Do you worry--about money?

People worry about money. An recent newspaper articles stated, “Although the economy is growing, Americans are deeply worried about their day-to-day finances, especially their debt. . . .More than 80 percent of the 1,000 people polled describe household debt as a very serious or somewhat serious problem for the country—and most say it has gotten worse in the past five years. . . .Almost a quarter of those polled say their finances are so pinched they can’t pay all their bills every month”

Worry seems to be such a harmless thing, but it actually is dangerous. Worry is like fog. According to the US Bureau of Standards “A dense fog that covers a seven city block area one hundred feet deep (a very dense, thick fog) is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops”—not much is there at all but it can cripple an entire city. I think that is a pretty good illustration of worry. Put it all together and you don’t have much more than a glass of water but you can sure mess up a whole lot of people.

“Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and the providence of God.”--John MacArthur

“Worry is interest paid on trouble before it’s due.” --William Enns

“Worry is a thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind. If encouraged it will cut a channel so wide that all other thoughts will be drowned in it.”

“Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”

David Powlison writes, “Worry says ‘goodnight’ and wakes you up in the middle of the night. It greets you in the morning with, ‘Hi, here I am. Think about me.” Worry preys on the uncertain. “Will I get that? Maybe or maybe not!” “Will I lose that?” Maybe or maybe not. And we don’t worry about money alone. We worry about things like. . .

Do I have any real friends?
What if I don’t make the team? What if someone else gets the leading role?
Will I be accepted to college?
Will I ever find a spouse?
Will we ever be able to have children?
If we do, how will they turn out?
What if I get Alzheimers? Will I die of cancer?

But in Luke 12:22-34, Jesus Christ tells us not to worry. In fact, he uses words in the original Greek that mean, "If you aren't worrying, don't start it. If you are worrying, then stop it!"

Worry isn’t a small trivial sin. 100% of all mental illness and most of physical illness is related to worry. But the worst thing isn’t what worry does to you, but it is what it says about God. It strikes a blow at the Word and Person of God. Worry is a monumental sin. It disbelieves Scripture. You can believe in the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture and yet you worry??? Worry means that you are mastered by your circumstances, not the Word of God!

So Lord, may we use the power of the Spirit of God so freely available to us to watch and pray and be on our guard against all covetousness! Help us, we pray, to obey what we have learned. Through your spirit, we want to fight for faith and fight against worry! Right now we cast our care upon You! Oh, may we pursue holiness this week vigilantly and guard against this besetting sins. In the name of the One who bore your wrath by enduring suffering for our sins, Jesus, we pray