Matthew 6:25-34
THE CURE FOR ANXIETY
INTRODUCTION
A.
Who Me Worry?
Two men were talking and the one said to the other:
I have a mountain of credit card debt.
I have lost my job.
My car is being repossessed.
Our house is in foreclosure.
But, I am not worried about it.
The other man:
I don’t understand – I would be worried sick if I were you!
1st Man:
Well, I don’t have to. I have hired a professional worrier and he does all my worrying for me.
2nd Man:
That’s fantastic! How much does your professional worrier charge for his services?
1st Man:
$50,000.
2nd Man:
$50,000! I thought you said that you were broke. Where are you going to get the money to pay for that?
1st Man:
I don’t know. That’s his problem to worry about, not mine! That is why I hired him.
[Source Unknown – Actually, I do not remember where I found the story. Truly a sign of old age. However, I think it was borrowed from a sermon outline on SermonCentral.com.]
B.
How many of us today can say that we do not worry about anything? If I were to ask for a show of hands from those who have worried about something within the past week or so - most likely, the majority of us would raise our hands.
Just look around – there truly seems to be a lot to cause us to worry -
1. - Internationally:
Iraq/Afghanistan – Concern for all of our troops
Terrorism – where will the next target be?
North Korea/Iran threaten to produce nuclear weapons
THE WORLD JUST SEEMS TO BE A TOTAL MESS
2. – National:
The Election -Who to Vote for – Who will win
The Question of Marriage – How to define it?
Abortion – Stem cell research – Cost of health insurance
OUR COUNTRY SEEMS TO DIVIDED ALMOST IN HALF TODAY ON THESE ISSUES
3. – Local:
Gas prices are up – sometimes w/o a legitimate reason
State election – who to vote for governor, representatives – what are the issues?
School – God is forbidden/yet everything else is allowed
SOCIETY SEEMS TO HAVE LOST THE MEANING OF BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG
4. – Individually:
Health – concern for cancer, heart disease, diabetes
Family – parents for children – children for parents
Church – Growing? Reaching out in community/evangelism. Finding a pastor.
OUR CULTURE IS CHANGING AND WE MUST RECOGNIZE AND ADAPT TO IT
C.
[Besides all of this] ---
Psychologists tell us that there are three major “wants [or worries] in life.”
1. - Want of Comfort:
Food - when we are hungry
Drink – when are thirsty
Shade – when we are hot
Shelter – when there is a storm
2. - Want of Acceptance:
Received – by our peers
Respected – for who we are & what we are
3. - Want of Inclusion
What – is the meaning of life - [How did I get here – Creation or Chance]
Understand – what life is all about – [What am I suppose to be doing?]
Know – that we have a part to play in it – [We have a Designer who has it all under control.][Adapted from sermon outline by Melvin Newland – Sermon Central.Com]
*** To many the story of the two men’s conversation is unfortunately how they try to approach worry.
1. They don’t make plans to deal with any situations.
2. They have no concern about any consequences.
3. Their philosophy is to just ignore it and hope it all goes away.
4. The old adage: “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” is how they deal with any problem or anxiety that they may experience.
*** What of us Christians? Does God’s Word say anything to us about worrying? Is it something that we should do or not do? And if the Bible tells us about worrying – What does it say? These answers we find in our text.
Text -- The Cure for Anxiety
25 “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: they don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (HCSB)
From our text we come to see -
A.
TRUST GOD – DON’T WORRY -- 6:25-30
Worrying can cause a divided mind:
1. The lack of a single-minded purpose in life produces anxiety.
2. Soon your worries will consume and take over your mind.
3. Your only desire will be to “Take Care of” the things that you are worrying about!
4. When you get in this “mindset” – Then you are either --- at that point --- serving God or Things of this life – WHICH IS IT FOR YOU?
*** Misplaced priorities produce worry. Seeking physical possessions before the kingdom of God will lead you to needless anxiety in obtaining and maintaining your status quo.
Matthew 6:24
No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.
Vs. 25 – Don’t worry about your life.
Worry -- Greek (me rim na te, # 3309) –
Anxious, overly concerned about, be worried about, or to have a distracting care. [Analytical Lexicon of the Greek NT, Friberg, Friberg, & Miller, 258; Vine Exp. Dict of NT Words, 630]
Matthew Henry -
Take no thought (or worry) – A disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries the mind [here] and [there], and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God, and [dims] our hope in him; which [makes us] sleep [less], and hinders our enjoyment of ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given us. [Matthew to John, Vol 5, 82]
About your life – God knows everything that is taking place in your life – Romans 8:28 and Acts 17:24-28.
1. What you will eat & drink – Very seldom does any one in this country die of starvation.
2. About your body – you cannot make your heart beat or your lungs breath.
3. What you will wear – life is not the clothes on your back.
EXAMPLES –
Vs. 26 – Look at the birds.
Vs. 27 – Look at your height (or time of life – NASB).
Vs. 28/30 – Look at the wildflowers – Solomon was nothing compared to them.
Vs. 31/32 – So don’t worry – you of little faith - Because God knows you have need of these things.
Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
There is always something to worry about: losing your job, aging parents, wayward children, illness, terrorism – etc. When you let worry get out of proportion it will consume your life. When that happens your life will become unproductive in serving God and bringing glory to His name.
Matthew 16:26
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (NASB)
*** My friend – Do not be found faithless with God.
B.
SEEK GOD FIRST – HIS KINGDOM AND RIGHTEOUSNESS -- 6:33
Seek -- Greek (zeteo) -
To seek; to go after; to strive; to pursue; to desire; to aim at; to search for; [and/or] to endeavor to get. --- [Tony Britt – Sermon Central.Com].
1 Chronicles 29:11-12
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
What are you seeking today? --- Are you worried about things of this life or of the life to come?
Hebrews 10:31
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
What causes anxiety (fear) in your heart – Is it what others will think of you or of God?
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
*** What is your hope about? - Is it Jesus?
2 Timothy 1:12b
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.
Acts 4:10-12 – “Let it be known to you all . . . that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. . . . Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (NKJV).
*** My friend, do not fear those who can destroy your body and not your soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both the body and soul in hell – Matthew 10:28.
*** Jesus said, I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life – John 5:24.
WHAT HINDERS YOU TODAY FROM COMING TO CHRIST FOR SALVATION?
C.
TOMORROW IS IN GOD’S HANDS -- 6:34
James 4:13-15
Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit. You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
*** Trusting what we will accomplish for tomorrow is not wise when we determine what we need in order to survive when we leave God out of the process. --- I truly wonder how many people in Florida over this past month had planned their tomorrows out to perfection. Four hurricanes later – their plans did not survive.
“We are to look to God first and all of our needs will be provided for. The reason we have so many worries is because we are seeking everything but God first. We need to be concerned about what God wants us to do and be and then, and only then, can we have the right perspective on our lives” (Tony Britt – Sermon Central.Com).
CLOSING THOTS
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1Peter 5:6-7
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty had of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
My friend –
1. If you know the Lord – May I urge you to take time for prayer – read His word – and seek His direction for your life. – Delight in the Lord (Palms 37:4)
2. If you do not know Jesus as your savior – May I urge you to come to Him now and He will give you rest from your worries and cares (Matthew 11:28-30).
Bruce Allen
Weston Baptist Church
North Vernon, IN
bea0210@hotmail.com
bcallen0101@aol.com
