6 January 2019
I. Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to Matthew
Chapter 6 -- we’re going to be starting in verse 25, so you can go ahead and
find your place there
-- last week, we talked about the
habits of highly effective spiritual people in this new year -- about adopting
new habits or steps in this new year that will help us grow closer to God -- in
that message, we pointed out that many of the great men and women of faith,
both in the Bible and in history, all followed similar spiritual habits, such
as knowing and believing God -- which we said was akin to truly living in faith
-- choosing to step out in faith daily through such means of grace as reading
your Bible, praying, and worshiping with others
-- the second spiritual habit was
following and serving God -- letting God use us to reach other people and to
bring glory to His name -- following and serving God is the habit of putting
feet to our faith
-- and, finally, we said the third
spiritual habit of highly effective spiritual people was to praise and thank
God -- worshiping God -- lifting Him up in praise -- remembering Him daily in
gratefulness and praise every moment of every day
-- as we said, these spiritual
habits are kind of like the big rocks -- they’re our goals -- they’re where we
want to go in this new year -- who we want to be by the end of this new year
-- but these habits aren’t just
going to happen by chance or by good thoughts -- we’re going to have to take
steps to make these habits real in our lives -- so, how do we do that?
-- several people have written about
the development of habits recently -- and their synopsis of the path to
reaching permanent goals is always the same -- you approach it like eating an
elephant -- you know how to eat an elephant, right? -- one bite at a time
-- that’s the same way you make
substantive change in your life -- one little bite at a time -- or, to put it a
different way, one small positive step at a time rather than trying to complete
the whole journey in just one giant leap
-- the concept is to break down your
goal into manageable steps -- and then you start moving in the right direction
by taking the first positive step -- after a while, when this small habit is
set in your life and you’re starting to see progress, you move on to the next
step -- and so on, and so on, until you finally reach the goal you desire
-- let me give you an example that’s
fairly relevant this time of the year -- the most common new year’s resolution
is to lose weight -- a lot of people come into the new year and say, “This
year, I am going to lose weight” -- and most of them fail, because their goal
is too big or too fuzzy and not measurable
-- so, some people put a number to
it -- “This year I’m going to lose 30 pounds” -- but experts still say these
people are setting themselves up for failure because just saying you’re going
to lose weight doesn’t result in a permanent change in your life
-- so, the experts recommend
identifying small steps you can make that are easy to do but that will move you
towards your goal -- for instance, everyone knows there’s a lot of empty
calories in sweet tea or cokes -- so one step you can take is to say, “I’m
going to cut back to one glass of sweet tea or one coke a day” -- that should
be easy to do -- and, if you do nothing more -- if you make no more changes in
your life -- just cutting back on the calories from sugary drinks is going to
make a difference in your weight
-- and, then, when you are
comfortable with your one glass of sweet tea or coke a day, change it up -- add
the next step -- say, “I’m going to only drink one glass of sweet tea every three
days or every week” and try that -- or, you could say, “I’m going to start
walking 10 minutes once a week” -- and then build up from there over time
-- what you will find is that little,
incremental changes add up to make big differences in your lives -- you won’t
meet your goals overnight, but you won’t be setting yourself up for failure,
either -- instead, by approaching our goals in this way, we will be making
lifetime changes
-- these same principles of taking
small, positive steps in the direction you want to go works for our spiritual
lives, too
-- instead of trying to become
spiritual giants overnight, we need to adopt small lifestyle habits that will
help us grow into the people we want to become
-- some of these steps can be things
like beginning a lifestyle of prayer by just committing to pray for five
minutes every week and then building on that -- or just reading one chapter
from your Bible every week and then building on that -- others can be steps
that follow the Bible’s admonition to put off the old ways and take up the new
-- to put aside our old habits and sins and to start taking up new habits that
help us to become more like Jesus
-- with that long introduction,
then, I want us to consider together a first small step towards becoming highly
effective spiritual people in this new year -- putting aside worry and anxiety with
the goal of eventually living our lives in faith and trust in God in all areas
II. PUTTING ASIDE WORRY -- SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Matthew 6:25-34)
-- we’re going to be looking at a
familiar passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found here in the Book of
Matthew -- specifically, we’ll be in Matthew 6:25-34
-- so, let’s look at this passage
together now and see what Jesus says about putting aside worry and anxiety and
moving forward with faith and trust in Him
-- we’ll start in Matthew 6:25
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. Is
not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
-- I am not
an expert in many things, but worrying is something that I excel at -- I’ll
admit this is something that I struggle with -- I have a problem with worry and
anxiety -- I worry about everything -- I can be driving along and find myself
coming up with all kinds of doomsday scenarios and just playing them out in my
head -- I worry about my job -- about my finances -- about my health -- about
the state of our vehicles -- right now, I’m worried about some home repairs we
need to make -- but it doesn't stop there
-- if I let
it get out of control, I’ll worry about everything from our country and our
Government to killer bees and zombies -- it’s something I struggle with, but I
don’t think I’m out of the ordinary
-- a lot of
people in our world today struggle with the sin of worry -- people worry about
the things of the past -- they’re anxious about what might happen in the future
-- and it affects their physical and spiritual lives -- did you know that worry
is categorized as the number one mental disorder in America?
