God said “Don’t Worry”
Matthew 6:25 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?
Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Matthew 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Matthew 6:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Matthew 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Worry is one of the most commons sins among Christians. Many people fail to see worry as a sin but it’s the sin of not trusting God, second guessing God, a lack of faith in God’s ability to deliver. Worry is a powerful tool of Satan. Satan uses worry as a wrench to twist our heads away from God. He uses worry to break up our families to destroy relationships. Satin robs us of sleep, peace, faith and joy with just worry.
Worry is derived from a Greek word that means to be divided, distracted and double-minded. It means to have double vision, to be unfocused. In James 1:8 it states that a double minded person is unstable in all his ways.
Worry accomplishes nothing. Worrying is a mental activity of contemplating outcomes. Can you recall a time where someone gave a testimony of how worry helped them out of a situation? Worrying helped me to get that promotion, to pay my rent, to feed my family and it even healed my body. I have not heard of it.
On the contrary it is a medical fact that worrying on a regular basis will take years off of your life. Some of the results of worry are headaches, stress, poor digestion, loss of sleep. With these symptoms, it is a wonder that a person can function at all under the yoke of worrying. Worrying is referred to as mental paralyzation. You can’t think rationally, you don’t want to talk you don’t want to be talked to, worrying can just shut you down. It seems that worry is as destructive to the body as any drug.
Has anyone here ever worried themselves sick? Don’t leave me up here by myself. You felt terrible as if your world was going to come to an end. And after the situation came out favorable or unfavorable to you, you then realize that your worrying did not help or hurt the situation. The only thing that was hurt was you. In our homes, parents full of worry affect the children. Worry keeps you from spending quality time with your children. Worry keeps you so tied up in trying to provide for them materially that they miss out on your love, they miss out on God’s love. You miss out on the relationship with your children that could have been and may never be because of worry. As a result they grow up with a lack of confidence, a lack of faith in God and a lack of trust. They feel that the only person the can count on is themselves. Now this is not God’s will for His children. If parents show trust and faith in God, their children will do the same. They will learn to count on God for all of their needs. Their testimony will be without God, I am nothing. Your testimony will be without God , I’m Nothing.
Lets look at what Jesus is teaching us in the scripture. In verse 26 Jesus is talking about the birds of the air “ they do not sow or reap nor store away in barns ant yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much
more valuable than they? Now God maintains and governs the world, so not only did he create the birds of the air but he also continually feeds them.
Now some foolish Christian have taken this verse to mean that they should not work, because the birds do not sow, reap and gather into barn then they should not so either. This so-called interpretation is nonsense and it is also equates to laziness. Bird are not supposed to sow reap and gather into barns but they are not lazy. They wake up every morning looking for food build nests raise their young, travel thousands of miles in search of better climate and food. I don’t think some of us would make it if we had to work as hard as birds do. So what is Jesus saying to us here? As hard as they have to work, they do not worry. In Psalm 147:9 it says that God provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. So let us draw this conclusion; if God feeds the birds, which are less than us in the scale of being, he will feed us also because Jesus told us that we are more valuable than birds. We are the crown of God’s Creation. The bible teaches us that man is greater because he is created in the image and likeness of God for the purpose of thinking and worshiping God.
In verse 27 Jesus asks a question. “Which of you by worrying can add one hour to your life.” This is a rhetorical question because the answer is no one. Why? Because our time is in God’s hand.(2) In God’s time birds will fall to the ground and man will return to the dust. Now in these scriptures referred to as the sermon on the mount who is Jesus speaking to? He is speaking to his disciples, he is speaking to the children of God. Now watch this He is not addressing unbelievers so the injunction not to worry only applies to children of God.(2) Jesus is the light of the world, the truth and the way, if you have not given you life to Christ, then you are blind, you are living in darkness, You have no light, no direction, and no chance at eternal life, now that is something to worry about.
In verse 30 Jesus gives the cure for worry. It is called faith. Faith negates worry, it dismisses worry from our lives. To grow in faith you must become educated in the scripture and apply the teaching to your life. The bible says that faith comes through submissive hearing of the word of God. So what is submissive hearing? Submissive hearing is hearing with conviction. Hearing the word of God should convict you to make a change in your life. Now let me expain this: I don’t get the same feeling from hearing God’s word as I get from watching a sporting event, I may be excited but that is an external happiness. But when I hear that God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, it makes my heart jump, it gives me goose pimples, it makes me shout, my eyes well up with tears, it make me want to introduce somebody to Jesus. Do know you him today, do you love him today, can you feel him today. He is ready to give you joy, he is ready to give you peace, he is ready to give you strength.
