Do Not Be Anxious- Part 1

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MW Editor’s Note: This is a two-part post taken from a sermon preached by Mentoring Warrior’s Executive Director, David Riffel, at a village church in Malawi Africa. Be sure to catch part 2 for the conclusion and challenge.

If there is one thing that has unfortunately characterized my life, it is anxiety.  

Worry. Fret. Fear. 

Too many nights I have lost sleep in my bed, tossing and turning, anxious about tomorrow.

Questions rolling around in my mind.

What if I do not have what it takes to do what I should do?

What if I don’t have enough money to buy food?

What if I don’t have clothes to wear?

What if those in my school will laugh at me or harm me?

What if I become ill and have no money to get medical help?

What if I do not recover?  Who will take care of my family?

About nine years ago, I faced death by nearly drowning in a lake. 

 My son and the young man who would marry our daughter and I had gone on a hiking trip into the bush in Canada. 

We packed our tent and food to spend the night.

After our campfire supper, my son decided to take a swim. He was 19 years old and a strong swimmer. He swam to a rock that sat out of the water.

I decided to swim to him. 

About halfway to my son, I started to lose all my strength.

 I began to sink into the lake.  When I tried to call my son for help, my words were barely able to be heard. I could not speak. 

Help me!  Help me!

The lake water hit my lips and I quickly thought this would be my last day.

 I was drowning and if my son could not pull me out of the water, I would die.

I was very anxious.  I could not save myself.

Suddenly, my son reached into the water and pulled me onto the rock he had been sitting on!

God saved me by using my son!

I was scared and confused.

My son helped me get back to shore and I lay down in my hammock to rest.

My anxiety was high!  I was worried this was the last day of my life. Jesus help me!

Yes, I had trusted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour when I was 12 years old, but now I was much older, a husband, a father and facing a very big crisis.

God, are you there?

I was able to make it back to our home, but that near drowning caused me to see a doctor; who could help me figure out what happened to my body. 

About six months later, after many doctor exams and tests, my difficult season became worse.  

Just two weeks after our daughter’s happy wedding celebration, my doctor informed me that my heart was in desperate need of surgery. 

Open heart surgery.

I was taken to the hospital where they prepared my body. 

To do this surgery they had to put my body to sleep and cut my chest open to repair arteries that fed blood to my heart.  

There are many details about my surgery and recovery but the good news is they were able to restart my heart and wake me up!

I was in deep physical pain.

Even though the surgery was a success, it took many months to recover my strength. 

During this long season of physical pain and recovery, I found myself in a deep spirit of anxiety.

What if the surgery didn’t fix my heart completely?  What if I faced another heart surgery?

Does God know about all this pain?

Has God forgotten me?

Anxiety comes in a lot of forms.

For me, it was a near-lake drowning that discovered my heart was sick.

Anxiety can come in not knowing what you will eat next, or where you will sleep, 

Or if you will have enough money to take care of yourself and your family. 

Jesus knew all about anxiety and worry. He told his disciples that anxiety is the opposite of faith.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-33.  

I will read through Jesus’ words and share a few thoughts for each verse.

 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 

When I look out and see you and myself, I know that no matter where we live on the earth, we each need food to eat and clothes for our bodies. 

Some people have more than they need, while others of us have very little. 

Perhaps no food or clothing. We wake up hungry.  We wonder if something is wrong that we have so little.  

Did God forget me?

Did God forget you?

Jesus is telling us that your life is MORE than food and clothing.

 Jesus goes on to say…

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

There are many beautiful birds in Malawi.  Over 683 species. Birds we do not have where I come from in America.

The birds do not have a farm. They do not plant nor do they harvest or store their food in barns. 

They do none of that. Any yet, our heavenly Father feeds them.  

When you see a bird eat, God is feeding them.

Jesus then asks a question that is very important to how you see your life.  Jesus says,

Are you not of more value than they? 

Hold out your hands.  

Look at them. 

Put your hands on your chest and say

God values me more than the birds of the air.

Now look to the person sitting by you and tell them.

God values you more than the birds of the air!

This is true!

When God sees you, He delights in you!

We learn in Acts 17 that God determines the exact times and places each of us lives, and that God is not far from any of us.

You were born in Malawi at this time in history for a reason and a purpose. 

And that purpose is to know God in a deeply trusting way.

Do you trust Jesus? Is Jesus the most important relationship you have?

Jesus continues in Matthew chapter 6.

27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

When I worry, I do not add time to my life. I usually lose sleep which makes me tired the next day. 

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 

29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

There are beautiful flowers in Malawi.  The Lotus Flower is the national flower of Malawi. So colourful, so gorgeous.  We do not have any flowers like this where we live in America.  You are blessed to have such beauty.

Listen to Jesus as he continues…

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

If God clothes the grass and the flowers will he not much more clothe you?  When Jesus says “You of little faith?”  He is not insulting our trust, but saying that our anxiety will decrease as we grow in our faith. 

I want to tell you about a godly man who learned to trust God for provisions. 

George Muller lived in England in the 1800s. He is known as a God-fearing man who gave his life to helping countless orphans in England.  This is what George Muller had to say about anxiety and faith.

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

I like how George says it because it helps me realize how important Jesus’ words are to overcoming anxiety.

Where are you at with anxiety? Where are you at with faith? Check out part two of this sermon and its conclusions and challenges.

Warrior On!