Why We Worry About Money

March 15, 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Amen. So let's go ahead and look at this last word that I believe the Lord has laid on my heart to help us address this money issue. Our meditation text comes from 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 7. If we can read that together, here we go. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Amen. Tell your neighbor, he cares for you. Amen. Then our main text comes from Matthew 6, verses 25 through 34. And here's what our Lord says. 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 than food and the body more than clothes? Look 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? Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes and fashion? That's an archery translation. See how the flowers 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. You of little faith. So do not worry, saying, What shall I eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek, I'm gonna say like the King James, but seek ye first. The kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Amen. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble on its own. Say amen. He was right on that one, wasn't he? Yes, Lord. I want to talk a little bit today about why we worry about money. Why we worry about money. You just answered question A already. But let me say this at the onset, getting all in my sermon. Slow down, bruh. I love it. But let me say this obviously, as we deal with worry, it's the same word used of anxiety. And though I will say a few words about anxiety and money, I am not at all suggesting that anyone should not take their mental health seriously. So let me say that at the forefront. Not saying that anyone should cease any sessions they might have with therapists or discontinue any medication that your mental health provider may have prescribed to you. We take your mental health here seriously. We have an outstanding counselor, Reverend Jada Jackson. Amen. Who is licensed to handle mental health. Every month, every year in the month of May, during mental health month, we always do something, a conference or something, some kind of emphasis on mental health. So hear me well. If you're seeing someone or you're being prescribed a medication, listen to me. I know a lot of crazy Christians out there say a lot of crazy things. You have not sinned. You have not sinned. You have not dishonored God. If anything, you've honored him that he provides other means by which you can get well. So stay with the process. Amen. Having said all that, I do believe the text does raise an important question. Why do we worry or why do we get anxious about money? And one person has already answered it because we don't have enough. Can I get an amen for the not enough crowd? But since some of our people are so smart, that does raise another question. How much is enough? Is there enough money to keep us from worrying? And I raise that because a few years ago they did a survey, a study in the wealthiest counties in this country. These are your high-income earners. Counties like Highland Park, Orange County. We're talking about those kinds of counties. And they did a survey about money in those counties. And the survey, the response, indicated that those individuals living in the wealthiest counties in America said they needed about 40% more income to be happy and not worry about money. So, how much is enough? And we know these billionaires, they get 50 billion, they feel like they need another 50 billion on top of that. So I asked my original question: why do we worry about money? And it's almost as if Jesus could see it 2,000 years ago. Because in this text, four times he says, do not worry. And the context is dealing with money. Someone said it so well in trying to describe how anxiety works. Um, how many of y'all remember the movie? Well, I shouldn't say remember, maybe heard of the movie Jaws. For you young folk ain't heard of Jaws, you may have to Google it. But somebody described worry as the song, the theme song of Jaws, constantly playing in the background of your mind. You find yourself anxious and looking for a shark fin as if something in life is about to devour you. Rick Warren, former pastor of Saddleback Church, has a great definition. He describes worry as this he says, worry is negative meditation. Psalm 1-2 says, He meditates on his word day and night, and he shall be like a tree firmly planted by the river waters. If I meditate on God's word, or if I meditate on the person, the nature, and the presence of God, it causes me to flourish. It gives me peace, it gives me a sense of calm. And the contrary to that, or the contrast of that would suggest if I'm always worrying about the negative, it will cause me anxiety. It will cause me worry. Worried about my family, worried about my money, worried about my job, my business, my career. That worry will overflow into anxiety and worry. And thus, theologically speaking, if I want to change how I feel, I gotta change how I think. Change how I think. So the question is why do we really worry about money? And there's only one reason. I want to explain it with a