Worrier Or Warrior Series

Title: Fear vs. Faith – 9

“Worrier or Warrior”

Text: Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

In our text we find the word “worry” 6 times. Jesus is trying to constantly remind us in this passage that we have NO reason to worry. He tells us not to worry about today, not to worry about yesterday and stop worrying about tomorrow. All these things will take care of themselves. I want to ask you the question, “Are you a worrier or a warrior?” We are going to talk a little more about this as time goes on this evening.

➢ Researchers have found that 40% of the things we worry about never happen. 30% are in the past and cannot be helped. 12% of our worry involves the affairs of other and are not even our business. 10% relates to sickness, real or imagined. That leaves only 8% of things we worry about that are even likely to happen.

➢ The Wall Street Journal published an article about the “worry gene” scientists have discovered. Research scientists from Yale have identified a worry gene that may contribute to chronic worry. It is a gene inherited from one’s parents. Yet, even these researchers conclude that having inherited a worry gene does not mean you cannot overcome worry!

The fact is: you don’t have to live with anxiety and worry.

➢ “Worry is a low-grade fear. It is interest paid on trouble before it comes due.”

In most cases, according to statistics, what we worry about does not happen. The “trouble” that we stew over just never comes to pass. How do I become a warrior and not a worrier?

I. STOP ALL THE COMMOTION

Some may be thinking, what does he mean by that? Well what I mean is stop blowing things out of proportion. Stop getting yourself all worked up about things that really don’t matter in light of eternity. Don’t allow the circumstances of your life to control your emotions, to make you angry, to get you all worked up.

There is a story in the Bible that I have shared on numerous occasions, but I want to touch on this story one more time tonight to help this point become a little clearer. Jairus, a synagogue official, came and fell at the feet of Jesus begging Him to come and pray for His daughter who was very sick. So, Jesus started towards his home. But while they were on their way, Jairus’ servant came and told him his daughter had just died. They told him not to bother the Master any longer. It is too late. Jesus hears the servant and turns to the desperate father and says in Mark 5:36; “Do not be afraid, only believe.” Jesus was saying to the ruler, don’t be a worrier, be a warrior. ONLY believe what I say, not what circumstances say. ONLY believe in Me, not in that report. Don’t allow fearfulness and worry in your life, because if you allow worry or fear in, I can’t do anything for you, you have to be in warrior mode, not worry mode if you want results. We don’t see any signs of worry in Jairus’ life.

When they arrived at the house, everyone was weeping and wailing. Jesus says in Mark 5:39; “Why all this commotion and wailing. The child is not dead, she is just sleeping.” Jesus was actually saying, you are getting yourselves all worked up about nothing. How could He say such a thing? This girl, in their mind, is dead. And He gets all upset at them because they are getting so worked up about nothing. and He says, she’s just sleeping. To Jesus, they are worrying about nothing. He actually gets so mad at them that He kicks them all out of the room. He couldn’t have all that commotion going on if He was going to work His miraculous power. After everyone clears the room, He takes the girl by the hand and tells her to get up. She wakes up and rises to everyone’s amazement.