Conquering Worry and Anxiety

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

“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? 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. 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. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Prayer

Illustration

Close your eyes

I want you to close your eyes with me this morning..

And i want you to think about your life.. right now..This last week.. in the present..

with your eyes closed..

Who is worried?

how many of you would admit that theres at least one thing in your life right now that your worried about?

or you’ve been worrying about this week?

It could be on any different level..

Big or small..

Its probably Something you have no control over..

It Could be personal

It Could be cultural..

Maybe you dont know how a probem will turn out..

or how a person you love will end up..

or how a situation will end..

Maybe you dont don’t know where your next meal will come from..

or how the bills are getting paid..

Maybe your worried about the condition of your health..

or someone else health..

Or maybe your worry is about the condition of our world right now..

You might be worried about if you’ll meet your goals..

What ever it is..

how big or small..

If you would admit that theirs something in your life… its in your mind.. consuming at least a part of you right now..

If thats you.. lift you hand!

…….

leave your hand up..

and look around..

Because almost everyone in the room has something like that in their life..

because we all worry..

We are a culture of worry.

Introduction

I want to spend a few moments here in Matthew 6 today..

God has really been using this passage strongly to speak into my life personally lately..

A couple of weeks ago we even talked about this passage in our Wednesday night young adult group.

I mentioned it in another message a few weeks ago as well..

And I think its an appropriate passage for us today with all thats going on in our world..

People or worry.

over the last few years, especially since the pandemic, we have really become people of worry and anxiety..

and i don’t mean that Freedom church has become people of worry

but we are a country, as a culture, a people of worry..

You just saw how many hands were lifted during my question about who had something in their life they are worried about..

Examples

we worry about money..

we worry about our health..

we worry about our kids..

we worry about our country..

we worry about the future..

we worry about the present..

we even worry about the past..

The culture of fear in our world today has conditioned us to be people who constantly worry.

AND THATS NOT A GOOD THING..

Bigger issues

Medical professionals have found that worry and anxiety lead to bigger problem with our health..

Health

Higher blood pressure and general health issues…

mental disorders..

Relationships

we know that worry and anxiety lead to bigger problems with our relationships..

They cause issues in marriages..

and issue between parents and children..

issues between friends..

Steals from us

Worry steals our joy..

steals our peace

steals our sleep..

robs us of our blessing and contentment..

and Produces absolutely nothing good in our life..

YET.. PEOPLE WORRY MORE IN 2025 THAN EVER..

Jesus

But jesus tells us..

If you belong to god..

If you’re a part of the kingdom family..

your life doesn't have to be like that..

because God knows what you need..

and if you will seek him first he will take care of you..

Jesus Talks about anxiety

Context

When we get to Matthew 6:25 Jesus has been giving the sermon on the mount.

and He is instructing those who are listening on how to live in the kingdom.

And he has already talked about many things..

Things like loving your neighbor..

and caring for the needy..

Giving, fasting, and prayer..

and he’ll talk about much more..

Middle

but in the middle of this sermon we find this passage of scripture where Jesus takes time to talk about a basic problem in human life..

worry and anxiety..

And specifically Jesus uses this moment to show his followers that we don’t need to worry..

because our father is working things out on our behalf and we can trust him..

Passage

Jesus uses basic humans needs to illustrate this his message

Things that, across the centuries, have not changed in peoples lives..

That were issues in Jesus day and our day a like..

specifically Jesus uses the need for food and the need for clothing..

two basic humans needs.

Not limited

But understand Jesus is not limiting the concept of trusting God for our needs to these two areas..

He is simply using them as an example..

and the concept he is teaching us here is applicable to all areas of our lives..

Begins

He starts by telling us the premise of his whole message in this section..

Don’t worry.. don’t be anxious..

Look at the rest of creation..

The other things God has made and sustained..

Birds

Look at the birds..

They don’t do all that worrying

they don’t work or toil..

YET They never miss a meal..

Because THE FATHER FEEDS THEM..

AND YOUR MORE VALUABLE THAN THEM!!

Lilies..

And look at the lilies..

They are beautiful..

They dont work.. or strive.. or make anything for clothing..

yet their more beautiful than King solomon in all of his robes..

And they are just here today.. and in the fire tomorrow..

And if God loves them so much when they are here today and gone tomorrow how much more will he cloth you?

And then he addresses the big issue..

Verse 30..

Oh you of little faith..

Worry is a faith issue.

You see Jesus tells us that worry and anxiety are faith issue..

Matthew 6:30 ESV

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?

Worry and anxiety are choosing to ignore our fathers work in our lives..

When we worry, we put our trust in our selves.. specifically in our inability.. rather than in god and his ability in our life..

Its failing to allow our faith to stay on the father..

and rather putting our faith in our selves..

