know what's real: sobermindedness v. worry

Hi, ladies! 

Today wraps up our five week "know what's real" study.  :)

I thought we'd finish with a look at Biblical sobermindedness and its worldly counterfeit, worry.

Let's look at worry first.  Some of you know it as a near-constant companion.

Worry

Levity is a huge value in U.S. culture.  Americans do not like snobs, and we certainly do not like people who take themselves too seriously.  For that matter, we don't like people who take life too seriously.  If people are going to talk about serious things, we want them to take little breaks to throw in some jokes to relieve the tension.

The problem with this emphasis on lighthearted living is that life is not a bowl of cherries. What to do when we get broadsided by the grief, heartache, and pain of a fallen world?

We worry. 

I am absolutely convinced that worry is a cheap counterfeit replacement for the Biblical concept of soberminded living.  For many people, worry has replaced prayer, time in God's word, and a steady faith in God's sovereignty.

If you do not believe me, play this little game for one week.  Start paying attention to your friends, family, and acquaintances, and start noticing how often people talk about their own fears, anxieties, and worries. 

Also, when you are in line at the grocery store in front of the women's magazines, or listening to the news, or glancing at the paper, start paying attention to how often we are urged to worry.  The world commands us to worry! 

The media even goes so far as to make up problems for us to worry about, as if there are not enough real things goings on.  (Am I really supposed to fret that I have wrinkles next to my eyes because I've been smiling for 44 years?)

Jesus commanded us not to worry.  Look what he said in Matthew 6:34:

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

That's kind of funny, isn't it? "You're worried about tomorrow being bad, but today is bad on its own."  That seems a strange kind of comfort.  

But look at the word "therefore," which can be read "for that reason."  

"For that reason, do not be anxious about tomorrow."  

For what reason?  What is the basis for Jesus's command to us not to worry?

The verses before Matthew 6:34 contain the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus exhorts us to pray daily that God's kingdom will come, that His will will be done, and that our needs will be met.  He also tells us to pray daily for forgiveness and to pray daily that we will be spared from the evil one.

The chapter also goes on to remind us that we should lay up our treasure in heaven rather than on earth, and stresses the impermanence of any "treasure" we have here on earth.  Then, verses 25 through 33 say,

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? 

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

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

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? 

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Did you catch the truths in this passage that caused Matthew to begin verse 34 with the word "therefore"?Don't worry because:

1) Life is more than food.  The body is more than clothing.  There is more going on here than the material world!

2) God values us more than He values the birds, for whom He provides.

3) We cannot add time to our lives by worrying.

4) God knows that we have needs and He will meet them, but we are to seek Him first, and He will take care of the other stuff.  Seek His kingdom and seek His righteousness.

God gives us grace each day to get through that day.  Worrying is an indication in our lives that we are not trusting God to be the God who He says He is. 

Look at Isaiah 40 verses 7 and 8:

All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Again, maybe some strange verses to comfort you with. :)  But it's true. We're all grass. Some of us function as if we will never die, and some of us function as if we ourselves were God.  

But we will die, and we're not God.  And worry is a futile and soul-crushing waste of time.

Look at these truths further down in Isaiah 40:21-26:

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. 

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 

To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.

Do you remember when we talked recently about Martha, who was "distracted with much serving" when Jesus came to visit her house? And she was ticked off that her sister Mary left her alone to do all the serving while Mary sat and listened to Jesus? Do you remember what Jesus told her?

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

Are you a Martha who has Jesus in her house and worries about the dishes?  Or are you worried because you believe the world is a terrible place and that God is unjust?  Do you think He does not see and does not care? That is untrue. You do not know or love or care about God's world more than He does.

Look at this in Isaiah 35:

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. 

For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 

And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 

No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The more we recognize that God is sovereign and that He will accomplish His purposes to His great glory, and that life is all about Him, the less we will worry.  

Look at these verses in Isaiah 46:

. . . for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’

The more we believe that we are the center of the known universe, and that life is all about us, the more we will worry.

Sobermindedness

First Timothy 3:11 tells us that women should be "dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things."

Second Timothy 4:3,4 talks about a time when people "will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Verse 5 then says, "As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

Titus 2 tells us "Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine."

First Peter 1:13 says, ". . . preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."  First Peter 5:1-6 goes on to say:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Look at this bit in 1 Peter 1 just before the "therefore" of verse thirteen.  Why should we hope in Him and be sober-minded as we wait?  

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

We are not placing our hope in a set of laws or a dead philosopher's ideas or a fellow human's biased or unstable opinions. We are placing our hope in a risen Lord who is holding an inheritance for us that is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading." 

Our hope is a LIVING hope.  We do not have to worry. 

Let's look again at verse 13, and the verses which immediately follow it:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy."

We don't make light of the world's grief by being frivolous.  Romans 12:15 tells us to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."  We're not supposed to retreat into a land of fairytales or jokes or distractions to avoid facing other people's burdens.  We're supposed to get in there and bear each other's burdens. 

We're going to suffer.

But we're not supposed to replace a daily, grounded sobermindedness with reactive, self-centered worry. We're not supposed to function as if the default in life is that it's here for our amusement, and the aberration is that bad things happen to (hopefully other, far away) people and we must run around and freak out for a few days (loudly, emotionally, and self-righteously, if possible), until we forget their grief and can get back to our own entertainment and pleasure.

We serve a powerful and very good King, and we have to come to Him daily with our burdens for ourselves and our loved ones, and for the world.  Again, 1 Peter 5:6,7:

Humble yourselves, therefore, 
under the mighty hand of God
so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
casting all your anxieties on him,
because he cares for you.

My prayer today is that I will be a soberminded woman who fears and loves God. I pray that my worries in life will give way to a steady trust in God's sovereignty over all things, and His ability to redeem all for His glory. This is also my prayer for the women who read this post today. :)