Today I am beginning a new 5-part sermon series called Facing Your Fears. This series will include the following sermons:
• Facing Your Fear of the Future
• Facing Your Fear of Failure
• Facing Your Fear of Rejection
• Facing Your Fear of Death
• The Key to Facing Your Fears: The Fear of God
People have many fears. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld says, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that seem right? That means to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy” (SeinLanguage, p.120).
Today’s sermon is Facing Your Fear of the Future. Or, I could have called the sermon Facing Your Worries about the Future.
25“Therefore 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? 26Look 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? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If 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? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Three times in these verses Jesus say, Do not worry. If you have a King James Version Bible, you’ll notice that is says, “Take no thought for your life.” From that translation, you might get the idea that Christians shouldn’t plan for the future. But, of course, that’s not true. Back when the King James Version was published “Take no thought” meant “Don’t worry” or “Don’t be anxious.” There is a difference between being concerned about the future (and making preparations and taking precautions) and being worried about the future.
ILLUSTRATION: If you were to go away on a trip, you would lock the doors of your house, activate the security system (if you have one), maybe ask a neighbor to keep an eye on your place, etc. Those would be reasonable precautions to take. Worrying would be going to extremes in preparing your house for your departure (for example, ). Or worrying would be obsessing about your house the whole time you’re away, thinking it might burn down or be broken into (even though you took the normal precautions for its safety).
The English word worry comes from an old German word meaning to strangle, or choke. That is exactly what worry does; it is a kind of mental and emotional strangulation, which might cause more mental and physical afflictions than any other single cause. And worry might be the sin that Christians commit more frequently than any other. Jesus gives us four reasons why worrying is wrong.
1. Worry is unfaithful because of your Lord (v. 25).
Therefore 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?
People in Jesus’ day worried about the necessities of life: food, drink, and clothing. We in the Western world worry about other things, such as cancer, terrorism, losing our jobs, our children’s safety, etc. Jesus’ words apply to our worries as well.
Notice that the verse begins with the word therefore. When you come to the word therefore in the Bible, you should always ask the question, “What is it there for?” Therefore takes us back to the previous verse: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Jesus declares that a believer’s only Lord (Master) is God. When the Bible says that God is our Lord, it means that He controls our lives, not us. When you worry, you stop trusting God and start trying to take control of your life. But God’s Word promises, God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
Sometimes we forget that God is not only control of our lives, but He’s also in control of this entire universe. The psalmist declared, The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Ps. 24:1). And Daniel said, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning” (Dan. 2:20-21). If God can handle every single thing in this world, He can handle everything in you life.
Worry is the opposite of contentment, which should be the believer’s consistent state of mind. The apostle Paul said, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Phil. 4:11b-13). A Christian’s contentment is found in God, and only in God (not circumstances).
2. Worry is unnecessary because of your Father (vv. 26-30).
It’s as if Jesus says in these verses, “Have you forgotten who your Father is?” If God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the fields, will He not provide for you? God is not their Father; He’s your Father. He cares about you much, much more than He cares about birds and flowers. Of course He will provide for you!
Verse 27 says, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Our culture is obsessed with trying to lengthen life. We exercise, eat carefully, supplement our diets with vitamins and minerals, get regular physical checkups, and do countless other such things in the hope of adding a few years to our lives. Those habits no doubt can improve the quality and productivity of our lives, but they will not force God into extending our life’s span.
You can worry yourself to death, but not to life. Dr. Charles Mayo, of the famous Mayo Clinic, wrote, “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the gland and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man or known a man to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died of worry.”
What worry reveals about you:
• Worry reveals that you have a defective understanding of God.
• Worry reveals that you do not fully trust God’s promises.
• Worry reveals that you are mastered by your circumstances.
You believe that God can save you from sin, take you to heaven, and keep you forever, so how can you not believe that God will take care of you the rest of your days on this earth?
3. Worry is unreasonable because of your faith (vv. 31-33).
Verses 31 and 32 say, “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.” Jesus says that when we worry we are no different than unbelievers. They don’t have a heavenly Father, so they have reason to worry. We have no excuse, though, for worrying. We know we have a Father who loves us.
But sometimes we act too much like unbelievers. When we think like the world and crave like the world, we will worry like the world, because a mind that is not centered on God is a mind that has cause to worry. God expects more of us. God expects us to be different from others.
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 minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7).
Instead of worrying about your future, Jesus says, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be give to you as well” (v. 33). Our first concerns should be:
• To seek God’s kingdom: Seek to let God rule in your life.
• To seek God’s righteousness: Seek to do what is right according to God.
4. Worry is unwise because of your future (v. 34).
Jesus says in verse 34, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Once again, Jesus isn’t saying, “Don’t plan for the future; He’s saying, “Don’t worry about the future.” Don’t worry about how you’re going to handle the problems of tomorrow; focus on the problems of today. There is enough trouble in each day without adding the distress of worry to it.
ILLUSTRATION: I might find out sometime this year that I have cancer. It does me no good to worry, “How will I ever handle that?” God will give the strength to face it if that ever happens. (Real example: Shannon Parker)
Jesus promises, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). God promises His grace for tomorrow and for every day thereafter. But He does not give us grace for tomorrow now. He only gives His grace a day at a time as it is needed, not as it may be anticipated.
You will keep in perfect peace him who mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal (Isa. 26:3-4).
