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Understand worry vs. concern, the roots of worry in humanistic self-orientation, and how Jesus addressed worry in the Sermon on the Mount. Discover how to trust in God's provision and eliminate anxiety.
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Worry is defined as “a disquieted uneasiness of mind, an anxious apprehension concerning an impending or anticipated situation; fretting about a foreboding misfortune or failure. ” When we worry we are usually apprehensive over what might happen. Corrie Ten Boom had a little poem that she used to quote; “Worry is an old man bended head carrying a load of feathers which he thinks a led”. Worry is about something that isn’t. it is about something that we fear will be”.
Originally, The word came from the Greek word “merimnao” meaning “having divided mind”. In that sense “worry” itself is concerned over the future in which we cannot control. To worry is to assume a responsibility that is not necessarily ours to assume; failing to recognize that God is bigger than any problem we might have, and loves us enough to seek our highest good in the midst of every situation. According to the Bible, Worry is a form of humanistic self-orientation that thinks, "It's up to me to take care of this situation," therefore we are acting as if there is no God to deal with the situation, or that God doesn't know or care about the situation.
Jesus says in his words to us that it is wrong to worry. In fact, Matthew 6: 25-34 Jesus repeated these expressions, “Don't Worry”, three times. So let’s find out what Jesus meant when he talked about worry at “Sermon on the Mount” . But Before we look into the instructions, I want to tell you that by not worrying, it does not mean that we shouldn’t plan ahead. Sometimes I hear people interpret this passage as saying, “don’t ever be concerned about anything”. But that’s not what God means.
The bottom line is that we are to be concerned. If your child is in the front yard playing next to where the traffic is you will be concerned and your concern will motivate you to take action so that you preserve that child from being hurt. There is a difference between “Worry” and “Concern”. “Worry” has to do with the future over which we have no control. So Jesus is not not talking about “not planning” or “not having any concern”. The problem comes when concern becomes worry because we fail to relate the situation that confronts us to the sufficiency in God.
Let’s look into what the Bible says. In Mathew 6:25, God gave us instructions that help us understand how worry affects us and what we have to about it. Matthew 6:25 25“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 than food, and the body more than clothes?”
Here Jesus is saying that worry is inconsistent. The whole concept of the 25th verse is that since Jesus has given us our life and our body, it should make sense that He will also care for the things that we need for that body. It is an argument from the greater to the lesser. The greatest thing that God provided for us is life itself along with this organism that we know as a body, why should we doubt that he will also provide us with lesser needs, food to put in our body and clothes to put on our body? So Jesus is saying that it is illogical for you to worry if you understand and believe in the evidence of God’s goodness to you through your very life which you live.
Mathew 6:2626 “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?”The second argument that Jesus presents is that worry is irrational. This time He goes about it exactly the opposite of the previous verse. In this verse, Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater. In the first verse he goes from life to clothes. In this verse he goes from birds of the air to human being. He says if God, the Creator, will provide for the birds, don’t you think he will provide for you?
In Mathew 10:29, we are told that you can buy two sparrows for one penny. And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. Are you not more valuable than many sparrows? When you turn to Luke 12:6 you discover that five sparrows are sold for two pennies. So if you compare these two verses there is one extra sparrow that is thrown in there for free since 2 sparrows = 1 penny and 5 sparrows = 2 pennies. “Yet not one of them is forgotten by God”, not even the one which was thrown in for free. He sees it all. In the eyes of God there are no “dropouts”.
Even though I open my arms wide, I still can’t fly in the sky at all. But a little bird who can fly, Can’t run on the ground as fast as me. Even though I shake my body, I still can’t make a sound as beautiful as a bell. But that ringing bell, Doesn’t know as many songs as me. A bell, a little bird, and me, We’re all different and all wonderful. by Misuzu Kaneko
Not only is worry inconsistent and irrational but it is also ineffective. Mathew 6:2727“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”Which of you by worrying add more time to your life? Of course the answer is nobody. So worry is also ineffective. It doesn’t do you any good and will not make any positive difference in your life. How many of you have spent the day worrying about the things that would happen tomorrow and end up ruining today?
Verses 28-30 Jesus said, Matthew 6:28-30 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”
Listen, Jesus is also telling them to look at Creation. Look at the flowers and see their beauty. Jesus said, that they are far more beautiful than Solomon was in his royal robes, the richest man who ever lived. The argument that Jesus was using here is that if we look around at nature and recognize that God cares that much for all that he Created for man, how much more will he care for his most precious creation, His children.
