cause God is the one who strengthens me. And when I'm hanging close with Him. When I'm relying on Him, He comes through. He does the things I can't do. He saves me. He encourages me." And Paul had been through this so many times.
There were so many riots. So many people tried to hurt him. So many people criticized him and misunderstood him. And rejected him when he was telling them about Jesus. Over and over and over and over and over again. He learned this truth in his life:
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
And do you know why this is so important? Because whenever I feel a sense of despair, I come back to this Scripture. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or hurt or rejected or alone or distressed or afraid. I stop. I clear my mind and I speak this passage of Scripture:
For I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
This is the word of God. And what I've discovered is that when I rest on the word of God. I'd say this three times out loud. I use it as an offensive weapon against fear, against disappointment, against destructive thoughts. God gives me peace. In fact, I've made it a habit in my life.
Every day I get up. I do the best I can. This may shock you. I get things wrong a lot of days. But I do my best. I pray. I rely on God. I honour Him. And you know what, that means I'm one of His kids. And that means I can rely on Him.
And I have a number of Scriptures. Some of them I've memorised. I don't find it easy to memorise them. Some of them I have on my mobile phone. One that I have memorised is Mark, chapter 11, verses 22 to 24:
Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, be taken up and be thrown into the sea and if you do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.'
I go to God's word, these particular Scriptures that speak powerfully to me and encourage me again and again and again and again. In the times when it's scary. In the times when I'm dejected and all I want to do is sit there and mope. I have disciplined myself to say, "No, I am not going there for I can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthens me."
And the more I do this, the more I find myself able to do all things that God calls me to do. Through Him who strengthens me is absolutely the most important thing that I know about living the life that's free from fear and worry.
When the company you work for is retrenching people. When you lose your job and think you might lose your house. When your wife or you husband's had an affair. And I know there's someone listening today who's been through that. When it feels like the sky is caving in.
Let me tell you this. Philippians 4:13 says that you:
Can do all things through Him who strengthens you.
The most important thing I know about dealing with fear is to fill your mind and your heart with the word of God because it has a healing power. It builds your faith. It changes your outlook. It is the stuff of healing and transformation.
Go grab some Scripture verses that really speak powerfully to you. Put them on some cards or in your mobile phone or memorise them. Go to them again and again and again. I tell you something, if you do this just for a week or two, you will learn what Paul learned through the school of hard knocks. That:
You can do all things through Him who strengthens you.
God does not want us to be afraid. God has not stopped speaking. His word is here for us to use. Not to leave on a dusty shelf somewhere.

The experts tell us that each of us has about 70,000 thoughts each day.  That's rather a lot.  And it's what we do we our thoughts – our think time – it's the thoughts we have, that have such a huge impact on the lives we lead.
Worry and fear are a plague on the lives of so many people. Oh sure, we don't like to admit it. We don't like to show it. Although the reality is, you can't really help it.
Ever sat on a train or a bus or even on a park bench for that matter, and looked at the faces of the people around you? Some of them are bored but many, many others have a furrowed brow. And when they move, you can just tell, through their body language, that they're suffering from stress.
In fact, stress is one of the greatest ills in our society. Depending on where you live, the surveys tell us between 1/2 and 3/4 of all people suffer from unhealthy levels of stress.
Stress is just today's word for worry and fear. So today, today we're going to take a look at just one thing. One really practical thing that you and I can do that will help banish worry and fear and the stress that comes from those two, from our lives for good. I have to warn you, this actually works. So if you don't want to get rid of fear and worry and stress, do something else right now.
If you talk to a pastor, he'll probably tell you that the thing that you have to do to get rid of fear and worry is to have faith. That's what you need. Trust in God. It will all work out. Actually, I agree with him. But there's something else. It's knowing how to have faith. It's knowing how to apply our faith to the realities of life.
Today I want to share with you, one very practical 'how to' tip. We're going to do that through the apostle Paul. Locked in a dungeon on death row. And if anyone had any reason to worry it was this man, Paul.
