Let Go of Worry
Introduction:
On the slope of Longs Peak in Colorado lie the ruins of a huge tree. Naturalists say that it stood for over 400 years. It had weathered thousands of storms and had been hit with lighting 14 times. At the end, an army of beetles attacked the tree and leveled it to the ground. This tremendous giant, that age had not withered, that lightning had not blasted, that storms had not subdued fell at last before beetles so small that a man could crush them between his forefinger and thumb.
Perhaps sometimes we expect the “big things” to be the fall of us spiritually. We speak often and warn about the immorality issues, but I wonder if some Christians are not being torn apart and devoured by a vast array of “little things” which will level us to the ground and wither us spiritually. Perhaps one of those “little things” which many times eats away at Christian people is worry. Perhaps worry is one of those things that we never preach on because we all do it, kind of like…gluttony.
When you are a young child you only worry about when you will get play time and what toys you will play with. When you get a little older you worry about school and friends. When you get to your teenage years you begin you worry about dating and relationships, and come teenagers even worry about school. Then you worry some more about school and perhaps what you will do after high school. Then throughout college years you worry about what you are going to do with your life, which is why college kids change their major every other week. Then the real worrying just begins. Does anyone worry about paying bills or making ends meet sometimes? Do you ever worry about your future, perhaps plans that are in the making? Does anyone ever worry about their health or even their own death? Does anyone ever worry about their work or maybe your retirement? Do any of you ever worry about different relationships you are involved in? Any of you parents ever worry about your children?
Top 10 Reasons Why People Worry results of a national poll in Industry Week Magazine…
1. Own health and fitness - 73%
2. Lack of time for family or leisure pursuits - 49%
3. Their children’s problems - 43%
4. Job related stress - 43%
5. Personal investments - 39%
6. Estate planning - 37%
7. Relationship with children - 34%
8. Aging - 30%
9. Income Level - 22%
10. Their marriages - 21%
Some people seem to have a care in the world, but for the vast majority of people like can at times be chaotic and full of stressful things. There are a lot of things that we can worry about. If we would allow the worries in this life to control us we wouldn’t have time for anything else. The bottom line is that life can be stressful and full of things that we could worry about, but I believe there is a better alternative if you would just let go of your worries. You may be thinking to yourself, “How in the world am I going to let go of these worries? If I let go of these worries, then how will anything ever get accomplished.” Let me suggest to you this morning that we let go of worry.
Comedian Carl Hurley relates the fact that it is almost impossible to throw away a garbage can. You set it out there empty with the other cans full of garbage and it sits there when you return. Worry is a lot like that trash can, we want it to go away, but it keeps hanging around.
Text: Matthew 6:25-34
I. The Reason to Let Go of Worry
a. Worry Indicates A Lack of Trust
When Jesus spoke to the people about worrying about various different things he wanted to prove that God was trustworthy to take care of their problems. He spoke at length how they could trust in God rather than worry. The greatest problem with worry and anxiety is that is a lack of trust in the Lord. When we worry we are essentially spending time wondering how we can fix a problem or what we can do about something, when the reality is we are looking to the wrong place. God promises to take care of the needs that we have. We need to understand that when we worry we are failing to trust in a dependable and a good God for our basic needs. What a bad witness to the world it is when Christian people worry. We should be demonstrating to the world that we trust in God fully and do not need to worry.
Matthew 6:31-32
Sometimes we convince ourselves that we trust in the Lord with our whole heart, but when push comes to shove we don’t really trust Him. It is easy for me to say at times, “I fully depend on God.” However, it becomes a little bit more difficult when times are slightly rough. It becomes a little more difficult when I do not know how I am going to pay my bills. So what do I do, I worry about it. I take it into my own hands. There is nothing wrong with taking action and trying to be proactive about a problem that you have in life, but the question is when money gets tight do we trust that the Lord will provide our needs. Do we trust him enough to keep on giving a portion of our incomes? It is easy for me to trust the Lord when things are going great, but what about when work isn’t going so well, or when my health begins to fail, or my children are giving me some problems, or I am involved in some conflict with someone else? What do we do? Do we trust the promises that God gives us in His Word or do we worry about it constantly to no avail? Sometimes I think we do not trust as well as we think we do, let us let go of worry because worrying indicates that you do not trust God to take action.
b. Worry Accomplishes Nothing Good
There was a patient in the mental hospital, holding his ear close to the wall, listening intently. The nurse finally approaches him and says “What are you doing.” “Shhh!" he says. And he keeps listening.
