Untying the Knot of Worry
Series – Problems: Untying What’s Tying You Up
Chuck Sligh
April 14, 2013
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation of this sermon is available upon request by emailing me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
NOTE: This sermon uses several weights and a duffel bag or rucksack strong enough to hold HEAVY weights. Instructions for the props are in UPPERCASE below.
TEXT: Matthew 6:25-34 – “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
INTRODUCTION
This is the first in a series on problems titled “Untying What Tying You Up”. There are many problems we as Christians face that can tie us up in knots, but God wants His people to be overcomers. Yes, we will face problems, but there’s no problem a Christian can’t overcome in Christ’s power and there’s no knot God cannot untie through His grace.
Today we want to look at “Untying the Knot of Worry.” Our text gives us the answer to worry through two examples of creation—fowls and flowers.
• Verse 26 tells us that the FOWLS OF THE AIR don’t worry about food or where it’s going to come from, because they’re trusting the One who made them.
• Verses 28-30 say that the LILIES IN THE FIELD don’t worry how they look. They don’t think, Will I be able to clothe myself and family? Jesus said that these flowers would put Solomon’s temple and all His kingly splendor to shame in their beauty!
So God uses these fowls and flowers to bring home a truth to us: Don’t worry about whether you’ll have the provision for your daily needs.
Jesus sums it all up in verse 34 – “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” That last phrase means, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
The Bible says that we’re not to take thought about a certain thing—TOMORROW—for tomorrow will take care of the things of itself. In other words, God’s saying, “Hey, let me do the thinking about tomorrow!” He’s already thought thoughts about tomorrow. Your burden for tomorrow, your weight for tomorrow, your challenge you’ll face tomorrow—God’s already thought about that.
Illus. – I remember in our church in Wiesbaden, we had an overeager helper I’ll call June (not her real name). I know she meant well, but she had a habit of taking initiative on things without checking with us and doing things we really didn’t want her to do!
One day, we were talking and she said, “You know Pastor, I’ve been thinking about the lobby in the church. I think I need to redecorate it.”
I thought to myself, Oh, no—June’s been thinking again!
I said, “Uh...June, we’ve already thought about that ourselves. I appreciate your help, but we’ve already got some plans laid out.”
I didn’t want to hurt her feelings—though I did—but we’d already thought about that and we didn’t really DIDN’T want HER thinking about it!
I wonder sometimes if that’s how God feels. God’s already thought about tomorrow, so maybe we ought to leave thinking about tomorrow to Him!
Now, I want us to spend the rest of this message on the little phrase at the end of verse 34. Look what it says, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” or, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Now, let’s think about that for a while.
Object Lesson – Weights (HAVE SOMEONE FROM AUDIENCE TO COME TO THE FRONT.)
Now God has already mapped out for [Name of Volunteer named Tom] a will for his life:
God has a specific will for every day of his life. God says, “Now [Tom], don’t worry about what’s ahead. I’ve got it all planned out. You don’t have to worry about it because I’ve got it figured out.”
Now here’s how we get ourselves into trouble: God says, “[Tom], here’s what I want from you today. I’ve got these two weights for you. I want you to carry these around. This is what I have for you TODAY. It’ll be your job just to carry around these weights.” [GIVE WEIGHTS TO VOLUNTEER.]
Do you know why God would give him a weight like that?—Because He knows it will make him stronger, and He knows he has the strength for it today.
You see, [Tom] could carry these all day long. But towards the end of the day, suppose [Tom] starts worrying about something his college class: “Boy! I’ve got a big test tomorrow. How will I ever pass it?”
So he starts to worry about the big test. (HAND AN EXTRA WEIGHT TO VOLUNTEER)
Do you see his problem?—He’s MESSING WITH TOMORROW! TOMORROW he could carry this because God will give him the strength to carry those weights tomorrow. But tomorrow he won’t have the weights he has TODAY. “Each day has enough trouble of it’s own,” Jesus said.
Now suppose that not only was he worrying about tomorrow, but he also started worrying about yesterday—Look what happens (ADD ANOTHER WEIGHT.)
• “I wish I hadn’t hurt my parents the way I did as a teen.”
• “I wish I hadn’t fallen into that sin and hurt my wife and family the way I did.”
And now I’m carrying yesterday’s burdens as well as today’s and tomorrow’s.
