Liberated
From
Worry’s Crippling Care!
Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than
clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can
add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be
anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the
Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be
anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Our seven-year-old daughter was so excited when her dad took her to Disney World for the first time.
They had no sooner gotten past the turnstiles before she made a beeline for Space Mountain. Her dad was
afraid that the roller coaster would be too scary for her, but to his amazement, they not only rode, but at
her insistence they rode it again.
The next year they returned to the Magic Kingdom, and the daughter, now eight, dragged the dad to
Space Mountain and got in line. After standing there for a while, the dad could see her soberly studying
the signs that warn about the ride’s speed.
She said, “Dad, I don’t think I want to go.”
The dad then asked her why she would be nervous and afraid when she had enjoyed herself so much the
last time.
She replied, “This year, I can read.”
Ah, the power of modern education – with its blessing there is also it potential bane – we can now read
the newspaper, or instant news on the Internet, and worry about things all over the world! The truth is
worry has become a debilitating obsession in our modern world.
Worry is defined as “a troubled state of mind, anxiety, uneasiness distress,” according to Webster’s
Dictionary. In reality, worry is a form of incessant FEAR, which makes it more psychological. Dr.
Edward Hallowell defines worry as, “…a special form of fear. It is what humans do with simple fear once
it reaches the part of the brain called the cerebral cortex. We make fear complex adding anticipation,
memory, imagination and emotion.”
The Greek word for worry means “to divide, rip or tear apart, or to strangle.” We have all experienced
this strangulation, those feelings that tie us into knots and dominate us to such a degree that we can think
of nothing else. We have all lain awake at night disturbed, anxious, fearing, dreading the worse about
something. Our hands may sweat, our stomachs may churn, we may be unable to eat, or worse, we can’t
stop eating. We call this worry, anxiety or fear, and it is one of the chief bondage makers, as well as being
a great enemy of joy and contentment in our lives.
All of us have to admit that at one time or another, worry is a part of our life. In fact, it is a favorite
pastime for far too many Christians. It occupies their thinking for a great portion of their day and
disturbs their sleep at night. However, worry is a very dangerous and deadly thing; it takes a severe toll
on people. Worry weighs us down and can immobilize us. Not only does it affect us emotionally, but it
can profoundly affect our physical and mental health. The physical effects of worry include anxiety and
fear, rapid and unusual strong heartbeat, rapid or shallow breathing, trembling, sweating, muscular
tension, dryness of the mouth, changes in voice quality, and faintness. The anxious person may suffer
other changes that he cannot perceive: heightened blood pressure, and increased gastric secretion which
cause ulcers. Worry can shorten one’s attention span, make concentration difficult, adversely affect
memory, hinder performance skills, interfere with problem solving, and block effective communication
and cause panic.”
“Worry,” wrote author William Jordan, “is the most popular form of suicide. Worry impairs
appetite, disturbs sleep, makes respiration irregular, spoils digestion, irritates disposition,
warps character, weakens mind, stimulates disease, and saps bodily health. It is the real cause
of death in thousands of instances where the death certificate names another disease.”
But far beyond its psychological and physiological effect is its spiritual effect; in fact the Bible says that
worry is a sin for a child of God. Worry says in essence, “God I know You mean well by what You say,
but I’m just not sure You can pull it off.” Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and the providence
of God; yet we do it all too frequently.
In the official policy statement of the Kingdom of Heaven – which we call the Sermon on the Mount – the
King Himself declares that anxiety or worry has no place in the state of grace! With clinical precision,
King Jesus outlines the factors that cause worry and the cure for it. The bottom line is, “Don’t Worry
about It” because grace doesn’t extend its coverage to worry warts!
The Outlook on Life that Produces Worry
In Matthew 6:25, Jesus prefaces his warning against worry by the word “therefore”, thus in this
word lies the unveiling of the three primary factors that combine to produce worry or anxiety.
1. Having our Treasure in the Wrong Place v. 19-21
There are two types of investments—on earth and in heaven – What do you value? What is
your attitude toward things? Do you hold material things loosely and as a means to the ends of
being potential investments in the only things that will make across death divide? Or do you
squeeze things, i.e. monies and material stuff so tight that it becomes your source of security?
What occupies you mind?
2. Thinking about Life in the Wrong Way 6:22-23
There are two types of vision – light and darkness – In this passage Jesus is saying that the
dark spirit of worry that debilitates and diseases so many lives is caused by a failure to focus
spiritually and singularly, which causes one to think about life from a diseased, distorted and
mistaken perspective.
From the spiritual point of view, worry is wrong thinking (the mind) and wrong feeling (the
heart) about circumstances, people, and things. Worry is the greatest thief of joy. It is not enough
for us, however, to tell ourselves to “quit worrying” because that will never capture the thief.
Worry is an “inside job,” and it takes more than good intentions to get the victory.
Worry is a thin stream of fear flowing through the mind. If left alone it cuts a channel into
which all others thoughts are drained. From this perspective everything we hear, read, see, or
hear is run through the rut of worry, fear, and anxiety.
3. Serving a Master of the Wrong Kind 6:24
There are two masters – God or Mammon! Only one can be your master and when you try to
moonlight on King Jesus, worry is the result!
The Overreaching Areas that We Persistently Worry Over
1. Finances – 6:19-21 Money is a must for living, but it must not become the reason for living.
Having money is good, but when money has us it is bad. 1 Timothy 6:17, As for the rich in this
present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of
riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
2. Food – 6:25a “The worried cow would have lived till now, if she had saved her breath;
But she feared her hay wouldn’t last all day, so she mooed herself to death!
3. Fashion – 6:25b, 28 what you shall wear
4. Fitness – 6:25c about your body
5. Future – 6:27 – Jesus doesn’t forbid thought or forethought about the future, but anxious
thought. Worry is forethought gone to seed. It is exchanging future sorrow – that may
never happen—for misery now. Under the guise of helping us to endure the present, and to
ready us for the future, worry multiplies imagined enemies, alive only in our minds, and
saps our strength. Our worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only
empties today of its strength. Planning for tomorrow may be part of today’s concern, but
worrying about tomorrow is not.
The Outcome of Our Worries is Totally Non-Productive
Someone estimated from their research that the average person’s anxiety or worry, when
broken down into percentages would look to be:

