I told my wife I was preaching a sermon on worry, and I worried about it all week long.
People like to have control of things. That in itself is a good reason for us to worry.
Everything we produce is designed to give us the greatest degree of control. From the TV remote to the antilock breaks on your Lexus… Everything is geared to give us greater control over the circumstances and situations in our lives, because people generally do not appreciate being out of control…
People are programmed with a desire to control: our finances, our relationships, our future… It’s part of our nature. Take a simple example such as the remote control. One remote control gives its master control over the television set, the VCR and the satellite dish…
I had the ultimate remote control when I worked for NBC, part of my job responsibilities included being in a room called MASTER CONTROL. It’s a very intimidating room because it’s full of buttons that do BIG things… Being in CONTROL of MASTER CONTROL is like having the remote control to everyone’s television all at the same time. Whatever you press, that’s what the people see… Which is why we never let children wander around in Master Control… Imagine all the pretty buttons… Kids would go crazy if we let them in there! “PRETTY” (Heffernan style)…
One group of buttons in Master Control commanded 50,000 watts of transmitter power. Another group controlled microwave dishes for tuning in live shots, another panel determined what people were going to see and hear on the air…
But of particular interest was that pretty little panel for the transmitter… That panel worried me most because summer time in Bakersfield meant the potential for problems with the transmitter. The transmitter was liquid cooled, like the engine in your car… And during the summer, those coolant temperatures would reach dangerously high levels. As part of a safety feature, if the temperatures got too high, the transmitter would shut down…
Guess who was responsible for getting us back on the air if there was a transmitter failure?
The Master Control Operator… One false move on that thing could cost the station millions of dollars… Hitting certain buttons in the wrong order in Master Control could be disastrous up at the transmitter.
Now, I was trained to know exactly what steps to take in case the transmitter ever shut down, but the thought of a transmitter failure terrified me so much that I found myself worrying about it on several occasions. You know what worrying about ever it did for me when the transmitter actually did shut down. It only impaired my ability to think clearly and act as quickly as I should have to restore the transmitter back to the air.
I had nightmares about transmitter failures. There’s nothing worse for a Master Control Operator to be sitting at his post, in full control than to hear that fateful sound of going off the air…
One minute you’re kicking back with Days of Our Lives on the air, the next minute: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!! It’s a bone chilling and terrifying sound because it means your job is on the line if you don’t get that transmitter back on the air. Time is money in television media.
Every day of my life as a Master Control Operator was influenced by my concern over the possibility of a transmitter failure.
The point is that worrying about the possibility of a transmitter failure never helped me to perform better at my job… It only made my job more stressful. And it never made me perform better when we did have a transmitter failure either. In fact, if anything at all, it caused me to react more slowly than I should have because I was so petrified about it happening.
In the same way, worry hinders our ability to walk lives of faith and strength as Christians.
Worry siphons the joy of the Lord right out of a believer and it hinders our potential as Christians.
Jen and I watched the first episode of The Amazing Race #5 the other night. During that leg of the race, the competitors were given this 50 pound side of beef they had to haul by hand for a half mile or so.
These two gals were trying to haul their beef when the first one finally gave out. She mustered every bit of energy she had, but it wasn’t enough, so she hoisted the heavy burden on her teammate, who ended up carrying it 4 blocks past their destination before they figured out they had gone too far…
Worry has the same effect on our lives as 50 pound side of beef on the shoulders of a runner… It slows us down. It exhausts our strength…
Worry is a total hindrance on our spiritual walk, and God wants us to be free from it.
In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says,
Matt 6:27-34, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor 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? So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you worry? If you worry a lot, you’re not alone in the world.
In fact, a full 43% of all adults suffer health effects due to worry and stress. 75% - 90% of all visits to primary care physician is stress-related. Worry has been linked to all the leading causes of death including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide.
Do those statistics worry you?
Are you worrying about situations in your life that are totally out of your control?
