Some of these things are the usual things we face daily. They deal with...
• Relationships.
• The economy.
• Health.
• Schools.
• Neighborhood crime.
• Job security, etc.
There are so many things we can worry about today if we choose to do so.
Illus: This reminds me of the story of the man who applied for a job. The president of the company interviewed him, and told him, “The only vacancy we have is the job of Vice President.” He went on to say, “However, the man who takes on this job must take on all my worries.” The man applying for the job said, “Well, how much does it pay?” The president said, “I will pay you five thousand dollars a week!” The applicant said, “How could you afford to pay such a salary? Where would the money come from?” The president said, “That would be your first worry.”
Illus: A chaplain had this sign on his door, “If you are worried, come on in and we will talk about it. If not, come on in and tell us how you keep from worrying.”
Seriously, there is an abundance of worrying going on today.
What is so sad about this situation is that Christians, professing to know the Lord, worry as much as those who do not know the Lord.
Yes, Christians and non-Christians do a lot of worrying each day.
Illus: They do not even try to hide their worries. You can hear them state, “I am worried about this,” or “I am worried about that.”
Every time Christians say that, they are actually saying that they can not trust the Lord with their problems; their problems are bigger than the God they serve.
Since worrying has become a way of life for many folks, let us look at how we can find a solution to the problem of worrying. Before we can do that we need to consider at least two things. Let us look at the...
I. DEFINITION OF WORRY.
The word “worry” is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning, “To strangle or choke.” Now if you think worrying will help solve your problems you are sadly mistaken. There is a better way to deal with problems than being strangled or choked by them.
When a person worries all the time, this is exactly what is happening to him. He is having the very life choked out of him.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PERSON WORRIES? WHEN A CHRISTIAN WORRIES HE HAS A DIVIDED MIND!
That is, one part of the mind is saying, “TRUST THE LORD,” and the other part is saying, “YOU HAD BETTER NOT TRUST THE LORD. HE WILL LET YOU DOWN!”
Illus: There is an advertisement on television some of you have probably seen. The advertisement is for a large chain motel. A dad is in a large swimming pool and his son walks out to the pool. It is evident the youngster can not swim. He has floaters on his arms. His dad, in the pool, encourages him to jump in, promising to catch him. The child takes the floaters off his arms as he contemplates jumping into his dad’s arms in the pool. As the dad continues to encourage him he goes to the edge of the pool and almost takes the plunge, but he has second thoughts. Finally he walks to the edge, takes a good look at his dad who has his arms outreached toward him, and he goes for it. His dad catches him in the air before he goes under.
The point the motel wants to convey is that you can trust in them.
I mention this television commercial because many of us are like that youngster. God, with outstretched arms, is telling us to trust Him, but there is a voice inside all of us that says, “DO NOT DO IT!”
WORRY IS A SIN. We may legalize it, but in plain English, it is REFUSING TO TRUST THE LORD!
The children of Israel REFUSED TO TRUST THE LORD when He told them to enter the promised land.
Illus: I am sure you remember the story of how Moses sent spies into the promised land. The majority of them came back saying, “No matter what God says we are to do, we can not go into the promised land. There are giants there and we would be like grasshoppers. they would step all over us!”
God was so displeased with their lack of faith and obedience that He punished them by leaving them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.
We live in a society that gives the impression that WORRYING is no more than a bad habit; but worrying is not a bad habit--worrying is a sin!
Illus: This reminds us of the story of the little boy who had the bad habit of rubbing his nose. One day his mother announced, “Son, the preacher is coming over for dinner. I do not want you to be rubbing your nose! Do you hear me?” He said, “Yes mamma, I promise I won’t.” The preacher came. They all sat down around the table. While they were eating the little boy had a strong compulsion to rub his nose. It was so bad he could hardly stand it. He tried to think of a way to be able to rub his nose without breaking his promise to his mother. Then he said, “Preacher, see that picture over there (and as he spoke he ran his hand under his nose as he pointed in one direction.), My Mama is going to move it over there (at that point he ran his other hand across his nose as he pointed in the other direction).”
Almost everyone has some bad habit, but worrying is not a bad habit, WORRY IS A SIN! And like all sins, it comes with a price tag.
It is a medical fact that if you worry you are inviting all kinds of physical problems into your life.
Many think God has placed them here on earth to do one thing...that is, worry about everything that comes along. People who worry all the time do not know what God’s purpose for their lives is.
Illus: These remind me of the story several years ago of when the London Transit Authority had a problem. Buses were going right past passengers who were waiting at designated places to be picked up. The London Transit Authority released a statement to explain their actions. It said, “It is impossible to maintain schedules if we always have to stop and pick up passengers.” (Dave Stone, “Keep the Dust Off the Highchair,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 143.)
Those who were running that transit system had lost sight of the purpose for its existence.
And, so have the Christians who think God has placed them here to worry about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that comes down the road of life.
