What to Do with Worry

How did this week go as you evaluated your heart and looked to see where you were burying your treasure? I know I had to think through and shift a few areas around to focus more on the kingdom than I had before.

As we wrapped up our message last week, we saw that we can’t serve two different masters: we either live as servants of God and carry out the things he has taught us to do in his kingdom, or we run after things in this life.

I mentioned briefly that this is an incredibly freeing way to live, because instead of trying to make myself famous or work things my way, I can let go of those concerns and focus solely on honoring God, trusting that he will do what he knows I need him to do when he sees fit.

For this morning, we’re going to call that a “kingdom focus.” That is some of the idea behind the teachings Jesus has given us throughout the Sermon on the Mount, isn’t it? That his kingdom citizens, those who have been saved by Jesus’ death and resurrection, and who are now living recognizing him as their Lord and leader, are going to focus more on what he wants than what we want.

This morning, Jesus is going to drive that home as we look at one of the most comforting and timely passages in the Sermon on the Mount.

Turn over to Matthew 6:25-34...

You see, with everything going on in the world around us, it feels like anxiety for many is at an all time high. Fears about the election, the pandemic, racial justice, and the economy have been added onto the normal everyday struggles of life, jobs, relationships, money, health, purpose, and everything else.

We have had more time isolated from others, which leads many of us to let thoughts spiral out of control, so worry shifts deeper into anxiety and depression and fear.

Although we recognize that anxiety and depression are complex issues, Jesus is going to outline for us two ways to use our kingdom focus to address our anxious hearts.

This isn’t to say that, if you struggle with anxiety and depression, that this will cure you instantly and that you won’t ever need medication or additional counseling.

However, when we shift our focus onto God’s kingdom, we find tremendous help, both in overcoming worry and in combating anxiety.

Here’s the central idea I want you to walk away from here with this morning: Kingdom focus kills worry. Putting it another way, you could say that I cannot worry and maintain a kingdom focus.

Living life this way, focused on God and his glory and his grace, is the key to killing worry.

A lot of the truths we have looked at in this series are challenging. Some have been hard to hear and hard to preach.

This message, although difficult to live out, is one that I hope will encourage you today, especially in light of all the tension around us.

Take Jesus’ words to heart this morning.

The kingdom focus we are cultivating kills worry as we focus on two key truths that Jesus outlines for us. If we are going to kill worry, we must first...

1) Remember that God provides.

As Jesus begins to unpack this issue of worry, He starts by pointing to a couple of natural realities: God feeds birds, and God makes beautiful flowers.

Look at that with me in verses 26-30

Now, those seem like fairly simple pictures, don’t they?

First, let’s look at how God provides for the birds. Notice that they don’t sow seeds, tend a garden, or have lots to harvest, yet they don’t die of starvation.

Think about how God cares for these little guys: <Hummingbird picture>

Did you know that if a human burned calories at the rate a hummingbird does, we would need to consume 155,000 calories a day?![1] In case you have never looked at calories, I have known power lifters trying to gain muscle mass to compete, and they are only supposed to eat 3000-4000 calories a day.

Do hummingbirds go hungry? No! In fact, God has made their little tiny bodies in such a way that they can migrate and make a non-stop 500-mile flight across the Gulf of Mexico [2]

God takes care of the birds and makes sure they have enough to eat!

Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, that’s fine and grand that God takes care of birds, but did you hear what the doctor said to me this week? Have you heard the sound my car is making? You weren’t there to hear the talk around my office…there’s another round of layoffs coming!”

Hear Jesus’ words from a little later in Matthew:

Matthew 10:29–31 CSB

Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Don’t you get it?! You are so much more valuable to God than any sparrow, so, if he is going to take care of the sparrow, don’t you think he’ll take care of you?!

Maybe that’s not enough. I love the next verse. Look at verse 27…Has worrying ever helped you? It doesn’t change a thing!

It doesn’t add a single moment to your life; in fact, we know now that too much stress can actually shorten your life!

Some translations render this as, “add another cubit to your height”, which would mean you got about 18” taller!

Worrying hasn’t added an inch to your life, and it isn’t buying you any more time.

“Okay, fine, so God will take care of birds and I can’t live longer or make myself any taller. But that still doesn’t solve…” Keep going and read verses 28-30.

When I was in college, I had the privilege of going with a friend to mine to her uncle’s flower farm. He has over 10 acres of greenhouses and two or three acres of outside growing space. When we were there, it was right before Mother’s Day, and the outside space was filled with acres of phlox. <Flower picture>

It was breathtaking! Such vivid colors, so beautiful. Any of you gardeners know how long phlox blooms? About two weeks. Here is this gorgeous flower, and within two weeks, it will just be this tangled mess of undergrowth.

