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'An Independent Baptist Church' FACING WORRY Are you a worrier? Of all the 'GIANTS' we have talked about so far, is this the one that gives you the most trouble? I know in my life I have had a personal struggle with this GIANT of worry! I came from a family of 'worriers'... I was raised in a family that believed if you didn't have anything to worry about right now, then we would find something to worry about! If you would ask one of my family members and even my ancestors, "Have you accomplished anything today?" "Yep, I've put in a good day of worrying..." You laugh, but I'm serious! The Frederick folks thought at least you were doing something if you 'worried' about the matter.... Living on the farm there was always something to 'worry' about too... Would it dry up so the crops could be put out? Would the prices be good this year? Would we get enough rain? What about the draught? Would the equipment hold out? Would the river get out this year? and on and on..... Get the picture? I consider myself an 'expert' on this subject, because I have really struggled with the GIANT OF WORRY in my life. As a child, I naturally worried about a lot of things.. (Remember I was taught to do so) I worried about school. I worried about Little League. I worried about college. I worried about girl friends. I worried about getting married, getting a job, providing for a family....... Until I finally decided...with God's help....I was going to do something about it! As I looked back over my life, what a destructive force WORRY HAD BEEN....!!! I despised it. It took away my joy and happiness. It made me miserable. I never could enjoy the present because of worrying about the future. It was such a waste of time! Worry didn't do any good or accomplish anything good either. It certainly didn't help the things I was worrying about....or anything else for that matter! Days I could have been enjoyed....were lost forever....to WORRY.... As I looked at my life, I began to HATE WORRY.... I despised it. I decided with God's help....to do something about it. When I finally learned the principles in God's Word in Matthew 6 it changed my life.... My life is so much different now and I want you to be freed from being enslaved by WORRY too...... Now I'm not saying I never have moments of worry anymore....at least now I'm not obsessed by it and enslaved to it! Let's read Matthew 6:35-34 Therefore I say
unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
meat, and the body than raiment? When the Word of God says we should not worry, 1 Jesus is not meaning....Don't plan. Matthew 6:34 said 'take no thought for tomorrow' but Jesus was not meaning that we should not 'plan' for the future. Certainly we should plan for our career, make financial plans, etc. Even Jesus said we should sit down and count the cost before continuing in a venture.... In fact, FAILING TO PLAN AHEAD....CAN ADD TO OUR WORRIES AND PROBLEMS! Well, when we say we should not worry, we do not mean... 2. Jesus is not saying Don't be Concerned about anything. Philippians 4:6 says, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." This is not teaching a 'careless' lifestyle where we are not concerned about anything! A parent who is not concerned about the safety of his or her children is not a good parent. Certainly we should be concerned about things...that need concern! The Bible teaches we should not be over-concerned with things to the point we are obsessed with excessive worry...... Here are some things I do learn about WORRY from this passage in Matthew 6:25-34: 1. THE WORRIER ATTEMPTS TO LIVE IN THE FUTURE. Now there are two problems with that.... First of all, the future isn't here yet. Secondly, we have NO CONTROL over the future! We are worrying about things we have no control over...... 2. YOU CAN'T BE HAPPY AND APPRECIATE TODAY'S BLESSINGS IF WE ARE WORRYING! Folks, I found this out...I just cannot be happy today if I am worried about tomorrow! And...I just have too many things to enjoy today and to be thankful for....to not appreciate them! 3. WORRY DOUBTS GOD'S CARE. Read v 26 again... The next thing I learn about worry is in verse 27.. 4. WORRY DOESN'T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING..... It doesn't do any good... The irony is....worry actually does harm....It makes things worse usually! You know what I'm talking about! Notice verse 27, worry will not add one inch to your height! I once heard if you rub Crisco on your head it will make you taller, so I thought I would try that with our son, Cody .... It didn't do any good. In fact, I later found out Crisco was 'Shortening'......!! Was Jesus intending a deeper meaning? Was He implying that worry will not add one month or year to 'stature' of the length of your life? No, in fact, Medical authorities tell us that worry will do the opposite and shorten our life! ..which leads us to our next point... 5. WORRY IS HARMFUL TO OUR HEALTH! Worry is a killer! It causes Ulcers... We have learned it causes stress and that affects heart attacks and nervous breakdowns.....By the way, they don't call them 'nervous breakdowns' for nothing... 6.WORRY IS A MOST INEFFECTIVE USE OF TIME! I had a buddy in college who had a little white mouse in a cage and that little fellow would get on wheel and just run and run...and never get anywhere! That mouse reminded me of alot of us when we worry.... It doesn't get us anywhere! Now be honest, has WORRY ever done you any good? Did it ever help? 7. WORRY DOUBTS GOD ABILITY TO PROVIDE Look at v28-30 again, And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they
