This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day four of our look through Matthew chapter 6, the
second part. We're talking this week about what Jesus has to teach us about how
to manage our possessions. And I have a feeling that for many of you, this is
going to be the most important day of this week, because the question behind
this one is, how do I let go of worry?

It's the contentment decision. All of us have an incredible capacity when it
comes to our finances to somehow pretend that the problem isn't there. So we
leave bills unopened.

We start writing checks by faith. Those are called hot checks, by the way. And
we pretend we haven't done that, but the worry is getting us.

The unopened bills are sitting there. The day that the bank's going to call is
just waiting for us. Many of us worry about money.

A study was done in USA Today that found that two-thirds of Americans worry
about money daily. And by the way, that was regardless of how much they have.
How much they had didn't really affect whether they worried or not.

A worry, sometimes we think it's doing something, but it's not. Financial
struggles don't go away by worrying about them. And today is the day to face up
to that truth.

Because Jesus teaches us, in verse 25 he says, "Therefore I tell you, do not
worry about your life. " That's a command. It's not a request.

Now, it's a difficult command. I realize that. But it's not impossible.

If God commands it, he will make it possible. So let's take a hopefully,
prayerfully refreshing look at what Jesus said to us about worry. How he can
release us from our worries to a place of contentment.

He tells us four things about worry in this passage, beginning in chapter 6,
verse 25. First he tells us that, "How can I be released from my worry? I can
realize that worry is unreasonable," Jesus says.

Verse 25, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat
or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than
food and the body more important than clothes? " Jesus says, "Worry doesn't make
sense.

It's irrational. " Why? Because it makes the wrong things important.

Worry causes the thing that you are worrying about to become the most important
thing. But Jesus says, "That's not your life. Your life is more than your
worries.

" First he says, "There's more to life than food and clothes. " Most of our
worries, by the way, involve material things. What good are designer clothes and
gourmet food if you don't have peace of mind?

If you're worrying about getting better things but you don't have peace of mind,
Jesus says, "That doesn't make sense. " And we often tend to focus our worries
on little things. Most of us don't worry about world peace.

We worry about the hole in my sock and is somebody going to notice it? We don't
worry about the salvation of the world. We worry about whether I'm going to run
out of gas.

And Jesus says, "That doesn't make sense when you really think about it. " We
worry about the things that aren't going to last. We worry most about the things
that are the least important.

Jesus is saying essentially here that to worry about something you can't change
is useless. And to worry about something you can change, it's stupid. Why not
just change it?

Do something about it. The truth is, each time you review a worry in your mind,
it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. So all of a sudden it's all out of
proportion to what's really happening in life.

Jesus is saying, "Don't let your life become your worries. You are not your
worries. " It's unreasonable to let the little things become the most important
things through the worrying that we do sometimes.

Worry is unreasonable. A second thing that Jesus says about worrying in this
passage is, let me say it this way, worry is unnatural. It's not what you were
made to do.

I could say it's unhealthy but unnatural. I hope that gets your mind to thinking
about the fact it is not what you were created to do. Jesus says, "Just sit down
with me.

Let's talk about worry. Let's talk about nature. " Jesus says, "Let's do some
bird watching.

" Verse 26, "Look," Jesus says, "at the birds of the air. They do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. " Are you
not much more valuable than they?

Jesus is teaching us about birds here. He's telling us, "Robins don't get
ulcers. They don't worry themselves sick, but God still cares for them.

" So if God cares for them, He's going to care for you because He says you're
much more valuable than they are. And then Jesus says, let's add to that. Let's
have a botany lesson.

Sit down with me one more time. And He says in verse 28, "Why do you worry about
clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of
the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not
much more clothe you, O you of little faith? You ever look closely at a flower,
the intricate design, the beauty just because of God's care?

Jesus is saying animals don't worry. Plants don't worry. The only one thing in
God's creation that worries is human beings, and you weren't born with worry.

These are not born with worry wrinkles. No, you learned it. And you and I, we
had to practice to get good at it.

But the good news is it can be unlearned. Worry is unnatural. Our bodies,
there's so much medical evidence on this, they were not designed to handle
worry.

