A Different Way - Do Not Worry - Matthew 6:25-34

Our anxiety is rooted in our anemic view of God. 

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Morning. Man, that was good, guys. Just been really praying uh all morning long. Uh just that God's spirit would move among us. I pray that every week, and uh just really pray that you know none of us in this room need to come and hear more sermons and hear more singing uh and go through some religious practices. Like we we need God. We need God to show up in our lives. I mean, those sermons are good and songs are awesome, but God's presence, that's where we find what we most long for. And and so uh just just really praying that you would know his goodness and his presence today. Um if I'm if I'm walking around a little stiff, it's because uh we just got back from men's retreat, and so I confess I think I'm getting old or something because we we played uh too much basketball, uh, which wasn't even that much, and uh and some archery tag, and I've got bruises to prove that. And so uh, you know, when men on go men go on retreats, they uh they do stuff that hurts them, and so uh that's what we did. Um I'm kind of walking around a little stiff, but uh very thankful for the time with the men because not only did we do some some fun activities um but we also just really sense like just some some freedom that that we're learning how to be men in Christ and who we are in Christ, and just really thankful for that time away uh with these guys and praying that it will continue to impact and influence this church body uh to be who God's called us to be. Um before I get into the message, just a couple of housekeeping things really quickly. Uh first off, if you're a guest, if this is one of your first times to point, uh thank you for being here. We're glad you're here. And I just want to uh tell you that um we know for some of you maybe that's a risk, maybe that's sort of a little bit of a step of faith to be here. Um thank you for for actually stepping out and doing that. Um we actually have a small gift to say thank you for being our guest. It's at the connection point on your way out, and you can just stop by there. Also, if you are new, you may want to get more connected here, you may want to know more about how to get connected here. Uh, I would love to meet you following the service today. I'll be up here at the front and just would love to get to know more of your story and hear what God's doing in your life or even like what journey you're on spiritually, um, would be happy to do that. Would love to that opportunity if you'd let me have that. And uh if you did not get a worship guide when you came in the door, we have some ushers who would love to give you that. If you just lift your hand real fast, those guys can give you a worship guide, and in that you can see how to get more connected. Everybody got one, I think. That needs one? Okay. Oh, except for right there. Jackson. But that was not the usher's fault, I can guarantee. So all right. So um in the uh one one final thing before I forget it, on the end of the row on the left side, there's a little black uh book that's there, and that's just called our connection uh book, and we just basically use that as a way to know who's with us and follow up with you who might be new. So whether you're a regular attender here or whether you're brand new, uh if you wouldn't mind filling that out and just keep it simple, we won't spam you or uh chase you down or anything. We just want to know and be able to say uh welcome and connect you if that's something you're interested in. Alright, if you have a Bible, I'm gonna ask you to pull it out. Matthew chapter 6. Okay, Matthew chapter 6. And we're gonna start right there this morning reading from Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. I'll give you a second to get there. This is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. For those of you who've been with us, if you're new, um maybe you'll recognize this section of text if you've been around church, and if you're not, if you haven't been around church, uh then uh as I said earlier, welcome, and hopefully this will be meaningful for you this morning. Here's what it says, verse 25, chapter 6. This is why I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will wear, or what you will drink, or about your body what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky. They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that's how God clothed the grass of the field, which is here today, and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do much more for you? You of little faith. Why do so don't worry, saying, What will we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear? For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. I think that if you uh stop for just a minute, you would have to say that at some point in your life, if not currently, you have wrestled with, struggled with anxiety of some sort. It is part of the human experience to worry. Uh and we worry about a lot of things. And worry has a deep impact on our lives. Um, you will see uh lots of signs, indicators that worry is a problem, that anxiety is a problem. Uh if you just watch TV commercials, you see pharmaceutical companies uh talking about these medications to help people with their anxiety and their depression. In fact, it's at an all-time high. It's a billion-dollar industry to provide medications to help people with their anxiety. Anxiety has real negative consequences on our