![\"Worried](\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20170523133742\/Dont-Freak-Out-Overcoming-Worry-e1300827333218.jpg\" "\\"Dont-Freak-Out---Overcoming-Worry\\"")
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Meet Erica. <\/span><\/p>\n Erica is seven years old.\u00a0 And occasionally, Erica\u2019s parents need to leave her with her babysitter Hailey.\u00a0 But Erica doesn\u2019t like it when they do this.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that Erica doesn\u2019t like Hailey; she actually gets along with Hailey really well.\u00a0 She just becomes concerned about her parents. <\/span><\/p>\n On one particular evening, as Erica\u2019s parents were about to leave her with Hailey, Erica began to beg her parents not to go.\u00a0 She clung to their waists and held onto their legs like a monkey climbing a tree.\u00a0 She pleaded with them to stay.\u00a0 And when her parents instructed her that her immature display of behavior had not changed their minds and that they would be back at 8:00, Erica stomped off angrily.<\/p>\n That night, Erica drove Hailey crazy.\u00a0 Every ten minutes she would ask when her parents were coming back.\u00a0 Whenever she heard a noise outside, she would go to the window to see if it was her mom and dad.\u00a0 And every time the phone rang, she would rush to answer it and ask, \u201cMom, Dad, when are you coming home?\u201d\u00a0 Finally, 8:00 rolled around, but Erica\u2019s mom and dad were not back yet.\u00a0 At this point, Erica really went off the deep end.<\/p>\n She began saying to Hailey, “They were supposed to be back by now.\u00a0 Do you think they\u2019re okay?\u00a0 What if they\u2019ve been in an accident?\u00a0 What if they\u2019re hurt and they can\u2019t call for help?\u00a0 Maybe we should go out and look for them.\u00a0 Maybe we should call the police.\u00a0 Maybe we should send out a search party. \u00a0What if they\u2019re dead?\u00a0 If they\u2019re dead, I won\u2019t have a mom and dad anymore.\u00a0 And if they\u2019re dead, what\u2019ll happen to me?\u00a0 Who\u2019s going to take care of me?\u00a0I\u2019ll be an orphan.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to live in an orphanage where the other kids will pick on me.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to drop out of school and wear dirty clothes, and I\u2019ll never get to eat anything but cold mush.\u00a0 My life is ruined all because my parents wouldn\u2019t just stay home with me.”<\/p>\n Hailey couldn\u2019t take it anymore.\u00a0 She put Erica to bed, but Erica didn\u2019t sleep a wink until her parents came home.<\/p>\n Admittedly, Erica is a bit of a freakazoid.\u00a0 (I can say that because she’s a fictional character of my own creation.)\u00a0 But her problem is one with which people of all ages\u00a0struggle.\u00a0 Erica’s thinking is a rather clear example of sinful worry, and her failure to discipline her mind has caused her to spin out of control in a fear-riddled frenzy.<\/p>\n Maybe you’re not a worrier on the order of this fictitious seven-year old, but there’s probably been a time in your life when you’ve allowed yourself to get carried away by this destructive form of thinking.\u00a0 (For some, that time was earlier today.)\u00a0 Sadly, many excuse worry as some kind of benign foible, as an embarrassing little habit they wish they didn’t have but that ultimately doesn’t matter.<\/p>\n But take a look at what Jesus has to say about this…<\/p>\n Matthew 6:25 Isn’t that interesting?\u00a0 Jesus doesn’t seem ambivalent about worry.\u00a0 He seems pretty determined that we shouldn’t<\/em> worry\u2014so determined, in fact,\u00a0that He comes right out and tells us to cut it out.<\/strong><\/p>\n And what kinds of things does He tell us that we shouldn’t worry about?\u00a0 Food, health, and clothes.\u00a0 Pretty basic stuff.\u00a0 But are food, health, and clothing those the only things we typically worry about?\u00a0 Unfortunately, no.<\/p>\n We worry about all kinds of things.\u00a0 We worry about the safety of our families and performing well at our jobs.\u00a0 We worry about our cars breaking down and the mood swings of the stock market.\u00a0 We worry about being embarrassed by our kids and the perceptions of other people.\u00a0 And that’s just a start.<\/p>\n But Jesus didn\u2019t get into all of those things.\u00a0 He simply says, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about your life.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry about your food, your clothes, or your health.”\u00a0 And when you think about it\u2014life doesn\u2019t get more basic than food or clothes or our health, does it?<\/p>\n Ultimately, that\u2019s what Erica was afraid of\u2014that she wouldn\u2019t have a home, that she wouldn\u2019t have clothes to wear or food to eat.<\/p>\n But Jesus tells us that we shouldn’t even worry about those things\u2014the most basic of necessities.\u00a0 And if Jesus tells us not to worry about the essentials, then He certainly isn\u2019t going to say that it\u2019s okay for us to worry about other stuff.<\/p>\n But why <\/em>shouldn\u2019t we worry about this stuff?\u00a0 In the verses that follow, Jesus starts listing answers to that question.<\/p>\n Matthew 6:26 He says that there are too many other important things to focus on than \u201cWhat am I going to eat?\u201d and \u201cWhat am I going to wear?\u201d<\/p>\n Can you think of some things that God would consider important?\u00a0 Based on what we find in other New Testament passages, I suspect that God wants us to spend our time answering questions like:<\/p>\n I believe God considers the answers to those questions much more important than the answer to \u201cWhat\u2019s for dinner?\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew 6:27 Jesus is essentially saying, “Hey, if God takes cares of bunch of silly birds, you better believe He\u2019s going to take care of you.