Is it a sin to worry?

I'm lying in bed last night and I could not sleep. My life is in a meat grinder right now and I have no idea what God has planned for me. So I lay in bed half praying half worrying and getting nowhere but frustrated. Suddenly I had the thought. Is it a sin to worry? I confess to God that I was worrying and very soon I was asleep.

The question still stands this morning. Is worry a sin. Let's dig in.

Mathew 6::25 Says "Therefore do not worry about your life..." I've been taught that when one sees a "Therefore" back up to see what it there for. So we'll begin with verse 19.

Matthew 6:19-34 (New International Version, ©2011)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I am very materialistic. I want "the next best thing". I'm a movie collector and a shooter. So I want all the movies I can get my hands on and just about every pistol, rifle or shotgun used in any of the films I see. These at times become an obsession that makes everything else I think about second place. I've often spent money I don't have (credit) on these things that I don't need. There is joy in the aquisition, but it is very short lived.

Verse 20 talks of storing up in heaven and verse 21 talks about the treasure of the heart. I'm so wrapped up in the things of this world that the things of heaven take last place most of the time.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

What am I taking in through the lamps in my body? What am I watching? That's what I get here.

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Serving me, man, money, lust or glutteny all come in conflict with serving God. I cannot serve God and continue to chase after this world. I think of how many hours I spend on movies, guns and facebook vs how many hours I spend in God's word, prayer or worship.

Now we come to the "therefore" in verse 25.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I'm so busy with aquiring "stuff" that I don't take the time to look for God. To appreciate Him for who He is. I miss out on God's peace because I'm not grateful for what I have and want MORE. Philipians 4:6-8

I'm reminded of the story of the man that brought his deaf and mute son to Jesus saying "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

Mark 9:23-25 (New International Version, ©2011)
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

Help me overcome my unbelief dear God.

This morning I opened my e-mail to do my morning devotional. Today's passage is Revelation 5 I encourage you to take the time to read it. I was encouraged and reminded that THIS is the God in whom I was doubting last night. A humbling experience.

God Bless.