lives. Um the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the fact that that exists tells you something, but they give these stats that in the United States, 40 million adults, that's 18 and older, struggle with chronic anxiety. That's 18% of our population. Chronic anxiety. Anxiety disorders not only affect adults, but 25% of children between the ages of 13 and 18 have chronic anxiety. Anxiety leads to all kinds of health problems, gut problems, problems with the heart, heart disease, muscle aches, skin problems, sleeplessness, headaches, overeating, infections, mental disorders, panic attacks, social dysfunctions. A lot of complications on a physical and mental level come from anxiety. And you or people that you know have probably felt some of these effects, have experienced these firsthand. People with anxiety disorders are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders. A study in 2016 of college students said that on the college campuses, 50% of students now are coming and seeking counseling for their anxiety. They did the same study a year later in 2017, and the percentage had gone up to 62%. It's now considered to be the most prolific medical problem disorder we have in our culture. Research is showing that people in more affluent places are more anxious. More money, more stress. We are more anxious than ever the more stuff that we get about all the stuff that we've accumulated. Teens are more anxious than anybody else. Surprise, surprise. In fact, we're learning more as research is being done about teenagers and their their mobile devices and their social media habits. Instagram and Facebook and other things that they use to communicate and compare themselves with one another. And what we're learning, even one study, 400 Scottish adolescents, uh, there was a direct correlation with the amount of time they spent using their devices and how much anxiety and stress and worry that they were experiencing. One study in the U.S., 1,700 U.S. adults were questioned and evaluated, and they showed again that the higher interaction with social media and devices led to a greater amount of anxiety and fear about the future. Specifically, what began to show up is that they would say things like, I see what others are doing and what others have and what others have accomplished, and I don't think I'll ever be that, do that, have that. And it's creating worry and stress for me. I don't think it's just the teenagers or young adults fighting these things off, but it has been said, according to the American Psychiatric Association, both in 2017 and 18, that the millennials by far are the most anxious generation to ever live. Now, I could keep going, but I think the point is made that this is a real problem. I think that we all in this room are aware of this problem because, again, firsthand we've experienced some of this, or at least through people that we are closely associated with. Anxiety is a problem. Being a human makes us susceptible to worry. And I want to take the rest of our time today to remind us of what are the causes for worry and what is the cure for worry. Okay? And I think this passage gives us some hope in the face of all that really doom and gloom statistics. I want to remind us of what Jesus' words said when he began this passage when he said, Therefore I tell you, don't worry. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious, as some translations would put it. You see, worry is more than just a physical or a mental disorder. Okay? It has implications at the physical level and at the mental level, but it's much, much more than that. When we think about the cause of worry, we think about the cause of fear and anxiety, the Bible is clear that what we have is not so much a physical and a mental disorder, but a theological disorder. Now, when I say that, what I mean is we have a problem with how we see God. This shouldn't come as a surprise sitting in a church environment, I would hope, at least not here at point, because we know that all sin is actually rooted in a theological problem. A misunderstanding, a misbelief, a misplaced trust into a God or lack of place of trust in God that deeply influences and impacts how we actually live. With the men this weekend, we talked about these things, and this is applicable to so many different areas. But let me remind you this morning that as we get into this text, one of the things that's important for us to remember when we start talking about some of the instructions and the commands of Jesus is to remember that the Christian faith is not just a set of moral commands to follow. Okay? Let me say it this way. The Christian faith did not spring from rules, it sprang from a rescuer. That we in our lives don't just need a set of rules and guidelines to follow to fix worry. We need a rescuer. We need a deliverer, we need a redeemer. And the beautiful thing about the Christian faith is we know we have one. And his name is Jesus. And so when we read the Sermon on the Mount, the Sermon on the Mount is not just simply more rules to follow, but it's getting at what is going on below the surface of our lives. And the only way we can actually follow these guidelines is to be made new in the person of Jesus. As Alex said from the stage a while ago, to be filled with his spirit, who then empowers us to change. To be able by his spirit to actually believe the truth about who God is and who we are. But the cause of worry is a theological problem because we don't always believe rightly about God. And when you don't