“We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world’s been turning!” In the spirit of Billy Joel, I composed a little poem for you this week. I call it “Anxiety.”
Missing persons, troubled teens, many conflicts in between
Daddy’s drunk, kids are tense, mommies taking self-defense
Restraining orders, parent rights, leads to more family fights.
Aging parents, children gone, how have I done it so long?
Chest pains, short breath, reminds me of the coming death.
Spot on skin, lump in breast, we’ll all hope for the best.
Chemo makes you lose your hair, what about Obamacare?
Diagnosis makes me cry, I wonder why I even try!
Hypertension, blood-cell count, you should eat more sauerkraut!
No more Medicare, how about town meeting prayer?
Over-stressed, overworked, my boss is such a jerk!
Popping pills to kill the pain, it all feels so insane
Wiki-leaks makes me blink, I don’t know what to think
CIA had some fun, gridlock down in Washington,
FBI on the trail, company too big to fail
Politicians, despise, no one wants to compromise
16 trillion, national debt, go ahead and place a bet!
Stocks are down, time to shift, dancing on the fiscal cliff
Jobs are shipping overseas, can’t you feel Sandy’s breeze?
Dollar’s weak, blame is strong, what have we been doing wrong?
Civil War in Syria, Libyan hysteria, United Nations forms a plan, fighting in Afghanistan
Kim Jong Ill asserts his will, while we rack up another bill.
Uranium in Iran, don’t forget the Taliban.
Terrorism give us fright, how can we sleep at night?
Grain is high, milk is low, farmers take another blow
Gas pump, Donald Trump, Red Sox in another slump
Wild fires, no one hires, will I ever get to retire?
I wish that I was worry free, but I have so much anxiety!
This poem is a collection of things that cause anxiety. Do you feel more anxious now? Do you ever find yourself worrying about your parents, or your kids, or your health? Do you worry about money and the economy? Do you worry about national security or world affairs? If so, Matthew 6:25-34 is for you!
The Worries of Life (25-32)
Jesus begins this section of his Sermon on the Mount with the simple and straightforward command: “Do not worry about your life!” He tells his followers not to worry about physical necessities like food, drink, and clothing. He reminds us that God is the one who has given us our lives and our bodies; he will certainly provide what we need to take care of them.
He gives two examples from nature to support this: the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Have you ever noticed that birds are not farmers? They have no means of producing food for themselves: they don’t sow seeds or reap crops. They have no mechanism for storing food away: no barns, no silos, no bunkers, no cupboards, no pantries, no refrigerators or freezers; yet God provides food for them every day.
Now don’t misunderstand what Jesus is saying. He is not saying that we don’t have to work or that it is OK to be lazy. Birds don’t simply wait for God to drop food into their beaks, they have to go out and gather the food that God has provided. We cannot be lazy and then complain that God doesn’t provide!
Worrying doesn’t add any time to a person’s life, but it does take time away from it. If people used the time doing something productive instead of worrying, they would actually have less things to worry about!
Like the bird of the air, Jesus points to the flowers of the field as evidence of God’s care for his creation. Just as God provides beautiful wildflowers to clothe the grass, he will provide clothing for the people in his kingdom. Not even King Solomon, who was the wealthiest king in Israel’s history, was clothed as luxuriously as the grass. If God clothes the grass, which is of little worth, won’t he take care of his people who are worth a lot?
He ends this point with the gentle rebuke “you of little faith” and compares them to the pagans who don’t believe in the one true God. Worrying shows a lack of faith in God. When Christians worry, they act as if God doesn’t exist.
Dr. E. Stanley Jones, in his book Transformed by Thorns says:
I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt, and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath–these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely–these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, “We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non- worriers, but that is a fact.” But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality.
Do you live against reality? Are you more inclined toward fear or faith? If we really trusted God to take care of all of our daily needs, we would never worry. I don’t know what you are worrying about today, but I do know that if God takes care of the birds of the air and the grass of the field, he will take care of you. Stop wasting your time worrying! Spend you time worshipping!
The Priorities of Life (33-34)
After Jesus expounds upon the futility of worrying, he tells his followers that they need to rearrange their priorities according to God’s kingdom. Instead of focusing on the trivial and temporal things of life, Jesus’ disciples are to seek first his kingdom and righteousness. A contemporary translation of this verse may go something like this: “Put God first in everything, and he will give you what you need! Make God your life’s top priority and he will take care of everything.”
George Muller Massena, one of Napoleon’s generals, suddenly appeared with 18,000 soldiers before an Austrian town which had no means of defending itself. The town council met, certain that surrender was the only answer. But the old pastor of the church reminded the council that it was Easter, and begged them to hold services as usual and to leave the trouble in God’s hands. They followed his advice. The pastor went to the church and rang the bells to announce the service. When the French soldiers heard the church bells, they concluded that the Austrian army had come to rescue the town. They broke camp, and before the bells had ceased ringing, vanished.
It really is true, if we always put God first in our lives, he will take care of us! If we make him our top priority, he will give us everything we need! What is your top priority in your life?
I would like to share with you what my high school football coach taught me about priorities. He always preached to us that our priorities should go like this: faith, family, school, football, and last, girls. For a high school kid, that is pretty good. For an adult, I would slightly change it and suggest: faith, family, vocation (work), health, and then hobbies and recreation. If these priorities get misplaced, your life gets out of whack. For instance, if you put your family before your faith, you are guilty of the sin of idolatry and you will not be the kind of father or mother God wants to be. If you put your job before your family, you will lose your family. If your hobbies or having fun come before your job, you are irresponsible and probably won’t get very far in life.
It all starts with God though. If your relationship with God is right and strong, everything else in your life will fall into place. If your relationship with God is not right, it is only a matter of time until your life begins to fall apart. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.
Jesus concludes his teaching about worrying with a proverb: Worry over tomorrow’s misfortunes is nonsensical, because they may never come to pass. Today has enough problems already.
Remember God’s sovereignty! Pursue him above all else! Take care of today’s problems! And tomorrow will be fine!