Anxious For Nothing

Why Jesus Says Not to Worry Jesus gives us, His children, three reasons for not worrying about this life: It is unnecessary because of our Father, it is uncharacteristic because of our faith, and it is unwise because of our future. 1. Worry Is Unnecessary Because of Our Father • It is unnecessary to worry about finances, the basics of life, and what we eat or drink or wear because of who our Heavenly Father is. Have we forgotten what He is like? My children never worried about where they were going to get their next meal or whether they would have clothes, a bed, or something to drink. Such thoughts never entered their minds because they knew enough about me to know I would provide for them—and I don’t come close to being as faithful as God. Yet how often we fail to believe that God is going to provide for us as well as the average earthly father. • If your concept of God is right and you see Him as Owner, Controller, and Provider, and beyond that as your loving Father, then you know you have nothing to worry about. Jesus said, “What man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:9–11) • Since all things come under God’s control, rest assured He controls those things on behalf of His children. Jesus illustrates that with three observations from nature. a. God Always Feeds His Creatures i. In Matthew 6:26 Jesus says, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” I can imagine the Lord standing on a hillside up in Galilee looking over the beautiful north end of the sea, the breeze rippling across the water, the sun bright in the sky. Since that part of the Sea of Galilee was known as a crossroads of bird migration, perhaps Jesus saw a flock fly by as He spoke. ii. Some people fear we are running out of resources. I read a brochure from the United States Department of Agriculture entitled “Is the World Facing Starvation?” that gives these answers to two commonly asked questions: iii. •     “Is the world’s food supply large enough to meet everyone’s minimum needs?” ANSWER: “The world has more than enough food to feed every man, woman, and child in it. If the world’s food supply had been evenly divided and distributed among the world’s population for the last 18 years, each person would have received more than the minimum number of calories. From 1960 to the present, world food grain production never dropped below 103 percent of the minimum requirements and averaged 108 percent between 1973 and 1977....If a system existed today to distribute grains equitably, the world’s 4 billion people would have available about one-fifth more grain per person than the 2.7 billion people had 25 years ago” (Office of Governmental and Public Affairs, June 1979, p. 4). iv. •     “Hasn’t the amount of food produced per person been dropping in the developing countries of the world over the last 25 years?” ANSWER: “This is a common misconception. Food production in the developing countries has been increasing ....World per capita food production declined only twice in the last 25 years....Production of grain, the primary food for most of the world’s people, rose from 290 kilograms per person during the early 1950s to an average of 360 kilograms during the past five years, about a 25-percent increase” (p. 5). v. Obviously some of the statistics have changed, but the essential fact remains the same: There is more food on earth than ever. When God says He will provide, He means just that. Every time you see a bird, let it serve as a reminder of God’s abundant provision. May it stop cold any worry you might have. b. Worry Is Unable to Accomplish Anything Productive i. Jesus gives another practical observation that highlights the folly of worry: “Which of you by being anxious can add...to his life’s span?” (Matt. 6:27) Not only will you not lengthen your life by worrying, but you will probably shorten it. Charles Mayo, co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, made the observation that worry adversely affects the circulatory system, heart, glands, and entire nervous system. In the medical journal American Mercury Mayo said he never knew anyone who died of overwork, but he knew many who died of worry. You can worry yourself to death, but you’ll never worry yourself into a longer life. ii. We live in a day when people are in a panic to lengthen their lives. They have an excessive interest in vitamins, health spas, diet, and exercise. God, however, has previously determined how long we shall live. Job 14:5 says of man, “His days are determined, the number of his months is with Thee, and his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass.” Does that mean we should disregard sensible advice about our diet and exercise? Of course not: It will increase the quality of our lives, but there’s no guarantee about the quantity. When I exercise and eat right, my body and brain work better and I feel better all around, but I’m not going to kid myself that by jogging in the neighborhood every day and eating hefty quantities of complex carbohydrates that I’m going to force God to let me live longer. iii. To worry about how long you are going to live and how to add years onto your life is to distrust God. If you give Him your life and are obedient to Him, He will give you the fullness of days. You will experience life to the fullest when you live it to the glory of God. No matter how long or short, it will be wonderful. c. God Arrays Even the Meadows in Splendor i. Jesus gives another illustration from nature on why not to worry: “Why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?” (Matt. 6:28–30) ii. For some people, the most important place in their whole world is the closet. Instead of being afraid they won’t have anything to wear—a major concern in biblical times—these jaded individuals fear not being able to look their best! Lusting after costly clothes is a common sin in our society. iii. Whenever I walk through a shopping mall, I am overwhelmed by how much stuff is hanging on the racks. I don’t know how those stores can sustain their inventory. We have made a god out of fashion. We indulge in a spending spree to drape our bodies with things that have nothing to do with the beauty of character: “Let not your adornment be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3–4). iv. If