Guarding A Fearful Heart
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And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
What hijackers seize the controls of your mind? I’d like you to personalize this. What are the one, two, six, dozen things that tend to snag you? What do you tend to worry about? Maybe it’s not financial, or in addition to financial, there are other worries.
“Do I have any real friends?”
“What if I don’t make the team?
“What if I don’t make the team?
What if I forget my lines in the play?
What if someone else gets picked for that committee? What if…?”
•“Will I ever find a husband or wife?”
•“If I do find one, will he or she be faithful to me?”
•“Am I worth marrying?”
•“Will I be able to have kids?”
•“If I have kids, how will they turn out?”
•“What about my health?
Some of my friends are dying of cancer. It’s painful. Is that going to be for me? Will I be able to have the strength to go through that? What if I get Alzheimer’s? The thought of ending my life not even able to recognize the people I love: what about that?”On and on and on, your health, your money, your relationships, your achievements.
Any of those things can hijack the controls. You worry, fret, and stew. The fact is, these are all iffy. You have good reasons to worry about those things. None of them are sure. Your health could go to the dogs. The stock market could crash. There could be no jobs. The kids could turn out rotten. You could end up lonely. You could fail at something or get excluded. These are all unsure by nature.
There is every reason in the world to worry about them. Let me ask you to personalize: What do you worry about?But there’s a second personalizing question to ask yourself. When all is said and done, why do you worry? Why do you fret about these things in the first place? Why do you obsess? Why do you get your nose to the grindstone? Why do you get preoccupied and driven, or throw panic attacks or brood, or whatever form your anxiety takes?The easy answer is to point your finger back towards what you are worrying about, and to think that explains it. “I’m worried because I don’t know if I’m going to get a job. I’m worried because I don’t have enough saved for retirement. I’m worried because I have a family history of cancer.” But Jesus doesn’t do that. He explains our worries not by pointing to how uncertain life is, but by pointing to something in us.
Throughout this whole passage He says, “You worry because of something about you, not because of the things you worry about.” That’s what He threw on the table in the interchange just before the passage we’re focusing on: “Guard yourself from every form of greed.”
Any quick search in Google or Amazon will confirm what we all already know; worry is harmful to our bodies. Here are a few physical symptoms associated with worry:
Difficulty swallowing
Dizziness
Dry mouth
Fast heartbeat
Fatigue
Headaches
Muscle aches
Muscle tension
Nausea
Rapid breathing
Sweating
Trembling and twitching
You can almost get exhausted and anxious reading that list. All of these can be experienced to varying degrees depending on how severe your worry is. Most of you can probably identify many of these as you reflect on an anxiety-producing experience in your life.
Unfortunately, this is not the only way we are impacted by worry. If not addressed, it can have a bigger impact on your overall health. People who worry consistently are more prone to the following physical consequences:
Suppression of the immune system
Digestive disorders
Short-term memory loss
Premature coronary artery disease
Heart attack
In light of this, it is not surprising when we discover the original meanings of the words we use today to talk about worry and anxiety. The English word “worry” comes from the Old English word meaning “strangle.” The word “anxiety” is of Indo-Germanic origin referring to suffering from narrowing, tightening feelings in the chest or throat.
Statistics reveal that nearly 20% of people living in the United States will experience life debilitating anxiety annually. That is nearly 65 million people! In 2008, American physicians wrote more than 50 million prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications and more than 150 million prescriptions for antidepressants, many of which were used for anxiety-related conditions. It is no over-statement to say that we have a problem of epidemic proportions.
Jesus lived at a time in human history that was very unpredictable and less safe than ours. It was a world in which worry was epidemic, too. In every instance where he encouraged people not to worry, he did so with compassion because he knew first-hand what it felt like to be a human being. In , he spoke these encouraging words to anxious people, Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Those simple words sum up all that Jesus said over and over again. He commands them not to worry, but his command is one of encouragement, not shame. Let’s consider these simple but profound phrases:
Do Not be Afraid
Jesus knows that worry is a serious problem. He knows it is bad for you physically, as well as spiritually, and he gets right to the point because he loves you. His commands are always for your good. Whenever you are struggling with worry, it is connected to your relationship with God. The word “worry” that Jesus uses means “a divided mind.” Within the broader context of his teaching, Jesus says that worry happens when you try to love God and something in creation at the same time. As soon as you do this, you have begun to put your hope and security in something other than God. Anything else besides God is unstable (money, a relationship, a job, education, your own moral record, obedient children, your health). Do you see why Jesus is so straightforward? He cares for you. He knows that you can’t serve two masters ().
