“Conquering Worry”
(Matthew 6:25-34)
Series: More Than Conquerors (1 of 7)
Todd A. Linn, 2-5-06
- · Please open your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 6.
This morning I’m beginning a series entitled, “More Than Conquerors.” The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:37 that in all things “we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.” If you are a Christian, nothing can separate you from the love of God. Whether it’s tribulation, distress, persecution, peril, nothing can separate us from the love of God because we are—not just conquerors, but more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loves us. Now if we’re more than conquerors then we ought to be able to conquer some things through the power of Christ who is in us. And so I want to talk to you over the next few weeks about some of the things over which we should be more than conquerors.
Today I want to talk to you about conquering worry. In Matthew chapter 6, verses 25-34, the word “worry” occurs no less than six times. And three times Jesus says here in this passage, “Do not worry. Do not worry. Do not worry.” Why do you suppose Jesus says this to us so much? Don’t you think it’s because we are inclined to worry? Sure! Every one of us in this building has worried at one time or another. Some of us are worried right now about something going on in our lives. Now you listen for the six times Jesus uses the word “worry” here and for the three times Jesus says, “Do not worry. Do not worry. Do not worry.”
- · Stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
25 ” 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?
26 “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?
27 “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
29 “and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 “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?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
- · Pray.
Introduction:
A woman happened to be looking out the window of her home one day. She was horrified to see her German Shepherd shaking the life out of the neighbor’s rabbit. Her family had been quarreling with these neighbors; this was certainly going to make matters worse. She grabbed a broom and ran outside, pummeling the pooch until he dropped a rabbit now covered with dog spit and dirt. It was obvious that this rabbit was very dead.
The woman thought about if for a moment and then lifted the rabbit with the end of the broom and brought it into the house. She dumped its lifeless body into the bathtub and turned on the shower. When the water running off the rabbit was clean, she rolled him over and rinsed the other side.
Now she had a plan. She found her hairdryer and blew the rabbit dry. Using an old comb, she groomed the rabbit until he looked pretty good. Then, when the neighbor wasn’t looking, she hopped over the fence, snuck across the backyard, and propped him up in his cage.
About an hour later, she heard screams coming from the neighbor’s yard. She ran outside, pretending she didn’t know what was going on. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked innocently.
Her neighbor came running to the fence. All the blood had drained from her face. “Our rabbit, our rabbit!” she cried, “He died two weeks ago, we buried him—and now he’s back!” (Obtained from Ken Davis, Lighten Up, page 69)
Someone said, “Don’t tell me that worry doesn’t do any good. I know better. The things I worry about don’t happen.” And like the woman who worried that that her dog had killed the neighbor’s rabbit, most of worry about things that just do not happen.
We consume enough energy worrying over things that it affects our physical appearance and our physical health. We show that we worry by getting up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. We show others we worry by the wrinkles on our faces or by the trips to the doctor.
One Wednesday evening I showed a church sign someone took a picture of. It said, “Don’t allow worry to kill you. Let the church help!” Well I want to help you this morning. I don’t want to help kill you! I want to help you conquer worry. And I want to help you conquer worry by learning how God helps us conquer worry.
*How God Helps us Conquer Worry:
I. We Must Learn to Have Faith (25-30)
Jesus says that when we worry we are revealing the fact that we have little to no faith. That’s the point of verses 25-30. See how Jesus ends verse 30, “O you of—what? Little faith.” If we’re going to conquer worry then we’ve got to learn to have faith. Faith in this context simply means we’re going to have to trust God to provide what we need, to take care of our situation.
When we worry, we are not trusting God to take care of our situation. In fact, the word “worry” means to be “pulled or divided into different directions.” That’s a great word picture, isn’t it? Rather than trusting God, we are pulled in this direction and that direction, running around like a chicken with its head cut-off.
Everyone is tempted to worry. Everyone. Little boys and girls worry about thunderstorms or tornados or things that go bump in the night. Young people worry about school, passing an exam, or worry about some boy or girl—whether somebody likes them. Adults worry about finances and job security and marriage. Senior adults worry about health, loneliness, or death. Everyone is tempted to worry.
