Worry and U
Mt 6:25 "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?
Jesus told us not to worry. In this message I will give five reasons worry is something we should disicipline ourselves to avoid, all five have U in mind.
I begin with my own definition of the word worry:
WORRY IS A LIE THAT SLANDERS GOD. Worry is a lie in that says God won’t do things He has said He will do. He feeds the birds, and clothes the lillies He will take care of our temporal needs. Worry says He won’t, and that makes worry a lie. Would you let someone berate God to you? Wouldn’t you either excuse yourself from their company, or stand up for God in your conversation. It’s strange to me, how people would never allow themselves to remain in conversations that talk down God’s love and care, yet allow such conversations to take place in their mind! Thinking is simply conversations we have with ourselves in our mind. Paul speaks of the need to bring every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), and of the need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Rom 12:2).
Worry slanders God, in that it says bad things about His love, His care, His compassion. Sometime we need to remind ourselves that all we get is by grace, and that their is a reason we speak of amazing grace. Christians need to police their thoughts and say that they will not allow any more conversations that slander God. (To the reader, as time allows I will be posting another message: "Let the peace of God rule", that will deal with this subject of policing our thoughts in much fuller detail.)
1. Worry is Unbecoming. We are to have on the garment of praise, not the sack cloth and ashes of worry. Worry dresses us in spiritual rags, far beneath the dignity and calling God has placed on our lives.
2. Worry is Unhealthy. Worry produces stress which carries a high overhead with it. We lose sleep, thereby losing strength to combat the stress and this gangrene keeps stealing more and more and more of our emotional, physical, and spiritual strength. It can get us dangerously low in these three vital areas of our lives. I received a birthday card from Bill Gothard ministries one year and on it he describes three kinds of sleep: Excessive sleep - the result of being my own boss. Restless sleep - the reproof of taking my cares to bed. Restful Sleep - the reward of a good conscience. I believe restful sleep is also the reward of casting all your cares upon Him.
3. Worry is Unkind. Worry takes men prisoner. Even as a person can be bound in a prison, with chains and bars, wall and guard dogs, so worry confines the soul: Try to step out into something new and see how strong the chain of worry can hinder you!
Worry serves prison food. Your Christianity will be bland and tasteless. God said He would provide a banqueting table in the presence of our enemies! It doesn’t matter what the devil is doing, I can always, "taste and see that the Lord is good", and I can always, "delight myself in fatness." But worry makes it seem as if the banqueting table has turned into military K-rations, God is seen as uncaring, ungracious, and unwilling to bless you with a good life.
Worry confines, try to move out and it’s guard dogs named fear and apprehension will began barking and showing their teeth. "You can’t do that!", "God won’t help you!" "God doesn’t love you!" The following is a portion of that great Christian classic, "The Pilgrim’s Progress." It is the story of when the Christian Pilgrim encountered two lions on his journey, the passageway was narrow and one lion was on either side of the passage. "So I saw in my dream that he made haste and went forward, that if possible he might get lodging there. Now before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off of the porter’s lodge; and, looking very narrowly before him as he went, he espied two lions in the way. Now, thought he, I see the dangers by which MISTRUST and TIMOROUS were driven back. (The lions were chained; but he saw not the chains.) Then he was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them; for he thought nothing but death was before him. But the porter at the lodge, whose name is WATCHFUL, perceiving that CHRISTIAN made a halt, as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, "Is thy strength so small? (Mark 4:40) fear not the lions; for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is; and for discovery of those that have none: keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee!" Then I saw that he went on, trembling for fear of the lions, but taking good heed to the directions of the porter. He heard them roar; but they did him no harm." This story clearly illustrates that there are places in life where worry can severely hinder you from following God, if you listen to its taunts. Always remember, "the lions are chained."
Worry creates sorrow even as a prison does. After beating you down with fear, it will beat you down with negative hurtful words. "If God loved you then why..." Worry is like the devil’s torture chamber, as long as you listen to it, it will continue to exert a negative and painful influence over your life. It is time for those struggling with worry to rise up and say, "get thee hence satan!"
Worry creates despair, even as a prison is a place of great despair. Despair can be best defined by: "the loss of hope, that creates agony in the soul." The bible in 1 Corinthians 13 says that hope abides (remains). You can either water the flower of hope and it will grow into a beautiful bouquet, or you can water the weed of worry and it will choke the spiritual life right out of you. You water these plants by paying heed to their voice. What you listen to you feed, what you feed grows, what you disregard you starve, what you starve dies.
Worry is Unnecessary - God takes care of His own. You don’t have to worry, God will take care of you. He won’t let you down, He won’t fail you, He won’t forsake you. Worry is a waste, it profits nothing, pulls you down, and won’t help you one iota to move your mountain. There is no need for a Christian to every worry, Jesus is called "Faithful and True," (Rev. 19:11)
Worry is a Universal contagion - Contagion is usually used in regards to disease, in that it is highly transmissible, and is thought of as a harmful corrupting influence. The Bible teaches that in the last days men’s hearts will fail them for fear. Fear is the spirit of this age, and like a contagion it can spread from person to person. In this day and age we need to be especially careful we don’t get the world’s fear filled perspective concerning the environment, the economy, El Nino etc. In contrast to the world we are to be the light of the world, knowing that should the economy ever fail, God will still be faithful and provide for His children. Every year the raven face a winter, with no barns or storehouses yet God provides for them.
Finally Worry is Wrong for U. It is wrong for you, wrong in you, its communicates the wrong message about the God you serve, and its just plain wrong, wrong, wrong.
