"worry (Part 1): Why The Bible Tells Us Not To Worry" Series

Today we will continue our sermon series on "The Bible and Emotional Problems." The topic that we will learn is worry. "I have a mountain of credit card debt," one man told another. "I have lost my job. My car is being repossessed and our house is in foreclosure, but I am not worried about it." "You aren't worried about that?" exclaimed his friend. "No, I've hired a professional worrier. He does all my worrying for me, and that way I don't have to think about it." "That's fantastic! How much does your professional worrier charge?" "$50,000 a year", he replied. "$50,000 a year? Where are you going to get that kind of money?" "I don't know," comes the reply. "That's his worry."

What is worry? The Longman Dictionary describes worry as 'an uncomfortable feeling in the mind, caused by a mixture of fear and uncertainty.' Worry is the uneasy feeling we often experience in times of fear, trouble, or problems. Worry comes from an Anglo-Saxon root meaning "to strangle" or "to choke." Worrying is thinking about the future in a way that leaves you feeling anxious or nervous.

What do we worry about? Dr. Krainess suggests the three categories into which most worries fall:

1. Disturbing situations for which one must find a solution, such as obtaining money for food, lodging, or medical expenses.

2. Disturbing situations when one has no control; for example, a loved one dying of cancer; or a son away in the military.

3. Unimportant, insignificant, minor problems of everyday life, which in reality aren't worth worrying about.

A survey taken by USA Today studied significant sources of worry. 36% said work is the most important source of stress – 22% money – 10% children – 7% health – 5% marriage – 5% parents – 5% no stress at all – 19% little stress.

Not all worry is bad. There is a positive, wise kind of worry. God provides us with thinking and feeling. There are situations where it is appropriate to worry. For example, if our baby has a high fever or is three years old but still cannot walk or talk, it is right to be worried. If we worry about getting sick and because of that we watch our diet, exercise, that is a good kind of worry. Driving carefully within the speed limit is also a reasonable worry if we worry about getting in an accident.

Andrew Grove, a very successful CEO of Intel, wrote "Only the Paranoid Survive." In his book, he suggests that instead of not being paranoid, be creatively paranoid and anticipate every possible alternative, learn from it, and do something about it. In other words, to be successful in business, worry is needed to motivate creativity and innovation. A few days ago, I read an article about why Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in 1998, failed. Two of the reasons are that Nokia overestimated its brand value and was too confident with its operating system while brands like Samsung and Apple came up with more advanced phones every year.

In Galatians 4:11 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5, apostle Paul expressed his worry because some false teachers had come to the churches in Galatia and Thessalonica and tried to mislead them with wrong teachings. As Evangelical Christians, we certainly have reasons for worry these days as well. Nowadays, many nonbelievers would consider sharing the gospel to be "hate speech." We can see America turning away from the Lord, making it more challenging for Christians to remain faithful. For example, a federal judge denied a request from the College of the Ozarks, a Christian university in Missouri, to be exempted from a Biden directive that allows biological men who "identify" as female to live in women's dormitories. A professor of neuroscience and psychology at Duke University has been removed from an American Psychological Association email group for suggesting there are only two sexes. A new study found that 43 percent of millennials "don't know, don't care, don't believe God exists." And LifeWay Research that for the year 2019, Protestant church closures outpaced church openings in the US. Knowing these things may cause us to worry, but we must be careful. It is only a positive worry if it motivates us to come to God, pray for our country, and ask for His protection. We must not allow these things to make us despair.

So, when the Bible says: "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25) or "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say." (Luke 12:11) or "Casting all your worries on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7), they do not talk about those positive, constructive, and good worry but negative, wrong, and destructive worry.