A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: What do you worry about? What stresses you out? Listen, worry is not a virtue. Worry is really a lack of trust in God.

Guest (Male): Some of us worry, others of us worry like crazy. Pastor Greg Laurie points out worry is not only a waste of time, it's counterproductive.

Greg Laurie: The problem with worry is it's interest paid on trouble before it's due. The fact is worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.

Guest (Male): How many of us have worried a problem away? We spend hours racked with anxiety and, glad that did it, problem solved. Yeah, no, not likely. Author Erma Bombeck famously said, "Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere."

Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out it's actually possible to live a worry-free life. We'll see where to focus our eyes instead.

Greg Laurie: How many of us struggle with fear, anxiety, and worry? Raise your hand. Okay, quite a few of you. I read recently that Millennials and Gen Z are the most stressed generations ever. For this generation, antidepressants are the best-selling pharmaceuticals. In fact, I read this: antidepressant use among 12 to 25-year-olds increased 66% over six years.

Of that six years, not 60 years, literally from 2016 to 2022. This generation also has the highest suicide rate. I think you could trace a lot of this back to one thing: avocado toast. Now, let me explain. I actually had avocado toast this morning. It was very good. My wife made it for me with a couple of fried eggs, a little bit of bacon.

But when you go and buy it in a restaurant, it's very expensive. I read that one financial expert advised Millennials who want to one day maybe buy their own home, he said, "Stop buying avocado toast. Spend your money more wisely."

But I think honestly a lot of this stress comes from a device most of us carry around in our pockets: smartphones. You can trace everything back to 2008. Prior to the emergence of what we call the smartphone, specifically the iPhone introduced by Steve Jobs, the most popular phone was the BlackBerry. Remember the BlackBerry? Little buttons you pushed. They were so popular some called it the CrackBerry.

And they pretty much were dominating the market. But along comes Steve Jobs with this brand-new concept for a phone that was all a screen instead of little buttons you pushed. It was so anticipated they actually called it the Jesus phone. And when he revealed it, it changed everything because now not only could you make phone calls—it does that too—but you could access media and then, of course, on its heels comes the explosion of social media.

So many of the problems in culture today trace directly back to that. In fact, 44% of people that are constantly checking their phones feel isolated because of this technology, even when they're with their families. I remember I was in Maui a while ago and we're sitting watching the sunset, beautiful Maui sunset, and I watched a family sitting at their table. Not one person was looking at the sunset; they were all flipping through their phones.

Now they have little holders on baby carriages for iPhones and tablets as well. Is this good, to be getting these kids into this stuff that soon? And so everything has cause and effect. There's an article in Forbes Magazine. It says the more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. Multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media use and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, even suicidal thoughts, and an intense craving for avocado toast. No, I added that.

But you see it can really distract you. And honestly, there's a lot of things to be anxious about today. A poll was taken among people and they were asked, "What are you most afraid of? What is your number one fear?" It wasn't nuclear war. It wasn't the economy collapsing. It was my appearance. So it's like we may all die in a nuclear blast, but how do I look in this outfit? That's so funny, isn't it?

But yeah, there are things we get stressed about. I myself, of course, get worried like anybody else. For many of us, we worry about everything. We worry about what we're going to eat, what we're going to wear, where we're going to live, what we're going to do. We worry about when things are good about when they're going to be bad. And when things are bad, we worry if they'll ever be good again.

We worry a lot about what people think about us. What do they think about me? What did they think about that post? I didn't get as many likes on this one as I got on the other one. You would spend less time worrying about what people think about you if you realized how little they do. But we spend a lot of needless time worrying about so many things.

I heard about one guy who had a real problem with worry. So he decided to hire someone to worry for him. He put out an ad, a guy applied. He said, "I'll pay you $500 a day to worry for me." So his buddy ran into him and said, "Man, you seem stress-free." "Oh yeah, I don't worry anymore at all." He told him about this guy he hired. Pays him 500 a day. The guy says, "You don't make that kind of money. How are you going to pay that guy?" He says, "That's for him to worry about." So you might try that. How many of you have heard that joke before? What do you want, a medal? Okay.

So what do you worry about? What stresses you out? What are you the most anxious about? The story is told of a man who came face-to-face with the dangers of worry. As the story goes, Death was walking into a city one morning and the man asked Death, "What are you going to do?" Death said, "I'm going to take 100 people." The man said, "That's horrible." Death said, "That's the way it is. That's what I do."

