Pastor Aaron Cordeiro
June 7, 2015 - W1523

We live in a society that is filled with worry. These worries can be defined as “unfounded concerns” that paralyze you from taking action. There are legitimate concerns that prompt you to action but the unfounded concerns paralyze you.

Did you know that God mentioned 27 times in the Bible about not worrying? Don’t worry about what you should eat or wear. Be anxious for nothing, don’t worry about tomorrow for everyday has enough troubles of its own and so much more.

But in spite of all that, God doesn’t mean that we won’t have problems in our lives. He is saying that the heart in which we approach problems should not be with a worrisome heart filled with anxiety or else we will miss the miracles. We won’t see the miracles or even be able to discern them. We won’t be able to trust God or even ourselves, because with a worried heart we become paralyzed from being able to solve our problems with wisdom and confidence.

The following scriptures explain to Jesus’ disciples how it is important to not worry about the everyday things we all must face in life.

“So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. For life consists of far more than food and clothing. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! And if worry can’t do little things like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?” (Luke 12:22, 23, 25, 26)

Let’s start off by defining what worry is
“Worry is a signal that a change needs to take place.” It’s simply that. The thing is we need to keep it within that box. If we allow it to go beyond that definition then we will become messed up. We should all have a signal inside of us that when worries attack us it buzzes us to remind us that we just need to simply change something. God never said that we would have trouble free lives. In fact each day has a worry of its own.

As mentioned before, the heart in which we approach problems should not be with a worrisome heart because if we worry then we lose touch with our faith and without this faith how are we to please God? God wants us to learn today that He has for us a promise that we can win over worry. So how do we do this?
1. Take your worries to God and leave them there.

Take all our worries to the Feet of the Cross and leave it there. Don’t say things like, “I’m not sure if you can handle this God.” We don’t need to be afraid to tell God our worries thinking that He will get very angry with us. In other words don’t feel too ashamed or guilty to keep it from God because He already knows it. God can handle all our problems. God in all His kindness will always deal with us in mercy and grace.

So what is there to worry about? It all just simply means something has to change. We should never feel we are weak when we have to go to God for anything because in our weakness He is strong. What all this means is that in everything we need to take to God in prayer. Prayer is just simply taking all our worries and problems to Him by simply admitting, “Ok, God, I can’t do this on my own.” This is what it says in scripture:

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.” (Phil. 4:6) 

However, there is an important point that with praying we also need to hear, then receive and finally do what God instructs us to do. Think about this for a moment, every miracle that happened in the bible all started with prayer. Like when Moses and the Hebrews were stuck between the Red Sea and Pharaoh. Moses prayed, received instruction and participated as God instructed. Or as in the battle against Goliath, David prayed, received instructions, and with God at his side, overcame the mighty giant. Jesus is the greatest example of all, hanging on the cross per God’s instructions, and the miracle of resurrection and forgiveness of sins came upon Him. So believe, that with prayer, miracles can happen.

Here is the second point:

2. Receive God’s promises.

We don’t only leave our worries, but we also need to receive God’s promises. Sometimes we get to thinking that only good people will receive God’s promises, like the volunteers at churches or the Pastors. But here is what is said in the book of Joshua

“Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed? ALL came to
pass.” (Joshua 21:45)

Did you know there are over 7000 promises of God in the bible? These promises are all instructions on how to deal with every aspect of our lives, marriages, friendships, despondencies, work, and so on. So we can rely on the teachings of these promises to get through every problem we are faced with in our lives.

Sometimes it feels so difficult to get through things because Worry comes from having no options.

When we feel there are no options at all, we should be reminded that there are over 7000 promises of God in the bible. Sometimes when we worry too much, we forget that God is waiting on us to reach out to Him. It’s like sometimes we put God on hold and only come to Him when we think we are out of other options. But He isn’t just a spare tire that we use when we have no options and then put Him away just to travel down the wrong road again. We need to seek Him first. Here is what it says in Romans.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) 

It is interesting how even in this scripture the word “ALL” things is mentioned here. All our persecutions, our sufferings, our pains, not just some things but ALL things will work together for good to those who love God no matter what we go through. That is the Promise of God that we can get through our worries and difficulties, we just need to give it ALL to Him with a heart that is not filled with worry but with a confidence in ALL things good from God.

So this brings us to the third point:

3. Worry is overcome when we focus on who God is.

“If your first concern is to look after yourself you will never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look at Me (God), then you will find both yourself and Me.” (Matt 10:39)

In other words, we can focus on our problems and try to figure out for ourselves what to do, but it says here in Matthew that if we only focus on ourselves we will never find ourselves. When we look only to ourselves then we lose sight of the best of what God has for us. Remember when Jesus, at age twelve, in the temple says that He must be about His Father’s business. Then upon the cross He says, “It is finished.” If we are about our Father’s business we too will find success in overcoming all our problems if we first look to Him, we will find both God and ourselves. This is what it says in Luke about worry:

“Only people who don’t know God, are always worrying.” (Luke 12:30)

When we worry we are acting like an atheist. We are saying things like, “God I don’t think you can take care of my problem.” It’s like the Orphan mentality, “Who’s going to take care of me, who will help me, what belongs to me?” But it says here in Ephesians 1, we are not orphans because:

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, this is what he wanted to do and it gave Him great pleasure to do so.” (Ephesians 1:5)

So remember when you are facing worry, just remember to bring ALL things to the Foot of the Cross and leave it with God. God can do all things. All we have to do is take it to Him, leave it there then receive from God and take His instruction to heart rather than worrying about them. So take God’s promises and use them to overcome those worries. Just as reminder let’s read this promise:

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:33)

So if you focus on who God is, you will not only find God, but you will find yourself and you will overcome worry.

Remember worry is simply a signal in our lives that something has to change. We need to ask ourselves in our time of worry, who is God to us? Is He our Lord and Savior? Who is He in our life and circumstances? If He is the Lord and Savior of our lives then we all simply need to remember that through Christ He strengthens us if we seek first the Kingdom of God.

1) What are some of the problems you are worried about?

2) What Scriptures or Promises of God have helped you get through these difficult moments?

3) What kind of situations happen when you don’t rely on God’s help?