VICTORIA: YOU KNOW, LIFE WILL ALWAYS PRESENT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT. WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE CARES. WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE CONCERNS. THERE WILL BE THINGS THAT TRY TO TROUBLE US. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT WHEN WE WORRY ABOUT THE CARES OF LIFE AND THE TROUBLES OF LIFE THAT THEY WILL ADD NO VALUE TO US. THE SCRIPTURE TALKS ABOUT THAT.
IT SAYS, “WORRY ADDS NO VALUE TO YOUR LIFE.” I HEARD IT SAID LIKE THIS ONE TIME, “WORRY IS LIKE SITTING IN A ROCKING CHAIR. YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO, BUT YOU GET NOWHERE. YOU JUST ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCK. YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING, BUT IT’S NOT GETTING YOU ANYWHERE.” WORRY IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR LIFE AND IT NEEDS TO BE CONTAINED.
WE NEED TO LEARN TO WIN THE WAR OVER WORRY. YOU KNOW, WORRY DOES CHANGE ONE THING. WORRY CHANGES YOUR PERSONALITY. IT MAKES YOU FRUSTRATED, SUSPICIOUS, CRANKY, MISERABLE. WORRY IS NOT GOOD FOR US. IT CHANGES WHO WE ARE AND IT CAUSES US TO MISS THE BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT AND TO BE FRUITFUL IN OUR LIVES. IT LITERALLY CHOKES US SPIRITUALLY.
LISTEN. DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN JESUS WAS AT MARY AND MARTHA’S HOME? HE WAS THERE TO HAVE A DINNER AND TO FELLOWSHIP WITH MARY AND MARTHA AND HER BROTHERS. HE NOTICED SOMETHING ABOUT MARTHA. IT MUST HAVE BEEN IN HER PERSONALITY BECAUSE HE SAID TO THIS TO HER. HE SAID, “MARTHA, MARTHA, YOU’RE ANXIOUS AND TROUBLED ABOUT SO MANY THINGS.
” SEE, HE SAW HER MOVING AROUND DOING A LOT OF STUFF, BUT SHE WASN’T FRUITFUL IN WHAT SHE WAS DOING. HE WASN’T DISCREDITING THAT THERE WERE THINGS TO BE DONE, BUT HE WAS ADDRESSING HOW SHE WAS HANDLING THOSE THINGS. HE SAYS, “YOU’RE SO ANXIOUS AND SO TROUBLED.” YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE THAT WHEN WE’RE ANXIOUS AND WHEN WE’RE TROUBLED, WE MISS WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR LIFE RIGHT NOW AND I BELIEVE THAT’S WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO SAY TO HER.
HE WAS TRYING TO SAY, “YOU’RE ALLOWING THE DAY-TO-DAY CARES PULL YOU AWAY FROM ME, CAUSE YOU TO GO IN THE WRONG DIRECTION INSTEAD OF PULLING YOU CLOSE TO ME.” HE WAS SHOWING US WHAT WORRY AND STRESS DO. NOW, ON THE OTHER HAND, MARY, HER SISTER, SHE HANDLED THE SITUATION DIFFERENTLY. THEY WERE SISTERS. THEY LIVED IN THE SAME HOUSEHOLD.
THEY BASICALLY HAD THE SAME CONCERNS. BUT MARY HANDLED THE DAY-TO-DAY WORRIES DIFFERENTLY THAN HER SISTER MARTHA. SHE DID THIS. SHE STOPPED. SHE ALLOWED JESUS TO SPEAK INTO HER LIFE. THE BIBLE SAYS SHE EVEN LINGERED IN HIS PRESENCE. SHE SAT AT HIS FEET. SEE, SHE HAD THINGS TO DO AS WELL, BUT SHE KNEW THE MOST FRUITFUL THING SHE COULD DO, THE VERY BEST PART OF HER DAY WAS GOING TO BE SPENDING IT WITH JESUS BECAUSE SHE KNEW, SOMEHOW, INSTINCTIVELY, IF SHE COULD GET THAT TIME WITH JESUS, THEN EVERYTHING ELSE WOULD BE OKAY.
YOU SEE, THESE TWO SISTERS, THEY HANDLED THE CARES OF LIFE DIFFERENTLY. PAUL TELLS US A LITTLE INSIGHT AND A SECRET INTO THIS THING CALLED “WORRY” AND HE SAYS IT LIKE THIS. HE SAYS IN PHILIPPIANS 4:6, “DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING. DON’T BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION GIVING THANKS TO GOD, LETTING YOUR REQUEST BE MADE KNOWN.
