Thanksgiving, Worry free

One evening as a mother was preparing dinner, her seven-year-old son came down to the kitchen, crying hysterically. The loving mother bent down and said, “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Mom,” he said, “I just cleaned my room.”

“Well, I’m very proud of you,” she replied. “But why on earth would that make you cry?”

Her son looked up through his tears and said, “Because I still can’t find my snake!”

Kids do and say some funny things.

Last year when Kristen’s parents drove up from Oklahoma for thanksgiving. They brought with them some family videos from when my wife and her sister were young. The videos were cute and funny. We had a wonderful time looking into the past.

As I watched those videos I got to thinking about my father in law. He was the guy behind the camera. Just a normal Dad with all the normal Dad worries. He had a job that I’m sure at times was difficult. He had two sweet little girls that he probably had all sorts of things to worry about. Things like Boys, School, Friends, College, just everything about their future.

I looked at him while he was watching the videos of his little girls and he was smiling. He was thankful. He was blessed because in the 30 years after he filmed that video the Lord had taken care of his family.

Life wasn’t perfect, but all the worry in the world didn’t get him to the place he was that day.

Maybe today we can think about all that we’ve got going on in our lives. The truth is, I’d guess we worry too much. Life is going to come and go…it would be good if we made the choice to focus on what really matters.

I wish it was that easy for some of us to get rid of our worries, don’t you?

There’s only one tried and true way to deal with worry.

We have to stand on the Word of God. We must not only make a choice not to worry, but we must know the truth about worry.

When we do, we will find ourselves being more THANKFUL for all the Lord has done for us.

Jesus spoke about worry. It’s a well known portion of scripture and it gives me comfort and peace each time I read it…I want to bring that comfort to you during this service.

Listen to the words Jesus…imagine Him speaking this directly to you and your situation…make it personal and it might just change everything...

Matthew 6:25–34 HB:ERV

25 “So I tell you, don’t worry about the things you need to live—what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it. 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or save food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Don’t you know you are worth much more than they are? 27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 30 If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It’s just grass—one day it’s alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small! 31 “Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 What you should want most is God’s Kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need. 34 So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.

Have you been worrying too much?

Maybe you’re worrying yourself sick over some situation over which you have no control. You need desperately to stop for a moment and consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and turn your worries over to God.

Worry is a needless burden that keeps us from being all God created us to be.

If you were sick, would you take something that would make you more sick. If you had a headache would you go to a football game?

Of course not!

Yet, that is what we do when we have a problem and then we treat it with worry. We simply add another burden.

How can we rid ourselves of worry? What does Jesus say that can help us lighten our load this day?

First of all, we need to understand that we should know...

Worry is a Symptom

Worry is not based so much on an outer circumstance as it is on an inner condition.

This is what I mean - Worry comes not so much from what is happening to us on the outside as much as it comes from how we process it on the inside.

When Jesus spoke those words about worry He was talking to a group of people who had real concerns about survival.

There were no government programs to serve as a safety net.

If they lost their job, they really could starve. They really could lose everything.

Most of us live lives that are much more secure than that... We worry more with less reason than any people who ever lived.

This is not to minimize the very real problems that many of us face. I know we face circumstances that cause us to worry. Each one of us have lives and in life each one of us could worry about countless things that we face. But, for the most part, we all have food, water, and shelter.

So, when we read this scripture, how are we supposed to interpret what Jesus was saying to people who didn’t have those essentials? How can we apply His words to our lives today?

Often our worry reflects the condition of our souls more than it does our circumstances.

For some people, a bad hair day is a real crisis.

For others of us, a diagnosis of cancer can be dealt with confidently with faith in the love of God.

You see, It depends what you have on the inside more than what is confronting you on the outside.

The outward circumstance is the same, but inwardly there is a very real difference in how some people face their situation.

Worry is not based so much on an outer circumstance as much as on an inner condition. We may not be able to solve the outward circumstance, but we can control the way we respond to it.

One way to do that is to...

Live in the Present

Matthew 6:34 HB:ERV

34 So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.

That sounds somewhat negative. “tomorrow will bring its own worries or troubles” But it is good advice.

You and I aren’t God. We don’t know the future. We may be worrying about something that will never happen.

We may be worrying about something that will resolve itself. We need to focus on today.

I used to manage three different businesses and a church at one time. We had more than 100 employees. Well, I probably don’t need to tell you, but there was a lot of stress to keep things going. We were constantly working ourselves out of a job. We’d get contracts that would have to be replaced as we worked through the job. It was stressful and I have to admit that I worried.

I worried that we wouldn’t have money to make payroll, or that the work would dry up, or that our key employees would quit. It would keep me up at night. I would worry about it EVERY day. Sometimes I’d wake up at 3 in the morning and head to the office just because I felt like I was more in control when I was working.

