Overcoming Weariness: From Worry to Worship

Telos: Focus on how worry affects our lives and our relationship with God, emphasizing the call to replace our anxiety with trust and worship.

Worry is a barrier to faith and worship.

It moves us from God, not to Him

Galatians 6:9 NLT

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

1. Redirect from Worry

Matthew 6:25–27 NKJV

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry 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, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Take a deep breath- Redirect Breath In and Breath Out

Let the unhurried pace of heaven recalibrate your heart.

2. Exchange Anxiety for Wonder

Matthew 6:28–30 NKJV

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Sunrises and Sunsets. Stars in a clear evening sky. A moon you can see the craters on.

God’s got this!

3. We Must Seek First the Kingdom

Matthew 6:31–33 NKJV

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Lamentations 3:22–27 MSG

God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 MSG

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Shift focus from temporal needs to eternal values can deepen our trust and worship.

4. Trust the Future to God

Matthew 6:34 NKJV

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Faith is not knowing what the future holds, but knowing who holds the future.

Unknown

With our eyes fixed on the future, but recognizing the realities of today . . . we will achieve our destiny to be as a shining city on a hill for all mankind to see.

Ronald Reagan (United States President)

5. Transform Your Worries with Prayer

Philippians 4:6–7 NKJV

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We invite God's peace to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This passage offers a tangible practice for turning worry into worship, teaching us to present our concerns to God, confident in the peace that transcends understanding.