Medical doctors estimate that more than 25% of their patients are what they have called the "worried well." Doctors spend a great chunk of time examining people who are not sick. They are only worried.
Worry is the diet of our day. We are plagued by that "What if?" problem. What if my car was demolished? What if I get laid off from work? What if our house is burglarized? What if I get cancer? If we have a good job we worry that we’ll lose it and if we have good health we worry that we won’t have it long. If our children have left the house, we worry that they might come back home. From breakfast until bedtime our lives are characterized by worry. I even know people whose biggest worry is that they can’t think of something to worry about.
Most of us can identify with the woman who told her doctor she was seriously ill and named the disease she suspected she had. But he said she couldn’t possibly have that disease because it was never accompanied by any discomfort. She replied, "That’s just it doctor. That’s what I’m so worried about. I feel absolutely wonderful." A child one time made the comment, "My mother is such a worrier. One cough and she thinks I’ve got bronchitis. One headache and she thinks I’ve got a brain tumor. One little lie and she thinks I’m going to become a politician."
I love the story of the man whose co-workers noticed that he was as worried as a centipede with athlete’s foot. Someone asked, "What are you so worried about?" He said, "A few years ago I went home one day and my wife was whistling "Tea for Two." Shortly thereafter we had twins. The next year I went home and she was watching a The Three Musketeers on television. Shortly thereafter we had triplets." They said, "So why are you worried now?" He said, "Last night I went home and she was reading the book The Birth of a Nation."
It’s interesting how God speaks to where we live because in Matthew 6:25-34 God discusses worry. The reason He does so is interesting. He has just told the people not to let money be their master. He says in verse 24 "No man can serve two masters; for either you will hate the one and love the other or else you will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." But Jesus knew that the reason a lot of people let money be their master is that they are worried about tomorrow. The average person thinks his worries would be solved if only his income increased. Therefore, having told them not to let money be their master, He gives them a better way to handle the problem of worry.
But before we dig into the center of this loaf from heaven’s oven, I discover two things when I just bite into the crust of this passage. One is God’s definition of worry. Verse 25 begins, "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry." Worry in this passage means to have a distracting care. The same word is used in Philippians 4:6 where it says "Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Therefore, a scriptural definition of worry is a distracting care resulting from assuming responsibility that is not yours. God is not saying "Don’t be concerned about your health." He is saying, "Don’t let that become such a distracting care that it is all you can think about. That is My responsibility." God is not saying, "Don’t be concerned about your finances." He is saying, "Don’t let that become such a distracting care that money is all you think about. That’s My responsibility." He is not saying, "Don’t be concerned about your job." He is saying, "Don’t let that become such a distracting care that your job is all you can think about. That’s My responsibility." Worry is a distracting care resulting from assuming responsibility that is not yours.
The second thing I notice is that verse 25 is a command. It says, "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry." The actual meaning behind that phrase is, "If you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop it right now." Verse 25 does not say, "What are the possibilities of not worrying?" Verse 25 does not say, "Didn’t I have a good idea when I suggested you not worry?" Verse 25 does not say, "Why don’t you form a committee to decide if it would be a good idea not to worry." Instead, it means, "If you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop it right now." Worry is sin, disobedience to a God-given command. It is just as much a sin as stealing because God says you shall not steal. It is just as much a sin as coveting because God says you shall not covet. Worry is disobedience to a God-given command. The meaning is, "If you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop it right now."
So often we try to justify worrying. I know a man who said, "Don’t tell me worrying doesn’t do any good. Everything I worry about doesn’t happen." One man defended his worrying by saying, "I find it helps to worry. The people who worry never get ulcers." And one person responded, "No, the problem is, they just give them to everybody else." And I know a woman who is convinced that her worrying is biblical. She’s convinced that when Noah put two of every animal in the ark, his wife said, "Noah, I’d feel a lot better if those two termites were locked in a tin box." Yet the Bible is clear, there is no way you can justify worry. Worry is a sin.
Having given the command, God gives the reason behind it. He does so by laying out two principles and then on the basis of those two principles draws three conclusions. Because when God says something, He means what He says and what He says has meaning.
The first principle God gives is, there is more to life than what you are worrying about. Verse 25 says, "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?" We worry the most about the small things.
A man once made a trip across the United States, hoofing it every step of the way. When he finished, someone asked what worried him the most. You would expect him to say the lakes he swam, the hills he climbed, the mountains he crossed. Instead, he said, "The sand in my shoes." We get the most overwhelmed with small things. In fact, a panel of psychologists concluded in a study that 40% of our worries are about things that never happen. 30% are about things in our past. 22% are about petty things. Someone has observed that for every person worrying about the end of the world, there are a thousand more worrying about the end of the month. Only 8% of what we worry about has significance. We get overwhelmed with the simple things. That’s why God speaks of food, water and clothing. Life is more than food, water and clothing - as important as they are. It’s the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, the right temperature to walk in. And if God takes care of those things He will also take care of what you are worrying about. So the first principle is: There is more to life than what you are worrying about.
