Dealing with Fears: Matthew 6:25-34: How Can I Keep from Worrying?

Jesus tells us not to worry about the everyday cares of life. But when I’m in trouble how can I find peace again?

MATTTHEW 6:25-34: HOW CAN I KEEP FROM WORRYING?

INTRODUCTION

My mother used to call me a “worry wort” because I was a gloomy kid who usually expected the worst.

I was like Eyore in Winnie the Pooh. Do you remember Eyore? He was the little donkey. If it was a fine day, he would look up into the sky and say gloomily: “I think it’s going to rain.”

During my first week in the army, our sergeant shouted at us: “Expect the worst, and you’ll never be disappointed!”
And I’ll admit being in the army was a worrisome experience.

The Bible says quite a lot about worry.

I. Read Matthew 6:25-34

A. How are the birds our example of how to go about our lives?

Not because birds don’t experience hardship.

Birds work hard all day long. We watch them at our bird feeders out our front window. They’re always busy—just getting enough to eat. If there’s not enough food, birds starve.
And sometimes we find a dead one in the yard.

Birds are our example because they live and thrive in the environment God planned for them.

If a forest bird tried to live in the desert, or a desert bird tried to live on the ocean, or an ocean bird tried to live in the city, or if a city bird tried to live underwater—they would surely die.
But the forest bird lives in the forest, and the desert bird lives in the desert, and the ocean bird lives on the ocean, and the city bird lives in the city. And the birds thrive because they live in the environment God planned for them.

Just so, we Christians thrive and prosper spiritually when we live in the environment of God’s love—in trust and obedience.

Birds are our example—not because they are carefree—but because they go about their work with all their might, not thinking about the dangers that may await them tomorrow.

But we’re smarter than birds, and we know the dangers that may await us tomorrow, and that’s why we worry.

B. Anxiety about the necessities of life is normal. Food and clothing represent the necessities of life. These people Jesus to whom was speaking lived on the edge of starvation.

Charlotte and I spend about 6% of our income on food. The poor people listening to Jesus spent almost all of their income on food.

Clothes were also a problem. When every thread had to be spun by hand and every bit of cloth had to be woven by hand, just to get enough clothing to cover one’s nakedness could be a major problem. Most people didn’t have closets to put their extra clothes into. They didn’t have extra clothes. That’s why Jesus commended people who fed the hungry and clothed the naked.

Under such circumstances it was normal to be anxious. Jesus recognized that when he said, “The Gentiles seek all these things…” Or we could translate it “The unbelievers seek all these things.”

C. The passage contains Jesus’ answer to life’s anxieties…

In v30 Jesus says, “O you of little faith!” We need faith.

But faith isn’t something you can just turn on like a faucet. Faith isn’t easy.
That’s why we pray for faith. Only God can strengthen our faith to make it strong enough to bear the loads of life.

But Jesus didn’t just leave it there. He gives us the cure in the next to the last sentence: (v33) “Seek first his kingdom…” or “Strive first for his kingdom and his righteousness and these things will be given to you as well.”

II. We probably aren’t concerned with getting enough food to eat or clothes to wear. We worry about other things:

A. We are concerned about our increasing aches and pains.
We are concerned about keeping our memory until the end of life.
We are concerned about whether we have enough money to pay our bills.
We are concerned about whether our faith and trust in God will stay bright.
We are concerned about our children and grandchildren. We are concerned that they will make good choices.

B. A scripture that I repeat to myself when I get into a stew is in Psalm 73. The writer of this psalm tells how depressed he was because he had so many troubles and his ungodly neighbors seemed to be getting along so well. He says that his soul was embittered, and then he began to think about God’s promises. He wrote:

“Nevertheless I am always with thee;
Thou dost hold my right hand.
Thou dost guide me with thy counsel,
and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is nothing upon earth
that I desire besides thee.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion for ever.”

When I think about it that way, I can let Jesus take my hand and lead me home.

CONCLUSION

We can’t pretend we don’t have worries and concerns and anxieties.
We have to face them and bring them to the Lord.
Jesus didn’t say, “Look at the ostrich. He buries his head in the sand and pretends that the danger isn’t there.”
Jesus says, “Look at the birds. Keep your eyes open. Go about the business God has given you, trusting God to keep you.”

Keep your eyes on Jesus. Imagine him looking back at you with love.
Because he is with you. He will hold you fast and never let you go.
You are never alone.

The way I’ve been talking to you makes it seem easier than it is.
Sometimes when I am disturbed about something I lie awake stewing about it. I can’t seem to get the trouble out of my mind.

Then I tell myself, “You’re a believer. You should be handling this better than you are.”
I pray to God and preach a little sermon to myself—like the one I just gave you.

Here is a prayer an unknown believer made way back in the Middle Ages. It is one of the prayers I use when I can’t sleep:

“Above all the things I desire,
grant to me, Lord,
that I may rest in you,
and that my heart may find its peace in you.
You are my heart’s true peace;
you alone are its rest;
without you I am burdened
with anxiety that is hard to bear.
In this peace, then, that is in you
who are my one supreme and eternal good
I will sleep and take my rest.”

So I pray like that, and I preach to myself, and I thank God for my blessings, and pray for my friends—and usually, finally, peace comes back into my heart.