God wants you to be free from those worries. He wants to call you into a greater level of relationship with Him where trusting Him defeats the shadows of worry over your life.
God wants His people to be free from the bondage of worry in our lives, so lets take a look today, at some practical steps to overcoming the devastating effects of worry.
STEP #1: “seek first his kingdom” : COME BACK TO GOD. Look to the Master.
I imagine God is calling a lot of you out of your troubling circumstances, but perhaps you’re too busy worrying about them to be free from them. Come back to God. Seek first HIS Kingdom.
When my German Shepherd turned 6 months old, I took her to obedience school to teach her discipline: how to be obedient to her master’s commands, so that if she ever ran astray, or chased after something that lead her away from her master, I could give a distinctive call and she’d return to me.
So that, if she ran out toward danger, I could call out… She’d forsake whatever drew her away and return to me… Then she’d be safe from danger. Without that discipline, Shamar would certainly die… She would run out into the street. She would not recognize my call and she’d be hit by an oncoming car.
The trainer and I taught her all kinds of tricks: how to sit and lay down, how to speak… How to BE STILL and WAIT for my instructions. But the most important command of all was that distinctive call I used to command her to return to me. The trainer told me, “When you use this command, you have to raise your voice and make it distinct so it doesn’t blend in with all the other noises. “Shamar… COME!”
Some days, I just say, “Shamar, come here.” But when she’s wandered off too far, or chased a cat down the block… When all the distractions of the neighborhood drown out that still, quiet voice, I call out, “SHAMAR: COME!” and she always returns because she knows the call of her master. She knows she will find safety and comfort by my side. She’s been trained with discipline to heed her master’s call.
And when you’re surrounded by the storms of life, and your circumstances drown out the still, small voice of God… Listen to the distinctive call of God and return to your master… “Alma, COME!” “Jeff, COME!” “Louise, COME!” Answer the distinctive voice of your master calling. When you’re drowning in your worries, return to The Lord where you will find peace, safety and comfort.
A disciplined spirit always returns to God in times of trouble, and His master frees Him from the worries of the world.
When Lazarus died, Mary and his sister Martha were deeply troubled. But the Master commanded the stone rolled away from his tomb. Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven, and gave out a distinctive call:
“LAZARUS, COME FORTH! I COMMAND YOU, COME FORTH!”
John 11:44, “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
The Lord’s call is distinctive enough for the dead to hear it and come. Lazarus came forth with strips of linen wrapped around him. He was delivered from the dead, and those grave clothes, which represented the death that surrounded him were replaced with new garments.
COME BACK TO GOD. Hear the call of your master. Be delivered from the circumstances that choke out your joy and steal your faith.
STEP #2: PLAN LIFE WITH FLEXIBILITY IN MIND: Make room for the master. (Trust in God)
Ps 37:5-9, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
-- Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-- it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.”
Give God command of the details.
My job at the TV station gave me the opportunity to work with production crews from time to time too. I worked as a production assistant along with the directors who wrote and produced commercials for local advertisers.
The best commercials were always shot with the director in control.
Sounds obvious, but there was often times the client who wanted control over his own commercial, and the more a client meddled, the worse the commercial would turn out.
You see, the client may well know his business, but no one knows how to produce a good commercial like the director. The more you leave the director in control of the product, the better the quality of the product you end up with. The end result of letting the master take charge is always a better product.
You may well know your life and your business better than anyone else, but if you refuse to plan life with the Master in control, then the outcome of your endeavors will always be amateur, because you are nowhere near as good at planning the days of your life as God is.
Planning with flexibility for God’s will in your life: Leaving God in control of the details of your life does two great things:
1st, it changes the outcome to a Godly outcome every time, and that’s always better than a man-made outcome.
2nd, it defeats the power of worry in your life, because you can trust that God’s plan is superior to yours, and you’re exercising your faith in the Master. You’re stepping aside from the job, watching God make art of your life, showing God you trust Him more than yourself.
ILLUST.: God has the BIG picture in mind. You’re just seeing the spot you’re on.