principle that I gave years ago in a sermon, but it fits right here again. And we have to understand, first of all, how worry works, at least theologically. And again, those of you who are dealing with it psychologically, stay with what lane God has you in, not trying to push you out of that lane, but I do want you to understand it theologically. So, so how does worry work theologically? And here it is: anxiety, worry, and frustration is the difference between what I expect and what I experience. Why do I worry? Why do I get anxious? Because it's the difference between what I expect to happen and what actually happens or what I experience to happen. So put it another way. I expect to receive love in a certain way when I'm in a loving relationship. And when my expectations are not met, that becomes my experience. And the gap between what I expect in terms of love and what I actually receive in love translates into worry, anxiety, and sometimes frustration. The same can be true with my children and my family. I expect a certain behavior and standard with my family and my children. But sometimes I don't always get what I expect. I experience something different. Therefore, the difference between what I expect and what I experience, there's this difference, there's this gap. And that's what causes anxiety, worry, and frustration. And the same thing is true with my money. I expect my money to be here. It should be here. All the hours I've worked, all the schooling I've been put into it, all the training and the education. I expect my money to be somewhere over here. But with this crazy administration in power now, I'm trying to preach this as kindly as I can. This is my experience. Thus, the gap between what I expect and what I experience is the cause of the frustration, the anxiety, and the worry that I feel. Now, let me tell you how it really works sometimes. Because how many of y'all know God is good? And He'll show up. Sometimes what I expect, God will let me experience the same thing. Matter of fact, I'll expect one thing, and God will let me experience more than what I'm expecting. Do I have a witness in the house? I call that John. That ain't anxiety, that's job. I expect one thing, and God has a way of showing up in my life, blowing my mind, and giving me more than what I'm doing, one witness? You asked God for one thing, and He gave you all this. Watch it now. Watch it. I'm about to flip it though. So I expected God to give me a five-bedroom house. And God put me in a seven-bedroom house. How many of y'all know? How many of y'all know God is good? So my expectation there actually exceeds what I experienced. But then my friend gets a fifteen-bedroom house. All of a sudden, my expectations start moving. And what I used to expect is not where I experienced. Now my expectation has moved all the way over here, and my experience is over here, and I'm back to what I was before. I got anxiety and frustration because I was looking at something I hadn't. Oh, y'all don't hear me today. So, what's the real issue? Why why do we worry about money? Here it is. Here it is. And Janet Jackson tried to tell us. Oh, y'all don't know who Janet Jackson is. Control. That's the issue. Janet says she got tired of folk telling her what to do, so she had to take control of her life. And the truth is, I can have an expectation. And I can have an experience. And the reason why I have so much anxiety, I can't control what I expect. Sometimes I can control what I experience. But watch this. God won't let me control what I expect. Why? Because if I can control all of it, why do I need him in my life? You don't hear me. You don't hear me today. You don't hear me. So God loves me far too much to let me have total control. So listen to me this morning. Here, listen to me. So he says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. What is he saying? Trust my way of life. Trust me. Surrender control. Surrender control and let me worry about what you can't control. When you watch this, when you surrender what you expect, I can worry about the stuff that you worry about that you expect. You surrender the worry, you surrender the anxiety, you surrender all the frustration when you surrender control to me. So here's my thesis statement. God uses giving to teach us to surrender control. That every time I give to God, it's a reminder that God ultimately is in control, not just of what I experience, but also of what I expect. And all the stuff that I can't handle. And when I put it in God's hand, I put my pain in his hand. I put my frustration in his hand. I put my anxiety in his hand. And I put my worry in his hand. That's what Peter's trying to say to us. He said, Cast all your anxiety. I can't get rid of all the anxiety unless I can surrender control of everything. Because it's the things that causes the anxiety. Struggle to surrender. So many of y'all know I've had a number of surgeries on my eyes. And I had one actually this past last October, had one on my right eye. And so I gotta put extra medications in it. And I can see y'all. I can see. I really can. I know it don't look like it, but I can. And so I told my doctor last minute, you