Gentiles

Jesus goes on and reiterates this..

by saying that the gentiles..

those who dont serve god or have a relationship with the father..

work themselves to death for these things..

BUT YOUR DIFFERENT..

BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE FATHER…

AND HE KNOWS YOU NEED THEM..

SO INSTEAD OF WORKING YOURSELF TO DEATH..

AND WORRYING YOURSELF TO DEATH..

AND SEEKING THESE THINGS..

LOOK AT VERSE 33

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Jesus says..

If you will put god first..

and seek god instead..

instead of worrrying and working to death..

He will take care of you..

INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT IT.. PUT YOUR FAITH IN GOD FOR IT..

So how can we conquer anxiety?

Jesus tells us we don’t have to worry or be anxious.

We can trust him..

I want to talk for a few moments about how we live a life of victory over worry and anxiety

And I want to give you four things we can do.. to conquer them..

Because the bible shows us how we can do that.

Jesus lays the foundation for us in this..

look at the first thing we need to do to conquer worry and anxiety..

1. Learn to Seek God first in all things..

Jesus tells us to take our needs and concerns to god..

and promises that if we will.. God will take care of us..

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

When we encounter a problem…

When we walk into a situation that we don’t know how were going to handle..

whats your first reaction?

Is it to try to figure it out?

Or do you take it god?

Do you seek him before you worry and panic?

Or do you take it to god?

Paul

Remember Paul told us in Philippians taking it to god first should be our reaction

He told us to pray about everything..

thats taking it to God.

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.

Big problems.. Take them to god..

Little Problems.. Take them to God..

Mid sized problems.. Take them to God..

If we encounter and issue in your life the first reaction we should have as children of god is to take them to our father.. and trust him with them!

And the second is connected to it..

and that is..

we should find kingdom perspective about our issue..

2. Find the Kingdom Perspective about it

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

what does god have to say about this issue i am facing?

Where do we find that?

Well the bible tells us gods perspective about many of the things we face..

Examples..

Is it a lack of provision? Your in need?

Philippians 4:19 ESV

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:30 ESV

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?

Is is a healing issue?

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

It is a peace issue?

again Philippians 4:7

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.

Is it a persecution issue?

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Is it a general issue?

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Instead of letting our brain run crazy stressing about what we cannot control

we have to learn to take it to god first..

and get his perspective on the issue..

and then guess what?

when we do..

We have to trust him.. and not ourselves..

3. Trust God and Not your self

Matthew 6:31–32 ESV

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.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Trust is a choice..

its always a natural state of being..

we have to learn to choose to trust god..

How can we trust god in our situation?

in faith

In faith..

We can trust god in all things because we are sure of who god is and what he is capable of..

I can trust god with my finances because he provides it all and owns it all..

I can trust god with my healing because he created it all..

I can trust god with my salvation because he paid the price..

I can trust god in my persecution because he will be victorious in the end..

I can trust god in all things because he is god

and by faith I can put my trust in him!!

Hebrews 11:8–10 ESV

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Abraham didnt have the solution.. he didnt know the end..

HE just knew god.. and trusted he would do what he said he would do..

We have to learn to do the same..

Instead of worry..

we have to seek him first..

find his perspective..

and trust in who he is..

and finally.. learn to dwell on the right things..

Focus on what is, not what if

Instead of dwelling on the problem..

The worry..

The anxiety..

we have to learn to focus on the sure things..

Paul

Again Remember what paul said in philippians 4:8-9?

Philippians 4:8–9 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I want you to notice the common word here..

8 different times paul says think about what.. IS..

You see worry and anxiety stem from dwelling on what if and what is not..

and paul tells us..

instead of dwelling on what if.. and what is not..

we have to learn to dwell on what is..

Examples..

God IS faithful..

god IS.. Provider..

God IS.. healer..

God IS… Stronger..

God IS.. my savior..

God IS.. my fortress..

He IS.. my deliverer

I might not have this or that.. but I do that these other things

I might not be where I want to be but ive come a long way from where i was..

I MIGHT NOT KNOW HOW IT WILL TURN OUT BUT I KNOW WHO IS IN THE MIDDLE OF IT..

We have to learn to be content with what we do have ..

and dwell on what is.. instead of what is not..

Matthew 6:31–33 ESV

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.

We have to learn to seek god first..

to find the kingdom perspective..

to trust god at his word..

and to dwell on the is and not the if..

Ending

today.. I want to invite you to lay your worries down and trust god..

Papers

Everyone should have gotten a little paper coming in the door..

I want you to take a moment and write down what your worries are..

what is consuming you..

and then I want you to bring that to the altar and were going to lay them down and give them to god..

and put our faith and trust in him again this morning..