To worry means to go over the same thing, again and again, getting nowhere and changing nothing; only exciting one’s own emotions (usually fear) more. Worry is mental agitation, spinning our mind’s wheels in the mud while not helping any problem.

Trusting God for Life’s Needs

Matthew 6:25-34

To survey a list of some of our recent best-selling popular books, is an exercise in analyzing our culture’s psychology. The best sellers list is an informative mirror on the soul of America. You should try it sometime if you have not lately. If you browse through either an online bookstore or a physical one, many of the leading best-sellers are organized around a central theme: Coping with stress. There are myriads of paperbacks and seminars and products telling us how to avoid stress or anxiety.

One author sounds like he knows me or a lot of Christians when he says “Have you ever noticed how uptight you feel when you’re caught up in your thinking? And, to top it off, the more absorbed you get in the details of whatever is upsetting you, the worse you feel. One thought leads to another, and yet another, until at some point, you become incredibly agitated. For example, you might wake up in the middle of the night and remember a phone call that needs to be made the following day. Then, rather than feeling relieved that you remembered such an important call, you start thinking about everything else you have to do tomorrow. . . . Pretty soon you think to yourself, ‘I can’t believe how busy I am.’ (13-14) When a Christian does that, and we all do from time to time, we are not trusting God—we are worrying.

I’ve heard the voice of God more than once recently in the final words of v. 30: “O you little faith!” Of course, we will never accomplish all that we wish to do, and there will always be some things waiting for our attention, and some project screaming for attention. Do we fear and worry or … Trust and Obey?

Stress or Worry may be our society’s number one mental illness, along with ulcers & heart attacks in the physical area. Why at this very church, in the past week, we’ve had people worry about Children, PCA, music, missionaries, and money. The disease has even infiltrated us. As we note this, we’re led to ask, “What causes so much stress or anxiety in our society”? Many answers are given, such as: fear of crime, debt problems, job insecurity, or the state of the economy. What do these answers have in common? They all involve our view of material security in one form or another.

By our excessive preoccupation with stress, Americans, including the American church, show that we are very anxious about securing or keeping our material pos-sessions. We wrongly think that life’s needs can only be secured by our efforts. Then, when a problem factor (such as failing economy, job insecurity, family crisis, etc.) enters the equation and disrupts our plans, we are left as a bundle of nerves. We are anxious, scared, doubtful, or manic. Some of you have felt this, as have I at times.

A remedy for that is given here in this passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He essentially tells us not to worry about how we can secure the wherewithal for life’s needs. Jesus teaches here that, “God will take care of our life’s needs, & we can trust him for that.

Earlier in this chapter Jesus had spoken and warned against materialism. He said, “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth (6:19), but in heaven.” You can’t serve two masters (6:24). In sum he taught that his true disciples would not be stockpiling their riches as a means of security. Their only security, spiritual or material, would rest in the ability of God to care for them. This was their uncompromised trust in God for life’s needs. They were neither practical nor closet materialists who were disciples on the side. They were disciples only. Such stress concerning materialism had no approval in their Master’s teaching.

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