WORRY NOT!
Part One
August 3, 2025
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-32
An elderly man was standing on a crowded bus. A young man standing next to him asked, “What time is it?” The old man refused to reply. The young man moved on. The old man’s friend, sensing something was wrong, asked, “Why were you so discourteous to the young man asking for the time?” The old man replied, “If I had given him the time of day, next he would want to know where I am going. Then we might talk about our interests. If we did that, he might invite himself to my house for dinner. If he did, he would meet my lovely daughter. If he met her, they would both fall in love. I don’t want my daughter marrying someone who can’t afford a watch.
A little overreaction? Doctors call this type of thinking anxiety. To nondoctors, the everyday term is worry. Carefully defined, worry is an emotion that a person experiences in the face of a perceived threat or a danger, characterized by an unpleasant anticipation of misfortune or doom. Anxiety is a more intense emotional state. Both are a form of fear.
The word, worry comes from an Old English word that means "to strangle." Worry strangles our peace of mind and our enjoyment of life. Worrying or having anxiety can be very destructive. It can cause major relational issues. It can cause headaches, high blood pressure, sighing respiration, dizziness, chest pain, anorexia, nervous stomach, or clammy hands. Worry/anxiety can also cause a person to be irritable, impatient, or apprehensive. It may prompt a poor memory, the inability to sleep, or reduce one’s level of productivity and creativity. Worry or anxiety can cause unwarranted fear and can interrelate with depression. It can also result in people having an emotional/mental breakdown.
We live in a world where people are full of worry and anxiety. We worry about our children. We worry about various family relationships. We worry about our job. We worry about money. We worry about yesterday. We worry about today. We worry about tomorrow. We just worry.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to live worry/anxiety free. He desires for us to be content and to be joyful. He knows how frail we are, and he knows the power of the Evil One. A person who is consumed with worry is strangling themselves. Since God wants us to be content, we need to learn the secrets of preventing and overcoming worry.
Today, I want us to understand why people worry so much and then give you several important principles to help you do this. Let’s look…
Verse 25, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Therefore, points back to verses 19-24, where Christ calls the disciples to store up treasures in heaven instead of on the earth. He describes how the pursuit of the things of this world can spiritually blind and master us. Jesus calls us to focus on eternal matters—like riches in heaven—instead of focusing on temporary matters like wealth or our basic needs.
In verse 25, he says, “Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?”
This is what most advertising is about: “Eat this!” Wear this! Watch this!” It is all about making the body attractive, pleasant smelling, comfortable, and entertained. Christ later says the pagans worry about these things (v. 32). Their primary concerns are temporal matters—not eternal ones. Worry is a distortion of values and a reversal of priorities. So, the Lord calls this to our attention.
Principle 1: If you are going to overcome worry, then focus on eternal matters, not temporary ones.
Sadly, our culture and so many professing Christians have forgotten this principle! They have made the things of this world a priority instead of having the Lord as a priority! As believers in Christ, our primarily concern is to be about the affairs of heaven, even as we abide on the earth. Now, as mentioned last week, God expects us to be good stewards/be responsible of what He has given us. Now, the way to conquer a passion is by focusing on a greater passion. To have your precious/idol be an earthly thing will breed worry and anxiety. However, focusing on eternal matters delivers us from those worries and brings God’s peace. We will talk about this further next week, but the idea is if you have an eternal perspective, store up treasures in heaven, you will want to seek God first in your life. You will put Jesus will be on the throne of your heart, not self. You let Him direct every aspect of your life!
Colossians 3:1-5 states, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his 1983 Templeton Prize address commented: “Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘We have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’ Since then I have spent 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read numbers of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by the upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’”
The choice to make the things of this world a priority and not our Lord leads not only a nation to chaos, conflict, anxiety, stress, and worry but it also causes these issues on a personal level.
Jesus then says in Matthew 6:26, Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
God knows what you need, and you are unbelievably valuable to Him. Birds are not made in the image of God, nor being recreated in God’s image. God made humankind into His image that was devasted at the fall, but through Christ He has recreated us in His image.
II Corinthians 3:18 states, And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
This transformation begins by believing in Him with all our heart and being born again of His Spirit. His Spirit dwells with us.
