How can you get victory over worry?
Hi.
Welcome to today's little lesson.
We're gonna talk a little about worry, and worry is something that many of us have experienced,
some people are plagued by worries.
Worry is nothing else but a form of fear, right?
Fear, listen closely now, I'm just getting right to the heart of the matter here, fear
is faith in the devil.
I just said that.
Yes.
Fear is faith in the devil, because the devil wants you to not have faith in God.
If you have faith in God then you have confidence that he's gonna look out for you, he's gonna
take care of you and so forth and the devil doesn't want you feeling that way and so he's
the guy, the negatron, who wants to put those negative, fearful, doubtful, thoughts.
That's his job.
Another way of saying it is, he's the chief liar, because if you're saying something that
contradicts what God has said, well that's a lie.
So for example, the devil says, or the thought comes to your mind, I'm not sure I'm gonna
make it.
I'm not sure God's gonna supply my needs here.
Is that what God said?
That he might not supply your need?
I think you know the answer to that question, and so if you believe what the devil is telling
you, you're believing a lie, that's faith in the devil and that's not faith in God.
All right, so we've been talking as we're working our way through the sermon on the
mount in Matthew chapter 6, all that Jesus has to say about money and possessions.
And he, I think first of all, really hones in on the wealthy to tell them laying up your
treasure in heaven not in earth, then I think he addresses the poor, those people who are
worried about things that many of us never give a thought to.
Food and clothing.
I don't think I've ever, ever worried about clothing.
Oh my goodness.
Most of us have so much clothing in our closets and so forth.
It's so inexpensive these days, but back in Christ's day they had to weave things by hand,
a little bit more labor intensive, standard of living much lower amongst the average person,
right?
So the average person in Jesus' day was living like people live today in the developing world.
That was normal, and it is normal for most people around the world, but for those of
us in developed countries it's just something we read about.
I've been able to meet people and we minister to people all over the world, our fellow brothers
and sisters in Christ who are facing pressing needs through the ministry that I founded
years ago called Heaven's Family.
So I'm very, very familiar with it, but something that Jesus says to the poor, of course applies
to everybody.
Let's read it here now in Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 25.
We read this in our last lesson but we're gonna go a little further this time.
"For this reason I say to you do not be worried about your life."
So there it covers everything.
Don't be worried about anything.
Right?
The words "fear not", I mean they're just found all through the Bible.
God's often saying to people, fear not.
It's a commandment.
"Don't be worried about your life as to what you'll 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?"
Well, yes it is.
Now the birds are giving sermons.
He says, "look at the birds of the air.
They don't sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your Father, your heavenly Father feeds
them.
Are you not worth much more than birds?"
Oh, I'm so glad to hear Jesus say that.
I'm worth more than a bird and yet God's taken care of the creatures of lesser importance
and value to him.
Right?
He's taken care of them, oh, is he gonna take care of me?
His child?
Yes.
So I'll have no reason to worry.
But if I worry, I'll be distracted.
I'll be focused on how am I gonna get this, you know, scheming and conniving and working
and losing sleep, and you know, all the stuff that we do to try to survive, get by, and
then we're distracted from what's really important.
Remember the story of Mary and Martha?
Mary, Mary, Mary, you're so ... Was it Martha?
I always get 'em mixed up.
You know the story.
One of them was all focused on getting the meal ready, and one was sitting at the feet
of Jesus, and Jesus said she's chosen the important part.
So Jesus gives us some wisdom here, after he tells us we're worth a lot more than the
birds that God's taken care of.
He says, "And who of you, by being worried, can add a single cubit to his life's span?"
Or the New American Standard says "a single hour to his life".
Well, worrying never extended your life.
I think it's more likely that worrying shortens your life, 'cause you're full of fear, full
of doubt, full of unbelief.
Not trusting God.
How do you get over worry is the question I asked at the beginning of this episode.
You get over worry, you get victory over worry by meditating on the promises of God and believing
them.
And if there is a requirement, if there's a condition for that, for the promises of
God, you act upon the condition.
Make sure you're meeting the condition and then you rest in God's promise and his faithfulness.
"Why are you worried about clothing?"
Jesus says.
"Observe how the lilies of the field grow."
See, the flowers of the field, the wild flowers are giving sermons along with the birds.
God put those flowers there, not just so bees could be attracted and pollinate them and
they could brighten up your world, but also you can say, wow.
Look how God's dressing a field.
Then he'll take care of me?
Provide clothing for me?
Whoa.
That's the sermon in the wild flowers.
Not just the lilies, all the wild flowers.
That's the sermon.
Okay.
"I say to you that even Solomon, in all of his glory, did not clothe himself like one
of these.
Solomon was a real rich dude, right.
"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown
into the furnace," What he's saying is God is taking care of things of much lesser value
than you.
He's clothing fields that are really of no comparison to the value that you have.
"Will he not much more clothe you?
You of little faith."
I always imagine Jesus shaking his head a little bit and smiling, 'cause he just loves
us so much, and he knows our frame that we're but dust, and he has mercy on us.
"Do not worry then, saying what will we eat?
What will we drink?
What will we wear for clothing?
The Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need
all these things."
But here's the point.
I don't want you distracted by all that.
"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things", there's the condition,
seek first the kingdom and God'll take care of the rest.
"All these things will be added to you."
And then, "don't worry about tomorrow.
Tomorrow will care for itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."
So yeah, we need to plan, we need to think a little bit, but we don't need to worry about
tomorrow.
We're in good hands with God.
Amen.
The worst thing that can happen to us is we're gonna go to heaven.
That's not so bad.
All right.
I'm outta time.
Thank you so much for joining me on this little lesson.
Hope to see you next time.
God bless you.