I was always thinking about the next day, week, or month instead of focusing on the blessing of the day.

We had everything we ever wanted from a materialistic point of view, but I was lacking in my day to day life because I was always looking ahead worried that I would lose what we had that day.

It was no way to live. I was not living in the present and seeing the goodness of God each and every day.

Looking back, I would say that I had no real control of the future. God put us in the right places at the right time. If I could go back and have a conversation with past Shannon I would tell him what Jesus is telling us today…Don’t worry about tomorrow.

God is so good to us. We forget sometimes of His great faithfulness to His children.

Things aren’t always going to be good. We are going to face hard things. Things that seem like they are able to break us, but we must remember the big picture. We must have faith that God is able and willing to help in our times of need.

We need to trust that with time He will work things out…even if the outcome is not what we thought we wanted.

Jesus says we can’t add a day to our life be worrying. So, why should we worry? It doesn’t do anything but make a tornado of nothingness in our lives and the lives of those we love.

A famous speaker once put life into perspective like this:

“You are born. That’s big stuff. You die. Big stuff. Everything in between--small stuff!”

Don’t sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day, we don’t remember the small stuff anyway!

One of the secrets of a fulfilled life is to focus on today.

Are you healthy this moment? Do you have enough to live on this moment? Are your children well this moment? Then give God thanks for this moment no matter what. And try not to anticipate what may never occur.

Live, says Jesus, in the present.

Another way to defeat worry is to...

Live Righteously

Matthew 6:31–33 NLT

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Jesus said to live Righteously...Righteousness is a key word in this formula for defeating worry.

Many people worry out of a sense of guilt.

There was retired man who had a guilty conscience for 80 years over planting a firecracker on a railway track. The man had planted the firecracker on a track at his local railway station in 1926, and ran off when he was spotted by railway police.

Ever since then he has been tormented with guilt feelings. He claims it was the only bad thing he had ever done--and he decided to turn himself in. He went to the local police station and confessed, asking officers if they still had a file on the case open and asking what his punishment would be.

The police told him the offence was never reported, and, in any case it had passed the statute of limitations and he would not be facing any charges. They did however warn him not to do it again.

This man’s conscience was perhaps a little too well developed.

But there are many people who torment themselves for decades over something that they did in the past that was wrong.

Maybe they fear exposure.

Maybe they fear the consequences of their actions.

Maybe it is just the knowledge that what they did was wrong.

It robs them of their peace of mind.

One way we can defeat worry is to always try to do the right thing.

Is that possible? In reality…no. So, how can we live a righteous life? What does Jesus mean when He tells us to seek righteousness?

Well, I believe it’s two things.

First, we do need to put away childish things. We need to repent and stop living in known sin. We’ve got to grow spiritually and part of that means that we work to become better Christians.

Secondly, I believe it means we recognize that we can’t live up to God’s standard of righteousness. That we need Christ.

Romans 3:22 HB:ERV

22 God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same.

Too many times we worry that we aren’t good enough. Well, we need to settle that issue in our hearts right now. We aren’t. Never can be.

We can and should repent. We need to surrender to Christ. We need to confess our sins for sure. BUT that’s NOT what makes us right with God.

Only Jesus can take our place and make us right before God. We must not worry about not living up to the same standard of perfect as Jesus. It’s just not going to happen.

When I say that we should Always do the Right thing. What I mean is that we must rely on Christ for our righteousness and allow Him to change our hearts so that we can live rightly.

Focus on today, says Jesus. Live righteously.

If you walk in righteousness then you walk in power and authority.

And finally...

Trust in God’s Love

Matthew 6:28–30 NLT

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

The Greek word for lilies means wild flowers or weeds. Jesus is referring to any plant that is both lovely and will grow on its own without cultivation.

Since wood was scarce in Palestine, these wild flowers were sometimes used for fire. Jesus is saying, “Look, God’s care extends even to these wild flowers, which eventually end up in a furnace. How much more, then, will he care for you? He asks, why do we have so little faith?

And that is the heart of the problem, isn’t it, our lack of faith?

We really don’t know how much God loves us. That’s why we worry about the future. That’s why we hold on to the mistakes of our past. It’s why we have a hard time being thankful.

I love the way Isaiah 49:14-15 puts it, “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.’”

Then Isaiah adds these wonderful words,

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

Isaiah is saying that even our own mother might forget us or forsake us, but God never will. Can you even imagine a greater love than a mother for her child? And yet God’s love for each of us is greater than even that...

What would we do in faith if we understood the love of God?

So this is the message that Jesus has for us this day: Don’t worry! Be happy! Live in the present. Walk in Righteousness. God loves you. God will provide for you.