you want to talk about fancy clothing, though, Jesus tells us that the best this world has to offer doesn’t even compare to “the lilies of the field” (Matt. 6:28). That’s a general term for all the wildflowers that graced the rolling hills of Galilee, such as anemones, gladiolus, narcissus, and poppies. “They do not toil nor do they spin” (v. 28)—you won’t find one making fancy thread to drape over itself and saying, “I’ve been scarlet for two whole days now. I think I’d like to be blue tomorrow.” v. Look at the simplest flowers around you: There is a free and easy beauty about them. You can take the most glorious garment ever made for a great monarch like Solomon, put it under a microscope, and it will look like sackcloth. But if you likewise examine the petal of a flower, you could become lost in the wonder of what you would see. If you’ve ever taken a good look at a flower, you know there is a texture, form, design, substance, and color that man with all his ingenuity cannot come close to duplicating. vi. So what is the point? That “if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you?” (Matt. 6:30) vii. Wildflowers have a very short life span. People would gather dead batches of them as a cheap source of fuel for their portable cooking furnaces. viii. A God who would lavish such beauty on temporary fire fodder certainly will provide the necessary clothing for His eternal children. ix. An anonymous poem expresses this lesson simply: Said the wild flower to the sparrow: “I should really like to know Why these anxious human beings Rush about and worry so.” Said the sparrow to the wildflower: “Friend, I think that it must be That they have no Heavenly Father, Such as cares for you and me.” d. Worry Is Uncharacteristic Because of Our Faith i. If you worry, what kind of faith do you manifest? “Little faith,” according to Jesus (Matt. 6:30). 1. If you are a child of God, you by definition have a Heavenly Father. 2. To act like you don’t, nervously asking, “What shall I eat? What shall I drink? With what shall I clothe myself?” is to act like an unbeliever in God’s eyes (vv. 31–32). 3. Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into His kingdom, and give them eternal life, but just don’t think He can get them through the next couple of days. 4. That is pretty ridiculous. We can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe Him for the lesser one. e. The Worrier Strikes Out at God i. Someone might say, “Why make a big deal out of worry? It’s just a trivial sin.” ii. No, it is not. I suspect a majority of mental illnesses and some physical illnesses are directly related to worry. iii. Worry is devastating. But more important than what worry does to you is what it does to God. iv. When you worry you are saying in effect, “God, I just don’t think I can trust You.” v. Worry strikes a blow at the person and character of God. f. The Worrier Disbelieves Scripture i. It breaks my heart to hear some Christians say, “I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture,” but then live as perpetual worriers. ii. They are saying one thing out of one side of their mouth, and another thing out of the other. iii. It is incongruous to say how much we believe the Bible and then worry about God fulfilling what He says in it. g. The Worrier Is Mastered by Circumstances i. When you or I worry, we are choosing to be mastered by our circumstances instead of by the truth of God. ii. The vicissitudes and trials of life pale in comparison to the greatness of our salvation. iii. Jesus wants us to realize it doesn’t make sense to believe God can save us from eternal hell, but not help us in the practical matters of life. iv. The Apostle Paul reflects a similar desire in Ephesians 1:18–19: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” v. When you catch yourself worrying, go back to Scripture and have your eyes opened again. h. The Worrier Distrusts God i. When we worry, we are not trusting our Heavenly Father. ii. That means we don’t know Him well enough. Take heart—there’s an effective remedy: Study the Word of God to find out who He really is and how He has supplied the needs of His people in the past. iii. That will build confidence for the future. Stay fresh in the Word every day so that God is in your mind. Otherwise Satan is apt to move into the vacuum and tempt you to worry about something. iv. Instead, let God’s track record in Scripture and in your own life assure you that worry is needless because of God’s bounty, senseless because of God’s promise, useless because of its impotence to do anything productive, and faithless because it is characteristic of unbelievers. 2. Worry Is Unwise Because of Our Future a. Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34). i. He was saying, “Don’t worry about the future. Even though it will have its share of problems, they have a way of working themselves out at the time. ii. Just deal with them as they come, for there’s no way to solve them in advance.” iii. Providing for tomorrow is good, but worrying about tomorrow is sin because God is the God of tomorrow just like He is the God of today. iv. Lamentations 3:23 tells us His mercies “are new every morning.” He feeds us like He fed the Children of Israel—with just enough manna for the day. b. Worry paralyzes its victim, making him or her too upset to accomplish anything productive. i. It will seek to do that to you by taking you mentally into tomorrow until you find something to worry about. ii. Refuse to go along for the ride. The Lord says you have enough to deal with today. Apply today’s resources to today’s needs or you will lose today’s joy. c. Lack of joy is a sin for the child of God. i. By worrying about tomorrow, many believers miss the victory God would give them today. That is not fair to Him. