Peace of Mind – 4 – What Worry Reveals

Peace of Mind

Thank you for joining us again at Redemption Church. My name is Chris Fluitt and I welcome everyone tuning in online. If you can go ahead and leave us a comment to encourage us. Type Preacher Preacher!

And welcome to everyone who has joined us in person.

We are in the 4th week of our series on Mental Health called Peace of Mind.
We have talked about mental health myths, anxiety, depression…
In the next weeks we are talking about negativity, trauma, and burnout. Please join us and invite someone.

 

Today we are going to talk about a huge mental health problem.

This problem is common, overlooked, and leads to dangerous health issues.

 

Worry

According to the World Health Organization, Americans have a bigger prob with this issue than people in any other country of world.

We are the wealthiest nation on earth… but we are the most worried nation on earth.

We’re number one!  USA USA USA!

 

According to Barna Research

   • 60% of adults in the United States struggle with worry and stress daily.

This means that over half of you are so worried that while I talk your mind will drift from the message towards your worry.  Worry is always fighting for your attention. It is always present but wants to be front of mind.

Let’s try to understand worry.

 

Worry

Adam & Eve were not created with worry.  They had nothing to worry about.

Worry entered the world when sin entered the world.

We worry because of our sinful nature. Our sinful nature always defaults to FEAR – NOT FAITH.

 KEY – Because of SIN your thoughts default toward fear.

No one is awake at 2am, unable to sleep because they are trying to figure out how to manage their peace and joy. No you are worried about something… Kids, health, job, aging loved ones, politics, terrorism, wars, racism, price of gas.

 

All of this worry will lead to anxiety. We talked about anxiety 2 weeks ago. What’s the difference between anxiety and worry?

 

Worry & Anxiety

Worry & anxiety are related, but different. Let me simplify at the risk of oversimplifying.

• We tend to experience worry in our minds.  We rehearse worry in our mind.

• We generally experience anxiety in our bodies. Anxiety effects our physical body.

 

Worry is often specific, and Anxiety is often general and broad.

You might WORRY about something specific – I might miss my flight.
You might be ANXIOUS about traveling in general.

You may be worried about something specific and not anxious generally.
You may be anxious generally but not worried about anything specific.

 

However, we are to understand the difference, Jesus us tells us “Do not worry.”

We are going to look at Matthew 6 if you want to turn in your Bibles. Multiple times in this chapter Jesus tells us not to worry.

In a few verses Jesus hits the 5 most worried about topics and instructs us to NOT WORRY.

 

5 worry topics

• Finances

• Food

• Fitness   

• Fashion  

• Future

 

Matthew 6:24-25 (NIV)

24 “…You cannot serve both God and money.

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?

Jesus mentions money – finances.
What you eat or drink – food.
Your body – fitness.
What you will wear – fashion.
Your life – future.

Jesus says do not worry about these things.

 

5 worry topics

• Finances

• Food

• Fitness   

• Fashion  

• Future

 

JESUS KNOWS US SO WELL! We tend to overly focus on & obsess on one of these 5 topics.

 

Everything on this list is TEMPORARY. Jesus tells us to not worry about the temporary, but would rather us focus on the eternal.

 

To those worried about finances.

Jesus says you can’t serve both God and money.  Is your worry about money an indication that you are serving money?

Serve God and don’t be worried about the dollar.

Our culture often calls it the “almighty dollar.”  It is not almighty.  Your dollar is eaten up by inflation and vending machines. It is not almighty… GOD IS ALMIGHTY! Serve HIM and do not worry!

 

To those worried about food.

The crowd Jesus was talking to was probably worried EVERY DAY about food because they were poor, reliant on crops, and subject to famine. Jesus told them not to worry about food and these things out of their control.

Do you realize that most of our worry about food is “where are we going to eat? I really don’t feel like Italian tonight.” We are blessed.

Jesus’ message  is do not worry about what will SUSTAIN YOU… God is your source. I will sustain you.

 

To those worried about their fitness.

Your body is important, but at best it is temporary. Do not forget to focus on your eternal soul.

Take care of your body. Enjoy your body. DO NOT WORRY about your body. Focus on eternal things!

 

To those worried about fashion.

Do not worry about what you wear. Do not worry so much what people think about you.

We are so obsessed with others think about us. We are so image conscious. We worry about status, popularity, and fitting in.

What if we spent as much time thinking about God and what he thinks about us, as we did worrying about what others think about us?  IT WOULD CHANGE OUR LIFE FOREVER!

 

To those worried about the future.

Matthew 25:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself…

Do not worry about the future.  God is already there in the future.

Do not worry about things that are out of your control. Try hard. Work hard. BUT DO NOT WORRY.

• Work to get into that college. If it does not work out, DON’T WORRY, go to another one.
• Apply for that job. If it does not work out, DON’T WORRY, apply for another one.
• Ask that girl out on a date. If it does not work out, DON’T WORRY, ask another girl.

 

DON’T WORRY BECAUSE GOD WILL PROVIDE

 What you need

 Who you need

 When you need it

 

Jesus teaches us HOW not to worry.

