WORRY AIN'T WORTH IT! - PROVERBS 12:25

25 Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

BIG IDEA: CARRYING THE WORRIES OF TOMORROW WILL DESTROY TODAY!

I RECENTLY WATCHED A PRETTY COOL SCI-FI MOVIE CALLED “THE TOMORROW WAR.” THIS PLOT HAS BEEN SEEN BEFORE, BUT IT WAS STILL A GREAT PIC. YOU HAVE “TIME TRAVELERS” COMING TO CURRENT DAY FROM 2051 TO WARN US THAT “IN THE FUTURE,” ALIENS WILL DESTROY THE WORLD. THE ONLY WAY TO WIN AND TO SAVE OUR FUTURE IS FOR PEOPLE TO GO INTO THE FUTURE TO FIGHT....

SO, IN ORDER TO SAVE TODAY, THE PEOPLE HAVE TO FIGHT IN TOMORROW. HENCE, THE TOMORROW’S WAR…

AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR MANY BELIEVERS, WE DO MOST OF OUR FIGHTING IN THE FUTURE.

WE’RE CAPTIVATED BY WHAT MAY HAPPEN…BY WHAT MAY NEGATIVELY AFFECT US, SO WE FIGHT IN TOMORROW....

BELOVED, THIS IS THE ULTIMATE MEANING OF WORRY: BRINGING THE FUTURE CHALLENGES INTO OUR PRESENT CONDITION....

PERHAPS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD IT THIS WAY, BUT THIS IS WORRY: BRINGING FUTURE ISSUES - WARS - PROBLEMS - AND THEIR POTENTIAL, INTO OUR PRESENT EXPERIENCE...

Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster and belief in defeat...worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities with yesterday's troubles.

Walter Kelly.

MOST, IF NOT ALL OF US, ARE IN THIS WAR: TOMORROW’S WAR!!!

SO, LET ME GIVE YOU MY SECONDARY BIG IDEA: THE ONLY WAY TO WIN TOMORROW’S WAR IS TO FOCUS UPON TODAY!!!!

AS WE LEARNED ON LAST SUNDAY: 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

YOU’VE GOT ENOUGH WEIGHT WITH TODAY TO GIVE ANY CONSIDERATION FOR TOMORROW....

IT’S TIME FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US TO “WIN TODAY,” AND ALLOW TOMORROW TO FIGHT FOR ITSELF....

LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND SAY, “WORRY AIN’T WORTH IT!”

YOU SEE, THERE IS A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN PREPARING FOR TOMORROW VERSUS WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW...

THE WEIGHT OF PREPARATION IS DISTINCT FROM THE WEIGHT OF WORRY, BECAUSE WORRY HAS ALREADY LOST… WORRY BEGINS FROM A LOSERS PERSPECTIVE!

LAST WEEK WE LEARNED THAT WORRYING IS UNHEALTHY: WORRYING ELEVATES ISSUES LARGER THAN THEY REALLY ARE, THUS DISTORTING OUR VISION AND PERSPECTIVE. IT’S UNHEALTHY. IT MAKES US GUNSHY! WE ANSWER OUR PHONES WITH, “WHAT’S WRONG NOW,” RATHER THAN, “HELLO, HOW ARE YOU TODAY?”

WE ALSO LEARNED THAT WORRYING IS UNPRODUCTIVE: VS. 27-CAN ANY OF YOU ADD ONE MOMENT TO HIS LIFE SPAN BY WORRYING?

WORRY ROBS: IT STEALS YOUR CURRENT MOMENT AND THE MOMENT YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT. BOTH. WORRYING IS THE GREATEST MISUSE OF OUR TIME!

WORRY CONFUSES: FROM BODY IMAGE TO MATERIALISM TO COMPETITION. WORRY MAKES US THINK THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY CARE WHAT WE LOOK LIKE! YALL AIN’T HEARING ME.

WORRY REDUCES (OUR FAITH): HERE IS A FACT: YOU CAN’T TRUST GOD WHILE WORRYING!