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24, ) ii. God gives you the glorious gift of life today; live in the light and full joy of that day, using the resources God supplies. iii. Don’t push yourself into the future and forfeit the day’s joy over some tomorrow that may never happen. iv. Today is all you really have, for God permits none of us to live in tomorrow until it turns into today. v. Jay Adams, who has written excellent materials on counseling those who struggle with anxiety and other sins, adds this: 1. Tomorrow always belongs to God. . . .Whenever we try to take hold of it, we try to steal what belongs to Him. Sinners want what is not theirs to have, and thereby destroy themselves. God has given us only today. He strongly forbids us to become concerned about what might happen....Worriers not only want what has been forbidden, but also fail to use what has been given to them (“What Do You Do When You Worry All the Time?” pamphlet [Phillipsburg, N.J.: P & R, 1975]). d. Realize God gives you strength one day at a time. i. He gives you what you need when you need it. He doesn’t encumber you with excess baggage. ii. Perhaps your worst fear is how you’d handle a loved one’s death. Let me assure you as a pastor who’s kept watch over many Christians finding themselves in this situation, this is the attitude I most often encounter: “It is so wonderful how God has sustained me! I naturally miss my beloved, but I feel such incredible strength and confidence and a gladness in my heart that my loved one is with the Lord.” iii. God gives us His grace in the hour we need it. If we worry about the future now, we double our pain without having the grace to deal with it. e. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today...and forever” (Heb. 13:8). i. That means He will be doing the same thing tomorrow that He was doing yesterday. ii. If you have any question about the future, look at the past. Did He sustain you then? He will sustain you in the future. 3. REPLACING WORRY WITH THE RIGHT FOCUS a. This is what Jesus says to you today: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). i. In other words, move your thoughts up to the divine level and God will take care of all your physical needs. ii. God wants to free His children from being preoccupied with the mundane. iii. Colossians 3:2 says as directly as possible, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” iv. Therefore a materialistic Christian is a contradiction in terms. b. The Greek word prōtos (“first” ) means “first in a line of more than one option.” i. Of all the priorities of life, seeking God’s kingdom is number one. ii. It is doing what you can to promote God’s rule over His creation. T iii. hat includes seeking Christ’s rule to be manifest in your life through “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). iv. When the world sees those virtues in your life instead of worry, it’s evidence that the kingdom of God is there. v. You can say, “I want to tell people about Jesus so they can be saved,” but if your life is marked by anxiety and fear, they will not believe you have anything they want. They are certainly going to question the power of God. c. Perhaps you already are painfully aware of your less-than-perfect testimony and would do anything to root out your shortcomings. Although in the context of addressing irrational fears, Jay Adams offers this wise caution that applies to any sin you lament in yourself: d. God wants you to seek to please Him first, and think about the problem of fear secondly. That is why when speaking of worry (a lesser form of fear), in Matthew 6:33 He commands “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” If you put anything else first—even the desire to rid yourself of a terrifying fear—you will discover that you will fail to achieve either goal. God will not take second place, even to a legitimate concern to be free of fear (“What Do You Do When Fear Overcomes You?” pamphlet [Phillipsburg, N.J.: P & R, 1975]). e. What is your heart’s preoccupation? Are you more concerned with the kingdom or with the things of this world? Worldliness is an especially beguiling sin in our society. You wouldn’t be alone if you as a Christian have been tempted by it. The Russian playwright Anton Chekhov cleverly stripped the world of its allure in his short story “The Bet.” In it a poor attorney makes a bet with a frivolous wealthy banker for 2 million dollars if he voluntarily submits himself to solitary confinement for fifteen years under the banker’s supervision. f. In the first year the books he sent for were mostly of a light character. In the second year the prisoner asked only for the classics. Later on he began zealously studying languages, music, philosophy, and history. By the tenth year the prisoner sat immovably at his table and read nothing but the Gospels. Theology and histories of religion followed. g. The night before he was due to collect the 2 million, the prisoner wrote this to his captor: h. With a clear conscience I tell you, as before God, who beholds me, that I despise freedom and life and health, and all that in your books is called the good things of the world. i. For fifteen years I have been intently studying earthly life. It is true I have not seen the earth nor men, but in your books I have drunk fragrant wine, I have sung songs, I have hunted stags and...have loved women....Beauties as ethereal as clouds, created by the magic of your poets and geniuses, have visited me at night, and have whispered in my ears wonderful tales that have set my brain in a whirl.... j. Your books have given me wisdom. All that the unresting thought of man has created in the ages is compressed into a small compass in my brain. I know that I am wiser than all of you. k. [Yet] I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage. You may be proud, wise, and fine, but death will wipe you off the face of the earth.... l. You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You have taken lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty....I marvel at you who exchange heaven for earth.... m. To prove to you in action how I despise all that you live by, I renounce the two millions of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise (The Tales of Chekhov, pp. 263–64; cf. The Bet and Other Stories [Dublin and London: Maunsel & Co., 1915], pp. 9–11). n. That’s an example of learning the hard way. We as believers don’t need to do that. Our Lord “gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11). Don’t be anxious for the goods of this world—or anything else for that matter. As Sherlock Holmes would say, don’t just see but observe. And remember what Jesus told you to observe: abundant evidence all around you of God’s lavish care for the needs of His beloved.