Note three problems when we borrow from tomorrow or yesterday:
I. FIRST, YOU LOSE STRENGTH FOR WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO TODAY.
You start wrestling with these weights for tomorrow—when all God gives you is the strength for today—and you’re going to lose strength and get tired out.
Q. – Corrie ten Boom said, “When we worry, we are carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength; carrying two days in one.”
God doesn’t give you the strength to lift the burdens for tomorrow when it’s only today! You start messing with tomorrow today and you’ll get WORN OUT worrying and fretting and stewing about tomorrow. [DEMONSTRATE BY CARRYING THE HEAVY DUFFLE BAG WITH THE WEIGHTS IN IT. ACT WORN DOWN.]
God says “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
II. THE SECOND PROBLEM WITH BORROWING FROM TOMORROW IS…YOU FAIL TO PROPERLY DO YOUR GOD–GIVEN RESPONSIBILITIES FOR TODAY.
When you start worrying about your responsibilities for tomorrow, you start forgetting about what you are supposed to do today! You waste a lot of emotional energy, and you find yourself failing with what God wants you to do TODAY.
Illus. – You come to church and you say, “Pastor, I’ve got a BIG INSPECTION TOMORROW. I’ve got so many things to take care of. I’ve got so much weight on my shoulders and I don’t want a mark against my career.”
Wait a minute—that’s not TODAY!…That’s not your mission TODAY. Your job TODAY is to be in church and hear God’s Word. Your responsibility TODAY is honor God with THIS DAY! Your job for TODAY is to learn, and worship, and listen to the Lord.
Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t plan or prepare for the future. That’s just being wise. The sin is in the ANXIETY and the WORRY of it all.
Most of what we worry about is a waste of time. 99% of what we worry about doesn’t come to pass anyway, so what a waste! If you’re worrying about something about tomorrow and you come up with zero scenarios for how it will turn out, there’s a good chance that the final result will be NONE of the scenarios, and at most there can only be ONE. So that means that the best you can do is envision 2% through worry.
Q. – No wonder someone said that “worrying is like rocking in a rocking chair: it’ll give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere.”
What a waste of time and emotional energy!
And worry makes you irritable so you can’t be the parent you ought to be because instead of focusing on today’s duties TODAY—meet your family’s needs—you’re worrying about the possible 1% scenario that may or may not occur. Instead of taking care of TODAY’S business, you’re eating up your time and energy working up a good worry.
Listen, when you worry YOU’RE JUST BORROWING TROUBLE!
The same thing happens when we stew about YESTERDAY. (PICK UP A WEIGHT FOR TODAY, ONE FOR TOMORROW AND A 3RD FOR YESTERDAY.)
I know people who are carrying around a load of guilt over the past and they’re loaded down with this extra weight God doesn’t want them to have.
Illus. – I remember a lady in my church in Wiesbaden I’ll call Jill. Jill had rebelled against her parents, had been on drugs, had had three abortions, had cheated on her previous husband resulting in their divorce, and before they had gotten saved had cheated on the husband she was now married to then. She was carrying a lot of guilt, and though she was now saved, she felt she had to atone for her past somehow by works and deeds for God. We all should work for God, but our motive should be to serve Him out of love, not out of guilt.
One day her husband asked me over to talk to her and him because they were having a lot of marital strife. I did and she told me about this awful load of guilt for past sins she was carrying around which had produced a lot of tension in her life that spread to her family.
We looked at scripture after scripture about God’s forgiveness of our sins.
But she just couldn’t seem to feel forgiveness for her abortions. It wasn’t until I quoted over and over to her 1 John 1:7, “…and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from ALL sin.” I said, “Jill, what does the word ‘ALL’ mean?” Suddenly the light of God’s Word broke through and the tears of joy flowed, and her life was forever transformed. She learned how to serve out of joy and love, not out of guilt and shame.
If you’re carrying a load of guilt, claim 1 John 1:9 and ask forgiveness of the Lord and if you’ve offended any person, go and make it right. Then you can experience the joy of forgiveness and peace and drop your burden! But never take up the burden of yesterday again, for it will just weigh you down from doing your duties today.
III. THE THIRD PROBLEM BORROWING FROM TOMORROW TODAY IS MINISTRY AND HELPING OTHERS BECOME DIFFICULT.
You see, if you’re carrying all these weights [PICK AS MANY OF THEM UP AS I CAN AND ACT OUT BEING BURDENED DOWN] and someone comes along and says “Hey, can you help me with something?”, I’ll look at you and say, “Are you out of your MIND! You ought to be helping ME! Can’t you see this stuff here I’m carrying from YESTERDAY and TOMORROW?”