The A.I.M. of this sermon is provide you with faith to guard your heart against all worry; and especially vain fears. One of Satan’s greatest devices is against our heart’s is vain fears. Satan’s strategy is to besiege our hearts through attrition. A constant bombardment of ideas, thoughts, and imaginations. Sleepless nights, false alarms, nightmares, and out of nowhere thoughts that stir anxiety and panic. These vain fears serve to weaken us and make us unfit to resist when true difficulty arise.
Today’s text provides us with protection against all fear’s no matter their presentation. Let’s us be ATTENTIVE to Christ’s Words, let’s us daily pray that he would INCLINE our hearts to obey, and let us leave here today committed to meditating on what we have learned.
At the same time that Jesus speaks strong but encouraging words, he does so with a tone that is tender in its toughness, and compassionate in its candor. Don’t let this little phrase that Jesus utters evade you. Don’t miss those two powerful words: little flock. While Jesus challenges you to not worry or fear, he speaks to you as one who belongs to him, whom he is shepherding and for whom he laid down his life. You are unimaginably dear to him and loved by him. You are one of his sheep. Be reassured—he cares for you and loves you even as you struggle with worry, even as you forget him and his care, and give in to your tendency to worry. You may be prone to wander, but you will always be part of his flock.
If the promise of Jesus’ tender care is not enough, he adds something more! Your Father is not only going to care for you now, he is in the process and will ultimately give you His kingdom. Your future is certain and you can begin to experience it even now because His kingdom has broken into your life by the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is a deposit guaranteeing that you will get it all one day. So, right now, in the ups and downs of life, the stresses and strains of the uncertain future, let the certainty of your eternal future be what you cling to.
With all of this in mind, allow the truth of God’s care for you to work its way into your daily life. We are to prioritize the kingdom by viewing everything through the lens of our faith. When you begin to live for God instead of the things of the world, you may find that your tendency to worry will lessen and your response to God and to the world, spiritually and physically, will change dramatically.
LOOK AT CREATION
LOOK AT CREATION
MUSE OVER BIRDS
MUSE OVER BIRDS
Remember, Jesus is talking outside. He’s not utilizing a literary device or a sermon illustration He thought up in his study! He’s out in the open in Palestine where they have crows. Their kind of crow happens to be the gray-hooded crow. Those crows are flying around overhead cawing, or hopping around on the ground squabbling. “Take a look at those crows! Think about them. They neither sow nor reap. They don’t have storerooms or barns. They make no preparations and have no storage. Yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds?”
MARVEL AT LILLIES
MARVEL AT LILLIES
Jesus gives you another reason. He keeps piling it on. “Consider the lilies.” He’s not talking here about fancy flowers. He’s talking about the kind of tough wildflower that grows in a vacant lot or on roadsides, among the weeds. Remember, these are poor people. They don’t have flower gardens. Jesus is pointing out the kind of flower that grows in a weed patch, a bright splash of color. “Look at those flowers over there, how they’re growing. They neither toil nor spin”— they make no effort to look pretty. “But I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field” (here today, gone tomorrow), “which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace” (gathered on the brush pile to be burned), “how much more will He clothe you, you of little faith?”
LEARN FROM CHRIST
LEARN FROM CHRIST
LISTEN TO HIS COMMANDS
LISTEN TO HIS COMMANDS
LOOK AT HIS CROSS
LOOK AT HIS CROSS
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
LIVE UNDER HIS CARE
LIVE UNDER HIS CARE
Lest we should doubt (“Is He really going to give something better?”), Jesus piles it on in His next reason. He says, “Don’t be afraid, little flock.” That’s a vivid picture: “little flock.” It’s the only place in the Bible where that phrase is used. It gives the sense of a flock of sheep small enough that the shepherd knows all their names; He knows what each one faces. He knows their personalities. He knows what they are like. And Jesus makes sure we know that nobody twists God’s arm. He’s not reluctant to love you. “Your Father has gladly chosen to give you the kingdom.”
