OPEN: The old sea captain was quizzing a new crew member to see how he’d do at sea.
“What steps would you take if a sudden storm came up on the starboard?” he asked the young man.
“Well, sir,” said the crew member, I’d throw out an anchor, sir.”
“What would you do if another storm sprang up aft?”
“I’d throw out another anchor, sir.”
“But, what if a third storm sprang up forward?”
“I’d throw out another anchor, sir.”
“Just a minute, son,” said the captain. “Where in the world are you getting all these anchors?”
“Well, sir. I’m getting them from the same place you’re getting all your storms."
APPLY: The Bible tells us this world is filled with storms. The Bible is filled with stories of the storms that many of the great men and women of faith encountered in their lives. It matters not if you’re reading of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Samuel, Esther and others, each and every man and woman of faith encountered at least one crisis of faith.
Even Jesus warned us repeatedly that life wouldn’t be easy for those who follow Him.
BUT after having told us all that, the Bible tells us there is ONE thing we must not do
Jesus us that in the midst of those storms the one thing we shouldn’t do is worry. He said “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" Matthew 6:25
Jesus said: don’t worry about your life.
Don’t worry about where having enough to eat.
Don’t worry about having good enough clothes to wear.
DON’T WORRY.
And other Scriptures say almost exactly the same thing:
Psalm 55:22 tells us "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
Psalm 62:8 declares: "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
And in the New Testament we’re told the same thing:
Paul wrote: "Do not be anxious for anything..." Philippians 4:6
And Peter wrote: "Cast all your anxiety on him" I Peter 5:7
So, I’m not supposed to worry.
I’m not supposed to be anxious.
But I do get anxious. I do worry.
But, why?
Why do I get anxious?
Why do I worry?
Well, you could offer all kinds of reasons:
• I don’t have a job.
• I don’t have much money.
• I have a boatload of debt.
• I’m going through a divorce.
• My family’s falling apart.
And the list could go on and on and on...
But Bible tells me: In the midst of those difficulties in my life I’m not supposed to worry.
(Pause and give a big grin)
Well, great!
I feel better already!
I mean, if I’d only know I shouldn’t be worrying, it would have been all better by now
If I just wouldn’t be anxious life would be smooth sailing.
If I didn’t worry all my problems would be solved.
Is that way it works?
(wait for audience to respond)
No… it doesn’t work that way does it?
Just because I decide not to worry doesn’t mean my troubles pack up and disappear.
NOT worrying doesn’t SOLVE my problems.
So then, why does God say that I shouldn’t be anxious or filled with worry if that doesn’t really solve anything?
Well, the first thing we need to do here is go back to our original question:
Why do I worry?
Why do I get anxious?
Well, the answer’s very simple actually
I get anxious because something has happened that I can’t control. I don’t have the money, I don’t have the resources, I don’t have the ability, I don’t have the time...
You name it, I ain’t got it.
Essentially, the reason I worry is because there’s a problem and I can’t do anything about it.
I can’t change it!
I can’t fix it!
I can’t do a single thing to alter my situation!
So, I worry because I have a problem I can’t fix.
Ok.
But does worrying help me fix the problem?
Jesus said “no”
He asks "Can any of you - by worrying - add a single hour to your life?"
Well, the answer, of course, is NO!
Worrying can’t change that because worry doesn’t fix anything.
AND SO what Jesus is saying is this: worrying is worthless.
When your back is up against the wall... worrying is a worthless emotion.
It doesn’t change anything... it’s a worthless reaction to my problems.
In fact – worrying is worse than worthless.
Worry NOT ONLY doesn’t change what you’re facing it just makes everything I DO face worse.
Corrie Ten Boom said:
“Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow
It empties today of its strength.”
In fact, worry NOT ONLY robs today of its strength, when worry takes over my thinking it robs ME... physically.
Dr. W.C. Alvarez a stomach specialist at the Mayo Clinic, said:
“… 80 percent of the stomach disorders that come to us are not organic...
. Most of our ills are caused by worry and fear....”
(Ben Ferguson, God, I’ve Got a Problem p. 71)
Dr. Charles Mayo himself observed:
"Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system. I have never known a man who died from overwork, but many who died from doubt."
Or as another famous Doctor said it:
“People who don’t know how to fight worry - die young.”
(Dr. Alexis Carrel quoted by Ben Ferguson in his book “God, I’ve Got a Problem”. P. 71)
Worry is NOT the solution to our problems.
Now Jesus said: “... do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34
Each day has troubles.
Even as a Christian you can’t avoid those troubles.
But worry doesn’t help us... it hurts us.
And SO we need to get it off our plate, we need to get it out of our minds, we need to remove it from our considerations. And we need to do that immediately if not sooner.
So, one of the reasons we worry is because there’s a situation we can’t control.
But another reason we worry is because we spend our time “supposing”
ILLUS: I remember reading the story of a faithful but fairly poor Christian woman. She was always cheerful and smiling and excited about life. But she was so cheerful that a friend of hers decided she was too cheerful. She needed a dose of “reality” and perspective. So the friend said to her:
“I know you’re always smiling and happy NOW, but your Pollyanna approach to life isn’t realistic. I don’t think you understand how hard life can get. I mean, just suppose, you got sick and were unable to work, or suppose your employer moved away or you lost your job. Or suppose...