believe rightly about God, you don't believe rightly about yourself. Or any human being for that matter, or the world in which we live. It's all tied to the same thing. Now, when he starts this section, he says, This is why I tell you, this is the Holman Christian version of that. He says, This is why I tell you, don't worry about your life. This reminds us that we are listening to teaching that's connected to last week's teaching. So I just need to take just a minute and remind you guys that as Matt Altman taught last week, he gave us uh from the scripture the three illustrations, these three pictures that God has given us to understand how we view uh treasure, how we view um our lives and what we really value. And so um as Matt walked us through, we we had first this idea that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What you value will drive your motives at the heart level. It will determine your decision making. Okay? Because when we talk about heart, what do we mean? We mean not just simply the physical organ in your body that's beating and pushing blood through your veins. We mean like the seat of your emotions, your intellect, the decision-making process that you go through. That that's that's where that happens, is below the surface, not just in your head, right? And so in understanding that, he says that what you treasure shapes what you you value. In fact, we can even say, what you treasure, you trust. What you treasure, you put your trust in, you lean on, you depend on, you look to for security, significance, satisfaction, identity, however you want to say that. So you put your trust in that. And not only do we say that what you treasure is that, but you you see that what you treasure then shapes how you view the world. You have a lens through which you see the world. And if if that lens is off, then guess what? You're gonna see everything else off. It's not gonna be rightly viewed. You're gonna look at life through the wrong lens. And so we see in our lives how many times when we are treasuring the wrong thing, then therefore our vision is bad. And Jesus says that. He says, and if your vision's bad, man, it's gonna go really bad for you trying to sort through the problems and the difficulties and the struggles and even the good things in life because you're gonna see it wrongly, right? But then he goes on to say that not only that, that what you treasure, you put your trust in, which then shapes how you see the world, and guess what? That becomes your master. Then you're a slave to that. And you don't even know it sometimes. You're not even aware that you're actually enslaved to a treasure that is temporary at best. So, in our lives, as we think about this, he says, in light of that, therefore, do not worry. What he's saying to us today is that when our treasure is in the right place, we don't have to worry. But when our treasure is in the wrong place, you can expect that you will worry. Are you with me? So if you put your hope, if you put your security, your identity, and your value, and you attach that to the wrong treasure, you put your trust on that thing that is temporary, you should expect that you're gonna be an anxious person. Because it cannot carry the weight of that. It's not intended to. It's a temporary by nature. Do you know what temporary means? That means it's not going to be here forever. That means it's going to be gone one day. And so if we put our hope in things that are temporary, we should expect to be anxious people. What are some things that are temporary? I mean material possessions for one, right? That's temporary. How about health? It's temporary. What about the approval of others? It's temporary. Success. Temporary. Relationships, even the best ones. Temporary. So we don't put our trust in things that are temporary, or if we do that, we will experience anxiety and worry and stress when those things begin to crumble. Show signs that they are not able to sustain us. So he says, Therefore I tell you, do not worry. Do not worry. When we put our hope in this temporary, the result will be fear of losing it. But Jesus goes on to say, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't the life, isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? Now, let me just say this because some people have this idea that when we teach about this, we mean that there's no place for care or for concern in this life. That's not what Jesus is saying. There is a way to be careful, to have care and concern about things that are important and not worry. Should you care about eating and making sure your children are fed? Yes. Should you care about getting clothes on? Absolutely. Should you care about having a shelter over your head to be a stable place for you to live? Yes, absolutely. But you can be you can have care and concern about that and not be worried and fretting about that and freaking out about that and stressed about that. And the problem is that we don't know where that line is a lot of times. And we're gonna talk more about that in just a minute. You see, in our lives, we do have care and concern. In fact, I would even say I have care and concern, worry for people around me who don't know Jesus. People who don't know where they're gonna spend eternity. I care about them. I worry about that. But as I do that, I also pray with a confidence in God and I trust Him. As I have this concern for them. Now, Jesus is gonna use sort of a teaching model here that's helpful. You know, Jesus is amazing at teaching us and helping us understand