Worry - Forbidden

Matthew 6:25 – Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink: nor ye for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body than the raiment?

How often do we worry about how we look each time we walk out the door? How many of us worry if we do not meet the standards of the world through dress, appearance and size? We worry about house payments, auto, electricity, fashion, food and acceptance in society. We think that no one will listen to us if we do not dress a certain way. We believe that the only way for people to receive us is if we lower our way of living to suit others. We worry about what we are going to put on the table tomorrow and how are we going to pay for the water bill next week before it gets shut off. We are the center of our attention and our minds have been infected by the ways of the world and its way of living.

How can the Lord be glorified for the very next moment if our focus is on what we are going to wear tomorrow at work or where we are going to get the money to pay for the brakes on the car next week? How can He be magnified when we are worried about getting our son's tuition paid for next year? When we worry about the future, we are implying that God does not know what he is doing. When we start to worry, we deny Christ. We deny the wisdom and the love of the Lord. We fail drastically in faith and trusting the Lord. Worry is implying that God has forgotten about us.

The Lord tells us to come to Him as children. He wants us to know without a doubt in mind that He will provide all our needs and that He is in control of the way we live and breath. The perfect example I can use is my daughter. She knows that when she wakes up in the morning, her father or I will be there for her. She knows that when she is hungry, she will be fed, when she is thirsty, she will be given a drink. She does not worry what clothes she is going to wear that day, because clothing is the least of her worries at the age of two. She can run naked around the house for all she cares, as long as she is having fun. The life of a child is very simple when you really sit down and examine it. They will take each minute as it comes.

Worrying comes in line with vanity, for it concerns fulfilling the cares of worldly possessions. Worry in most cases controls the intentions of our actions, thoughts and the way we live. Worry stops us from getting the rest we need. It stops us from gaining a closer walk with the Lord. Worry separates us from Christ and leads us to vanity, which in the end is meaningless. It does not profit a thing and it is the seed spoken of in Matthew 13:7 – And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked them. God cannot use us if our thoughts are always stuck on the cares of the world. The Lord cannot use an unfruitful vessel that will not believe Him when He promises that he will supply our needs.

My dear brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I, too, struggle in this area of sin. I did not realize how often I worry until I cried out to the Lord tonight in desperation because of circumstances that were not worth worrying about. On my knees I fell to the ground and with my head on the dresser, tears began to fall from my face to saturate the floor below me. I cried out, "Lord I can't do this, I'm failing. How can I encourage others when I am too busy worrying about the smallest things? I seem to miss you at every turn."

Dear brothers and sisters, the best way to encourage you is by telling you that you are not alone. Sin is not absent from this vessel either. We are all undergoing tests and trials that we can overcome with the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Together, through prayer and thanksgiving we can overcome. We must submit our thoughts to Christ. We must not lean to our own understanding and the ways of the world, but seek the face of God. Now is not the time to worry, but seek the face of God. It is going to take a lot of discipline to change, and we must not try, but do. Make the decision in your hearts with me today to will our selves to change for the glory of God and to let God work in each of us. Surrender, repent and run from the sin.

REALITY CHECK TO SELF

Confess the Sin – 1John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Give your cares to the Lord – 1 Peter 5:7 – Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Humble yourself – James 4:10 – Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.

Repent – Acts 3:19 – Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Believe and trust in the Lord – Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Worrying will only add death to the body, where as trust in the Lord will add life to our bones. We must remember that the physical body is not the master, but the servant and we must put our flesh in submission to the Spirit, which lives and abides in us. The physical appearance means nothing to the Lord, but our inner being is what will take us through leaps and bounds into the hands of Christ.

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