Matt. 6:24-34       “Overcoming Worry”

     There was once a man who was quite a worrier.  It showed in his face and his posture, as he seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.  However, one day this man changed.  He had a bounce to his step.  It was as if he didn’t have a care in the world.  A friend asked what had happened.

     “Well,” the man confided, “as you know I’ve always been a worrier.  I’ve decided that this isn’t only unwise, but unhealthy as well, so I’ve hired someone to do my worrying for me.”

     “How much is that costing you?” the friend asked.

     “Oh, about $1,000 a week,” the man replied.

     “But how can you afford to pay this man who worries for you?”

     The man answered calmly, “That’s his worry!”

     Don’t we all wish that it was that easy to get rid of our worries?  And worry we do.  We worry about everything - gas prices, the stock market, the economy, taxes, jobs, marriages, parents worry about children, children worry about parents.  You name it, somebody is probably worrying about it.  Worry is a huge problem.

     My guess is that there are some here today who need to pay attention to the words of our Lord in this morning’s Gospel.  You’re literally worrying yourself sick over some situation over which you have no control.  You need desperately to stop for a moment and consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and turn your worries over to God.

     And how can we overcome worry?  Let’s take a look at what Jesus says that can help us lighten our load this day.

     The first thing we can do to overcome worry is to live in the present.  “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,” says Jesus, “for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

     Now I know that sounds somewhat negative.  “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  But it’s really good advice.  You and I aren’t God.  We don’t know what the future holds.  We may be worrying about something that will never happen.  We may be worrying about something that will resolve itself.  Instead, we need to focus on today.

     Some years back psychologist Richard Carlson wrote a best-selling book titled, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”  In his book, Carlson expressed the conviction that most of the things we worry over are really not worth worrying about in the first place.

     A famous speaker once put life into perspective like this: “You are born.  That’s big stuff.  You die.  Big stuff.  Everything in between--small stuff!”  Carlson’s book reflects that same perspective.  In fact, the full title is, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–and It’s All Small Stuff.”

     Maybe life’s not quite that simple.  Still, one of the secrets of a fulfilled life is to focus on today.  Are you healthy this moment?  Do you have enough to live on this moment?  Are your children doing well this moment?  Then give God thanks for this moment.  And try not to anticipate what may never occur.  Live, Jesus says, in the present.

     Another way to overcome worry is to always seek God first. Jesus says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  

     To “seek God’s righteousness” means to seek to live as God requires, to truly seek to give God loyalty and commitment.  It means to turn to God first for help, to fill our thoughts with his desires, and to serve and obey him in everything.

     As you know there are lots of things that compete for priority in our lives – people, objects, goals, money, pleasure, and other desires.  Any of these can quickly edge God out of first place if we don’t actively choose to give him first place in every area of life.  Strangely enough, when we get our priorities right, Jesus promised that “all these things will be given to you as well.”  When we seek his kingdom first, God takes care of our needs.

     Finally, Jesus says we are to trust in God’s love for us.  “And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

     The Greek word for lilies means wild flowers or weeds.  Jesus is referring to any plant that is both lovely and will grow on its own without cultivation.  Since wood was scarce in Palestine, these wild flowers were sometimes used for fire.  Jesus is saying, “Look, God’s care extends even to these wild flowers, which eventually end up in a furnace.  How much more, then, will he care for you, ‘O you of little faith?’”

     And that’s the heart of the problem, isn’t it, our lack of faith?  We really don’t know, or really believe, just how much God loves us.  That’s why we worry about the future.  That’s why we don’t turn to God first.  

     I love the way Isaiah puts it in today’s reading from the Old Testament, “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.’”  Then Isaiah adds these wonderful words, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

     Isaiah is saying that though our own mother might forget us or forsake us, God never will.  Can you imagine a greater love than a mother for her child?  And yet the testimony of scripture is that God’s love for each of us is greater than even that.  God holds us in the palm of his hands and desires that we have a relationship with him based on trust and faith.

     So the message that Jesus has for us this day is: Live in the present.  Seek God first.  Trust in God’s love and provision for you.  Three wonderful principles to help us overcome worry.

                                                AMEN