We're going to look at what he wrote to his friends in Philippi. It was a letter that he wrote. We now know it as the Book of Philippians in the New Testament. We'll have a look at what he wrote about this whole subject of not being afraid. It comes from Philippians chapter 4, verses 8 and 9. He says:
Finally my beloved. Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, pure and pleasing, whatever is commendable. If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me and the God of peace will be with you.
Now I want to start with that last bit first. And there's a reason for that. Because what Paul's telling us here, is that he himself has discovered how to have God's peace. How not to be afraid. How not to spend his life worrying. See, this is not some theory lesson. This is a guy on death row explaining how to have peace. He says:
Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me and the God of peace will be with you.
So Paul's saying, 'You guys know my life. You know how often I've been threatened. You know how often people have risen up against me when I got up to speak and how often they've wanted to harm me and kill me. You've seen all of that. You know that. You've seen me in action and you've seen how I coped with the pressures and the threats.
You want to have the same peace as I've got? You want to have a life free from fear and worry? Then do the things that you've seen me doing and the things that I'm telling you about now and you will have that peace too. God's peace.'
I think that's fantastic. Because what we're about to look at is proven. It works in the direst of circumstances. Doesn't that excite you? You know, there's not a one of us who doesn't have some reason to worry. There's not a one of us who isn't going through some storm right now. And just in case there's the odd person who isn't. Just recognise that it's only because you're between storms. The last one's blown out and the next one hasn't swept in yet.
So what's the practical guidance that Paul gives us in this passage about how to dispense with fear and worry out of our lives? Let's take a close look. Philippians, chapter 4, verse 8:
Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable - if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
You know what he's saying here? What we do with our mind matters.
A man by the name of Norman Vincent Peale, in 1953, wrote this book. The Power of Positive Thinking. And I used to be really skeptical about this. Because my attitude was, faith in God is not about positive thinking. Positive thinking has a self-help connotation for me. It's like, I can get out of all my problems, without God, by thinking I can. All I have to do is think positive. But that's not what Norman Vincent Peale meant. And actually, it's not what Paul means here either.
Paul's just setting out a simple truth. We only have so much brain band with each day. We only have so much time that we can spend thinking. Only so many hours to think. Some of that time we spend sleeping. Some we spend doing things that require our total attention. So we don't have time to think about much else. I guess some of us spend time vegged out in front of a TV show, not really thinking about anything.
And then there's the rest of the time where we have time to think. And we either think good thoughts or bad thoughts. Encouraging thoughts or discouraging thoughts. We can think thoughts that look at our situation. Which may be difficult. Which may be scary. Which may be whatever. And we can think good or bad thoughts. And the way we think is going to influence how we see things and how we feel things.
The human brain, believe it or not, has about 70,000 thoughts each day.  Busy little thing isn't it? And what Paul's saying here is, 'Look, spend your brain time, your 'think' time thinking good thoughts. True, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent. Thoughts worthy of praise. Think about these things.'
You know what, that makes a lot of sense. And it's something we have to learn. We have to teach ourselves. Because if our mind is used to thinking bad thoughts, unhealthy thoughts, destructive thoughts. If that's our habit, we need to break the habit. We need to get into Paul's habit of thinking.
Here's how it works for me. A negative thought comes into my mind. "You know, that guy over there, he doesn't get it. He's never going to get it. He just drives me nuts." Well maybe he doesn't get it. Maybe he has some issues but I've decided something. If I think that way, it's going to influence how I treat him and how I feel. So when one of those thoughts comes floating in, I just boot it out. It's not that I'm unrealistic. I'm not sweeping things under the carpet but I replace the bad one with a good one.
I think to myself, "Okay, I'm not thinking that. Instead, how can I care for him today? How can I support him today? God, you love him just as much as you love me. Show me Father how I can build him up and develop him and grow him. Father, be my God, help me with this."
Does it make sense? This is a discipline, it's a habit we need to learn. And the more we do it, the more we come to a habit of booting out the destructive thoughts and replacing them with good thoughts – God thoughts, here's what happens.
Our whole outlook changes. God honours it. And where things once threatened us. Now God gives us solution. Where things once scared us, He gives us faith and peace. And all of a sudden, we find ourselves in the habit of resting our mind in the good things. And good things grow from that. Peace is one of them. Joy is another.