Title: What Are You Concerned About?
Contents
♡♥♡ What are you concerned about? / Matthew 6:25-32
***Introduction
This is the era of information flooding. It is said that information for 100 years in the 10th century is generated in just one day now. This fact should be said to have increased the number of 'hearts' that modern people are concerned about and worry about.
During World War II, it is said that about 300,000 American youth died in the war. However, it is said that more than one million Americans have died of heart disease because their sons and husbands were sent to war, and because of anxiety and anxiety.
The rich man Carnegie said, “I am three times more efficient at work than the average person.” The reason is that people usually start worrying about what to do before they start working, worry while working, and worry after work, but they worry only once while working.
We often put ourselves in a dilemma. In other words, people build high walls in front and behind in their lives, and they often fall down incapacitated by being trapped in between. The wall behind is regret for yesterday, and the wall in front is concern for tomorrow. Jesus referred to these concerns as “vain, having no profit.” In verse 27 of the text, he asks, “Will you grow taller by worrying about your short stature?”
The apostle Paul, however, did not dwell on anxiety for long and came to a quick conclusion. Even if you are a Christian, you realize that good and evil exist together. And our conclusion is in verse 25. “Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, with my heart I myself serve the law of God, and with the flesh the law of sin.” said We must learn to acknowledge our condition Healing starts with acknowledgment.
What are you concerned about?
Think about what worries and concerns you have in your mind right now. Perhaps the most concern is about the life of 衣食住. These concerns have been common to mankind since the existence of the human world. Even now, 3 people every 5 seconds, 34 people every minute, and 50,000 people a day are dying of hunger in the world. Those close neighbors are North Korean compatriots. Isn't food, clothing, and shelter the biggest concern for them?
Not only these, but no one in the world is without concern. Each of the five billion people in the world will have their own concerns. Humans are concerned from the moment they are born. Babies are only on hold for a while until their perception develops. Seen this way, the very existence of a human being is a matter of concern. These worries are when things are good, they pause for a while, and when things get dark, they weigh on your whole life. So Jesus says in Luke 21:34. “Watch yourselves! Otherwise, your hearts will be dulled with debauchery, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly like a trap.”
What worries do you have right now? Do you have a way to address those concerns? In the text of this very hour, Jesus is preaching to those who are concerned about the issue of food, clothing, and shelter. God says, ‘You feed and clothe even the birds and lilies, which are insignificant creatures, but will you not take care of people who are made in God’s image?’ Through this, God is providing a way for the believers who are wracked with anxiety.
If so, how can we get rid of anxiety?
This is the story of Dr. Branton, co-founder of an organization called the Religious and Psychiatric Foundation in the United States. One day, while meeting the writer Arthur Golden for an interview, the doctor saw Arthur's worried face and asked.
“Arthur, what happened?” Then the artist said, "While waiting for you, I looked back on my past and thought, 'If this were the case'". Dr. Branton then suggested that we go to his office after dinner and talk.
The doctor turned on the tape recorder in the office and played it. “These tapes have the words of three people recorded. They are all patients I have treated, so listen to them carefully.” Mr. Golden listened to the tape for almost an hour.
Then Dr. Branton asked. “Can you tell me what you found in common between them?” Arthur Golden replied, “I don’t know.” Then the doctor
“Then I will tell you. They all say, ‘If… if… if… ' I'm just saying. This word caused me to be mentally ill. The if-if assumption is like poison. These people are like, ‘Next time… , next time… , next time… 'You have to learn to say this. It means hope, it means healing, it means health.”
He said that the two ills of anxiety mentioned above are 1) regretting the past, and 2) worrying about the future that has not yet come. What is regret? It is clinging to a situation that has already passed and is irreversible, such as ‘I wish I had done this!’ or ‘I would rather do this!’ And worrying about the future is, ‘If … If you do!’, you create all kinds of assumptions about the future.
Do these two worries help us in our lives? The past has no meaning in life because it has already flown out of time irretrievably. However, worrying about the future that has not come is like buying unnecessary worries. So Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord. He will uphold you; He will never allow the righteous to be moved.”