Little Flock
At the same time that Jesus speaks strong but encouraging words, he does so with a tone that is tender in its toughness, and compassionate in its candor. Don’t let this little phrase that Jesus utters evade you. Don’t miss those two powerful words: little flock. While Jesus challenges you to not worry or fear, he speaks to you as one who belongs to him, whom he is shepherding and for whom he laid down his life. You are unimaginably dear to him and loved by him. You are one of his sheep. Be reassured—he cares for you and loves you even as you struggle with worry, even as you forget him and his care, and give in to your tendency to worry. You may be prone to wander, but you will always be part of his flock.
Remember that this God in whose hand are all creatures, is your Father, and is much more tender of you than you are, or can be, of yourself.
“I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
Isaiah 51:12-13
We cannot fear creatures sinfully until we have forgotten God: when we remember what he is, and what he has said, we will not be fearful.
Let us reflected further on this idea: If I let into my heart the slavish fear of man, I must let out the reverential awe and fear of God. Both fears cannot take up residences in a person’s heart. Whatever we fear most triumphs over our lesser fear. As Falvel asked in his book Keeping the Heart, “shall and dare I cast off the fear of the Almighty for the frowns of a man? Shall I lift up proud dust above the great God?”
Matthew records these words of Jesus on this subject . . .
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10:
Consult the many precious promises which are written for your support and comfort in all dangers
Consult the many precious promises which are written for your support and comfort in all dangers
Quiet your trembling heart by recording and consulting your past experiences of the care and faithfulness of God in former distresses.
Quiet your trembling heart by recording and consulting your past experiences of the care and faithfulness of God in former distresses.
Exercise holy trust in times of great distress. Make it your business to trust God with your life and comforts, and then your heart will be at rest concerning them.
Exercise holy trust in times of great distress. Make it your business to trust God with your life and comforts, and then your heart will be at rest concerning them.
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
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LIVE IN LIGHT OF THE CLIMAX
LIVE IN LIGHT OF THE CLIMAX
REJOICE IN THE EVEN NOW
REJOICE IN THE EVEN NOW
If the promise of Jesus’ tender care is not enough, he adds something more! Your Father is not only going to care for you now, he is in the process and will ultimately give you His kingdom. Your future is certain and you can begin to experience it even now because His kingdom has broken into your life by the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is a deposit guaranteeing that you will get it all one day. So, right now, in the ups and downs of life, the stresses and strains of the uncertain future, let the certainty of your eternal future be what you cling to.
With all of this in mind, allow the truth of God’s care for you to work its way into your daily life. We are to prioritize the kingdom by viewing everything through the lens of our faith. When you begin to live for God instead of the things of the world, you may find that your tendency to worry will lessen and your response to God and to the world, spiritually and physically, will change dramatically.
REJOICE IN THE EVEN NOW
REJOICE IN THE EVEN NOW
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4
REMEMBER THE END IS NEAR
REMEMBER THE END IS NEAR
For Your Father Has Been Pleased to Give You the Kingdom
If the promise of Jesus’ tender care is not enough, he adds something more! Your Father is not only going to care for you now, he is in the process and will ultimately give you His kingdom. Your future is certain and you can begin to experience it even now because His kingdom has broken into your life by the presence of the Holy Spirit. He is a deposit guaranteeing that you will get it all one day.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:
So, right now, in the ups and downs of life, the stresses and strains of the uncertain future, let the certainty of your eternal future be what you cling to.
With all of this in mind, allow the truth of God’s care for you to work its way into your daily life. We are to prioritize the kingdom by viewing everything through the lens of our faith. When you begin to live for God instead of the things of the world, you may find that your tendency to worry will lessen and your response to God and to the world, spiritually and physically, will change dramatically.