-- “The
Mayo Clinic claims 80-85% of their total caseload is due directly to worry and
anxiety -- and many experts say that coping with stress is the #1 health
priority of our day -- one leading physician has stated that, in his opinion,
70% of all medical patients could cure themselves if only they got rid of their
worries and fears"
-- we are a nation of worriers --
and, if everything is going good, we worry about that, too -- we are just
sitting there, waiting and worrying about what’s going to happen next
-- it's
like the patient in the mental hospital -- an attendant was walking by and he
noticed one of his patients had his ear pressed up against the wall, listening
intently to what was going on in the next room
-- the
patient saw the attendant watching and motioned for him to come over and join
him -- the attendant pressed his ear to the wall for a long time and finally
said, "I can't hear a thing" -- the patient replied, "You're
right -- it's been like that all day! -- and I’m getting worried"
-- Jesus knows
how worry can affect our lives -- He knows our hearts -- He knows our doubts --
He knows our fears -- and He knows that we are people who are afflicted with
the syndrome of worry -- that’s why He tells us right here in this verse to
stop -- He’s pretty clear about it, too -- He says, “do not worry about your
life -- don’t do it -- stop”
-- worry is
a symptom of a lack of faith and trust in God -- and Jesus knew that if we were
going to grow in grace and become who God wants us to be -- if we were going to
become highly effective and mature spiritual men and women -- we were going to
have to set aside worry and anxiety and begin truly trusting in God with our
lives through faith
-- look at
verse 26
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a
single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that
not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that
is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
-- to make
His point, Jesus turned to nature for two examples -- first, He told His
disciples to consider the birds of the air -- they don't worry, He said -- they
don't stress over food -- they don't have storerooms or barns where they sock
up food for the winter -- but still they survive because God knows their needs
and He takes care of them
-- it's the
same way with the lilies of the field -- they don't worry about how they look
-- they don't fret about what they're going to wear -- they don’t labor or spin
to clothe themselves -- but God knows their needs, and He provides them with
dress that is finer than even what King Solomon in all his splendor wore
-- Jesus'
point is this -- if God goes to such extreme measures to take care of the birds
of the air and the flowers of the field, don't you think He's going to take
care of you? -- if they don't worry but trust God to give them what they need,
right when they need it, shouldn't you do the same?
-- why
worry anyway? -- as Jesus pointed out in verse 27, worry doesn’t do anything
for us, so what good does it do to worry? -- we can't even add one hour to our
lives through worrying -- in fact, science has proven that worrying will
actually shorten your life -- so Jesus commands here, “stop worrying and start
trusting God”
-- Jesus
goes on to give us the keys to setting aside this negative habit of worry and
anxiety in our lives
-- verse 31
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or
‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
-- the
first key to setting aside worry and anxiety is to start trusting God -- do you
know what the opposite of faith is? -- it’s worry -- so the answer to worry is
to repent and turn away from your lack of trust and put your faith in God
.
-- in the
Lord's Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us THIS DAY our daily
bread" -- notice He didn't say, "Fill our barns with food -- give us
enough food to get by this year -- make our jobs secure -- give us enough
resources where we never have to worry again"
-- Jesus
was trying to get us to live on faith and to understand that God will provide
what we need today -- don’t worry about tomorrow -- just trust that God will
take care of you today
-- He
reminds us here that God knows what we need -- we shouldn't run around, trying
to meet our needs in our own strength and with our own resources like the
pagans do -- we shouldn’t spend all our time worrying about food and clothes --
instead, we should trust God to take care of us and meet our needs one day at a
time -- this is an act of faith -- this is the first step of faith
-- just
take it one day at a time -- and choose to trust God for today -- and don’t
worry about tomorrow
-- verse 33
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
-- the next
key to setting aside worry is to put God first and focus on Him and not
anything else
-- Jesus is
telling us here to stop worrying about things -- to stop setting our hearts on
the things of this earth and stop making them the focus of our lives
-- we've
talked in here before about idols, and we've discussed how an idol is anything
that you place more emphasis on and more attention to them than God -- food and
clothing can become idols if we spend more time worrying about them than God
-- Jesus
tells us here to put God first -- put your focus on Him -- put your eyes on Him
-- and He will meet your needs -- our
first and utmost priority in life should be to glorify God and put Him first
and then to trust in faith that He will provide all that we need -- both
spiritually and physically
-- it all
comes down to trust -- do you trust that God is going to take care of you? --
do you trust that the God who loves you more than anything else in this world
has your best interests at heart?