All kinds of health problems in your stomach, in your sleep, in your head,
headaches. I'm worried sick, we say, and literally it's true. Proverbs 12, 25
says, "An anxious heart weighs a man down.

" Proverbs 14, 30 says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body. " Oftentimes,
worry causes more fatigue than work. Worry is unnatural.

It's not what you were made for. Jesus says, "Let me tell you something else
about worry. Worry is unhelpful.

" Now, it's going to take some convincing for some of you on this one, but
here's what Jesus said about it. Verse 27, "Who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life? " For the pragmatic mind of Jesus says, "Worry doesn't
work.

It can't make you taller or shorter or live longer. It can shorten your life,
but it can't make you live longer. " And you think, "Wait, wait, wait.

I worried about my health, I went to the doctor and the doctor cured something.
" And you think the worry is what got you to the doctor. The wisdom is what got
you to the doctor.

Your worry is actually what could keep you from going to the doctor. People all
the time don't go to doctors because they're so anxious about what could
possibly be wrong. So, don't mistake the fact that sometimes you have to do
something about some sickness in your life or some situation in your life.

And don't think that because you worry about that, that's what motivated you to
do that. Worry is one of the worst motivators in life. The only thing that worry
really changes, it doesn't change the situation, but it changes you.

It makes you miserable. It's doing without doing. Worry won't change your past.

Worry can't control your future. Most worry acts like it can, but it cannot. It
can only ruin your present.

Worry saps you of the strength, the wisdom that you need for today. So Jesus
says, "Worry is unhelpful. " And finally, Jesus says, "Worry is unnecessary.

" It's not necessary. In verse 30, again, he says, "God closed the grass of the
field, it's here today and tomorrow so run into the fire. " He's going to clothe
you.

God has assumed the responsibility for your needs. So instead of worrying, what
do you do? You worship.

You look to the one who's promised to take care of your needs. Worrying focuses
you on yourself. What can I do about the problem?

Worship focuses you on God. What does God promise to do about the problem? And
what has God promised?

We've read it as we've walked through this. God has promised that he cares for
you because you are valuable to him. You see, worry, in its essence, when I get
caught up in worry, I am misunderstanding what God is like.

You get into trouble when you doubt God's love. If God can be trusted for
salvation, he can be trusted for all your other needs. A lot of us think, "No,
no, no.

It works this way. I'll trust God for the big stuff like salvation, forgiveness,
heaven and then he wants to trust me with all the little stuff and I'll worry
myself into doing the right thing with all the little stuff. " No, that'll never
work.

That'll never work. He wants to carry all of you, all of your life. When you
gave your life to Christ, you gave all of your life to Christ.

Not just the big stuff life, but the big and the little stuff life. It's that
old story about the lady who's hitchhiking with a 90-pound pack on her back. And
a woman pulls up in a truck and says, "Hey, throw the pack in the back and I'll
give you a ride.

" She says, "Oh, no. I'll keep the pack on. You know, it's enough for you to
carry me.

I'll keep carrying the pack. " God does not want you to carry the 90-pound pack.
Throw it in his truck, too.

Throw the worries in his truck, too. How do you stop stressing? How do you stop
worrying?

Berating yourself doesn't work. Do not let Satan do that. Right now, what he's
trying to do is I talk to you about worry.

It's caused you to berate yourself or feel bad about yourself. Worrying about
worrying is not the answer. Realizing that when God commands something, he will
give me the strength to do it.

He will give me the practical steps to accomplishing it. We're going to look at
some more of those tomorrow. That's the answer.

Realizing that you are valuable to him, that's the answer. Worshipping, that's
the place to start. So let's do that right now.

Our Father, we worship you. We worship you as the one who cares about us. You
told us in this passage as you talked about worrying that we're valuable to you.

We promise to care for our daily needs, that you see what's going on in our
lives, that as much as you care for the rest of creation, the birds and the
flowers and the beauty that's there, we're even more valuable than that. So we
worship you for the God that you are, the creator that you are, and the fact
that we get to enjoy your creation, not only around us, but in us, of us. Lord,
help us, I pray right now, to feel the way that you value us as your creation.

You value us as we come to Christ as your sons, your daughters. Help us to feel
that, I pray, to sense that in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.