My message title this week was "PANIC ROOM". A panic room is a specially designed room in a house or building that you run to when you have an emergency. I’m not sure they’re super common anymore today, but rich people (or people who were in super powerful positions—like the President), used to have them so that if there was an emergency (for example, in the case of a terrorist attack or burglars), they could run and lock themselves into the panic room. Usually, these rooms would be fire proof, bomb proof, and invincible, you would be safe and secure even in the middle of a scary or stressful situation!
This week I talked about how GOD should be our panic room. That when we’re feeling stressed, when we're super worried about stuff, when we start feeling beads of sweat on our foreheads and our hearts are racing, when we’re tossing and turning in our beds, we can RUN to GOD for help! We can run to God for peace and security!
The Bible has a lot to say about worrying about the future and what we should do when we are stressed…and when I was going through my own panic experience, there’s a passage in the Bible that really helped me.
In Matthew 6:31-34 Jesus says, “Don’t worry. Don’t say, ‘What will we eat?’ Or, ‘What will we drink?’ Or, ‘What will we wear?’ People who are ungodly run after all those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them. But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all those things will also be given to you. So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. Based on those words of Jesus, there are just a few things I want to look at that might help you when you’re in a panic.
RUN TO DAD!
This passage reminds us that God actually cares about us. It says that he’s our “heavenly Father”—and just like any good dad—as the ULTIMATE GOOD PARENT, he loves us and wants the very best for us. When my kids are hurt or scared, they don't even think about it, they just run right to me. They know that I love them and will take care of them. They can count on me. When we need help, we need to run to our HEAVENLY DAD!
There are tons of places in the Bible that refer to God as our PANIC ROOM- someone we can run to when we’re worried, stressed, or going through a difficult time. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. A refuge is a place you run to for safety! Its where the word “REFUGEE” comes from- when people are escaping a nasty and dangerous situation and find help in another country. So this is saying we’re like refugees running to God! 58 times in the Bible, God is described as a ROCK, which doesn't mean He's a literal rock, but it describes how he's strong and dependable- that he's able to help us. There are other verses in the Bible that refers to God as our FORTRESS- he's like a fortress we can run to for safety and find peace!
SO, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO RUN TO GOD?
We can pray—we can talk to God about the stuff we’re going through, and ask him for help! (just like little kids ask their parents for help) We can be a part of youth group or church, so we’re reminded of God’s love for us and hear what the Bible has to say for our lives. We can look into the Bible on our own and think about what it says (read your 3 Minute Devotionals every day!) We can talk to Christian friends about what we’re going through so that they can give us decent advice and pray for us- that’s one of the reasons why we have small group time at CATALYST!
Running to God also means making the personal decision to follow Jesus with our lives and make right choices! Verses 32-33 says that people who aren’t tight with God worry and are stressed out, but if we put God’s kingdom first and do what he wants us to do (in other words make knowing and following him a priority in our lives), He’ll provide for us. He’ll take care of us! Isn’t that a cool promise? That doesn’t mean that all of our problems will magically get whisked away, but it does mean that he’ll help us and be with us in the midst of those problems…and he’ll work those things out for good in our lives! Generally, if you need help, it’s not strangers who’ll be there for you, but people who you are close to you and legit care for you (like friends or family). God doesn’t want to be a stranger to you! So, it makes sense that the closer you are to him, the closer he is to help!
DON’T WORRY!
This sounds like kind of crazy advice! How can we not worry, stress out, and be panicked? Isn’t that totally normal? Well, Jesus specifically says in Matthew 6: 27, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” He then goes on to say that we should “Stop worrying about tomorrow”. (Matthew 6: 34)
This is pretty wise advice. Worrying about stuff doesn’t actually help you at all—it just makes you focus MORE on the thing that you’re worried about, and then that thing looks even bigger and more impossible and makes you more worried…and then you start to panic even more, you start losing sleep and biting your fingernails and feel sick to your stomach. When I was graduating high school, I was worried about tomorrow. I was worried about my future and what I was supposed to do with my life, and this verse really helped me. It reminded me not to focus so much on the problems in front of me, but focus on God and trust that he would provide for me. And you know what? All of those health problems I was experiencing went away—and today, I handle worry and stress a lot better than I used to…because God really helps me!