All of sudden the Christian lady stopped her friend:
"Stop that! I never suppose. The Lord is my Shepherd, and I know I shall not want.
You know, dear, it is all that supposing that makes YOU so miserable.
Why don’t you give up that “supposing”... and just put your trust the Lord."
Did you catch what she said:
She said: I don’t worry because I don’t suppose anything... I keep my mind on God.
I hate to say it... but worrying is faith issue.
And I say “I hate to say this” because I’ve been known to worry. To be anxious.
But right in the middle of His teaching on doubt Jesus says:
”Oh Jeff of little faith.”
No… that’s not what He said. He said “Oh you of little faith.”
But He may as well have said my name… and your name… and your name.
He could have said “Jeff don’t you know? Don’t you understand “the PAGANS run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Mt 6:30&32
You see – WORRY is a faith issue.
Worry is when I put more faith in my problems than I do in God’s promises.
Let’s repeat that:
Worry is when I put more faith in my problems than I do in God’s promises.
That’s why so many Scriptures stress looking on God in the midst of our difficulties:
Psalm 55:22 declares "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
Psalm 62:8 declares: "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
And Peter writes in I Peter 5:7: "Cast all your anxiety on him for He cares for you." 7
You see, God is the doctor for my doubt. God is the antidote for my anxiety. He’s the fix for my lack of faith. And the Bible tells me that over and over and over again.
So if that’s true (and it is) how do I lay hold of God in the midst of my doubt & fears
Well 1st, Jesus says, it’s a question of what you look at.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
If I focus on doubt and fear and anxiety and worry my eyes grow so dark that my whole body gets FULL of darkness. That doubt and fear will so invade my soul that I won’t be able to see anything else.
So Jesus says: focus your eyes in the somewhere else.
“LOOK at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26
"SEE how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:29
Look at the birds.
Look at the lilies of the field.
When you and I get bogged down with doubt, we need to look around for God... pay attention to what He’s ALREADY done
That’s what Philippians 4 tells us:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice in the LORD always and peace of God will guard my heart and mind?
What am I supposed to rejoice in?
Well, Paul goes on to say “...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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me— put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
I need to think on the things God’s has already done.
The things that are: True, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable.
And when I rejoice in those things that God has done THEN the peace of God will be with ME. Worry will be beaten back/ anxiety will disappear. And I will replace doubt and fear with the peace of God.
If we Remember, Rejoice and Give thanks, THEN the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
So the first thing I can do to combat worry in my life is to change my focus from my problems to His Promises.
Then Jesus tells me a 2nd thing I can do:
Right in the middle of his discourse on doubt and faith, Jesus says this
”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
What does it mean to SEEK something?
It means to hunt for it, search diligently.
ILLUS: This past week I lost my glasses. I knew roughly where they were – they were in my house somewhere, and I knew that because I can’t drive without them. I searched everywhere for those glasses… which was fairly difficult since I CAN’T SEE MUCH WITHOUT THEM.
I eventually found them, but the process of searching for them was a little unnerving. I desperately wanted to find them.
In the same way, Jesus is saying we need to desperately want to find God’s Kingdom and His righteousness in our lives. It needs to be THE highest priority in our lives. And Jesus says that when we do that – He’ll reward us.
That’s a common theme for things that important to God.
We seek, He rewards.
Hebrews 11:6 says “... without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that HE REWARDS those who earnestly seek him.”
In order to please God I must believe not only that He’s out there somewhere. That He exists and I can’t see Him. In order to please God I have to have a faith that says He’s there and He’s willing to reward me if I earnestly seek Him.
So how can I seek Him and His Kingdom and His righteousness?
Well, one way is to tithe
In tithing I am seeking first - not MY kingdom – but His.
In tithing I’m putting my money where my faith is... and I expect God to reward me.
In tithing I am investing in the things that are important to God.
And that’s exactly what God says in Malachi 3:10 said would happen if I tithe: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not THROW OPEN THE FLOODGATES OF HEAVEN and POUR OUT SO MUCH BLESSING that you will not have room enough for it.”
We seek, He rewards.
Another way of seeking God and His kingdom and righteousness is in giving to others. Proverbs19:17 “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.”
When I help the poor and the needy with my time and resources I have invested in God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness. And notice what God says he’ll do?
We seek – He’ll reward.
And that’s just a couple of ways you can SEEK first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
One last thing: In Matthew 6:32 Jesus said “... your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
1. He knows what you need
2. He knows whether you need food, or clothing... or something else.
Sometimes, food and clothing isn’t really what we need. Sometimes what we need is something else entirely.
ILLUS: A young man who wasn’t very religious once lost his job, and he grew more and more desperate about his situation, until at last he went to see an old preacher that he knew.
He stood by the door and poured out his heart to the preacher... and then he angrily shouted "I’ve begged and begged God to say something to help me, preacher. Why doesn’t God answer?"
The old preacher, who was sitting across the room, spoke a reply so quiet the young man was unable to make it out. The young man stepped across the room.
"What did you say?" he asked.
The preacher repeated himself, again in a soft tone. So the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher’s chair.
"Sorry," he said. "I still didn’t hear you."
With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more.
"God sometimes whispers," he said, "so we will move closer to hear him."
Give Invitation.
