WHY WORRY? It’s Needless, Useless & Godless!

Everyone seems to worry about something. Listening to the news gives us an excuse. Someone got shot. A new super-flu is coming. Terrorists are regrouping. People have always worried, but worry seems to be an increasingly dangerous issue we deal with. Dale Carnegie wrote, Stop Worrying and Start Living back in 1944, but we still have a tough time putting it into practice.

There’s an endless list of things about which we can worry. People worry about anything and everything –  interest rates, children, marriage, family, retirement, aging, health, dying and living. A recent survey said the thing about which people worry the most is giving a speech.

We don’t want to worry. We don’t enjoy worrying. We know much of what we worry about simply isn’t worth worrying about and yet we worry. Someone said the motto for Americans should be “HURRY, WORRY & BURY.”

Worry is never a good advisor. It blocks clear decision-making and exaggerates the risks and dangers that might be ahead.

Life is always uncertain and until we embrace this fact, we will imagine risks, dangers and threats that never materialize.

Jesus understood all about worry. He never worried, but he understood human nature. He watched the way people lived and so he talked about worry.

JESUS’ QUESTION

And why do you worry? (Matthew 6:28).

That’s a good question to ask yourself. Why do you worry? Does it do you any good? Does it help you with your problems? Does it make you a better person?

Worry is harmful.

Continual worrying leads to all sorts of health problems. The same worry that wears out your mind, wears out your body. Worrying can lead to stomach ulcers, heart conditions and nervous disorders. It’s been said, “There may be greater sins than worrying, but very certainly there is no more disabling sin than worrying”

Worry is contagious.

All our emotions are contagious. People around us sense our emotions and are influenced by them. Worry and anxiety, like all other emotions, are highly infectious.

If a parent tends to worry a lot, chances are the children will worry a lot. That makes coming to grips with worry very important. When you worry, you pass on your worries. When you worry, you pass on your lack of faith in God. You not only hurt yourself, you hurt those you love the most.

Worry cripples our ability to cope.

Worriers have great difficulty coping with life. Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength!”

People who worry make poor decisions and have trouble coming to grips with life’s realities. Worry influences how you handle situations.

So Jesus asked, Why worry? If it doesn’t help the situation and doesn’t make you a better person, why do it?

JESUS’ TEACHING

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. (Matthew 6:25).

Don’t worry!

Jesus put it quite simply. There’s really no doubt about what he means. Three times in Matthew 6, he simply says, “Do not worry!” Jesus does not leave the door open a crack for any worry. Jesus said, don’t worry … about anything… at any time… no exceptions. He said, there’s no place for worry in your life.

That doesn’t mean you face life recklessly. It doesn’t mean you do foolish things or become inactive and unresponsive to life’s situations. But it does mean that there’s no place in your life for the worry that churns up the emotions inside you so that you can’t face life constructively.

What is worry?

In the dictionary, the word “worry comes between “wornout” and “worse.” The first meaning in Webster’s dictionary is “to strangle, injure or bite.” To worry is to bite or tear with the teeth like a dog does..

Worrying is feeling troubled or uneasy about some situation.

Worry is a churning up of your insides. Your emotions are negatively agitated. There’s fear, anxiety and you are deeply unsettled about what might happen or what did happen.

The word “worry” comes from two Greek words meaning “to divide the mind.” A person who worries is of two minds. This is what James meant when he wrote, a double-minded man is unstable in all he does.

Worry is internal, not external.

Worry is not caused by circumstances; it’s the way we respond to circumstances. That’s why two people can experience identical circumstances and one will worry and the other won’t.

Two people can board the same plane: one will worry and the other won’t.

Both anxiety and serenity come from inside you, not outside you. You can’t blame your circumstances for your worries. Remember, you have control over whether you are going to worry.

Notice the reasons Jesus said not to worry!

Worry is needless.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:25-26).

Jesus is simply saying it isn’t necessary to worry. If God gave us life, we can trust him with everything else.

He said, look at the birds. The heavenly Father looks after them and you are more valuable than the birds. God is going to look after you. It isn’t necessary to worry because God will take care of you.

Worry is useless.

Worry focuses your emotional energy in the wrong direction. Jesus said, go ahead and worry if you want to, but it won’t do any good. He asked a pointed question. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27).

Jesus said that worry is totally unproductive. I could worry about going bald, but it won’t change things. Some people worry about things that have already happened. Most of the things we worry about never take place. Worry and anxiety never accomplished anything good.

It’s a mark of the ungodly. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:32).

Jesus drew a strong distinction between his followers and those who don’t follow him. Jesus said worry is a characteristic of a non-Christian society. Worry is the product of the rat race, the world’s lifestyle.

Jesus said, sinners tend to worry; believers don’t worry. Believers don’t worry because they know that their heavenly Father knows what they need and will look after them.

STEPS TO WINNING OVER WORRY

Define your worry.

Some people worry for the sake of worrying and really don’t know specifically what they are worried about. They have just developed a habit of worrying.

Write down on a piece of paper what you are worried about. It may surprise you how unnecessary your worries are. It’s the starting point of coming to grips with your worries.

Take what action you can.

Writing down what you are worried about can lead you to take some action. Do what you can do. The problem with worrying is that it leads to inactivity. You can defeat your worries by taking some action. If there is something you can do about your situation, do it.

Remember, no prayer is sincere until you have done everything in your power to bring about the answer.

Put God first.

Stop trying to control everything and everyone. Control freaks are generally worrywarts.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33).

That’s a wonderful promise. Put God first, and he’ll look after you. Honor God above all else, and he will honor you.

Live one day at a time.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34).

Life by the mile is a trial, life by the yard is hard but life by the inch is a cinch. Don’t worry about tomorrow, simply do what needs to be done today.

Put your faith in God.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7).

Make a personal connection with God who will provide peace and security beneath the turbulence of the stress and strain of life.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:26).  … your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:32).

Read Matthew 6 carefully. Jesus is saying worrying is wrong because it demonstrates a lack of trust in the heavenly Father. When I worry, I’m basically saying, God, I don’t trust you, I don’t think you can look after me and I really think your promises are empty lies.

Worry is the opposite of trusting God; it’s really the opposite of faith. It’s interesting what Jesus said about faith, right in the middle of his teaching about worry and anxiety. Jesus said, O you of little faith! Worry is the product of weak faith! Anxiety is the result of defective faith.

Jesus was saying, it’s not so much a matter of trying to stop worrying, rather, it’s a question of making your faith strong. Strong faith defeats the biggest worries. An honest trust in God can conquer the worst case of anxiety.