The Cure For Anxiety

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)