From His Heart

Speaker 1

Would people, you know call you a worrywart? Pastor Jeff Shreve has important biblical insight for worriers. Today on from his heart, God doesn't.

Speaker 2

Want us to worry. We know that for certain because in Matthew chapter six, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to this issue. And he tells us three times directly in Matthew chapter six, do not be anxious for your life. Do not worry. Over and over and over, over. Don't worry.

And I want you to see, as we talk about winning the battle with this giant, a threefold action plan. You can have victory over the issue of worry. And over the giant of worry, he.

Speaker 3

Can heal every scar with real truth, real love, real hope from his heart.

Speaker 1

This is from his heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. And today we learn to conquer worry. Would you like to have victory over your worrying and your anxiety? Would you like to dam up that thin stream of fear that courses through your mind over what might happen?

In today's reassuring lesson, you'll learn how to hand your anxiety over to God completely and overcome the giant of worry. That's the title of this message from Pastor Jeff's seven lesson series, the Land of the Giants, how to deal with your biggest problems. This series is also one of our gifts of thanks to you for your support this month of any amount to Promise Heart.

And you can find out more about that when you go to promisheart.org, and I'll tell you more later. Now, though, open your Bible to the book of Matthew, chapter six. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve to begin explaining what you can do with that enormous giant we call worry.

Speaker 2

Can you relate to the issue of worry? Can you relate to the giant that faces off against us, the giant of worry? So many of us can, and we worry about lots of things. We worry about family. We worry about finances. We worry about our physical health. We worry about the future.

Worry. The English word "worry" is an interesting word. It comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word: "wyrgan" (W, Y, R, G, A, N). That word means to strangle, and it's used to describe a dog with a shoe. Have you ever seen a dog with an old shoe or a slipper? They get that shoe in their teeth and they take it back and forth, trying to rip it apart. They just go back and forth with that shoe or that slipper. That's a picture of worry. One preacher described it this way: it's a thin stream of fear that courses through your mind and steals away your peace.

Now, God doesn't want us to worry. We know that for certain because in Matthew chapter six, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to this issue. He talks about the giant of worry that all human beings face, and he tells us three times directly in Matthew chapter six: do not be anxious for your life. Do not worry. Over and over and over, he says, "Don't worry."

Let's look at it. Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 25: "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life. Do not be worried about your life as to what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor for your body as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, neither do they reap nor gather into barns. And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single cubit to his lifespan? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin. Yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jesus was speaking on the Sermon on the Mount to people gathered on the hillside there at the Sea of Galilee. Just regular folks, many of them farmers, people who were living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, so to speak. These were people who were worried about the basic necessities of life: what we shall eat, what we shall drink, and with what shall we clothe ourselves. He spoke to them directly about the issue of worry.

As we talk about winning the battle with this giant, I want you to see a threefold action plan from this passage that we just read. If you put this plan into action in your life, this three-step action plan can help you achieve victory over the issue of worry and over the giant of worry.

So let's look at these three steps. The first step to having victory is to trust God to take care of you. Jesus told them, "Look at the birds" (verse 26). "Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, they don't dig up and plant things, they do not sow, neither do they reap nor gather into barns. And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" Birds don't have a pantry, they don't have a fridge, and they don't have a storage unit outside in the garage. They just trust God to provide for them. As they go seek food, the Lord provides it for them.

The Lord says, "Hey, do you see the birds? It's the lesser to the greater argument. If I provide for the birds, don't you think I'd provide for you, O men of little faith?" Well, God does provide for us, and so we can trust him to take care of us.

Here's what I want you to see about worry. Because we tend to do worry so well, it just comes naturally to us. So notice with me three truths about worry. First, trust God; don't worry. The best thing that we can say about worry is that it is useless. Worry is useless. Jesus said in verse 27, "And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single cubit to his lifespan?" What does worry do? Worry doesn't do anything. Worry never dried a tear. Worry never solved a problem. Worry never does anything constructive. You can't worry your way to a longer life because worry is useless.

But not only is it useless, worry is harmful. Worry will do to your body what sand does to machinery; it will gum up the works. If you look up the medical effects of worry on your body on the Internet, you’ll find that worry can cause a host of problems. Worry can cause ulcers, colitis, high blood pressure, eczema, insomnia, respiratory problems, and all sorts of harmful things because of this thing called worry.

So, worry is useless. Worry is harmful. And watch this third truth about worry: worry is sinful. It's a sin to worry. I wrote that in the book "Runaway Emotions." Some blogger or someone who read my book went off on me because she did not like the fact that I said worry is sinful. I felt like writing her back and saying, "Hey, I didn't preach the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus did. Take it up with him." He says three times in Matthew chapter six, "Don't do this, don't do this, don't do this." Worry is sinful. Worry breaks the command of God to not worry.

