How to Stop Worrying
Introduction
I can’t even remember his name and I didn’t think much of his talk. We were both eighteen years of age. He had just joined the army. As he stood up to give the talk he produced his army boots as a visual aid. He called one of the boots ‘trust’ and the other one ‘obey’. He described them as the left and right boot of the Christian life. He only spoke for seven minutes, but his illustration hit home and I have never forgotten it.
‘Trust’ and ‘obey’ are, as he said, a very good summary of the Christian life. We see in the passages for today that they are the answer to trials, temptation, worry, anxiety, fear, failure and all the other struggles of life. In particular, Jesus shows us how to stop worrying and start living.
Psalm 42:6-11
6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me –
a prayer to the God of my life.
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Saviour and my God.
Commentary
Trials and temptations
It is often in times of difficulty that we put down deep roots. The psalmist uses the evocative expression ‘deep calls to deep’ (v.7). Anything that is not from the depth in us will not reach the depth in others.
The psalmist is ‘downcast’ (v.6b). He feels as if God has forgotten him (v.9). He is ‘mourning, oppressed by the enemy’ (v.9b). He is in ‘agony’ (v.10a). People are taunting him, saying, ‘Where is your God?’ (v.10b) – rather like the way some people taunt Christians today.
The trials and temptations of life have overcome him like a mighty waterfall (v.7). Yet he knows deep down that despite being submerged by the waves of life, he can trust in God: ‘God promises to love me all day’ (v.8, MSG).
Continuing with the image of a torrential river, he refers to God as ‘my Rock’ (v.9). Though he feels that God has forgotten him, he knows the reality that God is the greatest security on which he can stand.
In the middle of all this he speaks to himself: ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God’ (v.11). Through all the struggles, trials and temptation, fix your eyes on God and keep trusting and obeying him.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you direct your love towards me. Help me to keep trusting and obeying you, ‘my Saviour and my God’ (v.11).
Luke 12:6–34
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it... 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Commentary
Worry and anxiety
Do you worry a lot? Are you ever ‘struck with fear’ or ‘seized with alarm’ (vv.7,32, AMP)? Are you ever ‘anxious and troubled’ (v.22, AMP)?
Jesus never said, ‘Don’t worry because there is nothing to worry about.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry in spite of the fact that there is so much to worry about.’ Many times Jesus says to his followers, ‘Do not be afraid’ (vv.4,7,32) and ‘Do not worry’ (vv.11,22,29). The answer to fear and worry is to trust and obey. Jesus gives us seven ways to deal with worry, anxiety and fear.
1. Fear God and nothing else
If you have a right and healthy fear of God, you need fear nothing else (v.5). ‘Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies... There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life – body and soul – in his hands’ (v.5, MSG).
2. Know your value to God
Jesus tells you not to worry or be afraid because you are of infinite value to God. He loves you; ‘You are worth more than many sparrows’ (v.7b). He knows you intimately: ‘The very hairs of your head are all numbered’ (v.7a).
3. Trust the Holy Spirit
He tells you not to worry because you can trust the Holy Spirit to help you. As you face opposition, difficult situations, meetings, and so on, Jesus says, ‘Do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say’ (vv.11–12).
4. Don’t miss the point of life
Jesus says that by worrying you miss the whole point of life: ‘Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot’ (v.15, MSG).
He tells the story of a businessman, who had built up a highly successful enterprise and made a considerable amount of money. The world probably admired him. However, Jesus describes him as a fool and a failure (v.20). He had made the false assumption that he had many years to live (vv.19–20). He had never seen beyond this life (v.20).
His life was focused on himself. The word ‘I’ or ‘my’ appears eleven times (vv.17–19). As has been pointed out, ‘A person wrapped up in themselves makes a very small package.’ He thought he was worth what his possessions were worth. He failed to understand the way to be truly rich. He was not ‘rich towards God’ (v.21). Who you are as a person is far more important than what you do for a living.
5. Realise that fussing is futile
Jesus encourages you to look beyond material possessions and physical needs, ‘don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion’ (v.22, MSG). There is nothing wrong with these things, but they should not be your focus – ‘life is more than food, and the body more than clothes’ (v.23).
6. Trust God’s care and provision
Jesus points out that worry is the opposite of faith (v.28). If you trust you will not worry. ‘If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!’ (v.28). Faith involves trust in God’s care and provision.
7. Seek God’s kingdom
Trust and obedience go hand in hand. Rather than storing up things for yourself you need to be ‘rich towards God’ (v.21). Rather than worrying about material things you should ‘seek his kingdom’ (v.31) – which God in his good pleasure has given to you (v.32). This should be the focus of your life. ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (v.34).
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you tell me over and over again not to worry and not to be afraid. Help me to seek your kingdom and trust that all ‘these things will be given to [me] as well’ (v.31).
Deuteronomy 9:4–6,10:12–22
9
4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’
5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
10
12 And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. ... 20 Fear the LORD your God and serve him. ... 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Commentary
Fear and failure
God’s blessing is pure grace: ‘It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity’ (9:5). Moses reminds the people of God of all the things that went wrong for them in the past. He tells them that the reason was, ‘You did not trust him or obey him’ (v.23).
Moses urges them that now they are to trust and obey God. ‘What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?’ (10:12–13).
When we are tempted to disobey God, it is because we do not trust that he has our best interests at heart. We like to think that we know better than God as to what is best for us. However, the reality is that all God’s commands are ‘for your own good’. God loves you, cares for you and knows you, and that is why he wants you to obey him.
The truth is that you can trust God, even when you find his commands difficult or restrictive. The omnipotent God, to whom belong ‘the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it’ has ‘set his affection’ on you ‘and loved’ you, ‘and he chose you’ (vv.14–15).
This faith is inward, not just outward: ‘Circumcise your hearts’ (v.16). Yet, it is a faith that leads to action. You are called to follow God’s example and defend the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and love the alien, giving them food and clothing (v.18). There is to be no racial discrimination. We should have a special love and service for the poor and the marginalised.
God promises that if you trust and obey him you will see growth and multiplication. ‘Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky’ (v.22).
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you have set your affection on me, loved me and chosen me. Help me today to fear you, to walk in all your ways, to love you and to serve you with all my heart and all my soul. I pray that you would make your church as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Pippa adds
In Luke 12:22 it says:
‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.’
It is so easy to obsess about body shape, image, health, nutrition… I must admit, when thinking about an upcoming event, the first thing that comes to mind is, ‘Oh dear. What shall I wear?’
Thought for the Day
Who you are as a person is far more important than what you do for a living.
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References
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.