My fear is that worry has become so much a part of our lives that we endure it as normal and inescapable and what we fail to remember is that this same worry and stress is literally killing us. Stress is a leading cause of all kinds of health issues and mental health issues and stress and worry contributes to the breakdown of marriages, families, friendships and finances. Stress and worry is killing us and yet what God wants for us is life and life abundant, God wants for us a life free from worry so Jesus offers us a better way, a healthier way, and it can be a real and practical way if we are willing to leave the old life behind. The first step in living a worry free life is to acknowledge that this kind of life is possible. Are we willing to take Jesus at his word and believe that not worrying is possible? .
For us to be able to do this, let’s be clear about what we are talking about, not worrying doesn’t mean that we don’t plan for or think about the future. Jesus was always thinking about the future, he was always planning for the day he would carry a cross – he knew it was coming and he worked to prepare his disciples for that day. Not worrying doesn’t mean not planning; we need to plan for our future. It’s ok to have a pension fund, and to put money into an IRA, it’s ok to save for a rainy day, it’s ok to plan for our children’s college fund – planning is good, God wants us to plan for the future and be prepared, he just wants us to do it with faith. He wants us to plan for the future but not trust in ourselves to provide for it all.
Not worrying also doesn’t mean we are not concerned. It’s ok to be concerned about people – I would be upset if we weren’t concerned about people or the situations we see around us because being concerned for others is a reflection of our love; we just can’t cross the line into worry because that betrays our love and faith in God. We can’t allow our concern to consume us – when that happens, when we allow our concern for people to cause us to wring our hands and lead us to places of hopelessness and despair then we have crossed the line from concern to worry. It is fine line that separates the two so we always need to be thinking and praying about where our heart is, but let’s be clear that concern and worry are not the same things, so it’s ok to be concerned.
Concern is good, Jesus was concerned about people. He was concerned about the well being of his disciples after he was gone so he prayed and asked God to send the Holy Spirit to help them. From the cross Jesus looked down and saw his mother and he was concerned about her which is why he asked his friend John to take care of her. It is good to be concerned, but we can’t allow that concern to consume us.
Now if we keep these two ideas in mind, that not worrying doesn’t mean not planning and it doesn’t mean not being concerned for others, then maybe we can begin to see that a worry free life is possible and we have to believe that it is or else we will never step out in faith to live it. Now I know what many of you might be saying right now, Andy, we have tried not worrying, and it just doesn’t work and I might agree with you. To just stop worrying is not going to work. Jesus doesn’t tell us to just stop worrying, he tells us to replace it. When we just stop something it creates a void, and as long as that emptiness is there – worry will return.
Look at Matthew 12:43-45. The message Jesus gives here is that evil will return unless we fill our hearts and lives with something more powerful, something good and of God. I think the same applies with worry. If we just tell ourselves to stop worrying, it may work for a day or two, but worry will always try to return and if we haven’t replaced it with something better, something stronger and of God, then worry will settle back into our hearts and minds, so instead of telling ourselves we have to just stop worrying, we need to think about how to replace worry, and that is exactly what Jesus says here.
Jesus doesn’t say do not worry – period, he follows up that command with this, consider the lilies. So we replace worry with what? – looking at the world around us and seeing how God cares for and provides for all that He made which should tell us that God will provide for us as well. We replace worry with faith in a God who created us and so knows our every need and will meet those needs. We replace worry with trust in a God who loves us more than the flowers of the field because unlike the flowers of the field we were created in the image of God. We hold a special place in God’s creation because we are God’s children and just as any good parent wants to provide and care for and love their children, God wants to do that for us and God will do that for us. So we don’t just stop worrying, we replace worry with faith and trust in the God who created us and loves us and knows our needs.
What’s interesting here is that Jesus says that those who don’t know God are the ones who are going to worry– look at Matthew 6:32. The Gentiles or Pagans are those who don’t know God, they don’t see and believe in God as their creator and father so they have no one to trust but themselves and if we only trust ourselves to meet our needs, we are going to worry – but if we know God, how can we worry because if we really know God then we know that God loves us and will provide for us. We know that God has power and strength. So we replace worry with faith, we replace stress and anxiety with trust in an all loving, all knowing and all powerful God.