Show me a person growing in faith and you will have a student of the scripture he will be steady confident, not worrying but working hard in the world.
Lets look at verse 32 God knows your needs. It says right here that the unbeliever is characterized by worry for their needs. In the book of Hebrews 12:2 is says that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith. Now if He is the author and the finisher, wouldn’t you think that He would have everything to do with what goes on in between? He is there through your entire life, waiting on you to accept Him, to totally depend on Him, to Love Him as He loves you.
Now a Christian is to be characterized by trusting GOD – not by frantic untrust that causes us to worry about our needs. Do those around you see that trust in us? Do they see faith in us, Or do they confuse us with unbelievers because our lives are full of worry and distrust? Here is a more important question, how can you witness to someone else about Jesus if you do not trust Him? How can you be credible in telling someone how good the Lord is if you have no faith in Him. I don’t talk about people I do not trust
Non –Christians live for material things but they are blinded and without understanding of spiritual things. They are without God and without Hope in the world. With no relationship with the Heavenly Father, they store up their treasure upon earth and they serve and find hope in money. But whether rich or poor they are still characterized by worry, why? Because they trust in themselves. They say I am where I am today because of what I have done to get me here. Now that is a lot of I’s. They have no great, eternal, everlasting, sovereign, immanent Savior upon whom they can trust.
So Jesus is telling His disciples “Don’t be like that” You are citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. You have been enlightened and made children of the heavenly Father IN Jesus Christ. You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. You are different; so live a distinctive life, a life of confidence and not worry, a life that is attractive to the world of worriers, but Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
And finally in verse 34 Jesus tells us not to concern ourselves with tomorrow “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Tomorrow will have new concerns. We should face these concerns as we live one day at a time. Tomorrow is not promised. Have you done the things that you need to do for today. Give your life to the Lord today for tomorrow may be to late.
So don’t worry about the future because there are plenty of concerns for today. I believe this teaching really confronts many of us here in this church, with our attitudes of un-trust, that need to be changed. It confronts anyone who tries to live in their own efforts.
But he question before us this afternoon is, after hearing this and you’ve heard this before, how will we react? Will we continue to be under the yoke of worry? Will be continue to destroy our families with worry. Will we look the same as unbelievers in this issue? Will we argue and rationalize with Christ’s teachings here . . . and thus continue to disobey God and subject ourselves to unwarranted stress, fear, and worry? Will we continue to allow Satin to Run, Rule and Ruin our lives(2) Or will we TRUST God to meet life’s needs? Will be become like lilies and sparrows; or Close ourselves up with worry. Trust or Unbelief. That is our choice. Trust is God’s choice.
What are your worries today?
Some people worry over work. Let me share something with you: when you die your in box will still be full and there will still be things let to do, I know that we like to feel important at work and if we are not there, then the job will shut down but guess what, they will continue and survive without you.
Let’s talk about health: If you are not doing anything to get or remain healthy or better yet if you are doing things that are killing your body, there is no need to worry about health. When we are born, we begin the march to death but our concern should be with the death of our Flesh but the final resting place of our eternal souls.
Lets talk about money. Let me share this with you: We should not worry about more money if you don’t have the discipline to manage what God has given to you in the first place. I am a living witness that the Lord will provide all the money you need. Now I said need and not want, he will also bless you with wants based on the level of your faith. Let me explain. He does not want money to define you, He wants to define you. If someone looks at you and sees money and not the Lord, you’re out of order and that is not the will of God. Don’t expect the Lord to bless you with a million dollars and you only possess $50 worth of faith.
What is the consuming fear in your mind? I invite you today to entrust it to God. He is trust-worthy. Give it to him and you’ll never be disappointed. You and I can trust God to meet our life’s needs rather than worrying.
Let us never allow worries to supersede our loyalty to the kingdom. Let us view each need as an opportunity for God to provide.
Let us commit ourselves to this lifestyle for ourselves and our families. A lifestyle that is different from unbelievers. You can (1 Pet. 5:7) "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
Cedric A. Portis
Email: cedque8@cs.com