Prov 19:21, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”
Trust the Master w/the details of your life.
? How many of you worry more when you loose control of your circumstances?
People tend to worry more when we feel we are out of control.
? If you’re in full control of your life, then where does God come in?
? How often have you successfully managed your life without God’s help?
Repeat this statement with me: Nothing under God’s control is ever out of control.
Do you believe that? Repeat it with me: Nothing under God’s control is ever out of control.
Mark 4:37-41, “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Nothing in God’s control is ever out of control:
III: REST IN THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY: Rest away your worries.
Don’t fret over the things in life that you have no control over! Realize God is sovereign, even when doom seems eminent, rest! Be at peace with God in your heart.
I remember the night my buddy Dan and I were ending our shifts. It was just after the 11 o clock news when we started to smell gas fumes… How many know, gas fumes and high-powered television broadcast equipment don’t get along very well together?
Soon, people from the newsroom started to come into Master Control asking if we smelled the gas too. Before long, we called the fire station and everyone evacuated the building… Except the two Master Control Operators… Big Dan and Little Brad… Someone had to keep the station on the air, and Dan and I were the lucky winners that night…
You can bet we began to worry… Jokingly we hugged each other. I never assumed Dan’s face was the last face I would see before I died… But through that uncontrollable circumstance, I have to say I was at peace… I knew God was going to protect me. I trusted Him to handle the situation, and when the firemen arrived, evacuating the building with axes in hand, the conclusion was good news… The refinery vented some gasses that escaped into the air and they drifted right over the station, but they were of no threat.
Ps 91:1-7, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
When the shadow of the valley of death spreads itself out over your life, come back to God, seek first His Kingdom, rest in the shadow of His protection and you will have the overwhelming peace of knowing no weapon formed against you will prosper. If I dwell in the house of the Lord, what can man, or demons, or Satan himself do to you? Just go get Dad. Have peace.
Know God is in control.
Believe God is in control.
Trust God to be in control.
Ps 91:14-16, "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."
SAYS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”
God never intended for us to be in total control… It’s hard enough to keep our bodies under control, let alone trying to control the things God is in control of… The tendency of mankind is to control everything around him, but the fruit of the spirit is SELF CONTROL.
We’re called to exercise SELF-control, not MASTER control. Leave Master Control up to God.
Who cares better for you? You or God? Then what are you worried about? “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Mickey Rivers, used to be an outfielder for the Texas Rangers. His philosophy of life was: “Ain’t no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control over them, ain’t no sense worrying. And there ain’t no sense worrying about things you got no control over either, because if you got no control over them, ain’t no sense worrying.”
1 Pet 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
The devil trusted in himself. The end of him is destruction in a Lake of Eternal Fire, because he couldn’t stand to leave room for God, to rest in the shadow of The Almighty.
How many want to follow in his footsteps?
Conclusion:
God wants His people to live abundant lives: lives free from worry and stress. But we’re always grabbing back for that control… Constantly picking up and putting down the pieces of our life.
Don’t worry about things you can’t control. Don’t worry when God is in control.
Don’t worry about the what-ifs of tomorrow.
My pocket organizer is divided into blocks with one day at a time. Stay in one square at a time. That’s how God designed it. "I’m an old man and I’ve known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” -Mark Twain)
The Lord wants you to be away that worry is a giant that can be defeated: a mountain that can be moved.
In our journey to become more like Him, He wants us to learn complete trust in Him.
Have you found yourself in an uncontrollable circumstance today?
Maybe He’s using that to develop your trust in Him.
Try resting in the Lord, in the shadow of the Almighty.
You’ll find Him to be a safe refuge in times of trouble. He’ll deliver you from your troubles and give you a testimony: a new song of praise.
Answer the call… COME…
All the water in the world, however hard it tried, could never sink a ship unless it got inside.
All the hardships of this world might wear you pretty thin.
But they won’t hurt you one least bit unless you let them in.