40% --things that will never happen

50% --things about the past that can’t be changed

12% --things about criticism by others, mostly untrue

10% --health, which gets worse with worry and stress

8% --about real problems that will be faced
Worry is an exercise in futility – 6:27
Some of us can relate to the Charlie Brown cartoon that shows Linus dragging his blanket as he
observes, “You look kinda depressed.”
“I worry about school a lot,” Charlie Brown replies. Then he adds, “I worry about my worrying
so much about school.”
As Charlie and Linus sit on a log together, Charlie makes his final observation – “My anxieties
have anxieties!”
Someone aptly said that worry is like a rocking chair, it keeps you going, but you don’t get
anywhere. If you can’t help worrying remember that worrying can’t help you either.
Worry never climbed a hill, Worry never paid a bill, Worry never dried a tear, Worry never calmed a fear.
Worry never fixed a heel, Worry never cooked a meal, Worry never composed a song to sing, actually,
worry never did a worthwhile thing.
Worry is an expression of faithlessness – 6:30
Faith ends where worry begins and worry ends where faith begins. The bottom line is that
worry is unbelief in the promises of God’s future grace. William Ward put it this way, “Worry
is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster and belief in
defeat…worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s
troubles.”
Worry casts a big shadow behind a small thing. Someone compared worry to “a dense fog that
can cloud our vision, knock our perspective out of kilter, and slow us down.” Pay attention to
these facts: A dense fog that covers a seven city block area one hundred feet deep is composed
of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops. Fog can be seven blocks
wide and 100 feet deep, but the water will condense down into one cup. Not much is there but it can
cripple an entire city. I think that is a good illustration of worry.
(a) Worry is irreverent because it fails to recognize that God is working in this world.
(b) Worry is irresponsible because it wastes our energy
(c) Worry is irrelevant because it can’t change anything.
Jesus’ Outline for Freeing us from Worry is Provided
A. Daily Trusting in Divine Providence 6:31-32
Trust God’s heart even when you can’t trace His Hand! Rest in God’s Sovereignty as Made
Sure by Gospel Provision.
Pastor Tim Keller asserts, “All problems, personal or social come from a failure to use the
gospel in a radical way, to get “in line with the truth of the gospel.” The Christian is to use the
gospel approach to life, which means cultivating in our hearts a singular dependence on
Christ and His Gospel provisions by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It means
keeping in step with, in sync with, in line with the gospel.
To get out of line with the gospel is to move into some form of idolatry; John Calvin said that
our heart’s a factory for idols. An idol is anything that gets the most of my attention, my time,
devotion, money, etc. Worry is a form of idolatry! Anytime a person, program, pleasure,
possession, or philosophy comes before God and assumes some of the attributes of God, it is
an idol.
Keeping our hearts in line with the gospel requires preaching the good news to ourselves daily
– the Good News that the Lord Jesus Christ has once and for all actually made full payment for
our sins; removed the wrath of God; detoxified the sting of death, disarmed the devil and his
demons, and has been installed at the right hand of God as the Crucified Messiah and Lord of
the universe – where He rules the world until all his enemies are subdued!
The Gospel assures us that by grace via faith, not by religious works, we are brought into union
with Christ where His righteousness and all the blessings of the New Covenant are made
available to us. The Gospel is the message about the eternal person of our glorious God, who, in
the face of Jesus Christ, is Himself our final, eternal, all satisfying treasure and pleasure; our
security and surety; our hope and stay when all around our soul gives way. I am to be believing
that the Holy Spirit will enable me – often a worrying, sinful person – to be repenting of my
sinful, selfish worries and ways – and treasuring God in Christ every day! Every hour! Every
minute! Every moment! When I fail to do this, I fall into worry and fear and devalue the Gospel.