-- that’s
the whole point Jesus is getting to here -- trust God and don’t worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow is already in God’s hands -- don’t try to eat the whole
elephant of faith at one time, but just take the bite of trusting in God today,
and see how that goes
III. Closing
-- as we close, let me give you a
couple of practical small steps you can apply in your life to stop worrying and
start trusting God and seeking Him as Jesus commands in this passage
-- the first is to look beyond your immediate
circumstances -- sometimes, when we’re in the middle of a problem that we’re
worrying about, it’s all we can think of -- we can’t see any way out -- we
can’t think of anything beyond this one crisis
-- but we need to think past the
immediate to the eternal -- most of our worries are about physical and temporal
things -- about things and about events that are taking place today or tomorrow
-- but these things are going to pass away -- they’re not going to last -- so
don’t waste your time and health focusing on something that is temporary
-- in my job, it seems like
everything is an emergency -- early in my career, I found myself working and
working and working and striving to get things done and never seeming to make
any progress -- one day, my boss told me to start applying the five-year rule
-- he said, slow down and think about your problem -- think about the task at
hand -- five years from now, will this still be an emergency? -- five years
from now, anyone even remember this issue? -- if it is not something that is
going to last, then stop pouring out your time and energy at a frantic pace -- just
take care of it as you can and don’t worry or fret about it -- don’t hurt
yourself working on something that doesn’t really matter in the long term
-- that’s a good word, especially
when you consider it from a spiritual and eternal perspective -- is this crisis
you’re going through something that is going to affect you short-term or
long-term? -- is this going to be something that affects eternity? -- if not,
stop worrying about it -- let God handle it -- trust in Him and focus on what
is truly important -- not on things that are going to pass away anyway
-- second, cultivate mindfulness and
contentment -- focus on what you have, not what might happen or what you don’t
have -- live in the moment -- thank God for the blessings He has given -- admit
up front, “Yes, if this problem happens, this negative action might occur --
but this is an opportunity for me to experience God in a whole new way” -- a
problem is nothing more than the opportunity for a miracle -- trust that God is
going to take care of it, in some form or fashion
-- third, set up worry appointments
-- I ran across this idea online but it’s something I’ve seen in other places
-- if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve got to admit that we’re still going to
worry -- even though Jesus tells us not to worry in these verses, we all know
it’s probably still going to happen from time to time until we finally are able
to fully trust in God as Jesus commands
-- so, until that happens, control
your worrying by scheduling it -- make yourself an appointment to worry -- set
aside 10 minutes every day to just fully give yourself into your worries --
look at yourself in the mirror and verbally recite all the horrible things that
could happen -- all the things that you worry might occur -- write them down if
you want
-- you’ve got 10 minutes to come up
with the worst things that can happen in your life -- from meteors crashing on
your house to aliens taking you hostage -- when the 10 minutes is over, let it
go -- you are not allowed to worry any more until the next worry appointment --
say a prayer and ask God to give you the grace to trust Him in these things --
and leave your list of worries behind you and get on with your day
-- it seems ridiculous, but it can
help -- it stops you from worrying all the time, all day -- if you’ve got a
rule in your life that you can only worry for these 10 minutes and no more,
then it cuts down on the amount of time you worry in a given day -- it also
helps you frame your problem and speak it out so that you can realize it’s not
as bad as you think -- the consequences are just not going to be as bad as you
imagine, especially if you trust that God is there with you and He will take
care of you through it
-- at the end of each day, pull out
that list or think about all the stuff you worried about during that 10-minute
appointment, and see how much actually happened -- I think you’ll be surprised
-- I can tell you this -- out of all
the stuff I worry about on a regular basis, I’d say that over 95% of it never
happens -- all that worrying and fretting about the future, and what I fear
never comes to pass -- we need to move away from worrying and move into
trusting God in faith
-- without a doubt, worry can
negatively affect our lives -- it affects our walk with God -- it hampers our
ability to truly trust and put our faith in Him -- that’s why God tells us to
stop worrying and to trust Him -- to turn our focus off our problems and put
our focus on who He is and what He can do in our lives -- worry is evidence of
a lack of faith in your life
-- let me close by sharing with you
a story about an Eastern monarch who lived many years ago -- he had great
wealth and treasure -- he had many fine things in his palace -- and many wives
in his harem -- he lived his life plagued by worry, concerned that he might
lose what he possessed
-- one day, this monarch called all
his wise men together -- he asked them to invent a mantra -- a few magic words
that would help him in time of trial or distress -- something that would take
away his worry and replace his fear with strength
--
and he gave them these guidelines -- the phrase had to be brief enough to be
engraved on a ring so that he could have it always before his eyes -- it must
be appropriate to every situation, as useful in prosperity as in adversity --
it must be wise and true and endlessly enduring -- it had to be words by which
a man could be guided all his life, in every circumstance, no matter what
happened.
-- The wise men left the monarch and
put their heads together -- they thought and thought and finally came to the
monarch with their magic words -- this phrase, they declared to the monarch,
were words for every change or chance of fortune -- they fit every situation,
good or bad -- they would ease the heart and mind and take away all fear and
worry
-- and then, with a flourish, they
presented their monarch with a ring engraved with these words, "This too
shall pass."
-- good words for us this morning as
we seek to set aside worry in our own lives in this new year
-- let us pray
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