And finally the patient beckons the nurse over and says, “Listen.” The nurse presses hers ear to the wall for a long time. And she finally says, "I can’t hear a thing,” And the patient says, "Yea, and it’s been like that all day!"
Well, worry is a little bit like that mental patient sitting and listening to the wall. Worry consumes a lot of our time, but accomplishes very little in the long run. Worry is a waste of time. It doesn’t accomplish anything. This is exactly what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:27
It has been said that the average person’s anxiety is focused on 40% of things that will never happen, 30% about things in the past that can’t be changed, 12% things about criticism by others which is mostly untrue, 10% about health, which gets worse with stress, and only about 8% about real problems that will be faced.
I believe that is fairly close to accurate. The reality is, and we understand it from our experiences that no matter how much we worry about something it does not change things. I have never seen anyone solve a problem or accomplish anything due to worrying about it.
One man said, “Don’t tell me that worrying does not help. The things I worry about never happen.”
Worry and anxiety are essentially a waste of your time.
Often times the things we spend time worrying about are beyond our control anyways and it does not accomplish anything good. Let us let go of worry and anxiety because in reality worrying does not accomplish anything.
c. Worry Is Bad For Your Health
Proverbs 12:25
Indeed worry weighs a person down, and as you battle stress, anxiety and worry you can feel the weight and the affect of that worry on your body. Worry may lead to added stress in your life, sleeplessness, irritability, and tension. I hope we can see that worry does not accomplish anything good. Worry is indeed a danger to your health. I have heard it said that a majority of visits to primary care physicians are stress related problems. According to the Maryland Medical Center anxiety affects some 23 million Americans each year. Worry has been linked to cancer, lung ailments, various accidents, gastrointestinal problems, ulcers and even suicide. Worry and stress can bring on many different health problems, including diabetes. Many deaths in America re heart related, and we know that worry is bad on the heart, causing things like hypertension. I believe many people die from spending a lot of time worrying about various things. Let us understand plainly that worry will take a physical toll on you. I believe many of us experience health problems and physical difficulties because of worry and stress in our lives.
Someone once said, “Worry is like a rocking chair, it uses up your energy without getting you anywhere”
If we would allow it and continue in worry it could literally kill us. I believe there is a better alternative. Let us let go of worry because worrying and anxiety are bad for our health.
d. Worry Hinders Action
I have found that worry takes up a lot of time. Perhaps it is something we all do, but it is costly of our time. Many of us stay up late at night as we lay in bed worrying about different things. I believe many of us spend more time worrying about problems than we do working to fix problems. Worry takes up so much times that sometimes it can hinder us from doing what needs to be done. People can get so bogged down with worry that they are good for nothing. Let us not get hindered from fixing our problems or doing what needs to be done because of our worries. Let us let go of worry!
e. Worry is A Sin
The real kicker is that worry is a sin. We may think that sounds a little bit harsh, but it is what the Scriptures teach. Jesus commanded us not to worry, and when we do that is breaking a commandment. We may be a little bit uncomfortable thinking of worry with the likes of lying, adultery, homosexuality, and murder, but the reality is worry is a sin. Sometimes we attempt to make worry into a positive trait and we tell ourselves that if we worry about something that shows that we are concerned about something. I do not believe we ought to attempt to make worry out to be a positive trait. Worry is indeed a sin and it robs of spiritual growth and it robs us of our joy.
Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
Let us let go of worry because worry is a sin that violates an express command of God.
II. The Way to Let Go of Worry
How many of you woke up today and said to yourself, “Self, I am so glad I have another day. I cannot wait to find something to worry about today. This morning I think I will have a hot cup of anxiety, some fried worry as well as a piece of toasted anxiety.” The reality is that we do not like that anxiety and worry in our lives, so how do we deal with it? How do we let go of worry? Worry has been a part of our lives day in and day out and the more chaotic life gets the more there seems to be to worry and stress over. Letting go of worry is no easy task.
Many of you remember the 1988 Bobby McFerrin song that was a huge worldwide hit titled “Don’t Worry Be Happy”. The song had a very catchy tune, but its message is probably easier said than done and isn’t a real solution to life’s problems. In the movie “The Lion King” Elton John had a song titled “Hakuna Matata”. The words are, “Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata! Ain’t no passin’ craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s our problem free philosophy. Hakuna Matata!” That does sound great, doesn’t it? All we have to do is adapt a problem free philosophy and it will all work out, won’t it? Don’t worry, be happy! Hakuna Matata! I am starting to feel better already! I am so thankful, now I will never worry again. I wish it was that easy.