Mathew 6:3131“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?”The last thing that Jesus wants us to know about Worry is that it is non-religious. Worry is a form of humanistic self-orientation in thinking that it’s up to me to take care of this, therefore we are acting as if there is no God to deal with the situation, or that God doesn't know or care about the situation. Therefore, you are literally taking God out of the picture. Mathew 6:32 32“For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ”
Does this mean that a Christian can not have momentary worry? “No”. I left the my home country when I was 31 years old and lived in South America for 39 years. I moved to Chicago and lived there for 7 years and last year I moved here to Tucson. We raised three children. One was born in Japan, the other in America and the third in Ecuador. I know what worry is. But when I visit worry I don’t stay there. Some people don’t just visit worry, they move in. It becomes their life-style. Their thinking becomes focused on worry, they even worry when they have nothing to worry about.
In the last two verses the Lord Jesus reminds us how to deal with our worry. First of all, to win over worry you need a system of priority in your life. See what Jesus says in verse 33. Mathew 6:33 33“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Seek“FIRST” the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Put that in the center of your heart and let it be the lenses that you look through in every area of your life. When you put God in the center of your life and when you make Him the focus of your pursuits, you don’t have to worry about what is on either side because you know that once God settles the big issue God is going to settle all the other issue that comes along.
The thing that you need to do is to step back for a moment to ask yourself, “How have I ordered my life and what is important to me?” Get a system of priority in order that is based upon putting the Almighty God first. Now, the second thing you need to do is found in the last verse of this passage of scripture. Of all the things we have learned so far this may be the most important and critical thing .
Mathew 6: 34 34“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”Many people sink under the burden of today when they add the burden of tomorrow along with it. What the Bible is teaching us is that we need to learn how to live in “day-tight compartments”. Let me explain what I mean by “day –tight compartments.”
Born in Shimonoseki city I enjoyed watching all kinds of ships going through Kanmon Strait. That’s how I got interested in ships and studied ship-building at a Technical High school. There I learned that ocean liners or cargo ship are built in such a way that the steel door compartments on the ship could be shut off at the touch of a button into water tight compartments. If one area of the ship was breached, the other compartments would be closed off and the ship could continue to run without sinking.
We cannot live tomorrow now so why worry about tomorrow? Yes, we should plan for the future, but we can only live in this very moment. We must also close off the past, it is already lived and cannot be changed. The best thing we can do with our past is learn the lessons and let it go. In the journey of life it is critical to learn how to lower the door against tomorrows that would come in to destroy your life and yesterdays that caused you to worry and learn how to live in the compartment of today. Jesus said, “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow takes care of itself.”
The hardest task as missionary is to raise financial support. When we started our deputation in the United States we had no contacts to raise support for our work in Ecuador to start the Japanese radio ministry. We had no idea how we were going to make it. I remember one day, feeling discouraged, and a song kept coming into my mind over and over again. The words said, “ I don’t know about tomorrow I just live from day to day…” Let me tell you what it taught me. God will give you the grace that you need today and when tomorrow comes, He will give you the grace that you need tomorrow. We have to learn how to take one day at a time.
Pull down that steel door that shuts off your tomorrows because worry will empty today’s strength. Mark Twain once said; “I’m an old man and I’ve known great many troubles but most of them never happened”. So, take each day as it comes and give your attention to what God is doing right now , prepare for the future. Then, close the door of yesterday. Many people worry about yesterday. Yesterday is gone. You cannot do anything. What is it that people usually worry about when it pertains to the past? First of all they worry about their sins. I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Some people just cannot get them out of their minds and they feel that they cannot forgive themselves and do not think that they deserve to be forgiven by God. But you have to remind yourself that God has forgiven you. That He had taken all your sins , past, present and future and has put them as far as the East is from the West. He buried them in the deepest sea. You are forgiven. Others say God has forgiven them but I cannot forgive myself. Now listen! We have to put our sins where they belong. Put them behind us, if we confess them and God will take care of them.
Paul, the apostle, one of the most successful man ever to live at the close of his life said, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3:13- 14 That is what we have to do. Take that position today.
Doctors have said that the main cause of stomach ulcers and heart attacks is a troubled heart. High stress attacks the immune system, slows down the thinking process, weakens the vitality of daily living of the human body. We need to laugh more. "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” Prov. 15: 30 If we have a joyful, cheerful attitude, we can change the atmosphere of our homes, our workplaces, and our churches. We will feel better physically, emotionally and spiritually.
God is a God of your today. He will care for you tomorrow but tomorrow will be your today when you get there. Live for today. God be the one who will meet you in this hour and moment-by-moment and you will be able to overcome worry. That’s the core of the Christian life. Don’t worry about anything. This is Jesus’ command and this is the only way to walk a blessed happy life in this age of a troubled world.
Call upon m in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. (Psalm 50:15) Cast your care on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22) You will keep in perfect peace. Him whose mind is steadfast, Because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3) Casting all your care upon him because he cares for you. (I Peter 5:7) Do not anxious about anything, but in every thing by prayer and petition, with thanks giving, present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6&7)
