The Worry Cure

“The Worry Cure” Mathew 6:25-34

Introduction

One day I had taken my son Sebastian to a park to play. At one point while we were at the park I was repeatedly throwing him in the air and catching him just before he hit the ground. Sebastian was completely relaxed and having a great time, laughing and laughing every time I would catch him.

On this particular day, there was a young woman watching me playing with Sebastian. She asked me, “Can you explain why he’s so relaxed, even when he’s so out of control? If it was me I would be worried stiff!” She said. I replied to her “It’s very simple, we have a history together. We’ve played this game before, and I’ve never dropped him.”

Sebastian has full confidence that I will not let him fall. As a result, he has placed his full and complete confidence in me. Even at times when we aren’t sure how, our Heavenly Father is always waiting to catch us. He, who holds the future in His hands, holds our hand in His.

So often in this life which is filled with turmoil, struggles, commitments, and deadlines we find ourselves feeling very much like a child who has been thrown into the air. Only, we aren’t sure if there will be anyone there to catch us. Far too often, I’m afraid, we find ourselves in bondage to worry, captives to fear.

According to a poll that I found, 40% of an average person’s anxiety is focused on

things that will never happen, 30% on things about the past that can’t be changed, 12% on things about criticism by others, mostly untrue, 10% about health, which gets worse with stress, and only 8% of worry is about real problems that will be faced.

Worry, it has been said, is interest paid on a debt not yet owed. Worry never changed one circumstance from bad to good, though it often makes things worse. The truly destructive power of worry is that it clouds our judgment. Instead of aiding us in finding the solution to our problem or concern, worry has a way of compounding the problem until it’s all we can see.

Worry is like fog. I’m told that a fog that can cover up to seven blocks contains less than one glassful of water. Fog is a lot of smoke and almost no substance. It’s the same with worry. It’s like a rocking chair, taking you back and forth but never getting you anywhere.

A story is told about a woman who for many years couldn’t sleep at night because she worried that her home would be burglarized. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate.

When he got there, he found a burglar. The husband said to the burglar, “Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you.”

A real burglar can steal from you once; worry can steal from you night after night, for many years. Worry not only steals our sleep, but worry also steals our health and our abilities to cope with life productively.

In Mathew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us not to worry, but to place our trust completely in God… This morning we’ll examine this passage of scripture and discover three principals which we can take with us to treat worry and also discover the central theme in the cure for worry.

1. We Serve a Faithful God (v.25-30)

So often we are defeated by worry because we are not aware of the power of God in our lives. So often, you and I mope through this life as though we are going through it alone. When we try to live in our own power this life will always seem overwhelming.

Sometimes the concerns of this life really are more than we can bear… alone… but we are not alone. We serve a faithful God who has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) As we place our trust in God we find freedom from worry. As we abandon our limited perspective, in favor of God’s limitless perspective we can be set free from worry.

Corrie Ten Boom wrote, “When I worry I go to the mirror and say to myself, ‘This tremendous thing which is worrying me is beyond a solution. It is especially too hard for Jesus Christ to handle.’ After I have said that, I smile and I am ashamed.”

How often do we look at our circumstances and doubt God’s ability to or willingness to intervene on our behalf? If we are honest, I think we will all have to say that occasionally, if not most of the time, we live as though we aren’t really sure if God is faithful.