Worry is the opposite of faith. Romans 14:23 says, "And whatever is not from faith is sin." George Mueller, that great man of faith, said, "Worry starts where faith ends." Worry and faith don't coexist. If you're worried, you're not trusting God, and if you're trusting God, you're not worried.

When you think about it, worry is practical atheism. Real atheism, spiritual atheism, is saying, "I don't believe there is a God." Worry is practical atheism. It's not saying there is no God; it's living as if there is no God. For a Christian to live as if there is no God is a serious issue.

Let me tell you what worry says to God. Worry says to God, "God, you must have forgotten what's going on in my life. God, are you not aware of what I'm facing here? God, do you not know what's coming up? Lord, have you lost me on the GPS? God, are you not really aware?" Or maybe it says to God, "Lord, I see that you're aware, but I guess you don't care. I guess you don't care about me. You don't care what I'm going through; you don't care what I'm facing. Because if you cared about me, then you would change my circumstances."

Or maybe it says this: "God, I think you're aware, and God, I think you care. But God, you must not be able to help me." Why am I worried? It's because I think God is able to do, but he's not willing to do. So we get stuck in the horns of a dilemma: Does God care and not want to help me? Or does God not care and can't help me? Does God not have the power? Does he have the heart but not the power?

All those things are damaging to our relationship with the Lord. The Lord is the God of all flesh. Jeremiah 32:27 says, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?" The things we worry about, God says, "You know I can take care of that," and you're living like I don't exist and like I can't do anything in your life.

Look at Matthew 31 again. He says, "Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." So don't be a man of little faith. Trust me and believe me, and don't live like the Gentiles who don't know me. Live like someone who knows that I'm a God who's aware, a God who cares, and a God who is able.

Speaker 1

Oh yes, God is able. And Pastor Jeff will return in just a moment on From His Heart to explain how important it is that we not take our eyes off of our Heavenly Father amid our troubles and anxieties. As we are learning today, worry is a big giant so many people grapple with. But that's not the only giant you see. We live in a land of giants. Giant fears, great temptations, and giant sins like anger and guilt, insecurity, discontentment, and lust, and more.

Listen, you can learn to face these Goliaths in your life with faith when you hear Pastor Jeff's seven-message series, The Land of Giants: How to Deal with Your Biggest Problems. This collection is our personal gift to you to say thank you for your support this month to From His Heart, a ministry from which Pastor Jeff receives no income.

This month is especially timely for your giving as we have joined with Pray.com to have an incredible opportunity to translate our programs, both radio and television, into Spanish and Portuguese. But we need your support to launch and to sustain this outreach. Your gift today will really, really matter.

Again, when you give your gift, we'll send you the Land of Giants series, How to Deal with Your Biggest Problems, along with a bonus booklet called When You Don't Like Yourself, a compelling ministry resource. Call 866-40-BIBLE to get yours, 866-40-BIBLE, or go online to fromhisheart.org to make that gift and get the series in the format of your choice.

Thanks for praying about what you can do to help us reach the world for Christ. Now let's get back to today's message called The Giant of Worry.

Speaker 2

Some months ago, Mark Proctor, our Pastor of Spiritual Development, gave me a CD series from Charles Stanley. It was Charles talking to some pastors about the prayer life of a pastor. There were four CDs, and I don't know exactly where he was when he delivered this, but he was in a conference with these guys. On the fourth day, the fourth CD, he talked about his own life. If you know anything about Dr. Charles Stanley, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta and the founder of In Touch Ministries, you know he went through some really hard times when he went to First Baptist Atlanta. He arrived there in the early 70s, late 60s, early 70s, as the associate pastor. The pastor had been there for about 15 or 16 years, and then, after a year of Charles coming on board, the pastor left.

There were lots of people who liked Charles and wanted to make him the pastor, but there was one guy on the decision team who didn't want Charles. He felt that Charles wasn't a big enough name, and they wanted to have a big name. "We're First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. We want to have a big name," he thought. So, he didn't like Charles and wanted him to leave so they could clear the decks for a new guy to come on board. However, Charles wouldn't leave because he said, "Well, God called me here, and God's not telling me to leave. Until God tells me to leave, I'm going to be here." They put such pressure on Charles Stanley to leave, but he wouldn't budge. He said, "I can't leave. God's not released me from here. Now, you can fire me; that's out of my control. But if you fire me, then that's on you, but I'm not resigning."

The pressure was immense, and he had about 300 people in the church who didn't want him there. That's a lot; I don't care how big your church is. Three hundred people is a significant number. He described how, when he was in the thick of it, there was just pressure, pressure, pressure. It would have been very easy to let the thin stream of fear course through his mind and steal away his peace. Instead, he pressed into the Lord, prayed, got on his face, and called upon the Lord. Everything was building up to a head on a Wednesday night business meeting where they were going to vote to get him out and bar him from the pulpit.

