Matthew 6:25-34

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Here in Matthew 6:25-34 we see the word “worry” being used six times and it comes from an Old English word meaning to strangle and choke by seizing the throat. . It was used to refer to the practice of predators like wolves killing sheep by lunging for the throat and strangling their prey to death. Worry not only grabs us and chocks our lives but it ends up seizing control of our lives. Worry is like a wolf that wants to pull us apart. In the Greek the definition refers to being drawn in different directions so that we become distracted. Jesus doesn’t just tell us not to worry once but three times, in verses 25, 31, and 34. These are not subtle suggestions they are direct commands from Christ to help correct what is surely the number one sin among Christians today, anxious worry. While we the church tend to focus on addictions like alcohol and drugs I wonder if we are missing the greatest addiction in the church today, the addicted to anxiety. You see the wolf of worry doesn’t just wear us out it wants to wipe us out, its desire is to devour and destroy. When it comes to worry it’s here in Matthew 6 that we see several key truths, first:

• Worry is a waste

Listen to verse 25: “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food and your body more than clothing?” It’s not that the necessities of life, like food and clothing don’t matter it’s that who we are is more important than what we wear or what we eat. Our tendency is to measure success based on what we have instead of who we have. It’s here that we are reminded that the real treasure is our relationship with God the Father not our earthy resources. So in order to get our eyes off of self, Jesus calls us to look to God and His control over His creation: “25 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” Are you going to focus on God the Father or on your fears? If God feeds the birds of the air then He will certainly take care of you. The problem is that deep down inside many of us still question our worth to God. We are not living in His love because we don’t really believe that we are loved. It’s here that Jesus reminds us that our Creator cares for us on a deeper level than just our sustenance and what it takes for us to survive, He wants us to thrive. He cares about more than just meeting our basic needs and filling our belly, He wants to fill our lives. Many of us ran to Him because we saw our sin and how much we needed a Savior but He is also our sustainer and satisfaction. It’s not just about running to Him it’s about remaining in Him. Today many of us have a more intimate relationship with worry than we do with Him. We devote more of our time to worry than we do to worship. Actually if you didn’t know any better you might think we worshiped worry based on how much our lives revolve around it. Today we are wasting our lives on worry, letting it consume out time, our treasure and even our talents. We live limited lives because we are worried about what other people will think and say if we really live out loud.  To worry is to waste our lives, where to worship is to invest our lives. Do you want to live a wasted life or a worthwhile one? Not only is worrying a waste but second:

• Worry never works

Verse 27 says: “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” We live in a culture that is obsessed with trying to lengthen life; the truth is that you can worry yourself to death, but not to life. Worry will give you an ulcer or a migraine but it will not give you a longer life. Proverbs 12:25 says: “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up” Charlie Brown once said to Linus: “I worry about school a lot.” He thought a little longer and then said, “I worry about worrying so much about school.” He reflected some more and then concluded, “Even my anxieties have anxieties!” Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles. When it comes to worry it has been suggested that:

40% never happens

30% concerns the past

12% are needless worries about health

10% are about petty issues

8% are legitimate concerns

That means that 92% of our worry time is wasted time. How many of us are exerting mental and emotional energy on things that are outside our control? When we worry what we are really saying is that God can’t take care of us. What about you are you living life as if your problems are bigger than His promises? Remember worry is a waste because worry doesn’t work.

Psalm 46:1-11

“1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude. 4 A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. 5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. 6 The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts! 7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude. 8 Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. 9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude”

Not only do we see God demonstrates His dependability through His protection and presence but thirdly through:

• His Position

We can depend on God during difficult times because of His protection, His presence, and also because of His position. Verses 8-11 invites us to: “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. 9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude” We are invited both as a nation and as God’s children the church to: “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord” The word that is used here means to “run after or pursue” in order to “see.” This isn’t just a casual invite where if we have time we can come and take a peek, no there is a sense of urgency here. It’s the call to drop everything and run after Him so that we can see His glorious works. If you got word that your favorite band was traveling through your town and throwing a free concert would you run to watch? Many of us would because we would be driven by a desire to see, to hear and to experience the music. You would see it as significant and time well spent. So why don’t we see running after God as worthwhile?  What if you decided not to go and as a result you missed the greatest concert of the century? I wonder today how many miracles we miss because we are not running after the Redeemer. We are not just running after Him we are pursuing with a purpose which is to see the wonderful works of our Savior. To “see” here means to gaze at God not glance. It means to come contemplatively, to pursue and perceive His power and His position. This means that we need to cut out all competing distractions so that we can pay attention to the Almighty. It means making Him our focus not an afterthought. Verse 9 reveals the incredible power of His position as the Almighty God, for He can make “wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.”  Only God can cause conflict to cease. As people we all want peace our problem is that we pursue the piece of paper which promises peace instead of the Prince of peace. What about you are you pursuing people peace or the provider of peace? God in His position of power has the ability to render the weapons of war useless. He is the One who breaks the bow and shatters the spear so that they are no longer effective, and sets the shield on fire so that it cannot function. In His position as sovereign king, He and He alone is in charge. Verse 10 is a call to bow before His position as the rightful ruler, we’re called to “Be still and know that I am God.” To “be still” is more than just a moment of silence, it means to cast down or let fall, meaning to stop striving. It’s the picture of letting our hands fall to our sides as we leave matters with God. This is more than just a quiet time it’s a quitting time, where we stop putting forth exertion and start looking to and leaning on the Lord. The purpose is so that we can know the person of God. To “know” means to acknowledge the Almighty, to delve deep in our relationship and discover who He is. To stop keeping things on a surface level and start seeking a deeper more intimate relationship. But we will never truly get to know God experientially until we become still before Him. Verse 10 is actually a rebuke. We’re to stop trying and start trusting, it’s an invitation to rest and rely on Him. To stop striving in our own self-effort and submit ourselves to the sovereignty of God. The last part of verse 10 says: “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” As we quiet our souls we can reflect upon and recognize His position as Lord over the whole world. Our problem is that we never slow down long enough to be still before Him, we rush here and there because we are driven by doing not being. We focus on the problems instead of His position of power, so we put our energy into panic instead of prayer. Are you going to spend your time in worry or in worship? Are you going to be fear focused and spend your time fretting or Father focused and spend your time wisely? The greatest gift is not the removal of problems but the person of God, the joy comes from knowing Him.  Is your goal getting to know God or just getting from God? Many of us settle for a fix when we could have the Father. When we stop striving and start being still we will recognize His supremacy and inevitable triumph over the nations.  It does not say that He might be exalted, but that He will be exalted, God’s supremacy is a guarantee. Because of His position of power we can be reassured and we can rest. Philippians 2:10-11 reminds us: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Verse 11 is a great summary statement of the entire psalm, because “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.”  Are you resting in His presence, His protection, and His position as supreme commander of the armies of heaven? Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords, He is in control even in the chaos. Nothing has happened outside of His plan, there is nothing that catches Him of guard or leaves him bewildered. Though there is tragedy and the mountains fall into the sea, those who know and trust in Jesus have nothing to fear. Regardless of whether nature wreaks havoc, or the nations rage against one another our God is our refuge. It is here that we are invited for a third time to pause at the final “Selah” and be still before God. This is not just a pause it’s a repositioning of our focus from our fears to our Father. Where in your life do you need to be still? Where do you need to stop striving and start trusting?