Four things to help me worry less (Matthew 6:31-34)

 1.  Get To Know God Better   “So don’t worry saying `What will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things.  Your heavenly Father knows you need them.[1]“  God says, I know you need those things.  Don’t worry like the pagans. What’s a pagan?  A pagan is somebody who doesn’t know God or somebody who doesn’t believe God. Do not worry like somebody who doesn’t believe.

He says non believers have a right to worry.  They ought to.  They’re trying to make it through the world on their own effort. If you not a believer, get to know God better, read the bible, go to church, ask questions.

As follower of Christ we are different.  We don’t have to worry because we trust a heavenly Father who promises to take care of us.  God is saying, “You’re My child but you’re acting like an orphan.  I want to take care of you.”  I love the phrase, “Your Father knows you need them.”  Yet how often do we act like God is totally unaware that the house payment is coming up next week and that the car’s broken down and two of the kids are sick and that taxes are coming around the corner.  We act as if it all depends on us.  Jesus is saying, don’t act like that.  That’s unbelief.

Worry could be summed up in two words:  playing God.  Worry is assuming responsibility that God never intended for me to have in the first place.  He says, “I know what you need, trust me.”   He does a better job than I would anyway.  Get to know God better.

We think the only thing God is good for is Sunday mornings and salvation.  We need to get to know God better.  That’s why we have NEXT STEPS: Growth Groups, giving, serving, and missions  Take a next step, you will grow and get to know God better.

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” [2] Give us ALL things.  Get to know God beyond just your salvation.

It’s amazing we can trust God for our eternal salvation, but then we say, “Lord, I’ll handle my finances, family, friends, health and everything else!”  If I trust God for my eternal soul, I can trust Him for my daily life.

*There’s a story about a guy walking down a country road with a heavy backpack.  A pick up came along and picked him up.  About three miles down the road the man said, “Why don’t you take off your backpack and throw it into the back? I know it’s a heavy load.” He said, “Oh, no!  It’s enough for you to carry me.  I’ll carry my own load.”   We think that’s silly but that’s the way we treat God.  The next way to worry less is to..

 2.  Trust God For Things I Can’t Control.

Much of life is beyond our control and I think God allows this so we can learn to trust Him.

We find it hard to trust God because people have let us down.  It makes it worse when someone says “Don’t worry,”  like these famous last words.

•  Don’t worry, I can go another twenty miles when the gauge is on “empty.”

•  Don’t worry, he’s never bitten anyone.

•   Said by the moving company, “Don’t Worry we’ll treat your stuff as if it were our own.”

•  Don’t worry I’ll take care of everything.”

•  Don’t worry, we can still be friends.

Because people often let us down we assume God will let us down.

“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, oh, you of little faith?[3]“  Jesus said, you don’t need to worry because God has promised to take care of you.

When I was a child and had a need, I would go to my father, I would need money for scout camping trips, baseball, football, soccer or church youth events, he would take care of it.  When I got older he said “get a job.”  But as a child I didn’t worry about where the money was coming from.  I didn’t worry about whether my dad had it or not.   God says, “I’m your heavenly Father.  And you don’t have to worry.  I will take care of your needs, trust Me.”

In the days of the country store, a little boy went his mother shopping. He saved his money for a treat. “How much candy can I get with three pennies?” the boy asked.  “A handful” said, the storekeeper, “Take a handful of candy, Son.” But the boy just stood there. “Then storekeeper reached into the box and gave him a handful. His mother asked, “Why didn’t you to take a handful?” The boy replied, “Because his hands are bigger than mine!”  God’s hands are bigger than ours!

“My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”[4]

   Worry is a misunderstanding of the nature of God.  God loves me.  God’s interested in me.  God’s cares about everything in my life.

3. Put God First In Everything  “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all of these other things will be given to you as well.” [5] Food, clothing, happiness and all these “other things” are given when God is first.

Worry is an indication of mixed up values. Whenever I start worrying it’s a warning light – that’s saying my priorities are out of order.  To overcome worry is put God first in every area.

