Take Your Burdens To The Lord
Introduction
People are prone to worry. Have you ever considered why you spend so much time worrying? Worry, to me, is the result of forgetting God is for you. Not long ago there was a little song that carries this truth to the pages. It reads: If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold, And you have to get along with meager fair.
Just remember in His Word
How He feeds the little bird.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Leave it there . . . leave it there.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If you trust and never doubt
He will surely bring you out.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Charles Tindley (1851-1933) was a popular Methodist preacher whose church could not hold his 10,000 members and the visitors who came to hear him preach. Tindley and his congregation were excited that he had been nominated as Bishop of the Methodist Church in spite of the fact that he had never graduated from high school. When he returned home from the yearly conference, he was discouraged because he was not appointed as Bishop. You see what happened was someone had given a letter to all the delegates accusing him of immoral conduct, a lack of formal education, and insensitivity to his fellow ministers. Even at the conference he was not allowed an opportunity to refute these charges. His wife encouraged him by reminding him of the sermon he had preached about the disciples being in the storm with Jesus. It was during this bitter experience that God gave him the song, Leave it There.
Lots of things in life attempt to cause us to fret and worry. As you study Scripture, especially this Scripture, Jesus gave three rules for avoiding worry.
I. Consider The Substance Of Life (v. 25-30)
A. The Message Presented (v. 26)
Jesus asked an important question, "Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?" (v. 25) Jesus is driving home the point that we are to fully understand who you are in Christ.
1. God's Family
When you are saved you become a part of God's forever family.
2. Membership Has Its Privileges
When you are saved your Heavenly Father takes on responsibility for you. You are no longer an orphan floundering in life; instead you are part of the bloodline.
3. Count On It
Because we are part of the bloodline there are certain things we can count on from God. We can count on certain things from God not because of a contract but because of a covenant. Not because of a legal statute but because of a loving stance. When you are going through struggles and anxiety, here is what you can count on:
Commitment
Consistency
Intimacy
Protection and provision
Active listening
Spiritual equipping In other words – God consistently reminds us He is invested in our lives. As a well-invested, engaged Father, three times He tells us, "Do not worry!" Why does He tell us this? He tells us this because worry is unnecessary. Why? Because you are part of the Kingdom of God. The King says, "I will supply all your needs according to My riches." (Philippians 4:19) In the component of the heart of God is everything one could ever need. You need wisdom?
God gives it liberally. You need comfort? God says, "Cast all your cares upon Me." You need assurance of His presence? "I walk with you even through the shadow of death. I will never leave you nor forsake you." You need strength? You need power? You need provision? It all resides within the heart of our Father who says, "Do not worry!" So the message presented is that worry is unnecessary.
B. The Message Personalized
Jesus does not stop there. Jesus gives three illustrations to personalize the message. When you are in the grips of worry, there are three important truths to remember.
1. Worry Is Foolish! (v. 25-26)
Question: Does not God place more value on you than all of His creation? Jesus takes the fowl of the air and points out just how foolish worry is. Do you ever see them toiling? Sowing in hopes to reap? The answer is no! God just provides for them! "So Pastor, are you telling us that we don't have sow; therefore we don't have to worry about reaping? God is just going to dump it in our laps?" The point is not that we are to cease our sowing, reaping and gathering. The point is not to go on God's welfare. The point is if a loving heavenly Father will care for these who cannot sow, cannot reap, cannot gather, and yet He provides for them, how much more will He care for those who can? Later in Matthew 7:7 Jesus gives us a great promise. As you ask, God will give to you. As you seek, God will make sure you find. As you knock, God will open it to you. So don't worry and remember you are special to God. Remember birds don't worry, they sing and chirp and fly and build nests, but they don't worry! You and I are the only creatures made in His image. We are valuable in the eyes of our Father. So Jesus is saying worry is foolish, the Father loves you!
2. Worry Is Fruitless! (v. 27)
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? Let this verse soak in. Worrying cannot add an inch to your height or a pound to your weight. Worry never solved a problem, dried a tear, lifted a burden, or removed an obstacle. It never makes bad things good or good things better.
Let me tell you what worry really does. It has been said that worry simply pulls tomorrow's clouds over today's sunshine and it empties today of its strength.
You can't enjoy the blessings of today because you're focused on and worrying about tomorrow!
Someone observed that worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere. Jesus says it is fruitless and non-productive.
