7 Reasons Not to Worry
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Today we begin week 3 of our series Fear Not. I want to give you 7 reasons not to worry. But before I do I want to show you this promo about our next series that starts November 7th. Take a look!
Show Return of the King Social Promo.
It is going to be good. We are going to get look at some prophesies and talk about what different end times terms mean and hopefully answer any questions you may have. But today our focus is on Worry. And I want to give you 7 reasons not to worry.
If you have your Bibles, go to the book of Matthew. I will be reading from chapter 6, beginning at verse 25.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
For the next few minutes I want to give you seven reasons not to worry. I want to encourage you to take notes this morning so you can go back and reference this message later. You can also follow along with our online bulletin that has the message slides on that as well.
1. The Same God Who Created Your Life Can Be Trusted With the Details of Your Life.
1. The Same God Who Created Your Life Can Be Trusted With the Details of Your Life.
When we worry, it causes us to distrust God and we replace practical action for fear. Worry means paying attention to what we cannot change instead of putting our energies to work in effective ways. Jesus made it clear in this passage that worry takes away from life rather than adding anything to it.
Look at verse 25 again. Jesus said,
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
The command “do not worry” does not imply complete lack of concern, nor does it call people to be unwilling to work and supply their own needs. Instead, Jesus was continuing to highlight kingdom priorities.
When we worry over lack of food or inadequate clothing, we immobilize ourselves and focus on the worry. We refuse to trust that God can supply these most basic needs. Worry immobilizes us, but trust in God moves us to action. We work for our money to supply food and clothing, but we must always remember that these ultimately come from God’s hands. When the need arises, we need not worry, for we know that our God will supply.
2. Worrying About the Future Hampers Your Efforts for Today.
2. Worrying About the Future Hampers Your Efforts for Today.
When Jesus was talking about the birds in verse 26 I can imagine him maybe gesturing to the sky and maybe birds passed over. Jesus reminded us that they don’t sow or reap or store their food away, but our heavenly Father feeds them. And Jesus made sure that we understood that God cared more for us than the birds.
Jesus was teaching total dependence upon God as opposed to humanity’s self-sufficiency. How much more should we trust God to provide for our needs? Jesus is not prohibiting us from working for our food, but He doesn’t want us to worry about having enough food. Everything that we have ultimately comes from God. God always provides for our needs whether we have much or very little.
3. Worrying is More harmful than Helpful.
3. Worrying is More harmful than Helpful.
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Every morning we should get up and ask ourselves this question.
Each day we are faced with new challenges, new concerns. We will probably have new problems and we will have to make new choices. The question is will we worry or will we pray? Will me worrying be of any help to my day?
Worry actually causes more harm than good. Worry can damage your health.
I actually read on WebMD that worrying too much can trigger a release of stress hormones that speed up your heart rate and breathing. It can also raise your blood sugar.
Worrying can also consume our thoughts and disrupt our productivity. And worrying reduces our ability to trust in God. Worrying may actually take away from our span of life rather than adding to it. Worrying accomplishes nothing.
4. God Does Not Ignore Those Who Depend on Him.
4. God Does Not Ignore Those Who Depend on Him.
In verse 28-30, Jesus is again referring to something that could probably be seen during this sermon. He may have pointed to some lilies where they were at the time. Using them as an illustration for the people to understand that God cares more for us that the nature God created for us to enjoy.
Think about flowers for a moment. Have you ever cut flowers from a garden or purchased flowers from a store. What happens to them after a short time? They die. They are only with us for a short time. And yet God makes sure that are more beautiful than most of us can imagine.
We use to have some azalea bushes in our landscaping. For about 2 maybe 3 weeks out of the year those azalea bushes produces some of the most beautiful white flowers. But once they were done, those bushes were boring and kind of ugly. God cared enough about those bushes to give them beauty 2 weeks out of the year. And God cares for us to give beauty year round.
When we depend on God He will take care of us.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Remember what I told you last week. You need to place all your worry, all your fear, all your anxiety in its proper place. In the hands of God. God loves you and he cares for you more than you could ever imagine.
5. Worry Shows a Lack of Faith in and Understanding of God.
5. Worry Shows a Lack of Faith in and Understanding of God.
Let me read verses 31 and 32 again to you.
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Jesus is telling us, because God provides food and clothing not only for birds and flowers but even more for his precious human creation, do not worry.
Do not spend energy fretting over what you will eat, drink or wear. Worry has not place in the lives of Jesus’ disciples; it is the unbelievers who seek after and fret over and worry about such things. Because they have no sense of God’s care for them. They have no reason to focus their energies elsewhere.
But Jesus’ followers, you and I, we have kingdom priorities. We have a favored relationship with the king of kings and lord of lords. We have a promise that our heavenly father knows that we need all these things. And we will take care fo us. So I don’t need to worry because I know who my father is and what he will do for me.
6. There are Real Challenges God Wants Us to Pursue, and Worrying Keeps Us from Them.
6. There are Real Challenges God Wants Us to Pursue, and Worrying Keeps Us from Them.
We are to Seek First God’s Kingdom. What is your number one priority? As a believer, Your number one priority should be to seek God first. Unbelievers will usually seek out comfort, security, money, fashion and so on. And none of these things are wrong as long as they are not your first priority.
Remember Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
The word “seek” is a present imperative. It is a command to fulfill a continuing obligation. To “seek the kingdom” means both to submit to God’s sovereignty here and now and to work for the future coming of His kingdom. To “seek His righteousness” means to seek to live as God requires, to truly seek these “first” calls for total loyalty and commitment. It means to turn to God first for help, to fill our thoughts with his desires, to take his character for our pattern, and to serve and obey him in everything.
Take a moment and ask yourself, what is most important to me? What do you “seek first”? Is is people, objects, goals, money, pleasure? All of these things compete for priority. Any of these things can quickly bump God out of first place if we don’t actively choose to give him first place in every area of life.
Jesus promised us that when we get our priorities right, then and only then, will all these things be added to us. This is a real challenge because every part of our life is seeking to become first and that is why we must put God first and then everything else will line up accordingly and then we don’t have to worry.
7. Living One Day at a Time Keeps Us From Being Consumed with Worry.
7. Living One Day at a Time Keeps Us From Being Consumed with Worry.
Because God cares for His people’s needs, do not worry about tomorrow. Jesus said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” It other words, what we worry about happening tomorrow may not happen, so we will have wasted time and energy worrying. We need to save that energy for today. We only add to today’s burdens when we worry about the future. We have enough burdens today, so we let God take care of those today. And tomorrow we will let God take care of those burdens then.
God promises us that he will care for our needs. That does not mean that life will be without trouble. Trouble comes, so we trust God to provide through his grace. We have to trust him for today without worrying about tomorrow.
It is okay to plan for tomorrow. When we plan for tomorrow that is time well spent. However, if we worry about tomorrow that is time wasted. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference.
When you plan carefully you are thinking ahead about your goals, steps and schedules and trusting in God’s guidance. When you do it well, you help to alleviate worry. Worriers are consumed by fear and make it difficult to trust God. they let their plans interfere with their relationship with God. Do not let the worries of tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.
Closing
I have just given you 7 reasons not to worry. You have to understand that God wants his best for you. Since he wants his best you don’t have to worry and just trust him. Put your trust in him. Keep your focus on today and let tomorrow come and you will realize that God has it under control as well.