*The starting point is to commit your life to Jesus Christ and He can heal those worries. The Bible says when anyone becomes a believer in Christ, all of the “old life is passed away and the new life begins to come.”[6]  All the old ways of responding to life — the habits, the thoughts, the patterns of reacting to life — they’re released and we begin to grow in a new life.

As long as we love anything before God, we’re going to be victimized by worry and anxiety.  We were not made to put other things in front of God.  When we do, it causes anxiety in our lives.

Every person must decide: Who or what am I going to live for?

Whatever you live for becomes your master.  God says “You can’t have two masters.”[7]  If you want Me to help with worry, make Me number one in your life and as a result I will bring everything else into focus.  All these other things will be added unto you.  But if you put those other things first, I’m out of the picture. ” Start worrying when God’s out of the picture because you’re out there on your own, trying to make it in a life designed to live simply in your own power.

Money is funny in that whether you have it or not, you still worry about it.  You can be a multi‑ millionaire or you can be dirt poor, but either way, you’re still going to worry about it.  If you don’t have it, you worry about how to get it.  If you’ve got it, you’ll worry about losing it. Either way, you’re going to worry.  So Jesus says, “Don’t worry about those kinds of things.  Trust Me.  Put Me first in your life.”

A practical way you can trust God every moment.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”[8]

 If it’s something to worry about, it’s something to pray about. If it’s something to be anxious about, it’s something to give to God.  Trade the anxiety for peace. Tell God, “I’m not worrying I’m praying.  I’m not anxious I’m giving it to you God.  You’re in control.”

4. Live One Day At A Time v. 34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself.  Everyday has enough trouble of its own.”[9]  That is about as relevant as you can get.   Jesus says don’t open your umbrella before it starts raining.  Don’t start worrying before you get there. Don’t cross the bridge until you get to it.

Every week there are two days you should never worry about: Yesterday and Tomorrow.  Concentrate on today.  In worrying about tomorrow’s problems, I miss today’s blessings.

God has made our lives that we’re to live on a day by day basis.  That doesn’t mean you don’t plan.  Jesus advised it.  You plan for tomorrow, but you have to live today.  Don’t worry about it because today’s resources are not sufficient for tomorrow’s problems.  God gives you just enough grace, just enough power for now.

The Bible does not say, “Give us this day our weekly bread.”  It says, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  What you need for today will be sufficient for today.  When you get to the problem tomorrow, God will give you the power for the problem tomorrow. It’s ok to plan for tomorrow.  God wants you to plan and set goals, dream dreams, set objectives and move toward them.  But you don’t worry about tomorrow’s problems.  You live one day at a time.

The future, when you think about it, can really be overwhelming. It can get you down when you realize how it’s coming in at you. God designed the future to come at our lives in bite sized portions.  It comes in 24-hour segments, one day at a time.  It’s like the hour glass.  You flip it upside down and the sand goes through, but only one grain at a time.  That’s the way God intends for us to deal with our problems — one at a time.  You deal with one and then the next one comes along to deal with.

Worry and trust are opposites.  They cannot live together in a home.  When worry comes in the front door, trust goes out the back door.  Fill your mind with trust — trust God in every area — and worry departs.

*Have you ever read your insurance policy?  Its great night time reading if you want to fall asleep fast! Whenever I get an insurance policy, I read what it covers quickly.  Niki knows the medical policies I know the auto and home.  Once I know what it covers, I don’t worry about what’s covered.

The Bible is God’s contract to us.  He says, “This is what I’m committing myself to regarding your family, your finances, your health, your life, your past, your present, your future.”  When you know it’s covered in your contract, you can relax.  He’ll make good on it.

What’s got you worried?  The economy?  Job?  Personal problem?  Marriage?  Health?  A problem with friends?  A problem at work?

Jesus Christ has made it possible for you to live with less worry. He is God, He is in control. Put your life in Jesus’ hands and trust Him on a day by day, moment by moment basis.  You can live with less worry and anxiety.  Peace is found by trusting Jesus.

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

[1] Matthew 6:31