Text: Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
Introduction:
Are you a worrier? Most people are, and it’s no wonder when the media of TV and newspapers regularly pump so much negative bad news into our minds every day.
Worry began in the Garden of Eden with Adam worrying about facing God after he had disobediently eaten of the forbidden fruit. Worry has been a plaque of the human race since then
Worry is something that occurs in all cultures and among all types of people. Everyone worries in somewhat predictable ways. You may be surprised how identical your worry patterns are to those of other people – both in how you worry and what you worry about. Worriers come in all shapes and sizes and so do their worries.
Experience has shown us that if we don’t face up to worry and work to contain and control it, worry can grip our lives with such force it will eventually choke out all the joy of living.
But there is good news for the habitual worrier. Worry is containable if we follow God’s advice on dealing with it. In our text God gave the disciples His prescription for a worried anxious heart.
Recognize the Character of Worry
Worry Defined
1. Worry and anxiety are twin emotions with practically the same meaning.
- (anxiety) – uneasy thoughts or fears about what may happen – troubled – uneasy feelings.
- There is a difference between a person being anxious for and anxious about.
- (worry) – to cause to feel anxious or troubled – to annoy, bother, to seize and shake with the teeth – to harass as if by repeated biting or repeated attacks – an anxious, troubled or uneasy state of mind.
- The root of worry and anxiety is fear
- Under control fear can be used for constructive purposes. Out of control it turns into anxiety and worry and becomes destructive
2. An Old Fable
- Death walked toward the city. A man stopped Death and asked, “What are you going to do? “I am going to kill 10 thousand people,” said Death. The man immediately warned as many people as he could. The next day the man again met Death. “You said you were going to kill 10 thousand people, but 70 thousand people died yesterday.” Death said, “I only killed 10 thousand people, worry and fear killed the others.”
- Isaiah 26:3, “Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trust in Thee.”
Four Features of Worry
- Worry deals mainly with the future.
- The worrier worries about what might happen.
- It’s threatening catastrophes are imaginary. They are not certain. It may never happen at all.
- Worry is a lonely sport.
- No one will come knocking at your door asking to join your worry party.
- Worry makes one apprehensive.
- Worry consumes a great deal of our emotional energy and can leave us totally exhausted.
- Worry is hopelessly pessimistic.
- When you think about it, worry doesn’t have much going for it.
- Worry is like a rocking chair, it will give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere.
Recognize the Cause of Worry
What is it people worry about? Worth/Roper survey said it was:
- Making wrong choices in major investments
- Facing major dental work or surgery
- Being audited by the IRS
- Having to speak in public
- Doing your own taxes
- Having a credit card declined in public