a. Learn to Trust in The Lord
I do not believe that trusting in the Lord is something we automatically know how to do. It is something that we learn to do through time. It is very difficult to trust in a God whom we cannot see, but yet I believe we can. The options are for us to worry ourselves or trust in the Lord. Those two options are at odds with one another so we cannot do both. If we are to let go of worry, we must learn how to really trust in the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Leaning on our own understanding will only lead to further worry, but trusting in the Lord will deliver us from all anxiety. Sometimes we need to trust less in ourselves and more in the Lord. We believe that by trusting in the Lord He will indeed make our paths straight. He is able to take carry of those things that we worry about that we have no control over. You see, worry is depending upon the wrong person to take care of life’s problems. I want us to understand that God is trustworthy. He does not ask us to place trust is someone or something that is not capable or proven. I believe that we have countless examples in Scripture and from life’s experiences which validate that God is trustworthy. He will not fail us. He is dependable.
Matthew 6:25-30
Jesus is teaching us that God provides for the animals, he provides for the plants and he even provides for the pagans, and if He does that how much more will He provide for us. We can trust in the Lord. We can trust in His promises for He is dependable. His Word is the best resource to gain trust in Him because it in His Word we find His promises. It is in His Word we see him fulfilling certain promises. It is in His Word that we see His love, care, concern and faithfulness towards His people. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We can learn to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and stop leaning on our own understanding. Listen church, you have entrusted your soul into the hands of God. You trust that you be saved because of His promises. You have trusted Him with your soul, don’t you think you can trust him with life’s problems?
b. Learn to Seek First the Kingdom
Another way to let go of worry is to spend our time and energy doing something else, and that is seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Matthew 6:31-33
I believe that Jesus mentions some legitimate concerns. It is natural to be concerned about where you will get your next meal if you have nothing and how you will provide clothes if you cannot afford them, but Jesus suggests that His followers not worry about those things, but rather that they seek to the best of their ability to serve God. We need to learn to put first things first. We cannot seek first the kingdom when we are filled with worry, but if instead we would do our best and do the Lord’s work then we will not need to worry, because God will take care of our needs. If we are to let go of worry, we must learn to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then we can trust the promise of God that all these things will be added unto us.
c. Learn to Pray About Anxieties
Not only is prayer a means to communicate with God it is also a venue by which we can relieve our worries and our anxieties. Prayer is presented by Paul as an alternative to worry and anxiety.
Philippians 4:4-7
Rather than being anxious about anything we are challenged to present our burden to the Lord. He then promises that we will no longer be filled with distress and anxiety, but we will be filled with peace that transcends all understanding. It almost sounds silly to state that all we have to do is present our request before the Lord and our anxiety will be removed and we will be filled with peace.
When we pray we are asking the one who is capable of doing something to act. We understand that there are many worries that we have that are out of our control, but they are not out of God’s control. We have absolutely no right to complain about the way things are if we are not praying about those things. How many of the things that you worry about on a regular basis are you praying about on a regular basis? Instead of sitting around stressing and worrying about how certain things are going to work out why not spend the time praying about it. If I am correct in my assessment that many of the things we worry about are out of our control and essentially worry is a waste of time, why not use our time speaking to God about it? I have found that just talking to God about my anxieties no matter what they are always makes me feel better and more at ease. We need to learn when there is a situation that could cause us to worry to present that request to God so that he can change our worry into peace.
d. Learn to Turn Things Over to the Lord
One man was always worrying. He worried about his children, his job, his wife, his health. One day a friend of this man noted that he was extremely calm and peaceful. "Why are you so calm?, he asked. "You always worry about every-thing. What happened?" The former worrier replied, "I just hired a man to do the worrying for me." "Well, how much are you paying him?" His friend inquired. "A thousand dollars a week," the man replied. "A thousand a week? You can’t afford a thousand dollars a week." The worrier responded, "That’s his problem, let him worry about it!"
The good news today is that we do have someone to take our worries and our cares for us. Not only is He capable of working out the problems that we worry about, but He asks us to lay our burdens, anxieties, fears and worries upon him.
I Peter 5:7
What an offer that is! We know the weight of anxiety, don’t we? When we are filled with worry and anxiety we can feel a physical, emotional and a spiritual drag upon us. Could you imagine taking other people’s worries and anxieties? Honestly, I have enough worries of my own, I don’t need more or anyone else’s worries to weigh me down. However, God invites each and every one of us to turn things over to Him. He invites us to stop worrying and cast those cares upon him.
Mary Crowley said, “Every evening I turn worries over to God. He’s going to be up all night anyway. “
Matthew 11:28-30