Let me illustrate from the Old Testament. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. There must have been 3 million of them. To feed a group that size would take about 1,500 tons of food a day or the amount you could put on two freight trains, each one a mile long. To supply water to that size of group would take 11 million gallons a day. But life was more than food and water. They had to cross the Red Sea in one night. Walking two abreast they could have not done it. God provided a passage big enough for thousands to cross at once. At the end of the day, they needed rest. For a group that size it would take a space 2/3 the size of Rhode Island. And remember, they were in the wilderness 40 years. But the God who provided the food and the water also provided a passageway across the Red Sea and the rest at the end of the day. And the first principle God gives is: There is more to life than what you are worrying about.
Then God gives a second principle. That is: If God takes care of His creation, He will also take care of His children. He uses two lines of support as proof. First He says, Look up. Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" The Bible is saying, take a good look at the birds. If the Bird Watching Society were here today, they would name me honorary president because I believe the Bible says to become a bird watcher. And the more you watch them you see they get food without the normal activities of sowing and reaping that a farmer uses. God’s relationship with them is as the Creator to His creation. The Bible says, if God takes care of His creation, He will also take care of His children. As the end of verse 26 says, "Are you not of more value than they?" If God takes care of all those birds up there, He will take care of all of us birds down here.
Before moving on to a second line of proof, God gives a P. S. That is, what good does worrying do anyway? Verse 27 says, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" What that actually means is one cubit to his life span. A cubit is a measure of length from the tip of the forefinger to the elbow. It’s about 18". Job 14:5 tells us that before we were born God established the length of our days. So the Bible is saying, by worrying you can’t change it even by the equivalent of 18" so what good would worrying do anyway?
One time a teacher in a Christian school was preparing her children for the visit from a preacher. She said, "When he comes he will probably ask some questions. It’s a safe bet that one of them will be ’Who made us?’ Now Johnny, when he asks that, stand up and say, ’God made me, Reverend.’"So the day came. Sure enough, when the preacher visited he said, "Now, I’d like to ask a few questions and the first one is this. Who made us?" The only problem was, Johnny was absent. So the girl that sat next to him stood and said, "Reverend, that fellow God made, he’s not here today."
God not only made you, He established the length of your days and your worrying can’t change it the smallest amount, not even the equivalent of 18". So what good would worrying do anyway?
Having made that P. S., God moves on to a second line of support to prove if God takes care of His creation He will also take care of His children. Having said look up, He now says, Look down. Verse 28 says, "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Now ladies, I have a confession to make. When I read that word lilies, I didn’t have the slightest idea of what it meant. Because when I see something like a lily or flower or a posy, the most intelligent thing I know to say is, "Of all the flowers I’ve ever seen, that is one of them." So I had to do some study. And I found that the word "lily" there referred to a flower of the gladioli or the iris species. They would grow among the grain, but they would tower above it. A field of them would display all shades from a pinkish purple to a deep blue. The Bible is saying that Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now Solomon was the most magnificently attired king Israel ever had. If history records are correct, even his attendants wore purple robes and gold dust glittered their hair. Even so, Solomon didn’t have as much glory as the lilies of the field. Yet those flowers were "here today and gone tomorrow" because they were used to bake bread. Workers dug a hole in the ground, lined the walls with cement, then they’d go out into the fields, cut these beautiful lilies and throw them into a pit. Because of their reedy stem they were excellent for starting a hot fire that could be used to bake bread. That’s why verse 30 says, "Now if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, oh you of little faith?" The only relationship God had to lilies was that of the creator to His creation. The Bible says, you are more than His creation. You are His children. And if God takes care of His creation, He will also take care of His children.
So God has laid out two principles. One is, there is more to life than what you are worrying about. The second is, if God takes care of His creation, He will also take care of His children. Now on the basis of those two principles, God lays out three conclusions in stair step fashion. Each is built upon the other.
Now, sometimes when we draw conclusions, they can turn out to be disappointing. One time a woman went to an exercise gym and saw two women she had not seen in some time. And she said to them, "Long time no see." And they said, "Well we’ve been working over time." The woman said, "Man that is great. There are so many people losing their jobs. It’s nice to hear some companies need over time. Where do you work?’ And the two women replied, "The unemployment office." Sometimes our conclusions can be very disappointing. His conclusions never are.
The first conclusion God gives is, those who know Christ can live differently than those who don’t. Verse 31 says, "Therefore, do not worry, saying what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." The word "Gentile" refers to unbelieving nations or people who only ask God for material things. You can see this if you study their prayer books and hymn books. The only thing they ask God for is material things, for two reasons. Their life is consumed with the material, not the spiritual, and second, they have every reason to worry. God promises them nothing. The Bible doesn’t tell a non-Christian not to worry. He has plenty to worry about. That’s why we need to present the gospel to people. Because when you trust Christ and you die, all your worries are over. But a person who doesn’t know Christ, his worries have just begun. But the Bible says, your father has absolute knowledge of your needs. He knows how much a gallon of gas will cost next month. He knows how much groceries will be next week. He knows what the rate of inflation will be five years from now. He knows how much you have in the bank and how much you are going to need. Therefore you ought to live above the level of non-Christians. God expects them to worry. He expects you not to. Those who know Christ can live a different life than those who don’t.
