Do Not Worry Sotm Series

SOTM “Do not Worry”

Matthew 6:25–34

Scripture reading

There is a story about a young lawyer who was called in from the big city to represent a large railroad company that was being sued by a farmer. It seems that the farmer’s prize cow was missing from a field through which the railroad passed, and the farmer was suing for the value of the cow.

Before the case was to be tried, the lawyer cornered the farmer and convinced him to settle out of court for half of what he originally wanted. The farmer signed the necessary papers and then accepted the check. The young lawyer could not resist gloating a bit about his success.

He said to the farmer, "You know, I couldn’t have won this case if it had gone to trial. The engineer was asleep and the fireman was in the caboose when the train passed through your farm that morning. I didn’t have a single witness to put on the stand!"

With a wry smile, the old farmer replied, "Well, I tell you the truth young feller, I was a little worried about winning that case myself because that cow came home this morning."

(https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/63394/worry-by-mark-peake?ref=TextIllustrationSerps)

Worrying is something we all do:

It’s is not good for us

Jesus commands us to not worry

And still most of us struggle with worry

By definition

“Worrying is feeling uneasy or being overly concerned about a situation or problem.”

Here is what worrying does:

It leaves many with a sense of impending doom or unrealistic fears

- Worrying gives you more things to worry about

- It makes us ultra-sensitive to their environment and to the criticism of others

A LARGE percentage of our illnesses are related to worry, anxiety and stress.

38% of all deaths are heart related and many of those are related to hypertension, high blood pressure and anxiety.

Worry has been linked to cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis, gastrointestinal illness and suicide.

3/4 of all visits to primary care physicians are stress-related complaints or disorders

Question- If we know that worry is a killer- then why do we do it?

(sermoncentral.com)

Matthew 6:27 asks the rhetorical question:

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

The obvious answer is two fold:

Worry can’t add to your life

But worry will subtract from your life both health and joy

edited from “How worry affects the Body” https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/how-worrying-affects-your-body#1

There's no shortage of things to worry about:

Is the coronavirus going away or getting worse

Will the economy come back to life?

How long will the recession last?

We see violence, riots and my rotests

That’s not to mention personal problems like

Health, relationships, financial hardships, wrecked relationships and regret.

1. Jesus tells us simply “DO NOT WORRY”

25 “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 (NKJV)

We all need to hear the message “STOP WORRYING”

We all have needs and God knows our needs

What we usually “Freak out” about are our “Wants”

1 Timothy 6:6 teaches us that “godliness with contentment is great gain.”

JESUS SAYS DON’T WORRY about having enough food or clothing:

We all have needs, put your FAITH in God

Not in your stockpile of food and clothing

Remember: You can relax knowing God sees your trouble and will carry you through

Matthew 6:9-15 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread. (X2)

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

We want NOW all we will need LATER

We want God to act on our time table,

But that is not how God works

God provides on time and a lot of time “Just in the nick of time”

We got to live out these words:

“God whatever you do and you provide is perfect,

I trust you to do what is RIGHT”

This reminds me of the lesson God taught Israel as they wandered in the wilderness:

Every day God provided Manna for the people to eat

Every day they were to collect ONLY what they needed for that day

God provided for them 1 day at a time and

they never missed a meal!

God never failed them and He will never fail us!