So the man hurried to warn everybody in the city about the plan of Death. As night was approaching, the man ran into Death again as he was leaving the city. The man said to Death, "You said you were only going to take 100 people. A thousand people died." Death said, "I kept my word. Worry took the rest."

That's what worry can do. Now, Jesus has something to say about worry that's so relevant for all of us right here right now. Let's look at Matthew chapter 6, starting in verse 25.

"I say to you do not worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food and drink or clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you more valuable to him than they are? Can you with all of your worries add a single moment to your life?

"Why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. So, if God so cares for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he certainly cares for you. Why don't you have more faith? Don't worry about these things saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father knows all your needs."

This is the big verse. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Wow.

Point number one, if you're taking notes: the believer should not worry. The believer should not worry. Jesus was not saying a Christian should not think about or be concerned with the needs of their life, including housing, food, and clothing, because the fact is elsewhere in scripture, we're told to plan for the future, we're told to work hard, we're told to save our money.

Jesus was simply saying don't worry about these things. Don't worry, he says in verse 25, about everyday life. A better translation would be stop having anxiety about this. It's one thing to think about it. It's another thing to have constant anxiety about it. Listen, worry is not a virtue. Let me take it a step further. Worry can actually be a sin. Why? Because worry is really a lack of trust in God.

You're not trusting God. I mean, if you believe Genesis 1:1, that should deal with worry once and for all. What does Genesis 1:1 say? It says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." How many of you believe that verse is true? Okay, I do too.

If that is true, and of course it is, that God created the heavens and the earth, this all-knowing, all-powerful, sovereign God, then certainly he is able to deal with your problems and mine. So why then am I worrying about them? Good question. The word worry comes from a root word that means to strangle or to choke.

When my grandkids were smaller, they used to like to come up from behind and choke me. Well, it was okay; they were tiny little kids. I hardly felt anything, but as they got older, they wanted to keep doing it. They would even say, "Papa, can we choke you?" No, because you will kill Papa. You've all gotten too big now. But that's what worry does. It chokes us out. It's like a mental and emotional strangulation that causes mental and even physical illness.

The problem with worry is it's interest paid on trouble before it's due. The fact is worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. The great theologian Martyn Lloyd-Jones made this statement, "The result of worrying about the future is that you're crippling yourself in the present." Good.

Another theologian, Charlie Brown, made this statement, "I've developed a new philosophy. I only dread one day at a time." Good advice. You know, in Australia, they have a great expression. And it's, "No worries, mate."

We went down to do a number of crusades in Australia a number of years ago, and I just loved going to Australia. I love everything about that culture down there. They're very carefree. And so they'll say to you, "No worries, mate," right after they say, "That's not a knife, this is a knife," or, "Look at the kangaroo." I don't know, that's my accent's falling apart as I do it.

But the main phrase I like is, "No worries, mate." Don't worry about it. Number two, worry is a lack of trust. It's not believing God's in control. Classic example of this is the Prophet Daniel. He was called by God to be an advisor to King Darius. And Darius really valued the counsel of Daniel. Darius thought very highly of Daniel.

And the other counselors to the king were jealous of Daniel's influence, and so they wanted to undermine him, and they made up things that were not true about him. And then they hatched a plot to get the king to sign a decree that no one could pray to anyone except the king or they would have to die.

Well, Daniel had a habit of prayer. Good habit. Every day he would pray. In fact, three times a day he would pray. And so after he read this decree you can no longer pray, he prayed. And then he was arrested and he was put into a den of hungry lions.

An interesting thing happened that night: the king was up all night, he couldn't sleep worrying about Daniel, and Daniel slept like a baby. Probably used one of the lions for a pillow, propped his feet up on the other one. And so that's the difference between a believer and a non-believer. When chaos and turmoil is happening around us, a believer can be at rest, but a non-believer cannot.

The Bible says he gives to his beloved sleep. When you're getting ready to go to sleep at night, remind yourself of the promises of God. Learn to quote scripture to yourself to help you rest. Another illustration of this is Simon Peter. He was arrested and put in a prison behind multiple locked doors and guards on each side.

Herod, who arrested him, had already executed James, and Peter was clearly next. But in Acts 12, we read that the church prayed for him, and the Lord dispatched an angel to deliver Peter. But here's Peter, facing a certain death, and he's so deep in sleep the angel literally had to whack him to wake him up.