know, I'm getting a little frustrated with all these medications you got me. I feel like I'm going to bad to worse. She said, No, Mr. Archer, you're doing well. You're doing well. She said, I is really doing well. I mean, it could have been a lot worse. You're hanging in there. She said, watch this. But if you want to get the optimum care and result in the eye, you have to stay with the process. And what she was trying to tell me is that though there's a little bit of discomfort with the process, it's better than not having sight at all. I'm trying to help somebody today. I know it's a little bit discomforting when we come to the offering time. I know sometimes the life of faith can be a little bit discomforting, but if you surrender to the process, is anybody know that God can make a way out of nowhere? God can bless you in a way that you would not have had you not surrendered to the process. Let me move on on this thing. So, how do we overcome worry with our money? Let me walk through this text very quickly. Number one, here it is. We can always trust God and overcome worry when we trust the sovereignty of God. When we trust his sovereignty, Jesus here is talking about the sovereignty of God. God providentially cares for us every single day. He says, look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, they don't have savings accounts, they don't have bank accounts, they don't worry about tomorrow, and they got people, they just go on about their business because they know God is gonna take care of them. They know God is providentially involved in their lives. I've been doing some of my devotion in the book of Ruth. And you know, Ruth, if you know the story, she was an immigrant in a foreign country that accepted her in spite of her immigrant status. They welcomed her. They wasn't trying to put her out of the country, they told her, Come on in. I'm trying to preach this. Welcomed her because Yahweh said you're to treat the immigrant the same way you treat a citizen. Because you at one time was on the outside. How dare you treat an insider, an outsider like an outsider? You used to be an outsider. Let me get off that horse. And so she she comes to Israel and she comes back to Bethlehem with her with her mother-in-law. They're broke and don't know how they're gonna provide, and they're so poor they had to go through the welfare system, which was to glean someone's field for food. And and and and so it would happen, or the King James would say, and it came to pass. I like that phrase. Ruth found herself gleaning in Boaz's field. And and and what the writer said, God can providentially put you in a place when you think your life is over. Anybody know God has providential care? You you didn't even know that one connection would lead to another. God can connect the dots, and you don't even have a pencil or a pen to connect the dots with. Anybody know God can do all that? He providentially cares for us. Now, here's what I want to say: don't confuse limited sovereignty with absolute sovereignty. Let me say that again. Don't confuse limited or restricted sovereignty with absolute sovereignty. Let me work on this thing for a minute. So put here Genesis 1, verse 27 through 28. And I'm gonna read the NIV version. Here's what it says. So God created mankind in his own image, and the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, rule over the birds in the sky, rule over every living creature. He made male and female. I'm trying to move through this, but the text is begging me to say something else, okay? He said, let them rule over the birds and the fish and the animals. It never says, let them rule over other people to oppress them and to indoctrinate them for your own anger and advisement. No, you're to rule over creation for the benefit and the blessing of the people, and it says, let them rule, not let him rule. Or let her rule. Y'all getting quiet on me right there. I'm preaching the Bible. God's intent from the beginning was that leadership and rulership was for the benefit of the people who were in a position where they couldn't live and lift up themselves. It was never for the benefit of the rulers. That is oppression and injustice. And God raises up preachers and prophets to speak truth to power. Okay, let me get off that horse. Here it is. But God made us with the need for limited sovereignty. God made you and I with a need to run something. Limited. Not absolute. Tell your neighbor, don't look at me crazy. But I was made to run something. Okay? Don't look at me crazy. I know you have an issue when my leadership side showed up, but I was destined to lead something. I was destined and made to have limited. Sovereignty over my domain. That's what God made me for. He gave me the need to rule. Not with absolute sovereignty, but with limited sovereignty. So I ought to be able to rule some measure of authority over my home, my family, and my money. Because God gave me that need in my life. Not absolute, but limited. But understand, limited sovereignty is not absolute sovereignty. God is the only one who has absolute sovereignty. And some people get that confused. You can be in charge, but you're not