You say, “How can I conquer worry?” Answer: “Faith.” Trust in God. Trust Him to take care of your situation. If you worry, you’re not trusting God to take care of your situation. That’s why someone said, “Worry is practical atheism.” It’s like saying, “I believe in God,” but then living like you don’t. We’ve got to learn to have faith, to trust God to take care of our situation. That’s the whole point of verses 25-30.
Jesus begins with the first “Do Not Worry.” Verse 25, He begins by saying, “Don’t worry about your life.” Now that covers everything, doesn’t it?! Then he gives practical examples of some of the things the people of his day were most worried about—food, drink, and clothing. He says, “You shouldn’t worry about these things.” There’s a little humor here when he starts comparing the people to birds. When was the last time you saw a little bird with a wrinkled brow, wringing its hands, you know, got a rake in his hands, tilling the soil, wiping sweat off his little bird brow, planting seed, little bird riding a John Deere tractor, gathering the harvest?! You never see that. God takes care of those birds. And you are more valuable than birds. You are God’s crowning achievement of His creation. You are made in the image of God Himself.
And see how useless it is to worry—what a waste of energy. Verse 27 says, “Which of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his stature?” The original Greek word can refer to either height or length of life. That’s why some translations have, “Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Given the context, that’s probably the better translation. The point is: what a waste of time it is to worry. It doesn’t add life. If anything, it takes away life.
Jesus says it’s the same with the beautiful lilies of the field. They don’t work for their own clothing. You don’t see a flower sitting with its chair up to a sewing machine, working the pedal, you know, sewing its own shirt and pants. God takes care of that lily. In fact, God can dress up a flower of the field into more regal clothing than King Solomon could dress himself.
Then Jesus says, “If God so takes care of the grass of the field—grass that was burned up as fuel to bake bread—if God so takes care of the grass of the field which is here today and gone tomorrow—thrown into the fire—Listen: how much more do you think he’s going to take care of the crowning achievement of His creation? Hmm?
O you of little faith. We must learn to have faith. If you’re worried, you have little faith. You’ve got to start living what you believe. Trust God to meet your needs. Believe that God “will supply all of your need according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.” The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you.” The next time you wake up in the middle of the night worried about something just close your eyes and say, “Dear God, You have taught me in your word not to worry. And I’m learning to have faith. I trust to Your care right now this problem. I give it to You. Take it.” That’s faith.
If we’re going to conquer worry, we must learn to have faith. Number two:
II. We Must Live for Him First (31-33)
Here comes the second, “Do not worry.”
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Jesus says, “after all these things the Gentiles seek.” Do you know what He’s saying there? He’s saying, “When you worry, you are living like a Gentile—like an unbeliever.” That’s what that means. He’s saying, “When you and I are pulled this way and that and we’re worried about how our investments are doing, or we’re worried about whether we’re going to get that job, or we’re worried about what’s underneath our bed or what’s hiding in the closet, we’re living like unbelievers—like people who don’t know God. Don’t do that! Your heavenly Father knows what you need.
Now let me say at this point that if you are not a Christian, you’ve got plenty to worry about. If you’re not a follower of Christ, you’ve got good cause to be worried. The Bible says that without Christ we are lost. We are without Christ and without hope in the world. Why? Because we have a problem called sin. Sin has a penalty and the penalty is death. Our sins must be judged. If we don’t place our faith in Jesus Christ, receiving Him as our Lord and Savior, then when we die, our soul goes immediately to hell as just punishment for sin. So if you’re not a Christian, you’ve got plenty to worry about. But if you are a Christian, you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’ve just got to get your priorities right. Live for Him first.
33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The “kingdom of God” is the “rule” or “reign” of God. We enter into that rule or reign when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. “His righteousness” refers to living the Christian faith. Get those things in order and everything else holds together.
