"Getting Past, The Worrying"

“Getting past the worrying”

Matthew 6:25-27 NIV.

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. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?

26. Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?

27. And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?

Here are some statistics off the net, concerning worry and stress:

*30% of workers suffer from back pain. *20% feel fatigued.

*13% suffer from headaches.

*Anxiety disorders cost the US more than $42 billion per year.

*19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult US population (between 18-54yrs) suffer from anxiety and panic attack.

*Forty-three percent of adults suffer adverse stress health effects.

*Two-thirds of all office visits to family physicians are due to stress-related symptoms.

*Sixty-four percent of Americans say they are taking steps to reduce stress in their lives.

*Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death—heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.

*Stress is said to be responsible for more than half of the 550 million workdays lost annually because of absenteeism.

I’m sure there are many here this morning, that are familiar with Jesus’ rhetorical question,

“Which of you by worrying can add one hour to his life, or as the KJ. Puts it, can anyone add one cubit to his stature?”

Matt. 6:25 NKJ.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?”

Not many of us though, actually let the word get into our hearts and allow the love of God to free us from our habit of worrying.

You see there are times we all are a lot like children, ya know they hear their parents telling them what they need to know and how they need to do it.

But somehow, it always seems to go right through one ear and out the other.

The truth of the matter is this, no amount of worrying can lengthen your life or add anything to your physical person.

Instead, worrying robs you of everything. Your sleep, your health and of your time, over and over and over.

In fact, it is only when you stop the worrying that God’s anointing will flow freely in you, strengthening, healing, restoring and adding to you.

Worrying is all about what you can do, not what God can do.

Worrying keeps the infasis on you, while

trusting God takes you completely out of the picture.

When you stop trying to do it on your own and rely on Gods ability to take care of the situation,

No matter what it is, that’s when the stress stops and the resting in God’s ability starts, that’s when the peace of God takes over the situation.

During the 1800s, the French General George Muller Massena who took orders from Napoleon, arrived at a quaint and militarily important Austrian town. His 18,000 soldiers were gearing up for their invasion, as the stunned Austrian citizens were lifeless and terrified. Knowing they were about to beaten, killed, sold into slavery, or worse, they laid down plans for the counter attack.

What did they do? Since it was Easter Sunday and their upcoming deaths were imminent regardless of their defensive positioning, they went to church. Figuring their only defense was direct intervention from their Maker, they rang the church bells, put on their Sunday’s best, and worshipped the Lord.

When services ended, the Austrian prayer warriors opened the church doors to find the entire French battalion had vacated. It turns out that the French General Massena incorrectly confused the ringing of the church bells for Easter service with what he thought was the announcement of the arrival of the entire Austrian army. The city was saved, and Christ was glorified.

That’s what we should be willing to do every time, just give it over to God and let Him do the dealing with it!

And we should learn to do it, long before we have exhausted and spent ourselves worrying only to come to the same conclusion each time and every time.

We just can’t do it!, no matter how many times we try to do it on our own, without Gods help, its never going to happen!

Matt. 6 Vs. 27 NKJ.

27. And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?

Oh, I’m sure it would be nice one might think, if life were one mountain top experience after another,