And as Romans 8:16, 17 states, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
Paul goes on as he says in verses 31, 32 of Romans 8, What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
One verse that has spoken to me numerous times over the years is II Timothy 1:7, For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
As a child of God, you are certainly more valuable than birds, flowers, and grass. How much more will God make sure that we have all our needs? He doesn’t promise you your wants. Sometimes you worry because you lack your wants. God promises to provide for your needs. Note Philippians 4:19.
Now please realize the action of birds to feed themselves reminds us that we are still responsible for working to provide for ourselves and others. Paul said that a person that doesn’t work shouldn’t eat (II Thessalonians 3:10). Jesus’ command to not worry should not create laziness or complacency in us. We should work as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23).
Principle 2: If you are going to overcome worry, take to heart that the Lord values you!
Some 23 years ago, I preached on this Scripture passage. In that message, I talked about Aaron struggling with worry. He was around 10 years old, and I told him, “You worry too much. Relax.” Then, I looked at him after I said it. I noticed his facial response and I said, “Are you worried that you worry too much.” He said, “Yeah.” I tried to encourage him and reaffirmed my love. Folks, know the LORD loves you! He cares for you!
I am not sure if this is true or not, but this story was told years ago about a construction crew building a new road through a rural area. It knocked down trees as it progressed. A superintendent noticed that one tree had a nest of birds who couldn’t yet fly, and he marked the tree so that it would not be cut down. Several weeks later the superintendent came back to the tree. He got into a bucket truck and was lifted so that he could peer into the nest. The fledglings were gone. They had obviously learned to fly. The superintendent ordered the tree cut down. As the tree crashed to the ground, the nest fell clear and some of the material that the birds had gathered to make the nest was scattered about. Part of it was a scrap torn from a Sunday school pamphlet. On the scrap of paper were these words: He cares for you.
My prayer for each of you is what Paul prays in Ephesians 3:16-19, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Do you know your immense value to God? You are his beloved child!
Verse 27, Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Worry will not make you live longer. It never changes reality. If you worry, the outcome is the same as if you don’t worry. So, worry is a waste of energy! It is unproductive in the use of one’s time. It accomplishes nothing but unbelief, doubt, and fear. It distracts our attention from matters of higher priority.
John MacArthur said, “You can worry yourself to death, but not to life.”
Dr. Charles Mayo, of the famous Mayo Clinic, wrote, “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man or known a man to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died from doubt.”
Proverbs 12:25 states, Anxiety weighs down the heart. Typically, we start to worry about something, and it affects our entire mood and often that of others!
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes the seed sown upon thorny ground as he says in Matthew 13:22, The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. When we are constantly worrying, it hinders our ability to receive God’s Word and apply it to our lives.
So, worrying does not benefit us physically, mentally, relationally, or spiritually. It is illogical, unproductive, and harmful! Not only is worry counterproductive, but it is also a form of disobedience. God has told us not to worry, so to worry is to disregard His guidance. We don't usually think of worry as sin. But it is!
Principle 3: If you are going to overcome worry, then realize that it is worthless, even harmful! Confess it as sin. Choose to obey God and depend on Him.
Then Jesus says in verses 28-30, And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Jesus described worrying/having anxiety as a lack of faith. It is unbelief in disguise. Worrying/having anxiety doubts the goodness of God. One disregards the word of God. One questions His sovereignty, His omniscience, His omnipotence, and His love.
The issue is little faith does not think! Growing in faith is essentially thinking. Look at the birds, think about them, and draw your deductions. Look at the grass, look at the lilies of the field, consider them.
The whole trouble with a man of little faith is that he does not think. One allows feelings or circumstances to control him or her.
Principle 4: If you are going to overcome worry, increase your faith! Pray and think about what is true!
I Peter 5:7 states, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Philippians 4:6-9 states, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Listen! Prayer and worry are two great opposing forces. A study was done by a group of seminarians for a research project. the hypothesis was that the longer a person had been a dedicated Christian, the better his or her mental health would be. The students gave a battery of tests. As the data was reviewed, there was little connection between the student’s mental health, and the number of years people had been Christians. What proved to be more important was the number of years that the people had regularly meditated on Scripture. If communing with the LORD had been a part of their lives for at least three years, they would be significantly happier and healthier.
Communing with God through His word, prayer, worship, and fellowshipping with others, is an important aspect in overcoming worry.
I encourage you to mediate on God’s word. Memorize passages that will help you. Pray! Be thankful! Sing unto the Lord! Get help from others. Get your sleep so you can think clearly. Exercise. Have a change of scenery. Holy thinking brings about a happy and healthy attitude.