truths, and so first he's gonna talk about the greater to the lesser, and then he's gonna talk about the lesser to the greater. Okay? So first, the greater to the lesser. He first says to us, uh, don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, which by the way, eating and drinking, in order to sustain life, you need to eat food and you need to drink water, right? That's part of it. But he says, Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink. He's saying, first off, if God has taken care of giving you life, then won't he also take care of what you eat and drink? Food. So he goes from the greater thing that God has provided you life, he's given you this miraculous body that is able to breathe in oxygen and to get that oxygen uh distributed to your body so that you can stay alive, to allow your heart to beat, to push blood through your vessels so that you can stay alive. If God has given you life, he's given you breath in your lungs, then don't you also know that he can give you food to eat to keep you alive? He even says, Don't worry about your body. What you will wear. If God has given you a body, if He's given you this physical container that has your soul in it, and it's capable of doing amazing things, like thinking or working or playing or whatever you can do with this amazing body, like, don't you know that he will also clothe it? Like, we need a reality check, don't we? We get stressed about the little things when he's done the big things already. But not only is it that he moves from the greater to the lesser, but then he goes on to say, did you notice? Look at the birds of the sky. They don't sow or reap or gather into barns. By the way, who sows and reaps and gathers into barns? We do. People. People do that. I don't personally do that. I don't have a little barn where I keep my grain in my backyard. But people are the ones who sow and reap and gather into barns. But he says the birds don't. And yet what? The father feeds them. You see what he's trying to do? He goes on to say, and why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. Let me just burst your bubble. I know there's we live in Austin, Texas. We love our animals. We love them a lot. Animals are not as important to God as people. I know, I'm sorry. Listen, God values people more than animals, and he values people more than the flowers of the field. And if he takes care of animals and makes sure that they're fed, and he takes care of flowers, these beautiful blue bonnets and Indian paint brushes and these firewheels, and he takes care of them, then can we not guarantee that he's going to take care of us? You see, he moves from the lesser to the greater. Brothers and sisters in the room, he's trying to say to us, He will take care of us, so stop worrying. Stop worrying. Stop being anxious. Stop being stressed out. But I think that actually there's something deeper going on here. And this is what I think is going on that's even deeper. It's not so much that we can't even see those things. It's that in verse 34 he says this. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Now, first off, it's crazy to me how we as humans can get in our heads. You always have a narrative going, right? You're always telling yourself something, you're always talking to yourself. And for many human beings, we're actually even stressing about the things we haven't even got to, and we're in the middle of worry right now. But here's why. Hang with me. It's because we want to be in control. We want to be in control. Now let me ask you a question. How many of you in this room can control what's going to happen to you tomorrow? None of us. No one. And yet, we actually think we have an illusion, if you will, of control. And so we want control. And we're worried about tomorrow. How we're going to take care of tomorrow, how we're going to fix tomorrow. And here is the reason why is because we don't trust God. We don't. So all anxiety is actually rooted in the fact we don't trust God. Now, I think that most of you in this room who've been a part of church and have read the scriptures and have read the Bible and have heard teaching, you have in your life heard that God is a good father, that God is trustworthy, that God will take care of you. Some of the things we've already said today, and I believe that most of you in this room intellectually believe that. But I don't believe that many of us, as many of us in this room, maybe as we think, actually functionally believe that. In fact, I would say that worry is a direct indicator that we don't believe that. Are you still with me? Now, I don't say it to be mean. I don't say it to be rude. I'm just saying if we're going to diagnose the right problem, we have to get to the fact that we in this room are battling out God for who's in charge and who's in control. And who does know what's going to happen tomorrow? Who? Who can control what's going to happen tomorrow? God can. That's right. God is the beginning and the end. He is the first and the last. He is already there. Let that blow your mind for a second, right? He is there. He is outside of time. God is not freaked out. He is God. And we are not. And as long as you and I try to be God, we will be anxious people. We will be fearful people. We will be people filled with worry. Guys, um, I know that in this room, I want to be really, really aware. Like there are many of you who are experiencing the implications, the effects of worry and stress and anxiety in your life. And I want to tell you that there is a real enemy