God has put us here to trust Him with the problems we encounter each day. I Peter 5:7 tells us, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
WHEN A CHRISTIAN WORRIES, HIS MIND IS DIVIDED. Let us look at how we can deal with worry in a scriptural manner.
We have looked at the DEFINITION OF WORRY. Let us now look at...
II. DEALING WITH WORRY.
If we are going to overcome worry in our lives WE HAVE TO KNOW MORE THAN JUST WHAT IT IS.
There are some things we have to learn how to do.
Illus: Bill Gothard said, “Worry is taking responsibility upon yourself that God never intended for you to have.
That is, our responsibility is to OBEY THE WORD, and once we have, leave the results up to God.
Illus: Paul told young Timothy, “Preach the word...” In other words, paraphrase, “Timothy, you preach the Word and leave the results up to God.”
Most of the time we want the results to be left up to us, and if the results are not what we think they should be...WE WORRY!
HOW CAN WE KEEP FROM WORRYING? There are two things we must learn to do.
A. Learn to rejoice.
Psalm 100:2 states, Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Every day we serve the Lord with gladness and REJOICE IN THE LORD we overcome worrying.
You see, if my life is occupied with REJOICING in the Lord, there is NO ROOM FOR WORRY.
Illus: If I take a glass and fill it with water to the brim, then there is no room to pour anything else into the glass.
If our life is filled with REJOICING, there will be no room for anything but rejoicing.
In Phil. 4:8, we read, “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.”
Notice, God puts the responsibility in our laps. God says, “...think on these things.”
There are some days we have to make ourselves REJOICE IN THE LORD.
Illus: It is like an incident reported in a newspaper in Tacoma, Washington. Tattoo, a basset hound did not intend to go for an evening’s run, but when his owner shut his leash in the car door and drove off with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice.
A motorcycle officer named Terry Filbert noticed a passing vehicle with something that appeared to be dragging behind it. As he passed the vehicle, he saw the object was a basset hound on a leash.
“He was picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could,” said Filbert. He chased the car to a stop, and Tattoo was rescued, but not before the dog reached a speed of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour, and rolled over several times. (John Ortberg. Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 4)
The dog was fine, but refused to go for any more walks after that experience.
Now Tattoo did not want to go for such a walk, but he had no choice.
And there are days we do not FEEL like THINKING ON THESE THINGS, but we have to MAKE OURSELVES THINK on these things and REJOICE IN THE LORD.
Phil. 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
The only way we can keep WORRY out of our minds is to fill them with THE RIGHT KIND OF THOUGHTS.
Also, if we are going to OVERCOME WORRY in our lives we are going to have to...
B. Learn to rely.
There is a chorus we sing in our church that goes like this, “Learning to lean, learning to lean, I’m learning to lean on Jesus...”
But the fact is, we sing that chorus, but we do very little leaning on the Lord.
There are some reasons why, but two of these are the most common.
1. Many use their problems to draw attention to themselves.
Have you ever wondered why some people can not solve their problems? That is, year after year they seem to have the same problem.
You would think that at least every now and then they would trade for some new ones.
SO, WHY CAN THEY NOT FIND A SOLUTION TO THEIR PROBLEMS?
It is because they are not really interested in finding a solution to their problems. They use their problems as a means of getting attention.
People will do all kinds of things to get attention. ALL KINDS OF THINGS! For example...
• Why do you think some people wear those funny-looking hair cuts?
• Why do you think they wear ear rings, lip rings, nose rings, eyelid rings, and even tongue rings?
• Why do you think these fellows wear these baggy britches.
• They do it for one reason.
And there are people who will not do those things, but they love problems in their lives because THIS IS THEIR WAY OF GETTING ATTENTION.
They create problems in their lives so they can get this attention if a problem does not already exist BECAUSE THIS IS HOW THEY GET ATTENTION. If one of their problems accidentally gets solved, they will immediately create another.
Many use their problems to draw attention to themselves.
2. Many use their problems to get sympathy and pity.
Illus: How many of you have been to a “Pity party?” There are some folks who love people to gather around them in large numbers, and they know if their problems are solved they will loose all the attention they are getting.
Illus: In a Bible college, one girl rejoiced in her sickness. When she got upset, or wanted things to go her way, she could make a rash break out on her body and her boyfriend would give in and she could have things her way.
Listen, if you were a genuine faith healer and walked up to her and told her that you were going to lay hands on her and ask God to cure that rash, she would run away from you. The last thing she wants to happen to her is to loose the ability to cause that rash to flare up when she wants it to flare up. It is her tool for getting attention and leverage she could use to get her way.
Illus: Some will use tears. Have you ever seen a child that wanted his way use those tears? They would go running to their parents, tears just a flowing, but as soon as they got their attention, those tears dried up.
Again, many have problems and do not want a solution. They will go through life worrying about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Worry is a way of life for them.
Conclusion/Summary:
There is a better way! It is better to TRUST THE LORD!
Look what the Word of God says we should do. Look at Phil. 4:6-7. We read, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
I. DEFINITION OF WORRY.
II. DEALING WITH WORRY.
