Overcoming the sin of worry

One of the defining sins of our culture is worry. Sometimes we call it worry. Other times we call it anxiety. Sometimes it is referred to as fear. A more recent label is stress or being stressed out. There are many different ways people deal with worry. Sometimes we distract ourselves with incessant entertainment. Some seek counseling or therapy. More and more people use prescription drugs and psychiatry. Some even resort to alcohol or illegal drugs as a way to deal with their anxiety and worry.

Is there a better way to deal with stress and fear? Does the Bible give a prescription for overcoming worry? Of course it does! In Matthew 6:25 Jesus commanded us not to worry about the needs of this life. Jesus said, “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Worry is nothing more than fear. Fear and trust are opposites. Trusting God is the antidote to fear and worry. In Matthew 6:25-30 Jesus commanded us not to worry. Jesus at the end of verse 30 put His finger on the root issue. He said, “You of little faith!” Jesus said, “You can trust your Father. He will take care of you.” We need to trust our Father. When a person repents of their sin and puts their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus, God becomes their Father. A father takes care of his children. We need to get to know our heavenly Father!

If you are saved today, what has your heavenly Father done for you? God the Father has given you life. Jesus said in verse 25, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Jesus is using rabbinic logic arguing from the greater to the lesser. He is saying, “If God has given you life and a body (the greater thing), isn’t He going to provide food and clothing (the lesser thing)?” God is very generous in giving life. He will also sustain your life.

We can trust our Father because He has given us life and because He feeds all living things. In verse 26 Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not plant, nor harvest nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” In Alaska God provides for the eagles, the ravens, the cranes, the ducks, the geese, the swans, the swallows- the list goes on and on! You are much more valuable than a bird. Jesus did not die on the cross for the birds. Jesus became one of us (a human being) to bear our sins on the cross.

Birds work hard. The average bird eats an eighth of their body weight every day. We must work hard also but ultimately God will provide for His people.

We can trust our Father because He has determined the length of our life spans. In verse 27 Jesus said, “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” Jesus said that the Father has given us life. The Father sustains our lives and the Father determines the length of our lives.

Behind verse 27 stands the great truths of God’s sovereignty and God’s providence. Psalm 91:7 reads, “A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.” Stonewall Jackson said, “My religious belief teaches me that I am as safe on the battle field as I am on my bed. The Lord has already appointed the day of my death so I need not worry about that. I live my life and prepare myself so I will always be ready to meet my Lord when death does overtake me.”

Our Father has given us life. Our God feeds all living things. God has determined the length of our lives. Another reason we can trust God is because He clothes all of creation. In verse 28 Jesus said, “Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” God has painted wild flowers with colors more brilliant than any human clothing could ever imagine. If God clothes the flowers, certainly God is going to clothe His own children.

Here is the really good news! God the Father not only provides physical clothing, He also provides spiritual clothing. Jesus, the Son of God, satisfied the wrath of God for our sins. God provided His only Son to be the ultimate sacrifice. When a person repents of their sin and turns to Jesus in faith everything changes. Meditating on the truths of this passage will drive the clouds of fear and worry away!

Ethan Hansen is the pastor of Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.