who is trying to plant those seeds of doubt about God's goodness, about God's love for you, his care for you, his ability to provide for you. He is wanting to plant those in your mind and your heart. We live in a world where you turn on the TV, you get onto the internet, social media, and when you look at that, again, you can totally understand why the anxiety level goes up. Right? Because you see what's going on in this broken world, this sinful fallen world. You see the abuses, you see the catastrophes, you see the dangers and the difficulties and the things that can produce such great fear. But I want to declare to you this morning there is a God who is in charge and is on his throne. And there is nothing that he that is going on in this world that he is not aware of and that he is not supreme over. And I think we need to wake up and see that this morning because we as Christians, we actually have a God who's bigger than whatever it is that we're worried about. He is capable. He loves us. He is for us. And our anxiety, our fear, our stress is indicating that we don't actually believe that. And I have great compassion for those of us who are in the trenches of that, in the battles of that. But I would also say to you, somebody's got to say, God is bigger, he is better, he's in control, he's on his throne, he's not freaked out. So we can come up under him as a good father. And we can let him begin to heal us. So we struggle with this. I would even say that one of our greatest contributors to anxiety is our forgetfulness. How many of you of you in this room have gone through really difficult things that you didn't think you were gonna survive? How many of you have gone through things where you were stressed and worried and thought, there is no way I'm gonna make it? Hey, you're still here. You're sitting in this room today. You're worshiping God, you have breath in your lungs. God has still got you here. That means he has a purpose for your life. That means he's taking care of you, and he knows he's sovereign over our days. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows every thought you've had, every word you've spoken, he knows every difficulty you've faced, and he loves you. And you're here, you survived. And you will continue to survive until he's ready for you to be done. And that's good things. That's a good truth to remember this morning. I can remember many days, I'm like, I'm not gonna make it, God. Like, yeah, you are. Just trust me. But we are control freaks. So, what is the cure for this? What is the cure for this worry that's overwhelming us, that's plaguing us? Well, thankfully, first, Jesus didn't just say, don't worry, be happy. Right? Thankfully, that's not the words Jesus gave us. That's not what he said. Okay? Some of you have tried that. And you know it doesn't work. It's a cute song, but it doesn't work. I want to first start with the fact that some of you in the room today, you may be anxious and fearful and stressed because you don't actually believe or even know that there's a God who wants to be not only your creator, but your father. And so some of you may be sitting here and you're like, this doesn't really make sense to me because you haven't yet come to the knowledge, the saving knowledge, that there's a God in heaven who is real and is pursuing you and does love you and is for you, okay? And so, if that's you today, let me read to you the words from John chapter 1, verse 12. Listen to these words. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God to those who believe in his name. Now, this past Thursday, we sat in this room, 10 a.m., and we celebrated the life of a man named Jerry. And his wife's in the room today with us, and we celebrated his life. He recently went to be with the Lord. And you know what was amazing about Jerry's life? That the closer he got to death, like he just continued to worship God. In fact, his mind was starting to go, he was having a struggle with clarity of thought, and he was still singing worship songs and quoting scripture. And it was a beautiful thing. And being able to do funerals like that, when you just see a man who goes out swinging for the fences, telling people about Jesus, talking about God, it's awesome. And the reason he didn't have to worry or stress, or his family didn't worry or stress, particularly his wife didn't worry or stress, is because he knew that his future was secure in Christ. And I would say to you today, if you want to know how to overcome worry in your life, and you've yet to put your faith and trust in Jesus, to believe in his name, that's the first step. As clear as I can be, that's the first step. Call on Jesus. Say, Jesus, I need you to save me. I need you to help me. Help me. Because I can't save myself. I can't fix my problem of sin and my longing for something more than this world can offer, but you can. And so when you believe on his name, then you can become a child of God because of his death on the cross in your place. And you can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will then empower you to actually believe that he loves you, that he's for you, that he's providing for you, and it'll be able to begin to combat this anxiety and worry in your life. If you're a believer, if you've already put your trust in Christ, let me just remind you that Jesus sees you, that he knows you, and he will provide for you. And sometimes, as simple as that is, we need to be told that. Right? Because we naturally migrate towards thinking wrongly about God. Now, this is