Some years ago I had a jacket with a zipper on it and I would zip that thing up only to discover later that the zipper was slowly coming undone. I’d kind of feel it and I’d look down and there it was slowly coming apart from the bottom, you know. That happened a lot because it was easy to throw that jacket on and zip it up and run out of the house without the thing actually being zipped up correctly. In fact, I wouldn’t have ever known there was even a problem until the jacket was subject to some kind of pressure or would catch on something or if I ran, or something like that. Because the zipper’s first and second teeth were not correctly in place the whole thing would eventually come apart. Only when I took that jacket and carefully ensured that the first and second teeth were in place could I be sure that jacket was going to stay together. Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Like the first and second teeth in a zipper, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Get those things in their right order. Put them first or you know what will happen? You’ll go about your life and the pressures and demands will come upon you, and if you don’t have those first things in order, like a jacket not zipped correctly, everything in your life will eventually come apart.
That’s the second key to conquering worry. We must live for Him first. Put Him first in all things. Make sure, young couples, that Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of your marriage. Make sure you live for Him first. Make sure, young people, that Jesus Christ comes before your boyfriend or your girlfriend. And if your boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t put Jesus Christ first, then find another boyfriend or girlfriend who does. Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Folks all over the world will tune-in to the Super Bowl this evening. I read the other day about one of the coaches for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His name is Ray Jackson. He is the Director of Player Development. Shortly after checking into his room at the Steelers’ headquarters hotel last week, he called his wife. He said, “. . . I called my wife and we had a prayer over the phone about the week ahead. During the week we have the family members get together for Bible study and prayer on Wednesday night and I don’t want to miss that.” He added, “In two to three weeks, most people probably won’t remember who was in the Super Bowl,” Jackson said. “This will all be gone, but knowing God gave His Son Jesus to die for us, that is something that will live forever.” (Source: Baptist Press, 2-2-06).
How does God help us conquer worry? We must learn to have faith. We must live for Him first. Thirdly:
III. We Must Leave to Him the Future (34)
Here’s the third “Do Not Worry.”
34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Do not worry about the future. Leave it with God. Jesus teaches in His word that we are to live one day at a time. He teaches us this in the Lord’s Prayer. Remember that, “Give us this—what?—day our daily bread.” The concept of living one day at a time comes from the Holy Bible. Do not worry about tomorrow. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
“Someone has said that the average person is crucifying himself between two thieves: the regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow.” (Warren Wiersbe notes someone has said this). You can’t change the past and you can’t control the future so don’t worry about it. It’s a waste of energy.
In fact, someone has said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.”
Do you know what I like to do? I like to “calendar” my future worries. Let me tell you what I mean by that. When I start to get a bit overwhelmed about things on the horizon, and I feel like I’m starting to worry, I just make a little appointment on my Palm Pilot to worry about it later. Say I’ve got an article to write, or a presentation to do, or something like that. Well I could have a little basket on my desk full of reminders of all the things I need to do, but I don’t do that. I just “calendar” an appointment to “worry” about it a future day. Now, that’s not procrastination. I just set myself a little deadline before the deadline to worry about it later. This way, when I look at my calendar, I’ve got only the urgent things that need to be dealt with today. So I spend my energy working on the things of today rather than worrying about the things of tomorrow. I recommend this to you. If you are worried about a certain thing, maybe a particular meeting with someone, just set an appointment on your personal calendar a day or two before that scheduled meeting and plan on that day to think and pray about that meeting. Don’t worry about it today. You’ve scheduled another day to think through what will come in that meeting. Today is free and clear. Somebody asks you about it, you say, “I’m not dealing with that today. I’m not scheduled to worry about it until next Thursday.” Then get up each day and believe what God says in His word. He knows your need. Don’t worry. He’s with you. He will guide you.
How does God help us conquer worry? We must learn to have faith, we must live for Him first, and we must leave to Him the future.
- · Stand for prayer.
I mentioned earlier that if you are not a Christian, you have plenty of reason to be worried. Turn to Christ this morning. Receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior . . .
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