Are you a deep sleeper? Peter was. How could he sleep in a situation like that? He knew that God was in control of his life. And speaking of Peter, he wrote in his own epistle, 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you."

And that word cast means to throw something. It's a definite act of the will by which we stop worrying about things and let God assume responsibility for our welfare. Throw it over to the Lord. So maybe you've come here to church or as you're watching this right now, you're overwhelmed by your burdens and your anxieties. Throw it over to God.

Sort of like when you have trash, throw out the trash. I don't know what the deal is, but I've been issued far too many trash cans. I have separate cans: there's landfill, recyclables, organic waste. And I stand there with little bags like, "Where do I put this?" It's a little overwhelming. But I'm glad someone shows up and takes that trash. And Jesus, if you will, wants to take your trash. He wants to relieve you of your burdens. Cast them on him.

Now Jesus illustrates: birds don't worry, why should we? Look at verse 26, "Look at the birds." Now Jesus is outside. He would often use things that were happening around as illustrations. No doubt there were some birds nearby. "Hey, look at these birds. Do these birds look worried to you?"

I love birds. I like to watch birds eat. So I have two bird feeders in my backyard. One is filled with seed. And then another one is for the hummingbirds. And the hummingbirds, they go through their bird feeder a lot faster than the other ones do. And they're just drinking constantly, drinking constantly.

And so we went on a short trip for a few days and the hummingbird feeder was empty when we got back and they didn't return. It's almost like they were mad at me. I think I offended the hummingbird community. So I quickly issued a tweet and told them that we have more hummingbird food for you. But now, of course, it's X. But they'd all moved over to TikTok, so I had to make a video to reach those hummingbirds.

But they're back now. But you know the birds are stress-free. Now they still collect seed. They still do their little jobs, you know. Some eat seed. Some come to my bird feeders and get free food. Some hang out at McDonald's and wait for the fry to hit the ground. Sometimes they don't even wait for it to hit the ground; they'll steal it from you.

Then there's seagulls. They eat anything they want. They carry off your food, they carry off your children, they fly off with your small dogs, which may be a good thing, but still. Birds don't worry, why do you worry? Have you ever seen a bird taking a Valium or biting his little talons? No, they're stress-free. "Look at the bird," says Jesus. "They don't worry. Why do you?"

Have you ever heard that poem about the birds? "Said the robin to the sparrow: 'Friend, I'd really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.' Said the sparrow to the robin: 'Friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.'"

"Look at the birds," Jesus says, "they don't worry." Then he says, "Look at the flowers." Verse 28, "Why do you worry about clothing? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are."

Now, when Jesus says lilies, it wouldn't be like an Easter lily. It would be more like the wildflowers that we see out in the countryside. Look at all these flowers. They're so beautiful. God cares for them. Won't he care for you? God clothes them. Won't he clothe you as well? He'll take care of you as well. It's just a reminder that sometimes we become a little too focused on these outward things and we forget about the things that really matter.

Guest (Male): Good encouragement today on A New Beginning from Pastor Greg Laurie's message called "What Jesus Says About Worry & Anxiety." And there's more to come. It's such good reassurance to know that Jesus cares for us. He loves us. In fact, he loved us enough to die for us. Our eternity is secured when we give our lives to Christ. So have you ever done that?

Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person listening who just doesn't know if they've taken that step? They can't think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for the Lord. It's just not a good idea to assume everything's just going to work out okay, is it?

Greg Laurie: No, this is one area of your life you want to be sure about: where you're going to spend eternity. The Bible says these things we write to you that you may believe on the Son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen, I know I have eternal life. I know I'll go to heaven one day, and I hope that doesn't sound boastful. And if it does, I'm boasting in what God has done for me, not what I've done for God.

The reason I know these things is because I've turned from my sin and I've put my faith in Christ, you see. And if you do the same, you can have this same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord and admit you're a sinner and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you call upon him right now?

I'm going to pray a simple prayer, and I'm going to ask you to pray this prayer after me, if you would. So if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want to know for certain that Christ is living in your life, then pray this prayer with me. Just pray these words:

Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord, as my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you've meant those words sincerely, the Lord has forgiven you of your sin and you're now a Christian. And we want to help you get started in this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's in an easy-to-understand translation, and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation of faith.

So get in touch and ask for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime, 1-800-821-3300, or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God."

You know, Pastor Greg, I've read so many listener letters over the years where folks have said that they pray for you. Many say they pray for you on a regular basis. And I know that means a lot to you.