On the topic of worry (notes from my most recent message)

I used to worry about so much though as a kid. I took life way too seriously. I was that kid that had no chill.

One of the things that bugged me the most was the possibility of dying in quicksand. Because you know there’s so much quicksand in the United States especially around the Chicago area.

I never worried about actual adult stuff you know, like how to build up a credit score or what to say when in laws you hate ask for money, no, but I had a contingency plan for falling into a pit of quicksand Indiana jones style alone out in the safari while being chased by mummies or zombies. 

So while worry can be funny, thinking over my quicksand scenario really got me thinking on how stupid worrying is.

I mean, I literally was afraid of something that I literally never have to worry about.

Craig Groschel describes worry as revealing what you fear the most and where you trust God the least.

I won’t lie, we as the millennial generation really do have a lot of stuff trying to get into our heads and make us worry.

Turn on the tv:

-the economy

-the presidential election

-possible wars

-diseases and cancer

Go to school

-if we should take risks in joining a team or club

-Should I ask him or her out?

Think about the future

-How we will be able to run a country when we’re in charge

-How will I get a job to support a family

-can I make it through college

And just like the other issues we’ve covered, worry is a sin and can turn into an addiction.

BUT just like all the other things we have covered, worry is not something that we are forced to do, but a matter of perspective.

 

Continuing on Paul’s letter to the philippians, Paul is still in house arrest and 24/7 chained to the Roman equivalent to a Terminator and he was fundamentally waiting on the decision as to whether or not he would live or die.

If anyone had a reason to worry it was him. This is the same Paul that dealt with

-shipwrecks

-deadly snakebites

-public stoning

-flogging

-imprisonment on a regular basis.

And yet he was still able to write from prison:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Phil. 4:4-5”

Paul’s perspective is solid. NOTHING can separate him from God. NOTHING can take away the love of God from him and so he had NOTHING to fear.

After all this happened, instead of seeing these events as hardship, he saw them as times when the Lord provided and protected Him from even greater pain.

Paul proves to us that WE DON’T HAVE TO WORRY BECAUSE WE KNOW WHO IS IN CHARGE.

A relationship with God comes with the luxury of not having to worry about the “hows” in life but merely focusing on the “who’s” in our lives. God can handle the craziness of our lives, and all we have to do is trust that He is still in control.

Throughout my life I literally had no idea what I was doing for a future, once I wanted to be a musician, then I wanted to be an Army chaplain then I wanted to be a missionary and now here I am teaching all you awesome people.

What I’m saying is that if I would have trusted the lord more back then through all of that, I probably would have gotten into youth ministry sooner, yet even in my weakness, God still was directing me even when I thought everything was falling apart. Never forget, when you think everything is going insane, God is still completely in control.

One of my favorite verses of all time is found right here when Paul writes about anxiety and fear in our lives: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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. Phil 4:6-7”

See we as humans tend to try and trust God with things in our lives, money, relationships, our futures and whatnot, but then if things don’t happen right away, then we try to pull it back from God and take control again.

However God commands us to rest in His presence, understand that He is worthy of praise and then present our needs to God. He hears you. I promise. It might not be on the time that you want, but it’s definitely on the time that you need.

Think on having this perspective for the next week: I will do what I can do and trust God with what I can’t.

I know that life is heavy. I know that we have pain and issues in our lives that seem to dominate all our thoughts and all our effort. Yet what verse did I tell you guys at three weeks ago when I last spoke?

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27”

What about my health?

What about my relationship?

What about my broken family?
What about my broken past?

What about my future?

What about my addiction?

What about my secret sin that I can’t talk about?

What about the fact that I feel like time and time and time again I never can do anything right? What about the fact that I feel alone?

“My peace I give you”

Satan will try to overwhelm you with fear over the unknown, yet I am here telling you this truth: YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY.

Paul’s perspective CAN be our perspective too. We can look at all of the chaos of life and all the pain that it brings and still look at God and HONESTLY say “God this is the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but I trust you.”

Instead of pleading with God to meet our needs, let’s try to understand that God is all that we need.

Instead of worrying where God is taking us in the future, what if we hid in the knowledge that He holds our future?

What if we rejoiced in the fact that God is on our side and found our first satisfaction in Him?

I’m going to read you one last verse to finish this up: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through (Christ) who gives me strength. Phil. 4:10-13

Paul wrote this in a situation where I personally would have fallen apart, yet he stood strong and confident. Not because he was so strong or so great, but because he knew that he had a GREAT GOD standing above him and the Holy Spirit standing with him.

So maybe you’re in a situation where you can’t control what’s happening, maybe life is so painful that you wonder if you can even make it: Hold on. God has a plan in all of this. I promise.