do notWorry

“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 one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? 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. 

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Overcoming worry by…

1. Trusting in the character of God

God Humans

God is the source We depend on God

God is the creator We are the creation and cannot exist independent of God

God has control of the world We have control of ourselves

God is the judge of life We are to experience life

God designed life and its rules We obey the rules and live the life God designed

Roles of God and humans

The desire The result

We are the source We depend on ourselves

We are the creator We exist unto ourselves

We have control of the world We try to control our world and each other, losing control of

ourselves

We become the judge of life We judge ourselves and each other

We design life and the rules We live any way we want to

Roles after the fall of man

Trusting in the character of God

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:1

God is creator (the source) of all things

Trusting in the character of God

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

God is our provider

Trusting in the character of God

Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4

God is our provider

Trusting in the character of God

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?

Matthew 6:26

God is in control of all things

Trusting in the character of God

“So many of people’s problems come from trying to control things outside their control, and when they try, they lose control of themselves”.How People Grow by Cloud & Townsend

God is in control of all things

Overcoming worry by…

1. Trusting in the character of God

2. Submitting to his authority

Submitting to his authority

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Matthew 6:31-33

Submitting to his authority

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:15-17

Overcoming worry by…

1. Trusting in the character of God

2. Submitting to his authority

3. Being dependant upon God

Being dependant upon God

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

Being dependant upon God

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6

Being dependant upon God

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

Being dependant upon God

“God’s role was to provide; our role was to receive. God gave breath; we took it in. God gave the garden; we lived in it and ate from it. God gave us relationship; we received intimacy. Our role was designed to be a dependant one. He provides; we depend and trust”. How People Grow by Cloud & Townsend