Jesus On The Irrelevance Of Worry Series

Second, if fear is not a constant force in your life at times, but you struggle under a low-lying cloud of occasional and fairly normal worries, check your heart. We cannot serve God and Mammon. See where your heart is with regard to God. Do you believe God is Master of Life? Do you believe your life now is just the smallest speck of an eternal life that stretches out before you and that because of God absolutely no irredeemable or permanent harm can ever befall you? In other words, do you believe that you are perfectly safe in the world God has fashioned for you? Check your heart – are you invested more in the Kingdom of God than in the Kingdom of Mammon or this world?

Third, stop feeding your worries and stop supporting those who do! Not long ago the concerns most people had involved their immediate communities where they could get active and make a difference. Today we are bombarded from sunup to sundown with all the worst news from every corner of the earth, little or none of which we can do anything about. So if you find that you worry about things, stop feeding your worries and stop supporting the media that does it. If you were addicted to pornography but convinced it’s wrong and you shouldn’t be viewing it, would it be a sign of strength to go to websites where there are naked girls and just try hard not to look? Terrible idea. Stupid! So if you struggle with worry and anxiety, remember that Jesus said it is wrong and unneccesary! Knowing that, do not take in the information that makes you anxious. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway. Remember, each day has enough trouble of its own. Put down the paper. Turn off the news. When you go to McDonald’s, where they run CNN around the clock, sit with your back to it. You should be focusing on your family anyway. Stay off of websites that feed your fear. And remember that if the media doesn’t scare you, they won’t be able to sell you anything. Remember that the most powerful instrument in the world (the American media) is set up to keep you 1) always wanting more; 2) always afraid.

Fourth, remember that waiting until you are scared to death about something in your life or in the world and then running to God might not help a whole lot. Give fear a foothold in your life and you will struggle to get it gone. It might take days of reorienting yourself to God and to his world, where your worries and fears are irrelevant. If that’s the way to get out of fear, then it’s the way to stay out.

Fifth, and this is related to the fourth, steady your mind on God. Focus on him, take your concerns to him, and trust him.

Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)

3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

4 Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

10 "Be still, and know that I am God…

Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)

8 …whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.