Do Not Worry
ASSIGNMENT: Read this lesson and Matthew 6:15-34.
What, me worry? Do you remember those three iconic words popularized by Alfred E. Neuman, the cover boy from Mad Magazine? In case you’ve never heard of him or the magazine, it is a publication that satirizes practically every aspect of American life in what is cleverly disguised as a comic book. Nothing and nobody is safe.
When I read it as a boy, it lampooned the Cold War even as many of us were learning to duck and cover. We were taught to hide under our desks or trudge past yellow and black Civil Defense signs in the event of a nuclear attack. We had plenty to worry about as the two most powerful nations in the world resorted to fear to maintain peace through a policy called Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD.
Overcoming Fear
The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted our daily routines and relationships. Coupled with supply chain issues, it spawned a continuing economic downturn characterized by runaway inflation. People lost jobs, homes, and businesses. State safety nets were stretched thin as people failed to return to work until their unemployment compensation ran out. For two years, we were holed up and hunkered down.
Behavioral scientists tell us substance abuse and domestic violence increased as a way for some people to vent their fears and frustration as families experienced too much togetherness. People were afraid. Fear is the flip side of worry. And worry is the foundation of anxiety. And it isn’t just economic fears. Our cities are becoming more unsafe, homelessness is on the rise, and wars rage around the world. As I wrote this, the one in Ukraine had the potential of becoming a Third World War.
We need answers that address our fears, provide real hope, and inspire confidence. Absent that, we are at risk, not only physically but spiritually. Satan uses worry and anxiety to gain a foothold, to drive a wedge between us and God.
Jesus’s Take on Worry
Many of us may not be all that worried or fearful, but you can be sure there are plenty of people around us who are. As we continue our series from the Sermon on the Mount, we will explore what Jesus says about worry to his disciples who originally heard him preach the message. It was directed at people like us, his followers, not those who hung around to witness another miracle.
25 I tell you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky! They don’t plant or harvest. They don’t even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren’t you worth more than birds? 27 Can worry make you live longer? 28 Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work hard to make their clothes. 29 But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of them. 30 God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? 31 Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32 Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. 33 But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. 34 Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. (Matthew 6:25-34 | CEV)
Jesus tells us that worry is as useless as hiding under your desks when a mushroom cloud is forming over your head. The King James Version reads, ‘Take no thought.’ According to D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “If you consult the authorities, you will find that they give quotations from Shakespeare to show that ‘taking thought’ was then used in the sense of `being anxious’ or tending to worry.”[1] Jesus tells us not to worry. The best translation is “Don’t be anxious,” which appears three times in today’s passage. They show up twice in verse 25 alone. When Jesus needs to repeat something, he must consider it pretty important.
Worry vs. Concern
Before continuing, it would be helpful to consider what worry is and what it isn’t. Worry isn’t thinking problems through, nor is it exercising a measure of caution or concern. Worry is the stress we experience when we obsess about something that we might experience in the future. Worry is spending time on something that hasn’t happened and may never happen. And, even if it does happen, it will likely be something you would have little or no control over.
Worrying is like walking on a treadmill or rocking in a rocking chair. They both give you a sense of accomplishment but take you nowhere. Concern is an intentional walk to the store for groceries. Worry gets you nothing more than a plate full of anxiety. Concern makes sure there is food in the refrigerator. It is recognizing that something needs to be done and that you have the will, resources, and ability to accomplish it. Worrying left unchecked becomes anxiety.
There is an easy way to distinguish between concern and counterproductive worry. Concern helps you think the problem through to a solution. It leads to change and a plan of action. It sharpens your thinking. Worry is only helpful if it leads to positive change, but too often, it just bypasses change and morphs into anxiety. When constructive thoughts turn into obsessive thoughts, you’ve crossed the line from worry to anxiety.
Anxiety makes you fearful. Fear replaces rational thought with animal instinct. When you stop considering possible solutions or feel yourself getting scared, concern is replaced by anxiety. Considered judgment gives way to fear’s basic fight-or-flight or freeze instinct. You stop thinking and react. Stress leads to worry, which in turn leads to anxiety. This predictable but destructive cycle begins with stress. So, let’s look at stress briefly before moving on.
Two Types of Stress
There are two kinds of stress. Positive stress is eustress, which is beneficial, moderate, or normal psychological stress. It’s the kind of stress that helps you perform better when the stakes are high but allows you to remain confident of success.
Negative stress, or distress, leads to extreme anxiety. It’s the kind of stress that makes you fall apart or cave in under pressure. Concern is a eustress response that produces results. Distress produces only worry and anxiety. Chronic worry and emotional stress can trigger a host of health problems.
