The Road To Less Worries......god's Way

This morning as I was listening to Macca on ABC radio a gentleman rang up and said,

I am currently staying at a caravan park full of those Winnebagos,

many worth more than a house

But just about everyone is ruining their holiday because they are all worrying about the cost of fuel.

Worry, it seems as if we are all born to worry.

It seems for some people they need something to worry about to survive.

Someone once told me that if their father had nothing to worry about he would be worried.

I heard the story of someone worrying that they always had a big bank account,

but every winter they would get sick and endure the cold

because they wouldn’t put their heater on because it would cost too much.

What causes you to worry?

Terrorism

War

Financial issues

Health issues

Environmental worries

Lack of work

Something else.

Many people think that the solution to their worries is more money.

But reading through the stories of people who have money or people who have won lotteries

it becomes very clear that whilst more money may address some worries it also creates another batch of worries.

One person said their life became miserable after they won the lottery because

they didn’t want to tell anyone about it fearing someone may ask them for a dollar.

Another person was so paranoid everytime they went to buy something, because they worried they would be ripped off.

Another one said I wanted people to know I had money but I became so worried that what I bought wasn’t good enough.

And then there is the story of two ladies who had inherited their parents estate,

they were worried so much that the other one might get something better than themselves that the only thing they could agree on was everything was to be actioned.

To do this day they have bitterness towards each other and regrets that they didn’t get some things of sentimental value.

The major danger with worry is it can consume life.

Worry about certain things has the potential to ruin people.

Ever been around someone who is worried to the max about something.

That that thing dominates their life,

They become miserable.

And they neglect other important things in life.

And most of our worrying will achieve very little.

Jesus told us this morning that worrying will not add one day to your life.

Also research suggests that

• 40% Of the things we worry about will never happen.

• 30% of the things we worry about we can not change

• 12% of our worries are made on the basis of misinformation, or not having all the details

• 10% is related to health, and the more we worry about health the sicker we become

• 8% is legitimate, showing that life does have some things to worry about, but as much as we think

So how do we deal with our worries?

Well the starting point is to be honest.

Be honest that we do have worries.

And importantly be honest with what our worries are and what is causing them.

In our Gospel reading today began with Jesus saying.

From Matthew 6:24,

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

No one can serve two masters.

In fact the wording in the original language means no one can serve two masters at the same time.

The beginning of many of our worries is that we are trying to please a number of masters at once.

In fact many of us have many masters.

When I look at my life potentially my masters are:

My own desires

God

The three congregations of our parish

My wife

My children

The government

The banks

What some other pastors think

What my friends think

What the people I like think

And the list can go on.

So who or what are the potential masters in your life?

Who is potentially in charge of your life?

In other words what is motivating you?

Someone else’s ideas

Money

Your own desires

Pride

And the question to ask is where does Jesus fit into this picture?

For our lives to make sense Jesus needs to have priority in all aspects of our lives.

And then some of the things that are causing major worries will reduce their impact on our stress levels.

In the Gospel reading we heard today Jesus say,

From Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?