Control Freaks

Do not be anxious!

That’s the subject heading on the passage we are reading today…DO NOT BE ANXIOUS...

How many of you feel less anxious because I told you to not be anxious?

Like that meme…the best way to get your wife to calm down is to tell her she’s overreacting....next thing the guy wakes up in heaven.

Simply saying don’t be anxious doesn’t tend to resolve our anxiety.

We hear it from all types of people in all walks of life.

male and female

young and old

all races

We all experience anxiety on some level, but why?

What makes us so anxious...

i think it has to do with our desire to control things - to be in control - to know the outcomes - we want life to be as risk free and care free as possible…we even want to control our risks…that’s why some of you crazy people go skydiving and stuff like that. I don’t know who would ever want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

So what does Jesus have to say about being anxious?

Before we read the text - I always feel it necessary to clarify what we mean by being anxious…we’re not talking about clinical, hormone level issue based anxiety

Jesus is really talking about worry in this passage.

My prayer for those of you that do experience clinical depression and anxiety, PTSD and things of that nature is that the Lord heal you of those things. I do believe that our God is able to heal and that He is able to heal those things. I know at times they can seem insurmountable in your life but your God is bigger than all of that. There is no problem that we face that He is not able to offer peace, comfort, joy, and healing. I pray that you experience His healing power in your life.

So, how do we move from a place of needing to control everything to a place of freedom from worry and anxiousness?

1. Realize that You Matter to God!

So, the passage:

Matthew 6:25 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Therefore - points back to what we discussed last week…laying up treasures on earth or in heaven - the dangers of putting too much stock in earthly things - choosing who you will serve, God or possessions, because every heart has a master. There is an implicit assumption here, and the assumption is that God is your master, not possessions. So, since God is your master...

Do not be anxious about

your life (eat and drink)

your body (clothing)

Because the life is more than food and the body more than clothing.

Some of us are really anxious about these things…We fret over where we are going to lunch…some of you had a meltdown over what to wear to church today.

Last week we talked about not toiling our lives away for earthly treasure…but for many of us the worry and anxiety of life comes from our worry about basic needs.

Living with my great grandparents as a kid, we didn’t have a lot. We had times where the electricity didn’t work. I can count on one hand the number of months we had a working phone throughout the years I lived there…we were heat water up on the stove to take a bath and go potty in a bucket poor.

My grandma was the only person I have ever known to have credit at a grocery store. She was on social security and received a check on the 3rd of every month…but we’d go to the A&P in Churchland and my grandma would talk to the store manage and say I gotta feed these babies and he would say get what you need Ms. Blizzard. And she would go in on the 3rd and pay the store for what they allowed her to get.

God provided for us through things like that. My grandma was a woman of faith...

Her faith has helped me to not worry about things the way that many do because I know that God will always come through. She would always say God is alway on time.

And we’d look at that situation and say you were poor…you had nothing…How can you say God is always on time. God was meeting her needs through the kindness of others. She was taking care of her babies as she called us by trusting God. I can imagine there were days she’d walk to the store hoping things wen’t well, but not fully knowing what was going to happen.

We used to work in a field near the house that belonged to the Bennett’s Creek Farm Market that is now closed…just to earn money and put food on the table. Funny thing…I now live in a nice house that sits where that field used to be.

Matthew 6:25–26 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

You matter to God! He cares about you…He’s concerned about you…so much so that you don’t have to be in control but you can let Him take control.

2. Realize that worry just make it worse.

Matthew 6:27–29 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

which of you can add? I love this question because Jesus is putting us in our place, reframing our perspective

What situation have you fixed by worrying about it?

Worry demonstrates that I believe I am the one to bring about the solution, not God.

Chapter 5 starts with who we are supposed to be and the reminder that we are incapable of doing any of it on our own.

We have to be in Christ - and all of the practices we are learning in Chapter 6 are so much easier when we realize we don’t do any of it in our own power, but in His.

WE HAVE TO LEARN TO FULLY RELY ON CHRIST!

in our generosity, in our prayer, in our fasting, in our forgiveness, with our treasure, and in the worries of life, we have to fully rely in Him

3. Realize that God WILL provide!

Matthew 6:30–33 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

What does He mean by the gentiles seek after these things/

The Gentiles were the ones who did not walk with God… He’s saying that your worry makes you the same as those who don’t walk with God.

Your worry makes you the same as those who have no hope!

But your hope comes from the Lord, your help comes from the Lord…You know He will provide. You recount stories of His provision over the ages!

So instead of worry, what do we do:

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Remember last week and the FIRST FRUITS - Seek First!

The Kingdom of God - what is that?

His righteousness - what is that?

Chuck Swindoll asks, “What is the righteousness we are supposed to seek first? The Kingdom living Jesus has already laid out for us in Matthew 5:1-6:24

And when we do that, God has committed to provide for each and every one of your needs - so you don’t have to worry because the God of the Universe has said, I got you…I’ll take care of that…just trust me…I will provide.

And this is where the two masters thing ties in…because the master is the one you trust to provide for you…every servant has to rely on their master for provision…and if the master of your heart is you and your possessions then you have to count on you and your provision to meet every one of your needs - that’s when worry creeps in.

But I can live care free knowing that it’s the Master’s responsibility to care for me if I am doing what the Master has asked of me!

You know the most care free being in my house…this four legged toddler

Who can sleep peacefully because he knows every need will be cared for…he’s never seen a day when his bowl didn’t have food, or snacks and treats were not overflowing, or when there were no toys to play with…never had a day when he went thirsty…so he can sleep like this because he knows the Master(s) will take good care of him.

How do you sleep?

Do you sleep at night knowing that God will provide or do you toss and turn full of the cares and worries of this world?

4. Be present in the present.

I am guilty of violating this…I am a planner and will plan the paint off the walls if you let me. I have contingencies to the contingency that I made as a contingency to the original plan.

And while there is a place for planning and strategy in business, etc.

I believe most of our worry comes from living life so planned that we have no space to trust God or rely on Him.

We have controlled our lives down to the last minute. We have no margin - and we are so planned out that we are stressed out because we have to adhere to the plan.

When was the last time you had a day that wasn’t filled with worry about tomorrow?

Matthew 6:34 ““Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Sounds like a Yoda saying...

I struggle with this…I’m already thinking about all of the things I have to do tomorrow.

Jesus even told us how to pray about this:

Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread,”

but this is a struggle - because if I only have today’s bread, I feel uncertain about tomorrow, so I worry!

And when I worry, I begin to lay up treasures on earth to alleviate my worry...

and I don’t make time to lay up treasures in heaven (because they tend to require time and relationship and intentional investment)

And before I know it, worry about tomorrow has led me to a place where my treasure becomes my master because I am counting on it, depending on it to provide for my tomorrow

Instead of seeking first God’s Kingdom and trusting Him as the Master of my heart to provide for my needs.

He’s a good Master and a good Father and the Good Shepherd - He’s the Bread of Life and living water

and He cares about you…so you can be present in the present because He’s already secured your tomorrow.

So don’t worry about tomorrow but trust in the One who has said I will never leave you nor forsake you…I go to prepare a place for you that I may bring you to where I am, but in the meantime seek my kingdom above all else, and I will take care of your needs.

Are you ready to be free of worry?

Seek His Kingdom First!

Are you ready to be free of Anxiety?

Don’t lay up treasures on earth but store them up in heaven!

Are you ready to be free of fear about tomorrow ?

Rest in the promises of God for today!