Does God Care About Toilet Paper?
Notes
Transcript
What To Do About Worry
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
It's a fact of life that we all worry, right? We know that we shouldn't; we know that it's wrong; but we do it anyway. Everyone has heard about the effects of worry: it causes ulcers, high blood pressure, heart problems, it drains your energy. We know these facts, but we worry in spite of them.
Many people think that worry is the result of the fast-paced, high-pressure lives we lead today, but the truth is that worry is not a 20th century phenomenon. It has been a problem for centuries.
The Psalms tell us worry leads to harm (). Proverbs tells us that worry makes a heart heavy (). The book of Sirach says, Worry brings premature old age and Worry drives away sleep (30:24, 42:9).
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
In the New Testament, Jesus had some things to say about worry. In He tells us how we can eliminate worry once and for all.
There are four steps to eliminating worry. If we will believe and act on the words of Jesus, we can eliminate worry from our lives.
The first step is:
1. Decide not to worry.
This may sound oversimplified, but in this passage Jesus states no less than three times "Do not worry", which indicates that whether we worry or not is our choice. The decision not to worry is much easier to make when we recognize worry for what it is and our worries for what they are. First of all...
a. Most of our worries are trivial.
...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?
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
“Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
“Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
“But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
“Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
“The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
“But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
“And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
“Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
“But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
“To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
“Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.
“In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
“But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
“Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
“The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
“Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
“Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
We spend too much time worrying about things such as clothes, food, health, money and we tend to ignore things with eternal significance.
receive entrance through the pearly gates.
Three men died and were waiting to receive entrance through the pearly gates.
Three men died and were waiting to receive entrance through the pearly gates.
The first man said to St. Peter, "I was a preacher of the gospel, serving faithfully for 50 years." Peter told him to step aside for further consideration.
The first man said to St. Peter, "I was a preacher of the gospel, serving faithfully for 50 years." Peter told him to step aside for further consideration.
The second man said "I was also a preacher of the gospel; I served my church faithfully for 40 years." Peter told him to step aside for further consideration.
The second man said "I was also a preacher of the gospel; I served my church faithfully for 40 years." Peter told him to step aside for further consideration.
The third man stepped man stepped up. "I was not a minister, just a government worker with the Internal Revenue Service for 6 months." Peter told him to step right in.
The third man stepped man stepped up. "I was not a minister, just a government worker with the Internal Revenue Service for 6 months." Peter told him to step right in.
The first minister objected, "Why does he get to go in before two ministers?"
The first minister objected, "Why does he get to go in before two ministers?"
Peter said, "The truth is, in six months the IRS agent scared the devil out of more people than either of you did in a long lifetime."
Peter said, "The truth is, in six months the IRS agent scared the devil out of more people than either of you did in a long lifetime."
That's the way we are. We tend to worry about things that have no eternal significance.
Time magazine ran an article a few years ago about a sergeant who had been wounded in battle. He had been hit in the throat by a shell fragment and had to have several transfusions.
When he awoke he had a tube in his throat and couldn't speak. He wrote a note to his doctor asking, "Will I live?"
The doctor said, "Yes."
He wrote another note asking, "Will I be able to talk?"
The doctor answered, "Yes."
He smiled as he wrote another note asking, "Then what in the world am I so worried about?"
Most of our worries are trivial. Also:
b. Worry is a waste of time.
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Matthew 6:27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death;
and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.
Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”
And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.”
And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers.
For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel;
and they gave them for the Potter’s Field, as the Lord directed me.”
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”
And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.
Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?”
And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted.
At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.”
But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.
But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!”
And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”
When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”
And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”
Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.
They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.
After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.
And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,
they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.
And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.
And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.
And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads
and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying,
“He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
“He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.
Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.
But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.”
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him.
Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.
Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,
and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’
“Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Another translation (NIV) reads, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Worrying is like cultivating and watering ground where you haven't planted any seed. You've wasted water, time, and energy and you still have nothing. It's easy to make the decision when we remember that our worry is a waste of time. Also:
c. Worry is beneath your dignity.
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?
“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
You are God's creation, made in his image. It is beneath your dignity, as God's creation, to spend your life worrying. His plan is that you should live life abundantly, not eaten up with worry. Not even the birds worry, Jesus tells us; God certainly doesn't want you to. Also, we need to realize that:
d. Worry is a sin.
In verse Jesus says that worry is the result of a lack of faith. Anything that is not of faith, the Bible says, is a sin. []
“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
By worrying we are saying, in effect, "This is a situation over which God has no control God is helpless and I'm on my own."
