Let Go Of Worry Series

Matthew 6:31-32

Sometimes we convince ourselves that we trust in the Lord with our whole heart, but when push comes to shove we don’t really trust Him. It is easy for me to say at times, “I fully depend on God.” However, it becomes a little bit more difficult when times are slightly rough. It becomes a little more difficult when I do not know how I am going to pay my bills. So what do I do, I worry about it. I take it into my own hands. There is nothing wrong with taking action and trying to be proactive about a problem that you have in life, but the question is when money gets tight do we trust that the Lord will provide our needs. Do we trust him enough to keep on giving a portion of our incomes? It is easy for me to trust the Lord when things are going great, but what about when work isn’t going so well, or when my health begins to fail, or my children are giving me some problems, or I am involved in some conflict with someone else? What do we do? Do we trust the promises that God gives us in His Word or do we worry about it constantly to no avail? Sometimes I think we do not trust as well as we think we do, let us let go of worry because worrying indicates that you do not trust God to take action.

b. Worry Accomplishes Nothing Good

There was a patient in the mental hospital, holding his ear close to the wall, listening intently. The nurse finally approaches him and says “What are you doing.” “Shhh!" he says. And he keeps listening.

And finally the patient beckons the nurse over and says, “Listen.” The nurse presses hers ear to the wall for a long time. And she finally says, "I can’t hear a thing,” And the patient says, "Yea, and it’s been like that all day!"

Well, worry is a little bit like that mental patient sitting and listening to the wall. Worry consumes a lot of our time, but accomplishes very little in the long run. Worry is a waste of time. It doesn’t accomplish anything. This is exactly what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:27

It has been said that the average person’s anxiety is focused on 40% of things that will never happen, 30% about things in the past that can’t be changed, 12% things about criticism by others which is mostly untrue, 10% about health, which gets worse with stress, and only about 8% about real problems that will be faced.

I believe that is fairly close to accurate. The reality is, and we understand it from our experiences that no matter how much we worry about something it does not change things. I have never seen anyone solve a problem or accomplish anything due to worrying about it.

One man said, “Don’t tell me that worrying does not help. The things I worry about never happen.”

Worry and anxiety are essentially a waste of your time.

Often times the things we spend time worrying about are beyond our control anyways and it does not accomplish anything good. Let us let go of worry and anxiety because in reality worrying does not accomplish anything.

c. Worry Is Bad For Your Health

Proverbs 12:25

Indeed worry weighs a person down, and as you battle stress, anxiety and worry you can feel the weight and the affect of that worry on your body. Worry may lead to added stress in your life, sleeplessness, irritability, and tension. I hope we can see that worry does not accomplish anything good. Worry is indeed a danger to your health. I have heard it said that a majority of visits to primary care physicians are stress related problems. According to the Maryland Medical Center anxiety affects some 23 million Americans each year. Worry has been linked to cancer, lung ailments, various accidents, gastrointestinal problems, ulcers and even suicide. Worry and stress can bring on many different health problems, including diabetes. Many deaths in America re heart related, and we know that worry is bad on the heart, causing things like hypertension. I believe many people die from spending a lot of time worrying about various things. Let us understand plainly that worry will take a physical toll on you. I believe many of us experience health problems and physical difficulties because of worry and stress in our lives.