Even the Apostle Peter told us to cast our anxieties on God. See 1 Peter 5:7. “Cast all your anxieties on the Lord. For he is admonishing you.” The word 'recommendation' means 'to take care of' or 'to take care of', and the overall meaning is 'to be concerned with the Lord'. Therefore, we must place all our worries and concerns into the hands of Almighty God, who cares and cares for us.
How, then, do we cast our worries on God? Let's look at Philippians 4:6. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” It is possible to entrust what you ask to God as Arron. However, you must have faith in this Aryun. If I tell you, you must have confidence that God will take care of it. Doubt is an unacceptable act. God speaks to those who cannot entrust it to them because they do not have faith. Let's look at Isaiah 45:7. “I form light and create darkness; I form peace and create tribulation; I am the LORD. He who does all these things.” And in Deuteronomy 32:39, “Now know that I, even I, am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal, and no one is able to deliver out of my hand.”
In this way, leave it in the hands of God. The meaning of 'entrust' is 'to throw out'. It's like the situation in a baseball game after a pitcher throws the ball hard at the opposing batter. The ball that leaves the pitcher's hand no longer belongs to the pitcher, whether thrown well or poorly. In this way, we throw all the worries of our lives into the hands of Almighty God at once. Giving up like this is faith. If you cast all your worries on the Lord in this way, God advises you. The word ‘recommendation’ here means ‘a state of being carefully cared for’. Those who cast their worries on God in this way receive God's care.
The words that clearly show this fact are found in 1 Samuel 1:9 and below. This is the story of Samuel's mother, Hannah. When Hannah was ridiculed for having no children, her heart was troubled and she prayed and wept. At that time, the priest Eli blessed Hannah, saying, ‘I want God to hear Hannah’s prayer.’ Since then, Hannah has testified that ‘I went and ate and there was no more search in my face.’ This is entrusting you with faith. God advised Hannah according to her faith, and she opened her womb and gave birth to her.
As such, Christian anxieties and worries can be resolved by entrusting them with faith to God through prayer and supplication. Since God already knows what we need, we just need to ask it through prayer and supplication. It goes without saying that you shouldn't worry about it after it's been entrusted to you. If you worry again after entrusting it with prayer, it soon becomes a sin of unbelief. Nothing can be expected of such a person.
See James 1:6-8. There is a word for those who doubt. “Ask in faith alone, and do not doubt in the slightest. He who doubts is like a wave of the sea tossed and tossed by the wind. He is a double-minded, undecided in all things.”
On the other hand, he responds correspondingly to those who trust in God in any circumstance. In Daniel 3, there is a story about the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the thorough faith of Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were brought before the king because they did not bow down to the golden image that the king had set up. King Nebuchadnezzar was angry and called the three men. Then he promised to give him another chance to bow down to the statue. He said that it would be good if he bowed down to the statue, but if he did not bow again this time, he would be thrown into the blazing furnace. At that time, the answers of the three friends showed their absolute trust in God and the attitude of faith that entrusted their lives.
Daniel 3:17-18. “If it be so, O king, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the raging furnace, and from your hand. Even if you don't! O king, know that we will not serve your gods, nor will we bow down to the golden image you have set up.”
The answer of these three men was never desperation, but faith at the risk of their lives. They trusted God, and they confessed that faith with their mouths. That's why Romans 10:10 says, "With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made, resulting in salvation."
So always acknowledge God in your life. And confess with your mouth. Then you will experience God's help realistically. It is promised in Proverbs 3:6. “Acknowledge him in all things! Then he will direct your way.”
Dr. Sindler, director of Monroe Hospital in Wisconsin, USA, says that 30 percent of rheumatism is caused by the breakdown of muscles that are stressed by nerve tension. And 33% of skin diseases and 50% of gallbladder diseases are caused by the chaos of inner life.
At least half of all diseases of modern people are not caused by the breakdown of body tissues, but rather from the worries of the mind and confusion in life.
Therefore, believers must be strong in spirit, and then prosper in all things and physical health follow. To this end, the Lord commanded us to leave the problems of man's life to God and to seek God's will and righteousness to be accomplished in the world. Then he said he would do it.
Although the present generation is difficult and difficult, I pray that you will have strength and prosperity both physically and spiritually by acknowledging God and confessing with your mouth in all things, and entrusting your life to God.