If my life is dull and drab, worry and fear filled, defeated and distressed, without joy and peace,
then I am not in line with the Gospel for the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit.
B. Daily Awaiting the Fulfillment of Divine Promises 6:33; Philippians 4:19
The true Good News of the Bible is an invitation to go on seeking first and foremost, the kingdom of
heaven – not to go to heaven – but to get in the kingdom of heaven now-which is about relationship,
rulership, and partnership. It is life in a new realm of the presence of the King through His Spirit. It
involves glad submission to the lordship and leadership of King Jesus. It’s a Spirit-empowered life
motivated by the most radical love for God and others.
The correct way to battle the unbelief of worry and anxiety is with the promises of God.
When I am worried about the uncertainties of the future: Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with
My righteous right hand.”
When I am worried about being too weak to do the work: 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
When I am worried about future decisions: Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way
you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”
When I am worried about getting old: Isaiah 46:4, “Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray
hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
The Daily, Annual, and Eternal Promise of the GOOD NEWS IS THAT: God is WITH ME in Loving
Partnership; God is OVER ME IN Limitless Provision; God is AROUND ME for Legal Protection!;
God is FOR ME in Liberty-sustaining Petition!; God is IN ME for Lasting Preservation! He has got me
covered, so I should be saying to myself “Don’t Worry About It!”
C. Daily Maintaining Divine Priorities 6:33 – Get the first thing in place and the other
things will fall in place. View the whole of life and not just the pressing moment. View
the true nature of life and not just your problems.
D. Daily Obeying Divine Principles 6:34 – “Give your entire attention to what God is doing
right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God
will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Nothing
informs the way we live today as much as how we live for tomorrow There is no
coverage for tomorrow until it becomes today. Grace is available and adequate only for
today. Planning for tomorrow may be part of today’s concern, but worrying about
tomorrow is not. Satan seeks to crush our spirit by getting us to bear tomorrow’s
burdens with only today’s grace!
Dr. Warren Wiersbe has an excellent summary of Jesus’ prescription for worry as he points out
three words that Jesus used that lead the way to victory over worry:
(1) Faith (Matt. 6:30), trusting God to meet our needs;
(2) Father (Matt. 6:32), knowing He cares for His children;
(3) First (Matt.6:33), putting God’s will first in our lives so that He might be glorified. If we
have faith in Our Father and put Him first, He will meet our needs.
Dr. E. Stanley Jones wrote: “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land;
faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life, faith is the oil. I live better
by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for
breath –these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely—these are my native air.
A John Hopkins University doctor says, “We do not know what it is that worriers die sooner than
the non-worriers, but that is a fact. “But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly
constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To
live by worry is to live against reality.”
Are you worried, anxious, fearful? If so you are out of line with Gospel provisions. All the prayer for
healing for you body, will be in vain if the cause of it is your faithless worrying. All the scrambling for
security-the fat savings account, the government secured retirement plan, should have a warning label
attached to it that reads – don’t set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly
provides us with everything to enjoy.
Is your Treasure in the Wrong Place? Are you Thinking about Life in the Wrong Way? Are you
Serving a Master of the Wrong Kind? If so, worry will be your daily bread and will rob you of
abundant living until you’re soon dead!
Cast down the idol of worry and unbelief and daily rehearse the three words: Faith, Father,
First!