Do you see how unspiritual — how utterly sinful — worry is? Do you see how it can destroy our fellowship with God?
Jesus said, "Do not worry." The first step to eliminating worry is deciding not to worry. It's much easier to take that step when we see worry for what it is a trivial, time-wasting, dehumanizing, sinful habit.
The second step Jesus shows us to eliminating worry is:
2. Trust God to take care of you.
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.
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."
“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
A businessman ran into a friend of his a stockbroker who had always had problems with ulcers and high blood pressure.
"How's your health?" the man asked his stockbroker friend.
"Great. My ulcers are gone and I don't have a worry in the world!"
The man asked "How did that happen?"
The stockbroker said, "It's easy. I hired a professional worrier. Whenever something comes along that I need to worry about, I tell him about it and he does all of my worrying for me."
The businessman couldn't believe it. "That's incredible. I'd be interested in something like that. How much does it cost?"
The stockbroker said, "He charges $100,000 a year."
The businessman said "How in the world can you afford to pay him $100,000 a year?"
The stockbroker said, "I don't know, let him worry about it."
In the same way the stockbroker gave his worries to the "professional worrier", we should give our worries and cares to God...
...casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. ()
casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
God has promised to take care of us. It is our job to let Him.
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. ()
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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Depending on God to take care of us means that we have to eliminate phrases from our conversation, such as "I don't know how I'm going to get by" or "I just don't think I can make it." You can make it. You will get by. If you trust God to take care of you, He will take care of you. The third step to eliminating worry is...
3. Give Jesus Christ first place in your life.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
A young boy was driving a big hayrack down the road and it turned over right in front of a farmer's house. The farmer came out and saw the young boy crying and said, "Son, don't worry about this, we can fix it. Right now dinner's ready. Why don't you come in and eat with us and then I'll help you put the hay back on the rack."
The boy said, "No, I can't. My father is going to be very angry with me."
The farmer said, "Now don't argue, just come in and have some lunch and you'll feel better."
The boy said, "I'm just afraid my father is going to be very angry with me."
The boy finally agreed and went inside with the farmer and took a seat at the dinner table. Afterwards, as they walked outside to the hayrack, the farmer said, "Well, don't you feel better now?"
The boy said, "Yes but I just know that my father will be very angry with me."
The farmer said, "Nonsense. Where is your father anyway?"
The boy said, "He's under that pile of hay."
The key to eliminating worry is taking God from under the pile of hay where we sometimes try to keep Him, and putting Him back in first place. Giving Jesus Christ first place in your life means, first of all, that you accept him as your Lord and Savior.
Maybe you have never done that. Today is a good time to make that decision. You'll never have a mind free from worry until you surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
Even if you have been a Christian for many, many years, you still need on a daily basis to give Him complete Lordship of your life. The reasons many Christians struggle with worry, fear, and anxiety is because they have let their relationship with God become a secondary priority in their lives. Jesus demands that He be your first priority.
Eliminating worry begins with deciding not to worry, then trusting God to take care of you, and giving Jesus Christ top priority in your life. The fourth step to eliminating worry is...
4. Live one day at a time.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Jesus is saying that we should handle the demands of each day as it comes, without worrying about the unknown future and things that may never happen. This doesn't mean that we should live an irresponsible, foolish existence. It does mean that we must avoid an anxiety-ridden approach to life that destroys our peace and joy. It means that we focus our attention on the present, and take care of today's problems today.
Orel Hershiser attributes his success as a major league pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers to his ability to concentrate on the next pitch. He says that he cannot afford to worry about an earlier bad pitch, he cannot afford to worry about the power hitter sitting in the on-deck circle his only hope for survival as a major league pitcher is to concentrate solely on the next pitch he is about to throw.
In the same way, we need to give our full attention to each day as it comes to us. We cannot worry about what may happen tomorrow, but we can devote all of our energy to living today in a way that brings glory to God. This requires a certain amount of effort on our part. We cannot approach each day thoughtlessly. We have to take a long, hard look at ourselves and ask, "What am I accomplishing for the glory of God today?"
Mark McCormack, author of What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School, says that he spends a full hour each day deciding how to invest the other 23 hours. If we will take time out of each day to bring our worries to God, and seek His guidance for every action we should take, our worries will quickly disappear.
CONCLUSION
The principle that Jesus is teaching in is simple: Action eliminates worry.
Do you want to eliminate worry? Then take action.
Decide not to worry.
Trust God to take care of you.
Give Jesus top priority in your life.
Live each day as it comes to you one day at a time.
This is the kind of action that will eliminate worry from your life, once and for all.