Matthew 25:26 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?

 

Jesus uses the birds to show us how to operate.

The birds don’t worry. They don’t try to amass more than the other birds. They don’t have bank accounts.  …they depend on God.

Are you not more valuable? How much more is God willing to do for you?

 

If a bird is hungry, it does not sit in its nest and worry about the latest news on MSNBC or FOX NEWS, the latest on the Russia Ukraine war, or check its stock portfolio. It just goes out and gets food.

 

This illustrates the difference between concern and worry.

 

CONCERN vs WORRY

• Concern focuses on challenges and moves you to action.

 

CHALLENGE -> My marriage is struggling -> Concern -> YOU ACT -> Get counseling.

CHALLENGE -> Gained 12 pounds -> Concern -> YOU ACT -> change your eating habit.

Concern focuses on challenges and moves you to action.

• Worry focuses on what’s beyond our control and results in inaction.

The political season is just warming up and it is always WORRISOME. So much of it is out of your control… and it leads you to inaction.  There is nothing you can do so you just WORRY.

There are 2 people in your office that don’t get along and there is nothing you can do about it.  So this problem you can’t control leads you to inaction. There is nothing you can do so you just WORRY.

You have loved ones who are aging. There is nothing you can do about aging, it just happens. So you are inactive. There is nothing you can do so you just WORRY.

This is worry and it makes you powerless, weak, and inactive.

That’s why Jesus asks the question in vs 27

Matthew 25:27 (NIV) Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Does chronic worry ever improve the situation? No.
Does worry make the situation change?
Does worry make you better?
Does worry teach you anything?

 

WORRY MAKES NOTHING BETTER.
WORRY ROBS YOU OF TIME, ENERGY, AND FOCUS.

 

Birds don’t worry!
Birds have concerns. And when they have concerns they act.

Birds don’t wait for God drop food in their mouth. They get up, fly around, find a worm, and eat. They fly back to their nest and sleep. You don’t hear them chirp-chirp-chirp at night. They are asleep! The sleep well because the do not worry.

 

We need to know the difference between concern and worry.

Are you operating in worry?

 

When we worry, We are basically saying,

• God—I don’t really trust you!
• God—I don’t trust your plan!
• God—I don’t believe you are with me!
• God—I’m not sure you are really good!

 

What you worry about most reveals where you trust God the least.

What is it for you?

Relationship? Health concern? Financial fear? Personal insecurity?

You won’t measure up? Not good enough? Don’t have what it takes?

 

This is how Jesus tells us to handle our worry.

Matthew 25: 33 But seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 

Seek him 1st – Pursue him—Pray—Press—Eyes on Him—Give Him your best.

Put God in your life!  Is God REALLY in your life? Your WORRY reveals an area where God is not in your life like He could be.

Is Jesus 1st in your day?

1st in your finances?

Is Jesus the 1st place your mind drifts?

Is Jesus #1 in your relationships?

 

What You’re Worried About Today…

 

1. May never happen.

 

Researchers at Penn State asked people to document what they were worried about & how many of their fears happened within next 30 days.

91% of their worries did not come true.

 

Less than 10% of what you worry about will happen.

But your worry will rob you of peace 100% of the time.

 

What you are worried about today, may never happen…

 

2. May happen and won’t be as bad as you thought.

 

• Yep, I didn’t do great on my presentation—Didn’t matter much. I still have my job.

• She broke up with me— It hurt, but I didn’t bleed…

• Yep, everyone laughed at me—Some seemed to like me more because I was human like them.

 

What you are worried about—May not happen.

It may happen and not be as bad as you thought, or it …

 

3. May happen and God will carry you through it.

It may hurt you.
It may disappoint you.
It may be as difficult as you feared it would be… but also God was present and helped you in ways you had never known possible.

Doing funerals is part of the ministry. Funerals always hurt.

A wonderful person named Ruby passed away after a struggle with cancer. Ruby and her husband Ron prayed and believed. And while God gave her more years of life and she was able to take advantage of that time with her grandkids… eventually God took Ruby home. And I saw Ron grieve.

A wonderful person named Ackley passed away all too suddenly. Ackley and his wife Patricia prayed, but in a matter of days Ackley was gone. I saw Patricia mourn the loss.

What Ron feared would happen, did happen.
What Patricia feared would happen, did happen.

Sometimes the worst happens… and yet God is still faithful and you learn how God will carry you.

Yesterday this happened…

 

Ron and Patricia got married. They were all smiles yesterday. It was wonderful to see.

 

The pain and loss of Ruby and Ackley are still real. But in the middle of that heartache, Ron and Patricia are a testimony of how God will walk with you when the worst happens.

 

If you are worried today—Remember, what you worry about most reveals where you trust God the least.

 

What you worry about most reveals where you trust God the least.

If there’s something heavy on your heart, a worry, a fear, a burden, let’s put God first and cast our cares on him because he cares.

Jesus has already proven to us how much He cares for us.

 He came to earth.
 He went to the cross.
 He experienced the worst.
 He died for us.
 He rose again on the 3rd day.
 He calls you to Him.  Will you come?