Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Cost of Worry | New Testament | Luke 12

Episode Date: April 4, 2023

What does worry add or take away from your life? Learn how to face worry and anxiety in today's episode as Tanya walks through Luke 12. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Luke 12

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Has your worry ever added anything to your life? Have you ever worried more money into your bank account at the end of the month? Or more hours into your day? Or more friends into your social circle. Have you ever worried your kids out of a problem?

I don't say this in a condemning way. I have mastered the art of worrying. I can worry about things that don't even make sense. sense. When our first child, Braden, went to kindergarten, I was so worried about him making friends, I timed my walk with the other three kids to pass by the playground during recess to check things out. And when he traveled to Chicago with friends for the first time, I actually said out loud to my husband, I know this is irrational, but I'm worried that he was mugged and robbed, and people are stepping over his cold body on the ground right now. Eric quipped back, remind me what you said first.

did you admit it was totally irrational? Not only do our worries not have any power to make things happen, but they also can't prevent things from happening. Just look at history. We worried ourselves into a frenzy over Y2K, and absolutely nothing happened to our computers when the clock struck midnight. We never thought a lick about a pandemic, and look what happened to us in March of 2020.

When the Bible tells us not to worry, it's not just because it adds nothing to our lives, but because it actually takes life away from us. God invites us to a flourishing life in his kingdom, and we miss on on a lot of the flourishing part when we worry. Consider this poem written in 1859 by Elizabeth Cheney. Said the Robin to the Sparrow, I should really like to know why these anxious human beings

rush about and hurry so, said the sparrow to the Robin. Friend, I think that it must be that they, have no heavenly father, such as cares for you and me. Should the sparrow and Robin live a more fulfilling life than we do? In Luke chapter 12, Jesus is speaking to disciples who are filled with all kinds of anxiety. They're worried about not having enough, not having enough to eat or enough to wear. They've seen Jesus perform miracles and yet they're still anxious. They're literally walking with Jesus and yet they're still anxious. We are all also Jesus' disciples filled with anxiety about having enough.

We worry about having enough activities on our kids' calendars, enough charisma to impress our boss, enough money to impress our friends, enough athleticism to be popular, enough cheerfulness to make people like us, enough energy to keep from disappointing people, enough intelligence, enough opportunity, enough wisdom,

enough vision. So we need to stop and consider the question, Jesus asks his disciples. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? Jesus asks his disciples to consider whether their worries have any power to add to their lives. We already know the answer to this question as soon as we hear it. We know that worry doesn't make our lives better, happier, easier, or safer.

We know that the more time and energy we give to our worries, the more they rob us of our inner peace. We know our worries make us less generous and more greedy with our time and our money. We know our worries make us controlling toward people we could be loving. We know our ongoing anxiety affects our physical bodies. And Jesus doesn't just ask the question. and leave the disciples to feel condemned about it, he tells them a better story. He calls them to live a bigger life,

the one he has for them. And he's incredibly kind and gentle about it. Listen, and from Luke 1232. Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give it to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.

where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also? Have you ever considered that worry can affect not only your heart, but your treasure? Well, of course it can. So let's do what Jesus taught and take a moment. When we start to worry, we can pause and ask these three questions. Number one. Does this worry solve anything, or at a moment?

anything to my life. Number two, am I taking God at his word that he is good right now? And number three, how has God taken care of me before now? When we pause like Jesus did for the disciples and consider something more true than our worries, we give our minds a chance to recalibrate. I don't know anyone who wants to be afraid, who wants to be at wake at night, who wants to be at with wheels spinning out of control, who wants to control or manipulate others out of anxiety, who wants conversations to be constantly marked with the fatigue of worry. I run with a group of women on Thursday mornings, and some of them are moms. One of them said that it is impossible for her to listen to worship music and worry at the same

time. I thought that was pretty cool. Another mom said that when she worries for her kiddo, she remembers that most of the things she's learned have come from her own struggles. So why would she not trust God with her child's? I like these conversations because they help me get out of my head. They shed light on worries that wish they could lurk in the dark. When we change the scenery, worry loses its grip. Go outside. Get off social media. Meet a friend. Your body tells you what feels good and what doesn't. Listen to it. Do what feels good. And by all means change the

scenery. If you're on socials and Netflix and you feel terrible, then something has to change. And pray. Jesus told the disciples that as believers, they had something that was different. They had a heavenly father who cared for them and wanted to listen to them. We have a heavenly father who cares for us and wants to listen to us. We don't have to wait until we're un-worryed to tell him how we feel. He invites us to bring our worries right. to him. The Psalms are one of those places where we get to see people like David bring their junk and dumpment at the feet of God. I don't know if the changes in his heart and perspective happened as quickly as they sound when I move from one line to the next in the text, but meditating

on God's goodness and talking to God definitely made a difference. In Psalm 40, it says, I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Those words waited patiently for the Lord, translated in the Hebrew literally say, waited, waited. And the double use of that term in Hebrew, well, it conveys magnitude and an intensity. This is one who knows what it is like to bring worries to God and wait, wait. wait, wait actively for the Lord to provide whatever it is according to his will.

We can also pray, Lord, we bring our worries to you. We trust you with the people, needs, problems, and limits that lay so heavy on us. We wait, wait for you. We know that you've brought us out of the pit of despair before, and we trust you to do it again. Amen. Before you forget, sign up for the brand new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes, and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus.

Thanks for listening.