Now let’s talk about how we can actually do this, one way is to literally replace worry with worship. Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and the truth is that if we spend more time seeking God in worship and his word and through prayer, then what fills our heart and mind is a deeper faith and a greater trust. The more we worship God the more we will know God, and the less we will worry because we will know God’s love and power are real and part of our lives each and every day. So if we want to experience a worry free life we need to live a worship filled life, we need to replace worry with worship, and worship doesn’t have to just be once a week, we can worship every day by spending time in prayer, and reading God’s word and reflecting on that word with devotions like the upper room.
We can also replace worry by remembering how God has provided for us in the past. There is a reason why the #1 command in the Bible is to remember - it’s because God knows that as we remember, as we literally fill our minds with the memories of how God has been present with us and provided for us in the past the more we will trust him and look to him for to meet our needs for today and tomorrow. If we look back into the Old Testament, God says to the people of Israel again and again to remember what he has done for them. They were to remember how God led them out of slavery, remember how God brought forth water when they were thirsty and provided bread and meat when they were hungry. They were to remember how God parted the Red Sea and rescued them when Pharaoh and his army were closing in on them. Whenever Israel became afraid or worried about their situation God told them to remember. Look at Psalm 77:1-15.
What we see here is someone who is struggling with worry, they can’t sleep, they cry out to God in despair, they are stressed and anxious and so what do they do? They seek the Lord, they think about God, they meditate on God, they remember the days of old when God was with them, they remember the promises God has kept in the past and they call to mind the deeds of the Lord and remember his wonders. Like the psalmist we need to replace worry with remembering all the times God has helped us in the past. I would suggest that if we really struggle with worry that we literally sit down and do this, make a list of all the times God has heard our prayer and helped us make it through something we never thought we would make it through. Write it down and keep it someplace handy so that when worry and stress begin to creep we can take it out and remember that God has been with us in the past and God will be with us in the midst of our struggles today and tomorrow.
I was thinking that many times God told his people to make a monument to help them remember how he had provided for them. When the people of Israel finally crossed the Jordan River to enter into the Promised Land God told the priests to pick up stones from the river bed (which, by the way, God had parted so they could cross over on dry ground) and use those stones to build an altar to remind them of how God had provided for them, so maybe we need to build our own monuments. I’m not thinking about building an altar, I’m thinking about looking back and finding a moment in time where you know with certainty that God was with you or a moment when God helped you. Write down that date, or the place or any word that will help you remember that moment and then place that card or post-it note on the fridge or mirror so we are constantly reminded that God has been there for us in the past and God will be there for us in the future. The more we remember God, the less we will worry about the problems we face and it’s not because the problems go away, it’s because we remember that God has helped us overcome past problems and God won’t leave us now.
After last week’s sermon about loving our enemy and letting go of anger, a number of people came up to me and said, that is not an easy thing to do and about all I could say is I know, but I do believe it is possible. I hate to say this, but if you think loving your enemy was hard, try living a life free from worry! This is not easy but I do believe it is not only possible, I believe it is the life God wants for us and Jesus would not have given us this teaching if it were not possible. Jesus shows us the way here and it’s not to stop worrying – it’s to replace worry with worship. During a time of great stress in Jesus life, before his arrest and crucifixion, what does he do? He goes off to worship – to pray. Jesus replaced worry with worship and when he leaves the garden of Gethsemane he is at peace even thought he knows the cross is near. Jesus shows us the way. We need to replace worry with worship and we need to remember all the ways God has been with us and helped us and provided for us in the past. When worry begins to creep in, take the time to consider the lilies, look around at the world and see all the ways that God cares for, loves and provides for his creation and remember God has you are more valued and loved by God than anything else in creation. Remember God, worship God, because the more we know God as our creator, the more we trust God as our Father and the more we believe that God has faith in us, the less worry, stress and anxiety we will experience. It is possible – this worry free life is possible if we will commit ourselves to following the way of Jesus.