completely in charge. That's why I have a problem with folk who think they have absolute authority. God has never given anybody absolute authority. He's the only one with absolute authority. Grandmama would say right here, he's God all by himself. And he sure don't need our help. So limited authority to control what I experience. Absolute authority is to control what I expect and what I experience. God says, No, I have absolute control over all things. And so probably the best example of this is the story of Joseph, son of Jacob. When his brother sold him out for chicken change, tricked him and sold him into slavery. Because his daddy was showing so much favor to him instead of the rest of the brothers. And so they sold him into slavery. The Bible says, in spite of that, the favor of God was on his life. Because how many of y'all know, no matter how bad people treat you, anybody know God or turn that thing around? And Joseph, he didn't stew over what his brothers did. He trusted God for what he had for his future. And God would not only bring him out of prison, but God would raise him up to be second in command in all of Egypt. And then God would use that to bring deliverance to his entire family. The very folk who betrayed him, God would use him to deliver them out of their own troubles. Now that's that's real love right there. Don't tell me God's not real. When you got to deliver your own enemy, say amen right there. And that's why he can say, You meant it for good. You meant it for evil. But God did what? He meant it for good. And he delivered that family. Great story. But notice in the text, notice in the story, God never elevated him to number one. Have you ever wondered about that? Because if we had, as Americans, if we had written the Hollywood script, he'd have become the king of Egypt and he'd have wiped up all his men. And it ain't wiped out his brothers and raised up a whole new family. Because God wanted him to know for all time. Now, I did put you in charge, but you have limited authority. You are second in command. So I'm speaking for myself. So every time I bring an offering to God, God reminds me, He says, Altre, you are second in command. You may be the lead pastor of Christ's community, but I'm the lead pastor of the entire kingdom. When you bring your offering, remember that you are second in command. You may be the head of your family, but God is the head of all creation. You may be the head at your company, but God is the head of the entire industry and the cosmos. You may be the signer on your check, but God is the number one signee on that check as well. Don't forget who's number one sovereignty of God. Secondly, the love of God. We can trust Him because of the love of God. Why do you worry about clothes? Flowers of the field. Eugene Peterson said, Why do you worry about fashion? Calvin Klein and Gucci and all that kind of stuff. It's not in the text, y'all. It's not there. They do not labor a spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like this. And again, it's a word about how much God loves us. He values us. We are the apex of his creation. We are made in the image of God. He values us so much. Watch this. He says, Seek ye first, it's an imperative, the kingdom of God. What does that mean? It's a word about how much God loves us. How much does God loves us? Here it is. It's still my choice. God says, I have a plan for you. This is the path I want you to walk, but I'm not going to force you. I'm not going to threaten you. I still will leave it in your hands. It's your choice. It's still my choice. God says, I will try to convince you of my way, but I'm not going to coerce you. God says, I'm going to try to persuade you, but I'm not going to pressure you my way. God says, I want you to trust me by faith, but I'm not going to intimidate you to do something by faith. How do I know God loves me? It's still my choice. It's still my choice. Still my choice. God loves me and values you and I enough to say it's your choice. Watch this. If I have to, I'll do it your way. But watch what God says. When I do it your way, I'm going to step out of the way. God says, I love you so much, I'll even let you do it your way. But when you do it your way, I'm going to step out of the way. And let you do a Burger King thing and have it your way. And here's the problem with that. My way usually, matter of fact, all the time, is never better than God's way. Let me flip that. God's way is always better than my way. That's the problem. Anybody willn't admit that? Okay, let me help you. Kind of like Jacob. Took one look at Rachel, had to have her. Couldn't tell him nothing. My, my, my, my, the generation before me would say his nose was wide open. I don't know what they said today. They used to say he was sprung, right? I don't know what they say today. Maybe he hooked. I don't know. But he had to have her. And you couldn't tell him anything. He wanted Rachel. But he had a wicked uncle named Laban. And you think you got wicked family members. He had a wicked uncle named Laban. And Laban tricked him. And he went that night of the honeymoon. He thought he was getting Rachel, but instead he got the sister