\u00a0 You\u2019re worth way more to him than animals.”<\/p>\n Just think about some of the ways God has demonstrated His care for us.\u00a0\u00a0He gave us life.\u00a0\u00a0He sustains our existence.\u00a0 He gave us the ability to think and reason, to experience joy and sorrow.\u00a0 He gave us His Word.\u00a0\u00a0He sent His Son to die for our sins.\u00a0 He promises eternal life to all who place their faith in Christ.\u00a0 And that’s just a sampling.\u00a0 Based on the incredible ways He has provided for us in the past, we have ample cause to trust Him for answers to the unknowns that lie ahead.<\/p>\n So, why else shouldn\u2019t we worry?<\/p>\n It may be helpful for you to write that phrase down somewhere.\u00a0 \u201cI’m not in control.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew 6:28 In other words, Jesus says, \u201cHey, if you think worrying about different things in your life is going to get you anywhere\u2014forget it.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to be any better off.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to live any longer.\u00a0 You\u2019re not in control.\u00a0 God is.\u201d<\/p>\n Who would you rather have in control of your life?\u00a0 Who do you think would do a better job of running your life?\u00a0 You or God?\u00a0 Any person thinking rationally knows the best answer to those\u00a0questions.<\/p>\n But when we use our minds to indulge thoughts of fear and worry, it\u2019s as if we\u2019re saying, “Step aside, God.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the job you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 I would do this way better than you.\u201d<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t that where Erica got into trouble?\u00a0 She thought she was in control.\u00a0 She thought if she could just keep her parents home, if she could just convince them to stay, then everything would be all right.\u00a0 But Erica wasn\u2019t in control.\u00a0 God was.<\/p>\n Matthew 6:33 Jesus says, \u201cInstead of driving yourself crazy with worry, seek His kingdom.\u00a0 Focus on pleasing God.\u00a0 Spend the time and energy you would have wasted worrying and focus your efforts on things that will bring glory to the Lord.\u00a0 He\u2019ll take care of that other stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Sound too simple?\u00a0 I suppose it does.\u00a0 But that’s the way it is with most of the Christian life.\u00a0 The concepts are easy.\u00a0\u00a0The doing is hard.\u00a0 Still, to make the choice to discipline your mind, to refuse to waste time on\u00a0emotional tire-spinning, is much easier than continuing a lifestyle in which your thoughts hold you captive.\u00a0 Pleasing God may require a greater investment of effort at the outset, but the benefits of those efforts will make for an altogether better life.<\/p>\n Matthew 11:29-30 What are you afraid of?\u00a0 What do you worry about?\u00a0 What are you trying to control?\u00a0 Don’t allow these things to rule your life.\u00a0 Instead, take\u00a0a couple of steps to evict fear and worry from your mind in favor of more Christ-centered tenants.<\/p>\n Step 1:\u00a0 Ask yourself, \u201cCan I do anything to solve the problem?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n If the answer to that question is \u201cYes,\u201d then you need to quit worrying and get busy solving the problem.\u00a0 Create an action plan, and carry it out.\u00a0 If the answer to the question is \u201cNo,\u201d then you need to proceed to step two.<\/p>\n Step 2:\u00a0 Trust God to take care of you.<\/strong><\/p>\n And you say, \u201cTrust God?\u00a0 I want to do that, but what does that look like?\u201d\u00a0 It involves prayer.\u00a0 It involves meditating on and believing in the promises of Scripture.\u00a0 It involves choosing to use your mind for more productive things.<\/p>\n When we exercise trust in God, we say, “I have no back-up plan.\u00a0 All of my hope is in Him, and I believe He\u2019ll take care of me\u2014just as He promises.”\u00a0 God wants us to live in a way that demonstrates our dependence on Him.\u00a0 Refusing to worry and exercising trust is part of that lifestyle.<\/p>\n What are you afraid of? What do you worry about? What are you trying to control? Don’t allow these things to rule your life. Instead, take a couple of steps to evict fear and worry from your mind in favor of more Christ-centered tenants. <\/p>\n This spring, we’re taking our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders through a series called Thinking Like Christ. Based on John Vandegriff’s helpful book In the Arena of the Mind, we\u2019re encouraging students to recognize the sinful patterns of thinking that exist in their lives and to replace those patterns with the forms of thinking outlined in Philippians 4:8. The goal of this study is to help kids use their minds in ways that will produce godly habits of living. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4242,97],"tags":[4185,135,130,4201],"yoast_head":"\nThe Problem: Sinful Worry<\/h2>\n
\nDo not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDon’t Worry Because: There Are More Important Things to Think About<\/h2>\n
\nIs not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Don’t Worry Because: God Will Take Care of You<\/h2>\n
\nLook at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.\u00a0 Are you not much more valuable than they?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDon’t Worry Because: You\u2019re Not in Control<\/h2>\n
\nWho of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHow to Stop Worrying<\/h2>\n
\nBut seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nTake my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00a0 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFor Further Discussion<\/h2>\n
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