First Peter 5 and 7. He says casting all your care upon him for he cares for you
How many of you this past week
You were confronted with some cares of life now here's the most important question
How many of you still have those cares. A man that will cast his care on the Lord is a humble man
The guy that doesn't cast his care is a prideful man
It makes it real difficult for you to receive from God when you have decided
that you're going to do this on your own. To not cast your care means I don't
believe that he can do no more about it than I can so I'm going to keep it
To cast your care means I trust and believe God and I'm going to rely confidently on him and lean
on him so I'm through I'm casting this over on the Lord praise God God you got it and and and that's
really difficult for people to do because it's it's asking you to trust in the promise that he
made to you it's difficult to do this sometimes God is saying cast the care you're saying no
I might not be able to do nothing about it but at least I can just worry. Number one reason that
people are sick today is not because they eat a hamburger it's because they're stressed out
That you don't know how to let stuff go
He is saying give me an opportunity lean on me rely on me cast this over on me
I see where you're weak but that's when I'm strong I see what you're going through but that's where
my grace can be sufficient try me the Lord says and you'll love it once you see what I can do
Because God's already God's already got provisions for the stuff you holding on to let that stuff go
and say God I I gotta trust you I mean listen some some of us don't have no choice but
to trust God I think the biggest enemy we have in life are options you think you have all
these options and you think well I'm going to choose option a it don't work option b it don't
work often c it don't work well then at least they're still God no he should have been first
What are your worries maybe you can write down your top five let me ask you this question have
you asked God about every one of those have you laid those out before him and said here
are my thing here's here's my concerns here's my anxiety turn your worry list
into a prayer list ask the Lord to work in every one of those situations you're concerned about
Pray specifically for your needs and depend on him God has a better plan if we're inclined to worry
we can turn that worry over to the Lord we can understand that he's never too weary or too tired
to pay attention to us he has all wisdom and all power and he loves to use it in our behalf and
the holy one who directs the stars has his loving arms around us even at a time like this you got
to learn how to be happy sometimes you got to get up and say lord show me how to live today somebody
some of y'all get up with the same worry that you went to sleep on and you wake up and you continue
in it and you you gotta let it go there's too much living to do to be worried about something that's
so insignificant to where your life is concerned you need Jesus so you can inhale and exhale amen
but some stuff you just need to be you know what it'll be all right it'll be all right Corey Ten
Boom had a little poem that she used to recite on occasion about worry she said worry is an old man
with bended head carrying a load of feathers which he thinks are led and she captured the concept
of worry very very beautifully in those little lines because worry is about something that isn't
it's about something that we fear will be. It is not God's will for you to live life out of worry
It is not God's will for you to live life out of stress it doesn't take much to cause you to be
tempted to worry just turn the television on he says I tell you don't worry about everyday life
Now there's a reason why you don't have to worry about everyday life it's because God's got you
So I don't have to worry because God's got me
and when worry knocks on the door you remind yourself God's got me
Someone has said worry is faith in the negative trust in the unpleasant assurance of disaster
belief and defeat worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's
opportunities with yesterday's troubles but worry itself is always concern over the future worry is
concerned about something that we can do nothing about and that we cannot even be sure about
One who worries looks off into the future but the problem with the person who does that is twofold
first of all the future is not here and secondly the future is not his there is
nothing to lay a hand on there is nothing that can be done and so the anxious worrier cannot
control it he does not even know what it will look like no one but God knows its true shape
If we're not careful we allow what's happening to play out to the
worst possible scenario and all of a sudden we're filled with anxiety
If you'd like to have the teaching of Jesus on the subject of worry summarized in two words
here it is don't worry that's Jesus message to us don't worry don't let tomorrow's possible problems
tear you apart today. Researcher Lucas Lafoniere a PhD said this is what breaks my heart about worry
It makes you miserable in the present moment to try and prevent misery in the future
For chronic warriors this process leads them to be continually distressed all their lives in
order to avoid later events that never happen worry sucks the joy out of the here and now
You might be thinking like this well yeah I know God can take care of me I mean he's able to take
care of me I believe that but but here's my question will he take care of me I know
he can but will he. Worry is fear-based worry is based in fear there's something I'm I'm afraid of
I'm anxious about something not too sure about something it's fear-based
You know the number one fear that satan wants to put on Christian people who are
believing like this he wants you to be afraid that what he promised you won't come to pass
So when you read the scripture and you see it's the finished works of Jesus
then the enemies come into your mind and say what if that's not true what if that doesn't come to
pass that's the number one fear of the devil the number one the fear of the devil towards
Christian people is to be afraid that what God promised won't happen so worry is fear-based
Worry is fear-based it comes as a result of you saying well you know I want to believe but I
really don't believe and you can tell it because you're not at rest you can tell it because you're
worried you're still stressed out you're still trying to work to try to make this thing happen
and we've not learned how to enter into that rest there still remaineth a rest
and we're not entering into that rest you've not entered into the confidence and the peace
of knowing that it's already done and it's already finished because you just don't believe it
and when you just don't believe it you're in fear that's the fear that's the fear that
satan wants to put on every believer and when you tolerate fear you contaminate your faith
Which of you by worrying can add one day or one minute to your life and the answer is no
one can do that no one no one can add a moment to his life by worrying that's not possible
But the question has been worded which of you can subtract if we ask that then you could answer that
very positively because I know and you know people who have subtracted from their life because of
their worry which of you by being anxious can add nobody which of you by being anxious can subtract
everybody just make sure you don't allow the enemy to sow so much anxiety in your life that it keeps
you from doing what God has called you to do so worry is inconsistent worry is irrational it's
ineffective and it's illogical when you're tempted to worry you need to stop and ask this question
Who am I anyway am I a child of God or am I an unbeliever in other words when you worry
about the things that might happen to you you're functioning like someone who doesn't have a family
or a father you're acting like an orphan but you have a father and your father
loves you and he will care for you and he knows that you have needs and he plans to fulfill them
Concentrate your energies on living one day at a time listen to what it says in verse 34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things
sufficient for the day is its own trouble all of us know that every day has its own
set of issues every day has its own problems that we have to deal with
and uh every day that we start over is a new day with new problems and new challenges that's
just the way life is and it's interesting that God divided our lives up into days so that we wouldn't
have this long uninterrupted space but every day is an opportunity for us to deal with the issues
of life there is a powerful verse of scripture and if you don't get anything else from what I've said
in this message I hope you'll get this one this verse has helped me a great deal in my life
and I believe it will help you as well it's found in Deuteronomy 33:25 here's what it says as
your days so shall your strength be that is a promise from God God says for every day
I will give you enough strength for that day this is a muscular reminder to us that each day
has its own needs and its own supply sufficient unto the day is the evil in other words each day
has a burden that belongs to that particular day don't borrow tomorrow's burden before tomorrow
worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow worry empties today of its strength so why would you do
that why would you allow that to happen so Jesus is telling us to take each day as it
comes and give our attention to what God is doing right now he's promised to us grace for every day
and at a time like this he needs to be dead in the center and we need to confront our issues before
him and ask for wisdom from him so that we can live in peace in the midst of a world of anxiety