really interesting because in this chapter 6 of Matthew, um, we've already talked about hypocrisy. You guys remember that? If y'all were here with us, we talked about how that Jesus says, when you give and when you pray and when you fast, don't do it for people, do it for me. And the Father who what sees you, what's done in secret, will reward you. What's interesting is that the same solution to hypocrisy is the same solution to anxiety. Are you with me? You see, the solution to this hypocrisy is that we need to see that our Father knows us, he sees us, and he will reward that. And when you are feeling anxious, you need to know that God sees you, that he knows you, and he will provide for you. It's consistent. These are not so far away as we might think they are, because really, the truth of the matter is this is that God's presence brings healing. God's presence brings right perspective. God's presence in our life, as we said earlier, as we sang earlier, it is God who actually transforms the way we view the world. Let me say this to you, believer in the room. Romans 8 32. Paul writes these words. He did not even spare his own son, but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? You hear what Paul is saying? Paul is saying these words. If he's taken care of the most important thing, namely our salvation, then we can trust him with the small stuff. We can trust him with food and clothing and shelter. Now let me just say this really quickly. You and I in this room, we live in America. We're affluent. Okay? I don't know if you know that. We are rich. And we get really confused about what our needs and what our wants. And some of the stuff we're actually stressing about are desires. They're like the extra stuff. And we need to take that to the Lord and we say, God, help us to not be consumed with the pleasures of this life. Help us not to be anxious about stuff that we're, we just, the really the only reason we want it is because we compare ourselves to everybody else. We're like, they have it, so we should have it. And it's not really necessary for survival. Now, let me also say this: God richly blesses us, and in 1 Timothy 6, which we quoted last week, it says that God gives us things that we can enjoy, and they're beyond even just the normal basics. It's amazing. God doesn't have to do that, but he does. But we can know this morning that God has provided the most important thing, regardless, right? I'm not completely convinced that all of us believe that he's provided the most important thing. The most important thing is our eternal salvation. Forgiveness of sin, redemption, rescue, being with him forever. That's what we were made for, to be in his presence. He provided that. So, what's a hamburger? If you like those. Applications. Specifically to try to help us as we think about how to combat anxiety in our lives. The first one might be the most challenging. It's gonna require a big swallow of our pride. Are you ready? First thing is this we need to relinquish the throne in our life. We need to relinquish the throne. Matthew 6, 33. Sorry, probably some of you know the verse. He says this seek first his kingdom, the kingdom of God. What's a kingdom? It's something under the rule of a king. The rule and the reign of a king. If you are trying to be the king of your life, the Lord of your life, the God of your life, if one of those words fits, then you can expect you will be anxious. You will be a worry-filled person. If that's the role you're trying to play, because there's only one who can fill that role and do it perfectly. And so we need to relinquish the throne. We need to give up trying to be God. We need to give up trying to be in control. We're not going to win that battle. You're never going to get there. We can surrender. And what's great is that our king is amazing. Our king is perfect. Our king is loving. He is gracious. He is generous. He is so good. So it's not like we're in this place of being in a kingdom where we have a God who beats us down and who doesn't love us and doesn't care for us and doesn't take care of our needs. He does all those things. And so we need to relinquish the throne this morning. By faith, we need to say, God, I've been trying to be in charge. And I want to give control over to you. You know, the problem with a lot of Christians is they want to be, they want heaven, but they don't want a king. We want heaven, we want eternal life, but we don't want to actually have to obey our king. And I just want to say to you this morning, and I'm with you, when we came into the kingdom of God, we didn't just get a savior, we got a Lord, a master, and he is good. And so if we want to keep living, like John 10.10 says, I've come and I've come to give you life to the fullest, abundant life. That's the life God came to give us. And as long as you and I keep living under our own kingship, we will not experience the joy and the abundance that He desires for us to have. Another way to think of it is that there are some Christians in the room. You're going to get into heaven because the grace of God is on you, but you're going to be miserable getting there. And God says the kingdom has started now. You can actually experience joy and peace and hope now. Did you know that? We don't have to wait till heaven to actually be free from anxiety and worry. As long as you have your hands gripped around your life and you say, This is my life, God, I'm going to do my thing. Don't be surprised if you're anxious and stressed and fearful. Let's relinquish control