Why Worry?
“a QTIP, a bracelet, and faith”
(Acknowledge worry as a hindrance to faint, and encourage faith over worry)
READING : “Consider the lilies…” Luke 12:22-33
Introduction
(Hebrews 11:1-6 read before sermon) Why do we worry? Everyone does it from time to time. A little bit of worrying is a natural response of the mind to disagreeable events that have happened or have some likelihood of happening. It is normal to worry, but if you worry too much, then it can become a problem. It is difficult, but if a person looks for it, no matter what the situation, there is a way to break the habit of worrying too much.
http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/anxietyworry/AHW_when.html says that it is important to remember that worrying is a habit. A habit is something that is repeated involuntarily. Habits are developed because they have been practiced so often that people just start doing them without being aware of it. Worrying can become a mental habit. If worrying is a common problem for someone, it is partly because that person has done it a lot in the past. There is hope that people can reduce the worrying habit. There is a story…
Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a small business that he had started himself.
"I need someone with an accounting degree," the man said. "But mainly, I'm looking for someone to do my worrying for me."
"Excuse me?" the accountant said.
"I worry about a lot of things," the man said. "But I don't want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back."
"I see," the accountant said. "And how much does the job pay?"
"I'll start you at eighty thousand."
"Eighty thousand dollars!" the accountant exclaimed.
"How can such a small business afford a sum like that?"
"That," the owner said, "is your first worry."
Paying someone to do all our worrying for us is and interesting thought, but most of us would probably run out of money before we ran out of worries.
A friend of mine once told me that worry, is a lot like shoveling smoke, because there is a whole lot of energy that is expended, but very little work really gets done. There is a lot of common sense in that statement. Regardless of whether or not we should do it or not, people worry because it is human nature. Stopping the thinking pattern of worry is a hard thing to do. Humor is one good way to do it, as it distracting one’s self from the pointless pattern that is worry. The ultimate is to replace worry with a pattern of thinking that really relies of God to meet us at our time of need. Living a life of faith, moment-to-moment is a very hard thing to do in my experience. I believe though that there is a way that people can be successful, if they hold onto the hope that we have in God.
BODY
In the reading from Luke, Jesus taught his followers to “consider the lilies”. What is that? These folks were dealing with real problems, and Jesus talks to them about the flowers! Interesting note – when worries seem to overwhelm you, it is a good idea to come up with an alternate thought. Take a step back, and look around you. You might want to take Jesus’ advice in the passage and consider that the heavenly Father takes care of the flowers and the grass. How much more will he take care of you!
In the second reading in the letter to the Hebrews, the writer tells them a good way to break out of the cycle of worry. He tells them to get worry out of their minds and have some faith instead. Is this easy? Absolutely not, but it is possible and he give examples of how the Old Testament folks from Abel to Enoch – inductees into faith’s “hall of fame”, found a way to break out of worry by acting in faith, and in as a result pleasing God.
The trick is the people everywhere need to break out of worry ASAP, but it’s just so difficult sometimes to do that. There are many different ways that you can break out of worry, but having a the answer at the height of worry is difficult. Here are three ways to break the cycle of unproductive worry - “a QTIP, a bracelet, and faith”.
First a Q-tip – you know those useful little sticks with a ball of cotton on each end. We all remember using them at one time or another. I suggest that you consider the little q-tip. It can remind you that maybe everything does not depend only on you. Q-tip stands for “quit taking it personally” (thank you Barbara for pointing this out to me). It is human nature for folks to take responsibility for things that really have very little to do with what they have done or not done. For example, maybe you are caring for a elder who relies on you for day to day care and in spite of all your good work, things are not going well that day. Maybe that day you worry that things are not going very well and you just feel that somehow things will never improve. That is the time to QTIP! Try to take a step back and remember that you have done many good things up to that point. “Good will happen in the future even though it doesn’t seem like it right now”. The problems are not your fault.
Oftentimes people take blame or responsibility for things that are outside of their control. People usually try to figure out why something is happening, and sometimes they blame themselves. I have done this myself many times, but I am coming to realize that it is counterproductive. The thing to remember is often there are circumstances out of our control that cause things to happen. Especially when others are involved, there is little to do but to step back and remember that God is involved too, and he can help! So, QTIP – quit taking things so personally and this can help diffuse worry.