The only problem was that every time Charles preached, God blessed, and people came, and the church was growing and growing. The people who didn't like him were frustrated because they hated that God was blessing him. Charles said it was all building up to a head. About a month before everything came to a climax, an older lady in the church invited him to her house for lunch. She had been a nurse for 50 years and was retired. He went to her house, had lunch with her, and she was there just to encourage him. After the meal, she said, "I want to show you something." She took him into a room and showed him a painting of Daniel in the lion's den.

She asked Charles, "What do you see?" He looked at the painting and said, "Well, I see Daniel, and I see him in the lion's den, and I see all the lions around him." In the fuller picture, there were some bones at the base of the painting. He said, "That's what I see." She then said, "Look more closely at Daniel." So he looked at Daniel, and she put her arm around him and said, "Charles, do you see his eyes? He's not looking at the lions; he's looking up to God." Charles said that was the greatest sermon he had ever heard in his life. It was as if the Lord Jesus just came and put His arm around him and said, "Charles, you just keep looking to Me. You just keep trusting Me. Don't look at the lions who are trying to devour you and steal from you and destroy you. You look to Me."

How do you win in the battle with worry? The first step is to trust God to take care of you. If He takes care of birds, He will take care of you. If He takes care of the fields and makes them more beautiful than Solomon could ever adorn himself, and He does that just for a day because the flowers come up and are thrown into the furnace, will He not do much more for you, O men of little faith? Step number one: trust God to take care of you. Step number two: give God ownership of all you possess.

Now, look at the definition of worry again. It's the tension and distress experienced over the anticipated loss, whether real or imagined, of some valued possession. Worry has to do with possessions. It has to do with your things—your family, your car, your marriage, your job, your 401k, your future. It's a personal possession. We don't worry about other people's stuff; we worry about our stuff. We don't worry about other people's kids; we worry about our kids and our grandkids. It's a personal thing, and it has to do with possession.

Now, this is what you need to remember: God owns everything. You don't own anything. God owns everything. In the passage we read, it's obvious that God is over the birds, the fields, and the flowers. He's over it all. Psalm 24, verse 1 states, "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains." Everything belongs to God. Nothing belongs to you. The reason you are worried, and the reason I get worried, is that I take ownership of that which doesn't belong to me; it belongs to God.

You might remember I told you about my first outside sales job in the business world when I had a company car. Company cars are great! Any of you who have had a company car or a company truck know it's a great perk. Why? Because you don't own it; you just get to drive it. With the company car, you also get a company car charge card. So anything you need for the car, you just put it on the card. They can change your oil, do some minor repairs, and mess with your tires. I'd go in for an oil change, and they'd say, "Your tires look a little bald." I'd say, "They do?" They'd say, "Yeah." I'd respond, "Well, let's get new tires. It's a company car; we need to make sure it looks good."

They'd also say, "We pulled out your air filter; it's a little dusty." You know how they show it to you, right? They have the guy in the back pouring dirt in there and then show it to you, saying, "Here." I'd be like, "Man, we need to change that." I'd ask, "What do you think?" They'd say, "I think you need to change it." I'd respond, "Alright, put it on the car." It wasn't my car; it was the company car. The company wants a good car out there on the road representing their business.

My attitude toward the company car was totally different from my attitude toward our minivan because I was paying for the minivan. When they said, "Your air filter's a little dirty," I'd think, "That's good enough; just put it back on." Or, "Your tires are a little bald; I can get another 10,000 miles out of that." It's just totally different when you're paying for it and it's on your dime versus the company dime.

Now, here's the thing, guys and gals: news flash. Everything in your life is a company car. Your kids are a company car. Your house is a company car. Your job is a company car. Your health is a company car. It doesn't belong to you; it belongs to the company. And the company is God. So don't assume ownership of that which belongs to Him. If you do, you'll be worried and bothered about so many things, and the Lord will say to you, "Listen, I own that. You don't own that. That's a company car. So just trust Me with it and enjoy what I've given you to use."

Speaker 1

Well, we've seen today how important it is to surrender to God the ownership of all that we possess.

Well, time is almost up. But just enough for a final word from God's word. And it's taken from Philippians 4, 6, 7. Do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Thank you for being with us today. I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to join Pastor Jeff next time for part two of this final lesson in the Land of Giants series, the Giant of worry that's on Thursday here on Promise Heart.

Speaker 3

There is tremendous truth. There is hope. There is hope that you always dream Love. He can hear every scar from his heart.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out about that. Go to fromhisheart.org.