Do Not Worry With Worry

DO NOT WORRY WITH WORRY
"Central to worry is the illusion that we can control things… The illusion of control lurks inside your anxiety. Anxiety and control are two sides of one coin. When we can’t control something, we worry about it.”  ― David Powlison

Read Luke 12: 22-34 and note the following...

REASONS NOT TO WORRY

1. (22-23) Your life is BIGGER THAN your worries

2. (24) you are VALUABLE to God

3. (25-26) Worry does not ACCOMPLISH anything…it does not help

4. (27-28) God will TAKE CARE of you.

5. (29-30) God KNOWS what you need

6. (31-32) God is PLEASED to give you HIs kingdom! it is SPIRITUAL!!!

That is the THEOLOGY part… now for the WALKOLOGY part


WHY WE WORRY

1. Anxiety is a TREASURE issue. (34)

Worry is what happens when what we value is threatened. We value what we worry about and we worry about what we value. Worry is connected to fear. Remember that fear is an inverted desire. So, if i fear the loss of a job, then i value job security. Our fears show us what we truly value. Beloved, fear and worry are related.

2. Anxiety is a KINGDOM issue (31)
The Opposite of worry is NOT worrying...sort of. Closer to the mark is the idea that the opposite of worry is SEEKING HIS KINGDOM! This is what we see in verse 31.

There is a war in each of our lives. The KINGDOM of SELF vs the KINGDOM of GOD.
2 kingdoms in conflict…all the time…in relentless battle for victory over us!

If we are walking in the spirit…then no worry. But if we live in the carnal, then worry is commonplace.

Worry (inward focus) VERSUS Trust (God focus)


3. Worry / anxiety is a FAITH issue (28)
Beneath the surface of our anxiety lurks a faith problem.
John Calvin said, that, “Unbelief is the mother of every anxiety.”
You see, when we worry, we do not trust God in that moment. We are not “faith-ing in God,  but we are trusting in something else.

We are all created to trust, to faith in someone or something. So, if i am not trusting God, then i am trusting in something else. That something else may be good enough some time, but God is faithful ALL the time.

So, what is the “god” in which you are trusting? Is it your job? Money? Health? Approval?
If so, YOU NEED A NEW KING!!!!

1 Peter 5:7 reminds us to be...
“casting all your anxiety on Him (God), because he cares for you.”

Jerry Bridges said, “The great antidote to anxiety is to come to God in prayer. We are to pray about everything. Nothing is too big for Him to handle, and nothing is too small to escape His attention.”  If you are like me, bringing the big bad nasty stuff to God is easy. It is the smaller things we typically hold back, thinking He isn't interested. But...HE CARES DEEPLY ABOUT HIS PEOPLE!

Phil 4:6-7
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayers and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your minds in Christ Jesus."

Henry Ward Beecher said, “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.”