Living Out These End Times

by Rev. Larry Hutton

“The Sin of Worry” It seems that in our society today, “worry” is running rampant. People are worried about their health, worried about their children, worried about their finances, worried about their jobs, worried about their spouse, worried about getting old, worried about terrorists, worried about what people are thinking about them and even worried about what someone else is worried about!

I looked up the word “worry” in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Worry means to be afflicted with mental distress, or to be anxious. A list of synonyms are as follows: to agonize, fret, be anxious, be concerned, be troubled, be bothered, be apprehensive, be nervous, be fearful and to lose sleep. Stress is even a form of worry. It has been defined as: constant worry, pressure, anxiety and nervous tension.

I titled this article “The Sin of Worry” because worry, which is an offspring of fear, is just the opposite of faith. If you are worried about something then you are not in faith about it. Romans 14:23b says: “…whosoever is not of faith is sin.” The New Jerusalem Bible says it this way, “…and every action which does not spring from faith is sin.” So that means that the very act of worrying is sin! Look at Philippians 4:6. It starts out saying, “Be careful for nothing…” After looking at different Greek concordances you might say it this way, “Don’t be troubled with cares about anything.” By combining different translations of this verse you could say, “Don’t worry, fret or be anxious about anything.”

Listen friend, the bible says, “Do not worry” just as plainly as it says, “Do not commit adultery.” And yet too many Christians are treating worry like it’s just something that goes along with the normality’s of life. No, No, No-it’s just as wrong for us to worry as it is for us to commit adultery, murder or anything else. And here’s something else to ponder-worry is a step out of humility and into pride. Let me show you what I’m talking about. Look at First Peter, chapter five. “Oh, Brother Larry, I know what that says! It tells us to cast our care on the Lord because He cares for us.” Yes, verse 7 does tell us that, but did you notice the verse starts out with the word “casting?: You don’t start a sentence with the word “casting.” Verse 7 is a continuation of what God was saying in verse 6. Let’s look at both verses together.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of god, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.”

Notice it tells us to cast ALL our care. If we cast all our care then we would be carefree. Carefree has been defined as: untroubled, light hearted, relaxed, cheerful or free from care. Well, God is telling us right here that He wants us to live a are free life! But, did you notice that in verse six he starts out by saying, “Jumbled yourselves?” And then He tells us that in order to humble ourselves we must cast our cares upon him. The indication here is that living carefree while walking with god is a true sign of humility. That means that the opposite would also be true-living your life in constant worry is a sign that you are operating in pride. Think about it: Verse six and seven tells me to humble myself under the mighty hand of God by casting my cares upon Him. Notice the phrase “the mighty hand of God.” That means that God can “hand-le” anything and everything that comes our way in life that we would be tempted to worry about. He is a mighty Good and will use His mighty hand to take care of us if we let Him. However, if we keep worrying about something and allowing it to bother us, then we are positioning ourselves on the “throne” of our lives, and in essence telling good that we will handle this situation on our own. That, my friend, is pride. 

But listen-we weren’t designed by God to handle the pressures and cares of life. They will only pull us down into the muck and mire of life. Why do you think that verse six says that God wants to “exalt” you? The Greek word for exalt means to elevate or lift up. Well, what do we need elevated or lifted up out of? Evidently, according to the next verse, it is the cares and worries of life. They must be weighing us down, holding us back, causing us to sink, trying to bring us to a place of hopelessness where we want to give up and quit. But God wants to hold us down! So, we must cast our concerns, worries, cares and fears upon the Lord so He can exalt us.

Look again at Philippians 4:6. It says to “Be careful for nothing.” The Greek word means to be troubled with cares. So, He’s saying we are not to be worried, uptight or stressed out about anything. In other words, live carefree! John 14:27 says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” The Greek word is defined as follows: to cause one inward commotion, to take away his calmness of mind. That is exactly what worry does – it causes inward turmoil and robs you of your peace of mind.

Now listen, God said, “Let not…” That means that we have to make a choice. The implication here is that we can “let” things bother us, or we can “not let” things bother us – the choice is ours. But God told us to “not let” things upset us or bother us and rob us of living a relaxed, peaceful and happy life. If we will obey Him by humbling ourselves and choosing to cast ALL our cares on Him, then He will be our ALL SUFFICIENT ONE, and we will live the abundant life that He has provided for us.

For further teaching material by Reverend Hutton visit his website at www.larryhutton.org.