WE FINALLY LEARNED THAT WORRYING IS UNGODLY: WHEN WE ARE NOT KINGDOM-MINDED, WE BECOME WORRY-MINDED. WE MAKE WORRY AN IDOL. IT CONSUMES US. SO, IF WE’RE “THINKING” WE’RE “WORRYING.”

CARRYING THE WORRIES OF TOMORROW WILL DESTROY TODAY!

WE’RE CARRYING WORRY - WE’RE CARRYING THE WEIGHT!

AND WE WONDER WHY OUR PRESSURE STAYS HIGH, WHY OUR NIGHTS ARE RESTLESS, WHY WE CAN’T SIT STILL....WE’RE FIGHTING IN TOMORROW’S WAR!

J. Arthur Rank, an English executive, decided to do all his worrying on one day each week. He chose Wednesdays. When anything happened that gave him anxiety and annoyed his ulcer, he would write it down and put it in his worry box and forget about it until next Wednesday. The interesting thing was that on the following Wednesday when he opened his worry box, he found that most of the things that had disturbed him the past six days were already settled. It would have been useless to have worried about them.

TODAY’S VERSE IS SO SIMPLE…IT’S A PROVERB. PROVERBS ARE PROFOUND PRONOUNCEMENTS - SUCCINCT STATEMENTS: that stand in place of a long explanation and express a truth about reality. NOW I’VE SHARED BEFORE: PROVERBS ARE NOT PROMISES. THEY’RE PRINCIPLES. PRINCIPLES THAT WE’D DO WELL TO PRACTICE:

ANXIETY IN A PERSON’S HEART WEIGHS IT DOWN....

ANXIETY AT ITS ROOT IS TO WORRY. IT ALSO WORKS IN CONJUNCTION WITH FEAR. IT’S MARKED BY EXCESSIVE UNEASINESS...

SO, ANXIETY IS WORRY, PLUS FEAR, EQUALLING A COMPLETE ABANDONING OF GOD’S REIGN AND RULE OVER OUR AFFAIRS...

What does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it does empty today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil; it makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes. God gives us the power to bear all the sorrow of His making, but He does not guarantee to give us strength to bear the burdens of our own making such as worry induces.

Ian Maclaren.

HERE IS OUR FIRST MOVEMENT:

WORRY AIN’T WORTH IT, BECAUSE WORRY WEIGHS US DOWN.

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT, WORRY IS A HEART ISSUE.

THIS INTERNAL AGITATION ADDS WEIGHT TO OUR JOURNEY...

THE WEIGHTINESS OF WORRY CAUSES ONE TO ACTUALLY LIVE A LIFE OF BOWING DOWN UNDER THE PRESSURE…CAN YOU SEE IT?

WEIGHT THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT HEBREW WRITER COMMANDS US TO LAY ASIDE...

I WANT YOU TO TAKE JUST A MOMENT TO ACTUALLY WRITE DOWN OR TYPE DOWN EXACTLY WHAT HAS YOU WEIGHED DOWN - HEAVY HEARTED - WORRIED!

IN OUR MINDS, WE CONVINCE OURSELVES THAT THIS HUGE PROBLEM IS WORTHY OF WORRY...

AT THAT MOMENT WE FAIL TO UNDERSTAND ONE OF GOD’S ROLES IN OUR LIVES (TO HELP)… ((WRITE IT /TYPE IT))! - LISTEN: God is a help in trouble. In worry you are on your own HELP.  When you worry, which do you worry about, what might happen or what might not happen?

DO YOU SEE IT? CAN YOU FEEL THAT WEIGHT?

OUR FEAR CONVINCES US THAT THIS ISSUE WILL DESTROY US - DESTROY OUR FUTURE - DETOUR OUR PLANS…AND THAT FEAR BECOMES A WEIGHT THAT SLOWS DOWN GOD’S PROGRESS FOR OUR LIVES...

WHATEVER YOU WROTE OR TYPED IS A WEIGHT THAT IS COMPROMISING YOUR WALK WITH THE LORD…IT’S COMPROMISING YOUR WITNESS AS A BELIEVER…IT’S COMPROMISING THE JOY OF YOUR LIFE!