And you know what?—If you get too heavy-loaded like this, then the Christian life is no fun anymore, and you become a LOUSY ADVERTISEMENT FOR CHRIST.
I want you to see something from two verses in Galatians 6:
• Galatians 6:5 – “For every man shall bear his own burden.”
• Galatians 6:2 – “Bear ye one another’s burdens…”
The word for “burden” in verse 5 was the word for a soldier’s rucksack. That’s my weights I have the strength to carry today. But verse 2 says we’re also to bear one another’s burdens, and Paul employed a different word here for “burdens,” one which means “an extremely heavy burden, too difficult for one person to bear.”
If YOUR burden is too heavy today, I can help you out for a while and help you bear some of your burden so your burden is lighter for awhile. Now I can do that for a while—but, I CAN’T do that at all if I’m burdened down with my own burdens of the cares of yesterday or tomorrow. And I’ve robbed myself of an opportunity to be a blessing and a help to you in your time of need.
CONCLUSION
So when Jesus says, “Each day has enough trouble of its own,” He’s saying there’s enough problems and troubles for THIS day without you having to worry about the problems and troubles of either yesterday or tomorrow.
Folks, don’t add to your troubles today by adding the troubles of tomorrow or yesterday. Jesus said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Now let’s close by looking at two final Scriptures, both in the book of Philippians.
1) First, let see what to do about the burdens of TOMORROW. – Look with me at Philippians 4:6-8 – “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Note four things this verse says to do about the burdens of tomorrow:
• Verse 6a – “Be careful for nothing…”, which means, “Don’t be full of care about anything,” or we would say, today, “Don’t fret about anything!”
Folks, that’s a command!
Q. – O.S. Hawkins said, “Many of us assume that God merely looks upon worry with a frown, but the fact is: He strictly forbids it in His word.”
Q. – Charles G. Trumbull even went as far to say, “Worry is sin; a black, murderous, God-defying, Christ-rejecting sin; worry about anything, at any time whatever. We will never know victory over worry and anxiety until we treat it as sin. For such it is. It is a deep-seated distrust of the Father, who assures us again and again that even the falling sparrow is in His tender care.”
• Verse 6b – “…but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” – Pray about them.
Take your problem to your heavenly Father.
That’s how we get the peace talked about in verse 7.
Q. – As Joseph Scrivener wrote in his famous hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus: “O what peace we often forfeit / O what needless pain we bear / All because we do not carry / Everything to God in prayer!”
• Did you notice that verse 6 says to pray “with thanksgiving…”? – Thank God for the burdens you have—and also thank Him for the grace to bear them in their time.
When you realize that your heavenly Father truly loves you and cares for you and when you know that He will turn all seemingly bad things into good for you if you are a Christian, you can truly THANK GOD in your trials. Instead of WORRYING about things, TRUST your Heavenly Father.
Q. – As Corrie ten Boom said, “Don’t wrestle, just nestle.”
Illus. – A ship was sailing from Liverpool to New York. The Captain of the ship had his family with him. The ship found itself in a terrible storm. The captain’s little eight-year-old girl was awakened by the storm.
“What’s the matter,” she asked.
Her mother told her nervously they were in a terrible storm.
The little girl asked, “Is Daddy on deck?”
“Yes, he’s on deck.”
The girl then laid her head on her pillow and went back to sleep.
Folks, OUR FATHER IS ON DECK! When we worry we are distrusting His control and care. Trust Him and THANK Him for the storm.
• Verse 8 – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
He’s saying here you have to change your thought patterns. Stop dwelling on your problem, and start dwelling on good, wholesome, praiseful uplifting, happy things. Think on God and His goodness and His Word and His blessings on your life.
2) What do you do about the burdens of YESTERDAY?
• First, if you can, resolve them.
> Do you need to ask someone humbly for forgiveness? – That goes a long way to bring healing to the mistakes we’ve made in the past.
> Do you need to forgive someone for a past offense? Holding on to bitterness only hurts you; it only weighs YOU down; it only allows that person to continue to have a stranglehold on your life. You can only be released from the hold person has on you by forgiving him or her in grace, whether he deserves it or not.
• Second, put the burdens of the past behind you. – Philippians 3:13-14 – “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Forgive yourself; put the past behind you, and refuse to think about it again. That’s the path to freedom from the past.
