Worry

Don’t Worry (Matt. 6:19-21, 25-34) Worrying does not help, but instead, harms (Matt. 6:27, Luke 12:25) 43% of all adults suffer ill health due to stress. 75% - 90% of all visits to physicians are stress-related disorders. Worry has been linked to heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide. An estimated 1 million workers are absent on an average workday due to stress related complaints. Stress is responsible for more than half of the 550 million workdays lost annually because of absenteeism. 43% of all employee turnover is related to job stress. Worry destroys both the quality and quantity of life. Worrying distracts us from the work God intends for us to do (Matt. 6:26 & 33-34, 13:22, 1 Kings 17:4-6, 8-16, Luke 10:41-42, 2 Cor. 1:10 & 16) Worrying demonstrates a lack of faith (Matt. 6:31-32) Proper Focus The Greek word for worry, merimnao, means to be double-minded or to “pull apart in different directions”. Note also: The German word for worry, worgen, means to strangle The obvious alternative to being double-minded is to be single-minded, centered or focused Focused on what? Seeking First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness (Matt. 6:10 & 33, Luke 12:31, seek continually, Ps. 34:8-10, 37:4, 105:4-5, 119:58, Is. 58:2, daily seek Him) The Greek word for seek ,zeteo, means to desire, strive for; to avidly pursue. How do we “seek first” the Kingdom of God? (Ps. 63) Prayer (Phil. 4:6), Study of and Meditation on God’s Word, Worship, Service, etc. With what should we “seek first” the Kingdom of God? Our priorities, our time, our attention, our money & other resources, in short with all aspects of our lives (Prov. 3:5-6) Why should we focus on God’s Kingdom? Focusing on God’s perfect, heavenly, eternal Kingdom puts our imperfect, earthly, temporal lives in the proper perspective. (Ps. 28:5, 2 Cor. 4:16-18) God’s Faithfulness The loving Father who created us, cares for us and can be trusted to deliver and sustain us (Matt. 6:25, 28-30, Ps. 9:10, 32:1, 34:17-19, 42:3, 55:22, Lam. 3:22-24, Jer. 17:5-8, Heb. 13:5-6, Phil. 4:19, 1 Pe. 5:72 Peter 2:9) The Fact that God is in Control (Rom. 8:28, 9:11, Eph. 1:11, 2 Tim. 1:9) As opposed to focusing on our inability to control many things