Leah. He went in thinking he was gonna get one thing, but instead he got something else. And I'm speaking for me, I can't speak for you. But whenever I do it my way, usually I'm thinking I'm getting one thing, but nine times out of ten, it's something else. So I've learned a long time ago, it's best to do it God's way. Listen to what the Proverb writer said. He says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge Him. That word acknowledge in Hebrew is Yada. It means know his ways. His way is better than our ways. Even though he loves me enough to let me have it my way. Tell your neighbor, do it his way, do it his way. Let me give you the last one. I'm out your way. We can always trust the presence of God. We got his sovereignty, we got his love, but more importantly, he never lets us do it by itself. We have his presence. That's what he means when he says, do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow got enough worry all by itself. Each day is enough trouble on its own. What does that mean? God says, I'll be with you through the trouble. I'll walk with you. I'll face it with you. I'm not gonna forsake you. I'm gonna be with you all the way. Let me close with this. And so my wife would have been here today, but she got back late from a trip to Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Africa. She was there for a missions conference. Great conference. Seeing how our missions work, where we spend our money, all that kind of stuff. We're learning that, particularly in those Muslim areas, Christianity is beginning to take a foothold. The Lord is moving. I know it's crazy on this side, but how many of y'all know God can still work on the other end? But there's huge opportunities for people coming to Christ in those places that people are interested in the gospel in places in which Christianity wasn't even allowed to exist. And so she was a part of a conference that talked about that. We're supporting groups that go over there. And so, with her being out of town last week, that meant that once again I was in charge of the plants. And just like y'all laughing, the plants started trembling again. But surprisingly, surprisingly, when my wife came home last night, she looked at the plants and she said, Oh my goodness, they're so full of life. I was because I told her before she left, I said, I need you to lay out all the instructions. Everything I need to do, what I need to do when I get up, what I need to do before I go to bed, what time to do this, lay it all out. And she laid it all out. And so she got there and saw the plants late last night. She said, Man, you did such a great job. Maybe you need to do this more often. I said, I said, I actually enjoyed it. And um, so she asked me the question. She said, Well, did you go out and buy new plants? I said, that's a good idea, but I didn't do it. But I'll tell you what I did. I said, you know, because last time I really wanted to get it right, and I just didn't. So I laid the instructions out and put what I need by in the kitchen. So along with what I would do, I would plug in my coffee, get my coffee going, and while I was getting my coffee going, which would take about five minutes, I was taking care of the plant. And so I kind of got a routine of doing it. Water, this plant, this much, this much water, and that plant, and this water, this plant get that much water, and then make sure you open the blind. So by the time I finished all that, you know, the coffee was ready. So I worked it into my routine. I'm going somewhere. I worked it into my routine. And and so, and so about the third or fourth day, I kind of started looking forward to this. Because when I started watering them, I can I could smell the freshness of the flower from being watered the day before. Because there were times when I didn't water it, it just like, ugh, you know, it didn't, it just paid me no attention. And just seemed like a freshness was coming from the flowers. And and then one morning I watered them, seemed like they were saying, hey, our tree, hey, what's up, what's up? I said, hey, what's up? And then and then there's a smaller one next to the big one, and when I would water the big one and I walk away to get more water for the little one, I could hear the little one say, Don't forget about me, don't forget about me. So I'd come back and water them. And so by the time she came back, I had gotten into a routine. And so she said, Well, why did you keep water them? I said, Well, you know what? What I kept pouring into them seems like I was getting something back that I didn't even realize was possible. I'm trying to go somewhere. I dare you to pour into what God calls you to pour in in terms of. Does anybody know he'll pour something back into your life? Does anybody know he'll make it overflow into your life? Press down, shaking, overflowing. Anyone know he'll pour it back into your life? That's my word. Trust God with your giving. Trust God with your life. God knows what you're going through. He's sovereign of your life. He loves your life. His presence is always with you. He will lead you through whatever you're going through. God bless you. May God keep.