Anxiety can best be described as self-inflicted torture. Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) observed, “No Grand Inquisitor has in readiness such terrible tortures as anxiety.” Anxiety is the point where worry and stress collide. It impacts both our minds and our bodies. It may interfere with our appetite, lifestyle habits, relationships, sleep, and job performance. And our response often makes it worse. Many people who worry excessively seek relief in harmful activities such as overeating, cigarette smoking, or using alcohol or drugs. The first lesson from the passage is this: worrying doesn’t help.
We cannot replace worry with inaction. Historically, this passage has been an excuse for inaction. Some people check out rather than respond to a situation with concern. Martin Luther is credited with observing, “God provides food for the birds, but he does not drop it into their beaks.” This verse does not justify laziness or not exercising concern.
I know a woman who had a lengthy period to save the co-pay amount for needed surgery but made no effort to do it. Instead, she said, “God will provide the means if I really need the operation.” Last I checked, she was still waiting. The Thessalonian church thought the same way. It had members who quit working and spent their days scanning the eastern sky, waiting for Jesus to return. Paul chastised them with, “We also gave you the rule that if you don’t work, you don’t eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10 | CEV) The second lesson we can take is to pray about those things beyond our control and do those things God has equipped us to accomplish on our own.
Can worry make you live longer?
(v.27) In this passage, Jesus moves from the simple to the complex. He tells us that worrying will not help us live longer. Research shows that worrying will likely shorten our lives. From our lifespan, he continues to say that our food, clothing, and all we have are God’s gifts. Worrying about those things doesn’t change anything.
Please don’t draw the wrong conclusion like the lady with the operation or the Thessalonians. He isn’t telling us we shouldn’t be concerned about such things. We would be foolish, even irresponsible, not to have a plan to work and provide for ourselves and our families. Instead, he commands us not to worry about what we need to survive. He is counseling us against self-centered worry, which has a lack of trust in God at its root.
Jesus tells us that when we do our part, God will provide for us as he does for the rest of his creation. The writer of Lamentations said it like this: “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning”(Lamentations 3:23 | NLT). He says we need never be anxious, worried, or even concerned that suddenly God will drop the ball. God doesn’t change. He is not arbitrary. You can take it to the bank if he promises to do something. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 | NIV). He will be doing the same thing for you tomorrow that he did for you yesterday. If he sustained you in the past, you can count on him to do it in the future.
Birds wake up every morning to find enough food to eat. He provides trees in which to build nests. It never occurs to them that there will come a time when what they need won’t be there. Do you think birds lay awake at night wondering if a worm will be in the grass in the morning? That’s the kind of trust and confidence God expects from us. Those who cannot place such practical trust in God’s care and provision are literally “of little faith.” Matthew used those words to encourage those afraid to trust God to provide for life’s necessities.
Faith and Trust
Matthew defines faith as the confidence that God can and will act on his people’s behalf. In a faith world dominated by a prosperity gospel, we must remember that basic material needs are to be supplied. The disciple is promised survival, not affluence. God meets need, not greed. The Psalmist provides this lesson that his life taught him. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. (Psalm 37:25 | NIV)
The message Jesus is sending is trust, don’t worry. Trust is the essential barometer of our faith. In this passage, Jesus says focusing on the how over the who indicates little faith. You can be confident that God has it covered. Nothing you can do will improve on his plan for you. Give it to God and leave it there. Don’t pick it up again. If you do, your actions show God you don’t trust him to handle it. Let’s look at it rationally. If you can trust him for your eternal security, should it be hard to trust him for your tomorrow? You say you trust him to take you to heaven. Why is it hard to trust him to take you through today and provide what you need? I’ll ask it again. How much do you trust God?
It is a matter of focus. Are your eyes on the problem or the problem-solver? Are your eyes on your need, or are they on God? As the old hymn goes, “His eye is on the sparrow. I know he watches me.” And God is not just watching you, wringing his hands; he stands ready to meet your needs. Worry elbows God out of the way. And if we know anything about sin, it is pushing God aside, trying to go it alone. Remember, King Saul (1 Samuel 13) lost his throne because he did that. The third lesson we learn is that worry is a sin. “Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these.” (V.32)
The More You Have
It amazes me how many people judge the quality of their lives on material possessions. Think of the number of publications, advertisements, and commercials devoted to food, drink, clothing, or making you look younger or live longer. The most dangerous and destructive lie we tell ourselves begins with ‘if.’ If I just had this. If I could do that. The last lesson taught us that earthly treasures offer no lasting happiness. We go, and it stays behind. Jesus knows the more we have, the more we have to worry about. Stuff breeds worry.