Remember- GOD IS YOUR PANIC ROOM! If you want to experience far less stress and anxiety in your life, Jesus tells us to run to God (our heavenly father), to spend time with him, to follow him with our lives, and then to simply trust that he will help us through whatever kind of challenge or stressful situation we might go through.
DISCUSSION FOR HOME
1. Talk to your teen about things that they are worried or stressed about. Take the time to pray together as a family, asking God to help them and be with them through their stressful situation and to give them peace.
2. Encourage your teen to spend a few minutes a day in prayer and looking at what the Bible has to say for their lives (especially over the summer when there is no CATALYST). This might mean scheduling a 5-10 minute window into their day for them to do this where they aren't distracted by Netflix or a phone. If they brought home a '3 Minute Devotional', encourage them to use it (and perhaps reward them in some way if they do this consistently every day). The more time we spend with God and focus on him, the more we will depend on him and trust him with our lives.
SO, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO RUN TO GOD?
We can pray—we can talk to God about the stuff we’re going through, and ask him for help! (just like little kids ask their parents for help) We can be a part of youth group or church, so we’re reminded of God’s love for us and hear what the Bible has to say for our lives. We can look into the Bible on our own and think about what it says (read your 3 Minute Devotionals every day!) We can talk to Christian friends about what we’re going through so that they can give us decent advice and pray for us- that’s one of the reasons why we have small group time at CATALYST!
Running to God also means making the personal decision to follow Jesus with our lives and make right choices! Verses 32-33 says that people who aren’t tight with God worry and are stressed out, but if we put God’s kingdom first and do what he wants us to do (in other words make knowing and following him a priority in our lives), He’ll provide for us. He’ll take care of us! Isn’t that a cool promise? That doesn’t mean that all of our problems will magically get whisked away, but it does mean that he’ll help us and be with us in the midst of those problems…and he’ll work those things out for good in our lives! Generally, if you need help, it’s not strangers who’ll be there for you, but people who you are close to you and legit care for you (like friends or family). God doesn’t want to be a stranger to you! So, it makes sense that the closer you are to him, the closer he is to help!
DON’T WORRY!
This sounds like kind of crazy advice! How can we not worry, stress out, and be panicked? Isn’t that totally normal? Well, Jesus specifically says in Matthew 6: 27, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” He then goes on to say that we should “Stop worrying about tomorrow”. (Matthew 6: 34)
This is pretty wise advice. Worrying about stuff doesn’t actually help you at all—it just makes you focus MORE on the thing that you’re worried about, and then that thing looks even bigger and more impossible and makes you more worried…and then you start to panic even more, you start losing sleep and biting your fingernails and feel sick to your stomach. When I was graduating high school, I was worried about tomorrow. I was worried about my future and what I was supposed to do with my life, and this verse really helped me. It reminded me not to focus so much on the problems in front of me, but focus on God and trust that he would provide for me. And you know what? All of those health problems I was experiencing went away—and today, I handle worry and stress a lot better than I used to…because God really helps me!
Remember- GOD IS YOUR PANIC ROOM! If you want to experience far less stress and anxiety in your life, Jesus tells us to run to God (our heavenly father), to spend time with him, to follow him with our lives, and then to simply trust that he will help us through whatever kind of challenge or stressful situation we might go through.
DISCUSSION FOR HOME
1. Talk to your teen about things that they are worried or stressed about. Take the time to pray together as a family, asking God to help them and be with them through their stressful situation and to give them peace.
2. Encourage your teen to spend a few minutes a day in prayer and looking at what the Bible has to say for their lives (especially over the summer when there is no CATALYST). This might mean scheduling a 5-10 minute window into their day for them to do this where they aren't distracted by Netflix or a phone. If they brought home a '3 Minute Devotional', encourage them to use it (and perhaps reward them in some way if they do this consistently every day). The more time we spend with God and focus on him, the more we will depend on him and trust him with our lives.
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