(“a QTIP, a bracelet, and faith”)
Second – A bracelet. Who would have thought that a simple bracelet could help someone break out of worry? We have our good friend and sister in Christ to thank for the reminder that we can break the cycle of worry. She helped us with her little purple bracelets that reminded us to “stop worrying”. We were given the bracelets about one-half year ago and told that we should switch wrists each time we caught ourselves worrying. A physical reminder like that is great way to reminding yourself to stop the worry cycle. We can find a way to stop it as long as we first identify that it is happening. Being self-aware of how you are dealing with the problems that come your way is the first step towards changing a behavior. Thank you Christine for helping us to remember that!
“Just say no”, you may remember was a campain during the 1980’s and early 1990’s to prevent drug use. There is evidence to suggest that drug use and abuse significantly declined during the Reagan presidency.[11][12][13] According research conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, more young people in the 1980s were saying no to drugs.
Though a complete correlation between the drop in drug use and the Just Say No campaign cannot be definitely established, there is little doubt that Nancy Reagan's efforts of speaking out forcefully against drugs increased public awareness of the problem.[ Benze, James G. (2005), p. 63]. “Just saying no” can be effective to help break the cycle of worry, but you need willpower to do it. Where does this power come from?
(“a QTIP, a bracelet, and faith”)
Faith is the power source in the battle against worry. Right now faith is available to all who will exercise this fruit of the Holy Spirit. If you are a believer in Christ, then faith is available to you now to overcome worry. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. There are three things that I like in this verse. First, it is short and to the point – easy to remember. I have committed this one to memory and I would encourage all you to do the same. Second, it offers immediate help. “Now faith is…”, I tend to put things off occasionally. God is not that way. He offers help now – in the moment. We can be confident that God will help. As David writes of God in Psalm 59:16, “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble”.
Faith has the weight needed to displace worries. Real worries that shake us and bring us down can be replaced with faith.
The third thing I love about the verse, is that it reminds us that faith is a substance. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not yet seen” Have you ever really wanted something that has not happened yet, but hope and prayed that it would? There is a tangible substance or evidence for the those things that we hope for, but we have not seen yet. That substance or evidence is faith.
The beautiful thing about faith is you do not need a ton of it. It would be nice to have a lot, but really all you need is a bit and that can be like a spark to a fire or a catalyst to a feeling of confidence. (Take a grass seed out of your pocket and hold it up) Faith as small as this little grass seed is enough to displace worry. Faith is like a grass seed that can displace the weed of worry. Yesterday I pulled a lot of weeds, and put grass seed in it’d place…. Those little seeds will grow grass in the place where there once was a weed. God wants his children to have even just a little bit of faith. It pleases God when his children have even just a tiny bit of faith. The bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God! (Heb 11:6) Confidence comes from trusting in God, and knowing that he cares. Like the scripture verse read today by (insert name), “consider the lilies and grass, how God takes care of them, and how much more he will take care of you.
Jesus says in Matthew 17: 20 says, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." So just a little faith, is all you need to move a mountain of worry. A little bit of faith is all you need to conquer worry. Right here, right now. Remember to replace the habit of unproductive worry, with the habit of faith.
Today maybe you are thinking I wish that I had some faith, even just a tiny bit. This world and all it’s troubles have a way crowding out faith and even pushing us to a point that we wonder if there is any faith available to you. Well there is a faith, a substance that God gives to all who ask him. If you need an extra touch of faith today, do not leave today without asking God for that touch from his hand. Reach out and touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and ask him for faith today.
Have faith today. Have faith in Christ to overcome worry in your life, and for eternal life. This week, if you sense that worry is taking hold, recognize it, don’t take it personally and try to replace worry with just a tiny bit of faith. Pray before you leave today before you leave the sanctuary that God will help you to remember to let faith take hold in your life and to take the place of worries.
Why Worry? Maybe all you need is just a QTIP, a bracelet, and faith. As we close today the recessional song will be a song by Mark Knopfler, Chet Atkins, and the Everly Brothers called “Why Worry Now?”. Let it be a reminder to us to pick faith instead of worry next time that we are tested.
John Court, 6/28/09
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