An ocean liner was once caught in a turbulent storm. As the passengers put on life jackets and checked the cabins, they found a little girl in one cabin playing alone on the bed. They told her about the storm and asked, "Aren’t you worried?" The girl calmly replied, "No, my father is the captain and he knows where I am." You, too, have a Father and He knows where you are. He knows how much you have in the bank, how much you are going to need, what your health is like now and what it will be like five years from now. Therefore, you can live above the level of non-Christians because you have a Father who knows your needs.
On the basis of that conclusion, God moves up the stair step and draws the second one. Concern yourself with your Father’s business and He’ll concern Himself with yours. Verse 33 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." If you are going to worry, worry about having a consistent prayer life. If you are going to worry, worry about studying the Word. If you are going to worry, worry about treating others the way you would want to be treated. If you are going to worry, worry about walking across the street and introducing a neighbor to Christ. If you concern yourself with His business, He’ll concern Himself with yours. If He’s where He ought to be in your life, everything else will be where it ought to be.
Someone once said, "To many people Jesus is nothing. To some people Jesus is something. But to how few people Jesus is everything." He’s saying, "Make Jesus everything in your life" and if you take care of His business, He’ll take care of yours. Verse 33 does not say, "And 75% of these things shall be added to you." It doesn’t say, "And 85% of these things shall be added to you." It says, "And all these things shall be added to you."
The first Queen Elizabeth asked a man to go abroad for her on a business matter. He said, "I sincerely wish I could but I can’t. My own business is so demanding, it would suffer if I left." The Queen replied, "Sir, if you will attend to my business, I will take care of yours." When he returned, he found the Queen true to her word. She had indeed taken care of his business. In fact, he was better off than if he had taken care of it himself. If you take care of His business, He’ll take care of yours.
On the basis of that conclusion, God moves up the stair step and draws a final one. His first conclusion is, you ought to live above the level of non-Christians because you have a Father who knows your needs. His second conclusion is, concern yourself with your Father’s business and He’ll concern Himself with yours. His third conclusion is, therefore, all you need to do is live one day at a time.
Verse 34 says, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Satan tries to get us to bear tomorrow’s problems with today’s strength. I once saw a sign in a restaurant that said, "Due to lack of interest, tomorrow will be postponed." God never made a Christian strong enough to bear today’s problems and tomorrow’s anxiety on the same day. The Bible says, "Sufficient for the day is the trouble of the day." Just live one day at a time and tomorrow you can conquer worry the same way you conquered it today.
Someone once said, "Life by the yard is hard. By the inch it’s a cinch." That’s basically what He’s saying. "Life by the yard is hard. By the inch it’s a cinch." Years ago there was a Charlie Brown cartoon in which he made the statement, "I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time." Just live one day at a time then tomorrow you can conquer worry the same way you conquered it today.
George Gallup once made a study of 402 people who had lived to be at least 95 years old. He wanted to know the secret of their longevity. He found the common factor was lack of anxiety, worry and tension. They said, "We live one day at a time." The Bible says, "Just live one day at a time then tomorrow you can conquer worry the same way you conquered it today." But as verse 34 says, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
I love how simple God makes things. Apparently He knew Larry Moyer was going to read that passage so He had to keep it simple. He lays out two principles. The first is: There’s more to life than what you are worrying about. The second is: If God takes care of His creation He’ll also take care of His children.
Then on the basis of those two principles God draws three conclusions. The first is, those who know Christ can have a different life than those who don’t. You have a Father who knows your needs. His second is: Concern yourself with your Father’s business and He’ll concern Himself with yours. And the third is: Therefore, all you need to do is live one day at a time.
You know what’s interesting? God begins in verse 25 by saying, "If you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop it right now." What’s the main idea of this passage? Say it with me, "If you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop it right now. Say it again, if you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop right now." Because of the way He ends it, He is saying, "Don’t let me catch you doing it again." God does not want you to worry. He will be awake all night tonight thinking about your problems. Since He’s losing sleep you don’t need to lose yours.
A woman one time said she worked at a summer camp for kids and after rounding up all the troops one night, she said to them, "Let’s go to sleep and put our cares in God’s hands." And the one kid said, "Yea, He’s up all night anyway."
I know of no other way to end than the way I began, by saying something I’ve mentioned about six times. The idea behind verse 25 is "If you are not worrying, don’t start. If you are, stop it right now." In light that being a command, are you going to give God your opinion or your obedience?
A widow raised 18 children, six biological and 12 adopted. When asked how she remained so calm with her busy schedule, she said, "Oh, I’m in a partnership." When asked, "What kind of partnership?" She answered, "One day, a long time ago I said, ’Lord, I’ll do the work and You do the worrying.’ I haven’t had a worry since." God is saying, "If you aren’t worrying don’t start. And if you are stop it right now."
