Don’t Worry (Stoneybrook)

Corrie Ten Boom, Survivor of the holocaust often said, “Worry is an old man with bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks are lead.” There have been times in my life that I suffered from crippling worry. To attempt to gain some control out of my worry I made plans. I would come up with scenarios of what could go wrong, how it could go wrong and solutions for every possible outcome. I had multiple plans, I made back up plans, I made back up plans for my back up plans. I would spend hours, days, weeks and months mulling over all the scenarios never receiving any peace, contentment or joy only discouragement, fear and dread. This is not the life that God wants us to live. He wants us to be free of worry, He wants is to have joy no matter our circumstances and He wants us to have the peace that passes all understanding. He loves us, He created us, He provides for us, He care for us, and He will never abandon us.

Jesus gives us Hope in the sermon on the Mount that God is exactly who he declares himself to be in His Word. What we learn from Jesus is that living a life that is based on worry is no life at all. In our Scripture text we can see that worry is Inconsistent, Irrational, Ineffective, Illogical, and irreligious. The way that we fight worry is to seek God’s kingdom, His will of our life. Everything that we ever thought we would need has already been provided we just have to trust Him and follow Him.

READ MATTHEW 6:25-34

CAUSE OF WORRY

Jesus begins his discussion on worry by showing that worry cannot do anything for you. In verse 25 we learn that worry is Inconsistent. Jesus reminds us that God created us from the beginning. God gave us our bodies and knows what is required of them- food, clothing, shelter. God has not gone anywhere. He is aware of every one of our needs, even ones we did not even know that we needed. He has and will always provide for us so thinking that He will not provide is inconsistent. The truth is “He who gave us life, can surely sustain that life.”

Not only is worry Inconsistent it is it is irrational. Jesus is aware of this, and it is as if he knows that there would be a follow up question. Yes, God can provide, but will He? To answer this, he refers to the most common and insignificant examples. In verse 26 Jesus demonstrates that it is irrational that God would care so much for a sparrow than you. The one who is created in His image. The one who he created to rule and reign over that creation. That is not a rational thought. Worry is irrational and there for it is pointless to sit and dwell on irrational fears.

Not only is worry irrational it is ineffective. It is literally a waste of time. I heard this story about a man who had a pet mouse in a cage. If the mouse was not eating, drinking or sleeping the mouse was running on a large wheel, day in and day out. Constantly running but not going anywhere. I have heard also that the average pet mouse can run as far as 9000 miles over the course of their life. That is the reality of worrying. It is an entire lifetime anxiously running everywhere and going absolutely nowhere. The truth is, “Worrying does not rob tomorrow of it’s sorrow, it robs today of it’s strength.”

Not only is worry ineffective it is illogical. In verses 28-30 Jesus demonstrates how illogical it is to worry. If God who created and cares for flowers, for the sole purpose, of our enjoyment why would he not care for us? Lilies are beautiful but they are fleeting and finite. They spring up live for a sort time and die. If God cares for the lilies which will eventually be put in the trash are we not more valuable than that? If God cares for each petal on a lily how much more will he care for the things that give you anxiety? Jesus reminds us that it is illogical for us to think and to live that way we are living without faith.

Finally, not only is worry illogical it is irreligious. Worry puts us on the same level as the pagans. The pagans pray to idols of wood, stone and precious metals. Their gods are deaf, dumb and blind. When we worry, we equate God to their gods. We forget that God is bigger than our problems. We forget that God already has a solution, and we assume that God will not come through this time. There can be many reasons for these assumptions. Maybe you don’t think you are worthy, that God hates you, that God is wrathful, that God does not really exist. All these assumptions are wrong, and they take our focus off the one who can help us. It causes us to live in unbelief. Jesus addresses our unbelief with kindness, “your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” It is as if Christ is reassuring us to rest and take comfort because God already knows what we need and it is on His to do list.

FIGHT WORRY

Jesus concludes His sermon on worry with practical advice. He says in verse 33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus is asking us to trust him to lead us to God. When we seek the will of God. When we seek “His Righteousness” we are asking for God’s will to be accomplished through us. The truth is that God created you for a very specific reason. He has a plan for your life. When you pray for His will to be done, that is music to His ears. He has available to you every resource to do what He has set before you. He is the one who placed your desires in you. He is the one who has given you your personality and skills and He wants us to glorify Him with what he has given us. The truth is that no matter where you are in life it is never too late to seek the will of God. That is a beautiful hope. When you trust God to do His will through you receive great blessing because He knows you better than you know yourself.

Jesus then reminds us in verse 34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Worrying about the future is Inconsistent, Irrational, Ineffective, Illogical, and irreligious. Worry has no good benefits. Worry is a waste of time. We cannot predict the future therefore to plan for what is out of our control is pointless. More times than not our plans and backup plans are not needed and the only thing they accomplished was to waste time and energy. Jesus gives amazing practical advice. Don’t worry about tomorrow, because you can’t do anything about it anyway. Focus on what you can do today and do it to the best of your God given ability. For your good and for God’s glory. We can have the peace that passes all understanding in knowing that no matter what we go through God will be right beside us, helping us, supporting us, encouraging us. We must have faith that God will do what He said He will do. We do not need to worry because God is trustworthy, faithful and will never let us down.

I want to encourage you here today to know that God has got you. He is not going to let you down. He loves you and He will care for you and provide for you as He has in the past. Trust in who God says that he is. He is your fortress and your rock and with God one your side there is nothing that we need to fear.