WHAT
JESUS HAD TO SAY ABOUT WORRY
Matthew 6:25-34
For this
reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat
or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body
more than clothing? Look at the birds
of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your
Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
worth much more than they? And who of
you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow;
they do not toil nor do they spin yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all
his glory clothed himself like one of these.
But if God clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and
tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, you of
little faith? Do not worry then saying,
“what will we eat” or “what will we drink” or “what will we wear for
clothing?” For the Gentiles eagerly
seek all these things. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these
things. But seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow
will take care for itself. Each day has
enough trouble of it’s own.
Each
one of you who are reading this pen pulpit today has worried at one time or
another. Maybe some more than others,
but we are all guilty of worry. Jesus
says that worry is caused by lack of faith.
There are several good ways to illustrate worry. My favorite one is this:
Worry has been defined as “a small trickle of fear
that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other
thoughts are drained.”
The
classic passage on worry - its cause and its cure is found in Matthew
6:25-34. The thing we worry about the
most is probably the necessities of life which also serves as illustrations of
other things in our life. Jesus speaks
to this issue: eating, drinking and clothing (v.25). He says that life consists in much more than what we eat or drink
or wear. To emphasize this He compares
us with the lowly bird. Our Heavenly
Father takes care of them. We are much
more important to God than they.
He
then informs us that worry cannot aid our growth either physically or
spiritually (v. 27). He goes on to
draw our attention to the flowers of the field, which do absolutely nothing and
yet God takes good care of them. They
demonstrate even more glory than King Solomon.
Then we look at the mundane grass of the field which is clothed by
God. It is so temporary – here today
and gone tomorrow- thrown into the furnace and consumed. Will He not much more clothe you? Jesus then zeros in on the real cause for
our worry, “you of little faith.”
When
we worry, our faith is small. So if our
faith is small, how then do we increase the strength of it? Only one way: Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). How much time do you spend in the Word each day? The Word of God is a sure cure for worry –
but we’ve got to keep at it regularly because the devil tempts us with things
to worry about daily. King David wrote,
“Thy Word have I treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against you” - Psalm 119:11. This verse challenges us to commit God’s Word to memory. The reason is obvious – so you will have
live ammunition in your gun.
He
then appeals to our understanding of God’s knowledge of our need. Unbelievers worry and fret because they have
no recourse in and of themselves. In
addition to being concerned about the necessities of our life, or anything else
for that matter, we must pursue His kingdom and righteousness. Then all these other things will be added to
us. We often worry about what’s going
to happen tomorrow. Jesus says in
effect, you are not there yet. Tomorrow will work itself out just as today
did. Each day has its own degree of
trouble.
Rev.
R. C. Trench, who many years ago was Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, had a morbid
fear and worried much that he might become paralyzed. One evening at a party the lady he sat next to at dinner heard
him muttering mournfully to himself.
“It’s happened at last – total insensibility of the right limb.” “Your grace,” said the lady, “it may
comfort you to learn that it is my leg you are pinching.”
So
my question to you today beloved, are you going to fret and fume about today or
tomorrow’s problems – be it finances, relationships, health or aging or
whatever? Or are you going to set God’s
Word before you and work through it and watch Him work out the problems in your
life? I guarantee that if you do that,
peace will be your portion. God bless.
In
His matchless love,