spin:
Next I learn that, 8.WORRY IS SINFUL v31,32 Jesus instructs us NOT to worry and when turn right around and do that very thing..... Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? FIGHTING THE GIANT OF WORRY I see in verses 33 and 34 above a strategy to fight the GIANT of WORRY and it has worked for me and I believe it will work for you! 1. REMEMBER YOUR PRIORTIES This verse above gives me a simple formula but it works.... If I concentrate on doing God's business, He will make sure and take care of my business....my needs, etc. Sound too simple? Usually the solutions in the Word of God are just like that.....If we would only obey them......we would find that they do work! Jesus is saying if you and I stay faithful at church, and we give our tithes and offerings back to the Lord, and if we use our talents and abilities to serve the Lord in that Local Church and try to help other folks to learn about Jesus, He will take care of OUR business.... My friend, are YOU taking care of God's business? Do you have your priorities right? Maybe that is where we should start......as we attempt to deal with that GIANT of worry in our life? 2. DETERMINE NOT TO WORRY. Now this sounds silly... But I believe we have to get to the point that we determine with God's help we are NOT going to let WORRY enslave us! I came to that point in my life where I determined I'm tired of WORRY....TAKING AWAY MY JOY...AND PEACE OF MINE! When I start to worry, I... 3. STOP AND PAUSE....AND TELL GOD THE ISSUES AND CONCERNS THAT I'M BEGINNING TO WORRY ABOUT.... "Lord, this matter is about to weigh me down and if I let it, the devil will use it to cause me to worry and doubt your love and care and ability to provide...I'm turning this matter over to you and asking you to provide and meet the need..." 4. REMEMBER GOD'S FAITHFULNESS IN THE PAST How did He help me last month when I had a similar need? The devil somehow gets us to forget how God has helped us in the past..... Remember how time and time again God has helped us through seemingly impossible situations..... This helps tremendously, I have found, with this present 'worry'... Many Christians keep a 'journal' and record answers to prayers and they can go back to it months and years later and it really helps to see how God has helped me in the past.... 5. REMEMBER THE 2-WORRY RULE. There are two things I have determined I will not worry about... I just won't do it... I will not worry about things that happened yesterday... I will not worry about things that might happen tomorrow..... Things that happened yesterday are done...I have no control over them....Now if I can go back and 'fix' something I have said or done, then I should do what I can....but otherwise it does no good to worry about it now... Some of us in this room have come from some pretty rough backgrounds, and occasionally the past will creep up behind us and whisper, "Don't forget WHO you were and WHAT you did.....you haven't really changed....!" Oh, Guilt of the past is so powerful..... But yesterday is gone and we must move on....Confess it to the Lord and ask Him to help you today to move on......Don't let the devil make you enslaved to your failures and decisions of the past.... We all have them, but we must move on with God's help... Remember 1 John 1:9 If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Things that might happen tomorrow....I also have no control over... Plan for tomorrow? Yes. Prepare for tomorrow? Yes But why should I worry about tomorrow....It is not going to help anything... Mark Twain once said, "I am an old man and I've known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." Most of the things we worry about NEVER HAPPEN!!!! Jesus tells us to leave tomorrow alone.....we have enough things today to be concerned about....We will concern ourselves with what might happen tomorrow when tomorrow comes... Now Like I said, we should plan ahead for tomorrow... We should prepare as much as possible for tomorrow... But Jesus said...Don't worry about tomorrow.... 6. CLAIM GOD'S PROMISES TO HELP YOU WITH WORRY. When WORRY begins to come into my day, I have certain Scriptures that bring me so much comfort..... Psalms 50:15 And call upon
me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 1 Peter 5:7 Casting
all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Claim these promises when you begin to worry and quote them to the devil....Doesn't James 4:7 say 'Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.'? We resist him with the Scripture and He flees from the Scripture...the Word of God! Here is a good rule to follow: WORRY ABOUT NOTHING AND PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING I like that. My Friend, with God's help, we can fight the GIANT OF WORRY. Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? We can never have true peace of mind and heart unless we have the Savior living within us. Won't you confess your lost condition to Him now and ask Him to save you? Won't you trust His death at Calvary to pay for your sins? If this message has helped you, please
e-mail us and let us know by signing the guestbook with your comments at
the top of this website. It will encourage us so much.
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