Here is another excerpt from David Powlison’s recent blog post on worry.

The middle of the passage gives another take on why you worry. “Which of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his lifespan, a single hour? If you can’t even do a small thing, why are you worrying about the rest?” Worriers act as if they might be able to control the uncontrollable. That’s something central to the problem of worry. It’s the illusion that we can control things. “If only I could get my retirement right, I could control the future.” “If only my parents would give me three dollars more allowance, I wouldn’t get caught short on Saturday when my friends want to catch a movie, but I spent my money on candy bars earlier in the week.” “If only I could get my diet and medicine right, I wouldn’t get cancer.” “If only I could figure out the right childrearing technique, I could guarantee how my kids turn out.” Control. Worry assumes the possibility of control— over the uncontrollable. The illusion of control lurks inside your anxiety. You’ll see it in yourself, and in the people God gives you to help. Anxiety and control are two sides of one coin. We want to control something. Since we can’t control it, we worry about it.

Jesus’ final comment gives you one more handle on why you worry. A worrier is storing “treasure” in the wrong place. If what you most value can be taken away or destroyed, then you set yourself up for anxiety. Money? health? a particular friendship? the dream of marriage? success in sports or business? how your children turn out? Even when you feel good, when everything’s going your way, you’re building your house on sand. Your treasure is vulnerable. And whenever what is “precious” to you is threatened, you’ll be gripped with fear. Guaranteed. Where do you store your treasure? In iffy things or certainties?

Jesus takes apart why we worry. So why do you worry? What desires are you greedy for? What life objectives snuff out your awareness of God? What wants make you want to control your world? Grasp those things, and Jesus’ alternative will become very, very precious to you.

The following is an excerpt from an article and blog post by David Powlison.  If you battle worry- or even if you don’t- I think you will find his insights very helpful for seeing the heart of worry and Jesus’ solution to it.

One of the things that makes money such a neat worry to think about is that it has an obsessive component. It’s always there. It says “Goodnight” to you. It wakes you up in the middle of the night to say “Hello.” It greets you in the morning with, “Hi, here I am. Think about me.” It butts in on your drive home: “Just reminding you I’m here.” Financial worries play with your mind. It provides a good example for all the other worries that operate in exactly the same way. What you see in common with all the things we worry about— every single thing —is that they are uncertain. They’re all iffy. Am I going to get that? Maybe, maybe not. If I have it, could I lose it? Maybe, maybe not. We worry about stuff that is inherently uncertain. You’ve got good reasons to worry, because you can never be sure. Money is a great starting point— but maybe there are other things that plague you.

What hijackers seize the controls of your mind? I’d like you to personalize this. What are the one, two, six, dozen things that tend to snag you? What do you tend to worry about?

Maybe it’s not financial, or in addition to financial, there are other worries.

•“Do I have any real friends?”
•“What if I don’t make the team? What if I forget my lines in the play? What if someone else gets picked for that committee? What if…?”
•“Will I ever find a husband or wife?”
•“If I do find one, will he or she be faithful to me?”
•“Am I worth marrying?”
•“Will I be able to have kids?”
•“If I have kids, how will they turn out?”
•“What about my health? Some of my friends are dying of cancer. It’s painful. Is that going to be for me? Will I be able to have the strength to go through that? What if I get Alzheimer’s? The thought of ending my life not even able to recognize the people I love: what about that?”

On and on and on, your health, your money, your relationships, your achievements. Any of those things can hijack the controls. You worry, fret, and stew. The fact is, these are all iffy. You have good reasons to worry about those things. None of them are sure. Your health could go to the dogs. The stock market could crash. There could be no jobs. The kids could turn out rotten. You could end up lonely. You could fail at something or get excluded. These are all unsure by nature. There is every reason in the world to worry about them. Let me ask you to personalize: What do you worry about?

But there’s a second personalizing question to ask yourself. When all is said and done, why do you worry? Why do you fret about these things in the first place? Why do you obsess? Why do you get your nose to the grindstone? Why do you get preoccupied and driven, or throw panic attacks or brood, or whatever form your anxiety takes?

The easy answer is to point your finger back towards what you are worrying about, and to think that explains it. “I’m worried because I don’t know if I’m going to get a job. I’m worried because I don’t have enough saved for retirement. I’m worried because I have a family history of cancer.” But Jesus doesn’t do that. He explains our worries not by pointing to how uncertain life is, but by pointing to something in us. Throughout this whole passage He says, “You worry because of something about you, not because of the things you worry about.”

Here’s a summary I gave out to our class.  If we can grasp these truths I think they would have a radical effect on how we view and engage in our work.  Hope they’re helpful.

¨ I am called in God’s good design to work- to subdue and rule.

¨ I am called to reflect God’s image and activity in my work.

¨ I am called to work from my acceptance by God not for acceptance by God.

¨ I am called not to hate my work or worship my work, but to worship God in my work.

¨ I am called to love and serve others in my work as an instrument in God’s hands.

¨ I am called to provide for my family and for those in need through the work God has given me.

¨ I am called to view my work as a mission field, making the gospel beautiful by my work and proclaiming the gospel in the relationships I build at work.

¨ I am called to respond to the fall’s effects on work (now toilsome and troublesome) by trusting God’s sovereignty and longing for His final redemption.

Here’s the final material from the class on work that we’ve just completed.  We had some great discussions and I trust have had our view of work brought more into line with the word of God.

Week 6-

Right and Wrong in the Workplace article written by by Jim Truesdell

Private Property and Producing Goods and Services audio sermon by Wayne Grudem

Week 7-

“Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5″ chapter from Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper

Buying, Selling, and Profit audio sermon by Wayne Grudem

Week 8-

When a Trailer Park is Just Right: On Manhood and the Duty to Provide article by Owen Strachan

Competition and Corporations audio sermon by Wayne Grudem