Verses 31, 32, So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Preoccupation with food, clothing, the things of this world are characteristics of unbelievers.
Jesus said that when we worry about the things of this world we are acting just as the pagans do.
Worry sees only the obstacles be it actual or imaginary and meditates on all the possible disastrous possibilities, while neglecting the fact of God’s divine care and control in our lives
A parent, at least most parents, know what a child needs. A parent typically knows when the child is hungry and when child needs his/her diaper changed. So also, with far greater understanding, our Heavenly Father knows what we need.
Principle 5: If you are going to overcome worry, then realize your Heavenly Father knows what you need! He is in control!
The story is told of a 2-year-old who was in the pool with his dad. He felt secure in his father’s arms as Dad stood at the shallow end of the pool. But Dad began walking slowly toward the deep end. Deeper, deeper, and deeper, as the water rose higher on the child. The boy’s face registered increasing degrees of panic. Had the little boy been able to analyze his situation, he’d have realized there was no reason for increased anxiety. The water’s depth in any part of the pool was over his head. Even in the shallowest part, had he not been held up, he’d have drowned. His safety anywhere in that pool depended on Dad.
At various points in your life, you will feel things are getting out of your depth as fear, worry, and anxiety grows. The temptation is to worry, have anxiety, panic, for you feel you have lost control. Yet, as with the child in the pool, the truth is you were never in control. God was and is in control. So, you can feel sure in His arms!
Let me close with this. Many major figures in the Bible dealt with worry, anxiety and fear throughout Scripture. For instance, Moses struggled with his call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He worried about his speaking ability and his worthiness. Yet, the Lord reassured him and Moses learned to lean on God’s power rather than his own.
In I Kings 19 we have the story of Elijah becoming full of fear and anxiety. He had experienced a dramatic victory as God displayed his power against the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. Queen Jezebel planned to kill him. This threat trigged anxiety and despair in Elijah. Rather than trusting in the Lord, Elijah fled into the wilderness. His fear and anxiety were so intense that he became desperate to die. He felt depressed with no purpose in his life. Yet, God in His mercy sent an angel to minister to him. Elijah then went to Mount Horeb and heard the Lord in a gentle whisper that offered comfort. Elijah experienced God’s gentle restoration.
David fled from King Saul’s jealousy and threats and prompted David to have anxiety and fear. He expressed his fears in many of the Psalms he wrote during this time. Yet, he expressed his trust in God. For instance, Psalm 56:3, 4a, When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid.
Job faced anxiety and grief after losing his wealth, health and family, yet he maintained his faith in God and trust in His bigger plan.
Jonah’s anxiety led him to flee from God’s call. However, inside the belly of the great fish, he found repentance and dependence on God, which eased his anxious heart. Jonah wanted to control his future, not give his life plan to God. His feelings of anxiety led him to run from God. We can run from God, but we will only find peace when we embrace God’s will for our lives.
After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the disciples gathered in fear and anxiety (John 20:19-23). Jesus’ resurrection appearance and words brought peace and assurance. His resurrection can give the child of God peace.
Of course, Jesus experienced intense emotional distress and anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before his arrest and crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). He knew his suffering and death on the cross was imminent, and the weight of the world’s sins. Despite knowing his purpose, Jesus was distressed about what lay ahead. He told his disciples, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Mark 14:34). Jesus was human as well as divine, and the thought of the excruciating physical pain and bearing the sins of all humanity caused him intense sorrow and anxiety. Jesus knew everything that was going to happen, but still earnestly prayed to the Father three times to take this cup from me (Mark 14:36). He had not lost faith in the Father but was expressing the human desire to avoid the unimaginable suffering. An angel came to strengthen Jesus, and he surrendered himself saying, My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done (Matthew 26:42). Jesus overcame the anxiety by trusting in God’s plan.
Jesus understands what it is like to struggle with anxiety and distress. Anyone who deals with worry, anxiety and fear can relate to Jesus’ anguish in Gethsemane. Believers can be encouraged that Jesus has compassion and offers comfort to those struggling with heavy emotional burdens.
However, we can follow their examples in leaning on God for peace and persevering through trials. Worry and anxiety does not have to overcome us. By clinging to Him for strength, we too can have the courage to face our fears and overcome anxiety through the power of the Holy Spirit.