Remember the bumper sticker we discussed in the last lesson, “He (or she) who dies with the most stuff wins.” It should read, “He or she who dies with the most stuff dies and loses the eternal blessings God intended them to have.” The Teacher from Ecclesiastes cautions us with this. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 | NIV)
A focus on material things leads to anxiety. Self-indulgence is what our culture is all about, and that is why there is so much anxiety. One in six adults suffers from anxiety, and we’re passing it down to our kids. Twenty-five percent of them already have it. Jesus didn’t teach that there is anything wrong with enjoying life’s pleasures, but if we define our lives by what we have, we are bound to acquire anxiety as our pile of stuff grows. Anxiety often results from an absolute focus and emphasis on what is visible. We are cautioned not to worry about the physical necessities.
Where is Your Focus?
There is danger in being oppressed and obsessed by the things that are seen, the things that belong to time and this world alone. When your eyes are on material things, they are not on God. Satan doesn’t care what takes your eyes from God. He uses whatever he can to divert your attention. He is just as happy having you worry about putting food on the table as putting a Porsche in your garage. All that matters to him is that you worry about things, good or bad, rather than trust God to decide and provide. The fourth lesson is that worrying distorts our vision.
Worry is me-centered and typically leads to selfish decisions. Live by faith, not by sight, and God will provide what you need. “God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32 | CEV) If your priorities are right, everything else will fall into place. God has given you your life, which is more important than food and clothing. Do you think he will leave the job half-done?
Jesus reminds us that God is our Father. He did not say the birds and flowers were his kids. We were made in his image, not them. The best faith, according to Jesus, is childlike faith. Children aren’t prone to worry. They trust and assume their parents will take care of them. And our Father in Heaven is a good parent. He will do it. He is sovereign over all creation. If he provides for birds, you can trust him to do the same for you.
Trust God
Jesus only used food and clothing as examples. He means for us to trust God with everything. He expects us to live differently from people who have no trust in God, those with no fundamental goals beyond acquiring material things. But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. (v.33) If you want contentment, seek God’s kingdom first. Pursue his righteousness by living a life in complete submission to his will.
Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. (v.34) God’s care and provision are assured, but that does not mean our life is trouble-free. Each day will still have its share of “troubles.” Jesus has something to say about that, too. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 | NIV). He isn’t bragging. He says he’s got this. If you believe that, you will have true peace. Focus only on today. Deal with tomorrow when it arrives.
George Macdonald said, “No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear.”[2] Don’t worry about the future. Even though it will have its share of problems, they have a way of working themselves out at the time. Deal with them as they come. When tomorrow’s trouble appears, trust God to meet it head-on. The final lesson is to live one day at a time. Worrying is only borrowing tomorrow’s trouble.
Now that Jesus has told us three times not to worry. What strategy might we employ to do what he says? Here are three actions to consider.
Application
Pray and walk away. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6 | NLT). If you give the matter to him, no matter how great the temptation might be, don’t pick it back up. There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying about it whenever you are tempted to worry, but do not allow yourself to spend any more time on it unless you are considering viable solutions. Let it go.
Live your faith. “God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him” (1 Peter 5:7 | CEV). You send a powerful message about the truth of who Jesus is when you reject worry as a life strategy. One of the best ways you demonstrate the gospel to the world and glorify God is to give your concerns to him, leave them there, and, after he does, tell others how he answered your prayers. Share your faith by living your faith.
Conserve your resources. Worry is wasteful. If you can’t fix it, don’t worry about it. It’s a waste of time, your most precious resource. Only eight percent of the stuff we worry about is worth the time, but even then, worry won’t change anything. Seventy percent of what we worry about either never comes to pass or happened in the past and can’t be changed. Ten percent of what we worry about relates to health, and worry is unhealthy. It only makes things worse. Don’t allow Satan to steal your hope by giving in to worry. Worry doesn’t take away tomorrow’s trouble. It robs you of today’s peace.
Discussion
- What, if anything, surprised or challenged you in the reading?
- Did anything you read convict you or make you change in some way?
- Do concerns keep you awake at night? Has worry helped or hurt?
- How do you determine where to draw the line between trusting God and doing it yourself?
- What challenges do you have when it comes to worry?
- Have you or someone you care about ever “worried themselves sick?” How might you or they have responded differently?
- How do you know when you have moved from concern to worry?
- Do you view what Jesus taught about God’s provision as too simplistic? Why/why not?
- What keeps you from doing what you can and trusting the rest to God
- What have you done to reduce the influence of materialism on your life?
Footnotes:
[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976) Kindle edition, Location 6397.
[2] R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001) p. 224, Location 4215.