Any of you remember how beautiful your flowers were at your wedding? You may have paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars for those, and they were dead within days.

Look around at your yard. It is dying off for the winter, and you won’t be mowing it much longer.

That beautiful, lush green color and that fragrant smell is about to be replaced with crunchy, brown grass.

Look at verse 30...

If God exercises such great care, to craft and shape those flowers to blossom and bloom into such radiantly beautiful items, then don’t you think he will take care of you?!

As we develop a greater focus on God’s kingdom, we need to stop and recognize that he is the God who provides for the birds and the flowers in the field, so we can trust that he will provide for us!

In fact, God has provided far more for us than what the disciples would have even known in that day.

Listen to what God said through the Apostle Paul years later as he wrote to the church at Rome:

Romans 8:32 CSB

He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God freely gave you his Son. What makes you think he won’t provide for you now?

In the back of your mind, you may be saying, “But what if he doesn’t? What if I lose my job or my health or my family or my…?”

Then so be it! You have your God, who will welcome you into his arms when you arrive in heaven! There is nothing more you need than what he has already provided in Christ.

Do you doubt him? Then you (like me!) stand indicted by Christ’s words: “You of little faith!”

You see, we know that God takes care of birds and we know He makes beautiful flowers, and yet we still sit back and say, “But…”

That brings us to the second thing we need to do as we develop a kingdom focus that will kill worry:

2) Step back and see the bigger picture.

First, look at the last part of verse 25, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

A kingdom focus takes a step back from the insane cycle of life and says, “Wait a minute, there’s more to life than this.”

We get so caught up in the desire to have more, to look better, to keep up with what Facebook and TV says we need to care about that we get so worried about this and that and the other things. What if my roof starts leaking, what if my car dies, what if my candidate loses, what if, what if…?

Counteract that mentality, not just by remembering that God will provide, but by seeing the bigger picture.

That doesn’t mean you behave recklessly; use the head that God gave you, and rest in the fact that God is doing more in your life than you have any idea.

Take a step back. What happens if your roof does start leaking? How could God be using that to further His kingdom? Maybe you’re supposed to share the Gospel with the contractor who comes to fix it. If your car dies, perhaps that will allow you to support that mechanic whose wife just got diagnosed with cancer. Maybe forcing you to spend the money you have been trusting in is God’s way of helping you look to him for your security.

See, that’s what a kingdom focus is all about. Look at verse 33.

Instead of worrying, seek to see how God wants to use that situation to glorify himself and build his kingdom. See how he wants you to react in a righteous way, giving testimony to the fact that Jesus is the Lord and leader of your life.

Does that mean that you will always be able to point to what God did through a given situation? Not at all.

That’s the essence of the true, biblical, trust-filled faith.

Kingdom-focused living kills worry as you strive for what He wants. You may never understand it, you may never be able to put your finger on why it happened, and you may never see any fruit for God’s kingdom come from it.

Yet you seek his kingdom first. Seek his righteousness. Seek to live like he would want you to live, and as you do, you will find this all fading away.

In fact, last week Daniel played a song during our invitation that has these simple words, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

In just a minute, we are going to sing that together again as a way to respond to what God is saying.

It’s the truth! You cannot keep worrying when you trust God to guide you.

What it does mean is that you don’t worry about the situations that are beyond your control and beyond your understanding!

You trust your unknown future to a known God; a God who loves you and provides for you and created you and sustains you, even more than he does the birds and the flowers.

For the things you can change, you strive to obey whatever God tells you. Beyond what you can do, and even within that, you trust God for the outcome.

That’s why God commands us through Paul:

Philippians 4:6–7 CSB

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Seek him first and foremost, and God will work out all the details.

Jesus wraps this up and puts a nice, neat bow on it in verse 34...

Focus on today. Don’t worry about what will happen; do what God enables you to do today. There’s plenty here to keep you busy for today.

Seek to be the man or woman God wants you to be, and watch Him provide for your every need, every time.

I want to invite you to take a moment to reflect, and then we are going to sing that chorus. After that, we are going to do just what we have said: turn our eyes upon Jesus as we reflect on his death and resurrection.

Endnotes:

[1] https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/hummingbird. Accessed 7 October 2020.

[2] https://www.perkypet.com/advice/bird-watching/hummingbird-migration/migration-facts#:~:text=Each%20year%2C%20thousands%20of%20Ruby,complete%20this%20amazing%20solitary%20flight. Accessed 7 October 2020.