this morning. Second is this reorient our priorities. He says, seek first the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom. If your own agenda is superseding God's agenda, you will be anxious. But when we come to our King and we say, God, what do you want us to seek? And we pursue Him, He says this, verse 31, don't worry saying, what will we eat, what will we drink, or what will we wear? For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things. And your heavenly father knows that you need them. The idolaters. Did you know that when we chase after those things as ultimate things, that's called idolatry. When we try to put our trust or our hope in temporary things, that's called idolatry. And in my life, if I'm just real honest, I have been an idolater. And I've had to confess that to the Lord. I've had to admit that to the Lord. I need to relinquish that. I need to reorient my priority. When we pursue things that are eternal, it de-emphasizes the temporal things that produce anxiety and instability. And finally, we need to reflect on God's provision and be thankful. We need to reflect on God's provision and be thankful. Philippians chapter 4, if you've been around church long enough, you probably have heard this passage. In verse 6, it says, Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, what? Pray. Give thanks. I can tell you right now that if you um if you want to know if you're struggling with anxiety and fear, consider how thankful you are. If your thanks is low, you're probably an anxious person. It's a good indicator. How many of us wake up in the morning and just say, thank you, God, for life? Thank you for breath. Thank you for family. Thank you for a house. Thank you for clothing. Thank you, God, for my faith and for saving me, Jesus. Thank you so much for all the good things you've given me. Thank you for putting me in a place where I have freedoms to worship you and to enjoy and to work with my hands and to do life. Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you. If that was more normative, our anxiety level would go down. Because we see what God has done. We see his faithfulness. We remember in our homes, with our kids, with our spouse. When people come into our homes, do we talk about all of God's faithfulness or do we talk about all of our problems? Man, God's saying, you can come to me, and as a good father in heaven, I want to hear your requests. And I want you to be remembering all the good things I've already done for you and know that my track record proves I love you and that I will provide for you. In fact, In fact, it will guard your heart and mine. In my life, I've seen anxiety grip me at times. In fact, some of you guys know that we have our second daughter, Kira. She's 14. And when she was born, she was blue. She was auction-deprived. And I've learned more about anxiety and worry and fear and trusting God with my relationship with Kira. And it's been through that that I've learned how to trust God with this gift of a child that he gave us that I'm not completely sure how she's going to function in the real world. Or if she'll ever leave our home or what her life will look like, and all the things that the world says you're supposed to do and be to have real life. And when I have interacted with her through the years, we've just had so many moments where we didn't know which path to take in terms of therapists or what way to help her. And how do we help her to grow and to learn and to interact socially? And some of y'all know her, and you've seen how beautiful she is in her love for people and her love for children in particular. And it's awesome, but I can tell you that as a dad, I felt anxiety, I felt fear, I felt stress, I felt worried about protecting her and trying to take care of her and minister to her. And God just keeps telling me time and time again, she belongs to me. I love her, and I'm going to take care of her. I've taken care of your salvation, Nick. I can take care of your daughter. I've taken care of everything you need so you can trust me with this girl. I could tell you a hundred more stories of ways that God is working that out in my life. But let's get practical because sometimes we want to keep things theoretical, and the reality is we need our hearts rescued by our Savior from fear and anxiety that is foolish. And part of that again is just saying, God, I'm not in charge, I'm not in control, you are, and I can trust you. I want to pray for us. Father, I thank you so much that you love us. And God, I would pray that we would not be a fleshly people. We put so much focus and we put so much attention. We treasure, we trust in the temporary, and God, it's no wonder we're stressed out. Help us, God, to lift our eyes and see the eternal. Help us to see you. Help us to understand your great love. Help us to see your beauty today. Help us to see your provision today. Help us to remember our salvation today and to know that you are good. You will provide in every way so we don't have to be worried and anxious and freaked out. God, I just declare in front of these brothers and sisters today, I trust you. I trust you. And God, where there are areas in my life that I'm not, not just in my head, but actually how I live, God, forgive me. Please help me to trust you more. Please help me to see that I can trust you and stop fighting for that control. Thank you that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Freedom from these things. God, we love you. You are good. We praise your name, Jesus. Amen. Um