Why Worry? (Matthew 6:22-25)

Kingdom Culture. One of the biggest hindrances to the cultivation of God’s Kingdom is our failure to appreciate its value. Why are we not satisfied with God’s Kingdom? Because the truth of the matter is we have not found it satisfactory enough.

AND, dissatisfaction brings with it anxiety and worry. Inadequacy is a fruit of dissatisfaction. We’re dissatisfied with our appearance. We’re dissatisfied with our performance. When we judge ourselves through the eyes of the world, we will always fall short. When we see ourselves, and others through the eyes of Christ, we will discover a value beyond measure. God sees more value in you than the world ever will. What is worry?

It is a lack of faith in God’s promises. The roots of worry come from the seed of dissatisfaction. We question God when the questions of life are not answered when we want it and how we want it.

Can we all agree that God values our lives? We should all agree that He wants all good things for us:

Indicators are: 1) He created us and gave us life, and 2) He redeemed us for life again through Jesus Christ.

Reality: Bottom line, He will meet our: 1) physical needs, and 2) spiritual needs

Satan, the deceiver, is emboldened by our worry over this; by our boredom, and dissatisfaction. Satan wants us to NOT be satisfied. Anxiety and worry are fruits of discontentment. In other words, lack of being satisfied. We are going to look more into this in a second.

In Matthew 6, there is a discussion about serving two masters. It uses the sense of vision to make a point. In verses 22 and 23 it calls the “EYE” a “lamp to our bodies.” If the EYE is clear, the whole body is full of light. If the EYE is bad, or clouded, then the whole body is filled with darkness. The end of verse 23 says, “And GREAT is that darkness.” What’s in the eyes is on the mind

The one with clouded vision is serving a master other than God, who is light. Verse 25 goes on to say that the one with clouded vision is the one who worries because he is not content, nor is he satisfied. Serving the wrong master blinds you leaves you and without the ability to see long range, you will not have faith. Faith is living the reality of the future in the present.

The first sin ever recorded was also the result of dissatisfaction when Lucifer revolted against God because was not satisfied with his place in God’s order. It is believed that the story of this is what Isaiah is referring to in Isaiah 14:13–14 — “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

The first human sin ever recorded in the Bible, committed by Eve, was a sin of discontentment. Why were they not satisfied with everything God provided for them? The distraction of the ONE tree was fertile soil for the Serpent. Many many times, temptation begins with: WHY? And BECAUSE. Eve had it in her heart to question WHY it was forbidden to eat at which time she opened herself up to dialogue with the “father of lies” when, “Because God said so” wasn’t enough.

How do we question our parents’ authority? By asking, “WHY?” Our parents most often reply with the default answer, “Because I said SO.” And because we are not satisfied with “because,” we go find someone who can tell us what we want to hear. It’s a practice not unlike many adults who church shop or doctor shop. Our pursuit of resolving our dissatisfaction with the commands of God can cloud our vision and erode our faith. Chances are, you will find the wrong counsel that will tell you that if you choose disobedience, you will have the same authority as the parent since you have replaced their authority with another. Yes, the temptation and desire for a child to have the authority of its parents is alive and well today, isn’t it? Like the two Masters of our story, we give AUTHORITY to whomever, or whatever, we CHOOSE. And, it will either be light, or darkness.

There are two things in life over which we have control. Our ATTITUDES and our ACTIONS.” Worry can tempt us to sin and sin can result in guilt and that is the SEED of ANXIETY. Yes, anxiety grows from guilt, ESPECIALLY not doing what we should be doing when we should be doing it. We’ll save that for another day.

Look at our story. Verses 25-34 says the ones in the light will never worry about eating or drinking; about the clothes they wear or the measure of their days. Worry belongs to the ones of cloudy vision. In fact, verse 32 plainly states, the ones who are NOT God’s people are the ones who will never be satisfied. The godless will never be satisfied. How is it that God’s people on the other hand would ever think about putting hope, contentment, and satisfaction in perishable things? Ahh, but we DO and it comes from US wanting the authority to choose. (perishable things will never satisfy and an endless cycle worry, disobedience, guilt, anxiety, etc., continues).

When God says, “Because,” when we ask “WHY,” why are we not satisfied? Going back to what I said at the beginning, does God value our lives? YES. Why do we doubt His commands, especially when they don’t make sense? The world does not know you better. Read Psalm 139 sometime. That’s a WHOLE other message right there. The Bible includes dozens of stories about God’s commands NOT making any sense. A Kingdom Culture will be made up of committed believers whose ATTITUDES and ACTIONS bring LIGHT into the body. Desiring God’s Kingdom FIRST will eliminate dissatisfaction, discontentment, worry, and pride. Keeping our place as the Master’s slaves, we will be satisfied in knowing He values us and will provide for every need. We willl walk in faith.

Worry’s worst enemy is FAITH. Faith exists when we exercise belief, trust, and commitment.

Jesus preached on contentment many times in the use of His parables. Remember the parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price? Both are found in Matthew chapter 13. The hidden treasure was found by accident and the pearl was found by seeking. It’s a reference to God’s Kingdom being available to everyone, not only to the Jew but to the Gentile. That’s how much God cares for everyone. Are we, like the persons in the parable, willing to give ALL we have to possess God’s Kingdom, and not look back?

Sometimes we accuse God of having weaknesses. What? You never do that? When we question His authority and disobey, we are calling God WEAK. “If God had only removed the potential for sin from the Garden of Eden, everything would be okay. That tree, that one tree. You know the tree I’m talking about? That single tree that bore fruit that was a delight to the eyes. That single tree that was off limits to eat. Eve understood it well enough that she even convinced herself that not only should they not to EAT it, but also not to TOUCH it. The temptation was in the eyes. You remember the eye? The lamp of the body? So, every day Adam and Eve walked around in the garden with God, as friends would walk and talk, and every day their eyes were drawn to THAT TREE. The FORBIDDEN TREE which had fruit of the most delectable appearance, but a sign was hung on it, “DO NOT EAT.”

The purpose of that potential to make the wrong choice and therefore, sin, not only brought mankind to its lowest point in DEATH, but most importantly, elevated the love of God to its highest point in LIFE. If our lives were lived in a linear plateau with a consistent state of “happiness,” how would we understand the layers, and depths, of God’s love for us? How about the fullness of our faith? The first family sure found out that what God said is TRUE. You know what? And so did the Devil. If we didn’t have the freewill to choose God, what kind of love would there be? God WANTS us to choose Him above all else because above all else, there is NO ONE greater than He.

To finish up, let me leave you with the same encouragement Paul left to the Philippian church. Philippians 4:19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

(Separate thought to conclude)

Anxiety—not doing what we should be doing when we should be doing it. Therefore, anxiety is guilt.

When someone comes to you and asks you for help, try saying, “Yes, I’d be happy to help you with that.” Do not decline an opportunity to serve others. I learned the most by saying, “YES!” Don’t serve the master of future guilt and failure over something you haven’t even tried. We often serve distractions from the Kingdom and blind ourselves to the faith that can be increased.

The Christian’s NEED to live without distractions–

Mark 4:19 – but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced

James 1:14 – But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

We have others to think about and less of ourselves. Romans 8:19-21—”All creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” That’s sowing, cultivating, and reaping the Kingdom Culture on earth.

If you are not a Christian, or you need to re-commit your life to Christ because you want to exchange your dependency on the world and find satisfaction only in God, I invite you to come and speak with a staff member who can help you get to that place.