STRUGGLING WITH WORRY

MATTHEW 6: 25-34

STRUGGLING WITH WORRY

What is worry? The meaning for the Greek word is “to divide the mind.” In this passage it refers to when we put part of our trust in God and part of our trust in things. When we worry we doubt God’s ability to take care of us, it causes our minds to be tormented distracts us from our real purpose in being on earth!

Some of us can relate to Charlie Brown in a cartoon that shows Linus dragging his blanket as he observes, “You look kinda depresses.” “I worry about school a lot,” Charlie Brown replies. Then he adds, “I worry about my worrying so much about school.” As Charlie and Linus sit on a log together, Charlie makes his final observation: “My anxieties have anxieties!” I have only one comment about that-Good grief Charlie Brown!

Are you like Charlie Brown and are really dedicated to worry? Are you so committed to worrying that if you can’t find something to worry about today, you start to worry about what might happen tomorrow?

Everyone struggles with worry to a certain extent. In the verses preceding these we saw a rich man that was worried over his huge crop and built a barn to house it so he could save the extra. In this passage Jesus is speaking to people who are poor and are worried about the basic needs of life. He tells them to “Stop worrying.” Do you struggle with worry? Jesus wants to bring you out of it today.

I. EIGHT REASONS YOU SHOULDN’T WORRY.

We don’t have time to go into depth on each one, but I want you to look at them and go back later to those that really speak to your situation.

1. Life is more than food and clothing. (Verse 25) Really!

2. God can be counted on to work for us tomorrow just as much as today. (Verse 26) Even the birds know that! They go out to work every day to find food. They forage all the time for something to eat and He provides for them. They are not made in His image. They are not His adopted children. If He does it for them, shouldn’t we know that He will do it for us? We are His children! We wonder at the oceans, the mountains, the rivers, the stars and many other wonders, but we forget that the wonder of wonders is mankind, the crown of God’s creation.

3. Worry doesn’t get you anywhere. (Verse 27)

4. God will adorn us with what we need to do what He calls us to do. (Verses 28-30) God adorned the lily and the grass differently because they have a different purpose. We shouldn’t be upset if God adorns us differently!

5. Worry puts us on same level as unbelievers. (Verse 32) Think of the absurdity of worry. We trust God to redeem us and break the shackles of Satan from our lives and take us to Heaven for eternity, but we don’t trust Him enough to supply our daily needs? We freely put our eternal destiny in His hands, but at times refuse to believe He will provide what we need to eat, drink and wear! Practical atheists.

6. Worry says that we don’t think God even knows our needs. (Verse 32)

7. When we seek the Kingdom of God first, He works for us and provides ALL our needs. (Verse 33)

8. Worry overwhelms us by bringing tomorrow’s problems to today. (Verse 34) God give us grace a day at a time.

II. THE CURE FOR WORRY.

If we are to overcome worry, we must not have a divided mind that thinks some like the world and some like God. We must choose to think like God thinks. The word Jesus uses for first is so exclusive that it really means “only.” He gives us the cure for worry by telling us to find our contentment in God and ONLY in God. We should find contentment in His ownership, control and provision of everything we possess and will ever need. He owns everything, not us. So therefore He will control what we have or don’t have. We must trust Him as our heavenly Father to give us exactly what we need.

Worry strikes a blow at God’s love and integrity and shows that our master is our circumstances. Jesus said it reveals “little faith”. Oswald Chambers wrote, “All worry is caused by calculating without God.” Calculating without God! Ask yourself this question, “Does my Christian faith affect my view of life and control it in all matters?” Here is what you must do to get rid of worry in your life.

A. Seek the Kingdom of God . This means that we are to focus on letting God rule over EVERY area of our life. What if your husband gave you $30,000 to renovate your house? After you were revived from fainting, imagine that you hired someone to redo the interior of your house. But let’s say that you told him to redo everything except the dining room. Not your dining room needed reworking more than the others. The floor is buckling, the ceiling is falling in and the paint is gone from the walls. Imagine having all your friends over to see your renovation. What would be the one thing they would talk about when they left? They would talk about that one room that wasn’t redone, wouldn’t they?

It is the same way with our lives. We must let God rework EVERY part of our lives. We can’t hold back any areas and say, “Lord, I’m going to keep control of this one.” Jesus knew that if you do that, then that is the area where you will worry yourself to death, because you are on your own in that area. Worry comes about when we are in control of something we can’t control!

Most of us don’t worry about everything, but we do have certain areas where we tend to worry about. Think about it. What are the areas that you still worry about? Then you need to give that area of your life to God!

We are to focus on seeking God. We must come to Him and read His Word and pray. We must open our hearts to Him and humble ourselves. We must do these things on a regular basis to insure that the Kingdom of God rules in us.

B. Seek the Righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is the fact that God wants to do what is right, and He wants us to do what is right. We must desire God in our life and the things of God so we will do what is right. Instead of longing for all the things of the world, we must start longing for the things that are eternal-the things of God. We should long to be the type people on the inside that God desires us to be. The Scriptures say, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

What is it to delight yourself in something? Let's say that your favorite place to eat is Outback Steak House. Your wife asks you where you want to eat for your birthday, but she already knows you want to go there. Think about the day when you know you are going out to dinner for your favorite food. It will be in your mind off and on all day. Sometime it will take center stage and sometimes it will be offstage, but still there. Then when you finally get to the restaurant and order it, your mouth begins to water. First you get the Blooming Onion. Then you get the salad and bread. Then when the waiter sits the Outback Special down before you, and the smell reminds you of the times before you have enjoyed it. Then you taste it and say, “Um!” That's delight!

When we delight ourselves in God like that, then all the desires of our heart will be met in Him. He is such a great God and a great person that we will find all our needs will be met in Him! Nothing will be lacking! Nothing is left to worry about!

If we seek to have God rule in all our life and fill our hearts with a supreme desire after God and the things that He desires in my life, then I don’t have room and time left to worry about lesser things of life. That’s how we overcome worry.

CONCLUSION

A dense fog thick enough to cover seven city blocks at a hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water that is divided into 60,000 million droplets! In this form a few gallons of water can cripple a large city! Amazing.

In the same way the real substance of what we are worried about is always extremely small compared to the size it forms in our minds and the damage it does in our lives. Someone has said, “Worry is a think stream of fear that trickles through the mind, which if encouraged, will cut a channel so wide that all other thoughts will be drained out.”

Do you really want to stop worrying? Then here is a prayer for you to pray:

“Lord, I realize that it is futile for me to worry about things in my life. It doesn’t help anything. I know that You know all things and You know my situation. Please help me to focus on Your power and Your love for me so that I will be able to trust you completely to do what is best for me in any circumstance. Today I give to you all the things that I can’t control in my life. I release them to you. I ask for your help everyday to help me think about my life in light of eternity. Help me to focus on the things of Your kingdom, which are the only things that will stand the test of time. From this day forward every time I begin to worry, let your Spirit lead me to get down on my knees and pray for You to work in my life to overcome worry with faith. I pray this in the overcoming, overwhelming name of Jesus Christ.”

Ridgecrest Baptist Church | 7469 Old Canton Rd. | Madison, MS 39110 phone: 601.853.1090 fax: 601.853.1092