AND WATCH THIS: THOSE WHO LOVE YOU CAN SEE IT.

HERE IT IS: WORRY WEIGHS US DOWN!

OWN IT!

IT DOES US NO GOOD TO PRETEND THAT WE DON’T WORRY, WHEN WE ACTUALLY WORRY.

A man one day worried whether he would die of cancer, because cancer was so prevalent in the society. He worried about it for thirty years and then died of a heart attack as a result. Should you be concerned about your health? Absolutely. Should you do the best you can to stay healthy? Absolutely, but after you’ve done all that you can do, don’t worry. That’s what God says. So to worry is to insult Him.

WORRY AIN’T WORTH IT, BECAUSE IT WEIGHS US DOWN...

25 Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

SECOND AND FINALLY, WORRY AIN’T WORTH IT, BECAUSE A GOOD WORD IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE.

THIS GOOD WORD IS NOT LIMITED TO SCRIPTURE.

IT CAN BE A KIND WORD FROM A FRIEND OR RELATIVE.

IT CAN BE AN ENCOURAGING WORD FROM A CHURCH MEMBER...

IT CAN BE A PROCLAIMED WORD FROM YOUR PASTOR! A GOOD WORD IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE.

HERE IT IS: WE GONE BE ALRIGHT!

I GET IT!

YOU’RE FACING SOME STUFF THAT HAS YOU ON THE ROPES…(AT LEAST IN YOUR MIND).

HOW CAN A WORD PAY A BILL?

HOW CAN A WORD REPAIR A BROKEN MARRIAGE?

HOW CAN A WORD HEAL A DISEASE?

YOU SEE, ANXIETY HAS CONVINCED US THAT WE’VE ALREADY LOST. THAT’S WHY WE’RE WEIGHTY!

THOSE GOOD (ALWAYS AVAILABLE) WORDS ARE THE ANTIDOTE TO WORRY, BECAUSE THEY CHEER - THEY LIFT - THEY LIGHTEN...

FAITH COMES BY HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD....

WE BECOME RENEWED WHEN WE ARE AFFIRMED AND ENCOURAGED THAT “WE GONE BE ALRIGHT.”

THIS DOESN’T NEGATE THE REALITY THAT LIFE IS FILLED WITH SWIFT TRANSITIONS...

HOWEVER, IT DOES OFFER US STRENGTH TO DEAL WITH TODAY - TO FOCUS UPON TODAY - AND THUS, TO LEAVE TOMORROW FOR TOMORROW.

AS WE ARE ENCOURAGED TODAY - FOCUSSING UPON TODAY - OUR BURDENS BECOME LIGHTER…

OH BELOVED, THIS IS NOT BURYING OUR HEAD IN THE SAND, IT IS CHOOSING TO GET DOWN ON OUR KNEES - CASTING OUR CARES UPON THE ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL - TRUSTING THAT HE KNOWS HOW TO HANDLE WHAT WE CANNOT HANDLE - BELIEVING THAT HE’S WORKING IT OUT FOR OUR GOOD AND FOR HIS GLORY - CHOOSING TO LIVE IN OUR TODAY WITHOUT THE WEIGHT OF TOMORROW....

CHUCK SWINDOLL SAYS, “WORRY PULLS TOMORROW’S CLOUD OVER TODAY’S SUNSHINE.”

IT’S TIME FOR US TO COME OUT OF THE CLOUDS - TO COME OUT FROM UNDER THE WEIGHT!

IT’S TIME FOR US TO WALK IN THE FREEDOM THAT CHRIST HAS GIVEN US. REMEMBER HIS WORD: 28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

WORRY AIN’T WORTH IT...

LET’S BEGIN TODAY, FOCUSSING UPON TODAY.

RELEASING THE CARES OF TOMORROW UNTIL TOMORROW...

THE TOMORROW WAR WILL ALWAYS BE THERE, BUT WE ONLY HAVE TODAY FOR TODAY!