A University of Michigan study determined that 60% of our worries are unwarranted. 20% have already become past activities and are completely out of our control. 10% are so petty that they don't make any difference at all. Of the remaining 10% only 4-5% are real and justifiable and of those, we can't do anything about half of them. So only 2% of our worries are real. To put it another way, 98% of all your worries are absolutely fruitless!
Jesus says it can't add an inch to your height, a pound to your weight much less a minute to your life.
3. Worry Is Faithless (v. 28-30)
Now follow this through if you will. We were just told God provides for the birds. We were told that worry cannot add an inch to your height or a pound to your weight or a minute to your life. Now we are reminded how faithful God is in a simpler matter. We're told He clothes the lilies of the fields. Listen, plants are more fragile than birds and more short-lived than humans. Do you know people picked plants in the day of Christ and used them as fuel for ovens in which they baked bread?
Put your mind in the mind of Jesus and listen to His reasoning. If God lavishes such concern over the rest of His creation, how much more does He love us? Church, worry, therefore, results from a "lack of genuine belief in God's goodness and God's mercy." R. Mounce, a great theologian, said "Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God." Faith and worry are mutually exclusive. When you worry about a situation, you are telling God you don't believe Him! What Christians need to understand is that you can believe in God but not believe God.
How many times has God cried out, "Trust Me!" And we reply with an atheistic response, "God, I'm not sure I can trust you!" George Mueller, one of the greatest men of God who ever lived rightfully said, "The beginning of worry is the end of faith. The beginning of faith is the end of worry." You and I need to understand worry denies the sovereignty of God and the authority of God in our lives, whereas faith and trust unleash the power of Glory upon us.
III. Consider The Stress Of Life (v. 31-33)
A. Perverted Priorities
Today we have lost perspective. We have allowed our wants to override our needs. The false, destructive god of greed has seized so many of us! We've spent ourselves into a frenzy of worry. The result is we lay our heads on the pillow at night and instead of counting sheep to go to sleep, we count bills jumping across the bed. We cry ourselves to sleep worrying about what we're going to do. It's like stacking a deck of cards by leaning them against one another. You hold your breath as one more is added to the tower. Or if the wind blows the wrong way, the fear is it will all collapse around you. When we are focused only on the things of the world with no thought of eternity, we have perverted priorities. When tragedy comes to this world, our lives fall apart. Why? Because we've built our lives on materialism and not the Master. But Jesus says, "Worrying about materialism is unworthy of the citizen of the Kingdom of God." So what are we to do?
B. Proper Priorities (4 Priorities)
1. There Is A Principle We Must See
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. (v. 33) Jesus said the way to stop worrying is to stop seeking after the wrong things and start seeking after the right things. We are primarily to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness. It means to seek God's rule in our lives. That's what the word kingdom means. A kingdom is simply a place where a king rules. We must come to the point where once and for all we submit ourselves totally to Jesus Christ as Lord. When you submit to His will the worry ends and the joy begins.
J. Wilbur Chapman was a great preacher of yesteryear. One time he went to London and had the opportunity to meet with General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. Sitting in his office, he asked Booth "What has been the secret of your tremendous success? How have you managed to make such an impact and influence on this world?" Booth paused for a moment and then tears came to his eyes and he said, "I will tell you what the secret is. God has had all there is of me. There have been men with greater brains than me, men with greater opportunities, but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart and a vision of what Jesus could do with these men, I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was." The point is Booth allowed Jesus to rule his heart and life.
2. There Is A Person You Must Seek
Seek first the kingdom of God. God's control of your life is not something you passively accept. It is something you actively seek. It is something you go after. I can tell you something about your relationship with God this very moment without even knowing you. I do not know how much of God you have, but you have all of God that you want. Dr. Vance Havner used to say, "God does not have favorites but He does have intimates." You are as close to God today as you want to be. If you don't feel close to God, it's not His fault. God has promised in His Word, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
3. There Is A Priority You Must Set
Seek first the Kingdom of God. It's simple: if you're going to win the war over worry, God must come first. My friend, Jesus does not want a place in your life. Jesus does not even want prominence in your life. Jesus wants preeminence in your life! Jesus wants the first moment of every morning when you get out of bed, the first day of every week, the first fruit of your income. He wants to be first in every area of your life. Listen, He's not interested in being the first runner up in your beauty contest or vice president of your corporation, or even second in command in your army. He doesn't even want to be the co-pilot of your car! He just wants to be first in your life!
4. There is A Promise You Must Seize
He said, "and all these things shall be added unto you." Jesus said, "If you will put Me first, I will take care of everything else." He says, "I will take care of your food, your fashion, your finances, your fitness, and your future." King David understood it when he wrote: "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it."