Taking Worry Captive

• Posted on sdgale
• in 'CHOP Talk' Blog
• on February 11, 2013
• Comments Off on Taking Worry Captive

God knows we worry.  He speaks to us in our anxiety, ministering words of life to help us deal with our panic in the direction of peace.  For example…

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

These and other passages bring us practical wisdom to provide harness and take the reigns of the worry that runs amok in our minds, sending our heart into palpitations.

While these passages are great helps (see my blog on “When Pastors Panic”), we would do well to examine the larger contexts of our Father’s counsel, rather than merely mine principles like we would run to a first-aid kit for treatment.  For example, Matthew 6:34 finds itself in the block of Jesus’ teaching called the Sermon on the Mount.  That Sermon has to do with the kingdom of God.

So we have to ask, what does worry have to do with the kingdom, and why does our Lord include it where He does in the flow of His teaching?  We need to look at worry in light of the larger block of Matthew 6, following the thread of logical progression.  In so doing we can say this:  God has something more to offer us than a counseling seminar on worry.

What we learn is that worry not just a personal problem with which we wrestle.  Worry is an adversary of the kingdom that Jesus is teaching about.  It is a red flag, a warning siren, alerting us to kingdom conflict.

Worry concerns itself with a rival treasure (on earth rather than heaven; vv. 19-21). Worry maintains a rival focus (looking at the what the world values rather than God; vv. 22-23). Worry serves a rival master (myself rather than Christ my King; v. 24). And worry engages in a rival pursuit (seeking first my own kingdom and righteousness rather than the kingdom of God; making life about me rather than about Jesus; vv. 25-34).

Our Lord’s teaching on worry is about more than a fix-it manual.  It’s about more than biblical principles to help me find peace in my troubled heart. Rather, Jesus’ teaching (right here in the thick of the Sermon on the Mount) brings us to wrestle with our understanding and embrace of God Himself and the allegiance of our heart to His kingdom.

The battleground for worry, where kingdoms collide, is the mind (cf. Phil. 4:8).  As subjects of Christ’s kingdom, we are to take every thought captive to Him.  The first question of battle, the first step into the the fray, is “Whom do I serve?”  To which kingdom do I belong where I will devote my heart, lay up my treasure, fix my focus and chart my life’s course?

In the Philippians passage above, Paul identifies prayer as a response to worry.  But for what do we pray?  Simply for whatever will bring relief?  The Apostle tell us there that our prayer is to be seasoned with thanksgiving. That certainly helps, because worry swallows us up with the ominous, the foreboding.  Thanksgiving pierces our clouds of gloom with rays of sunshine, brightening our focus with God’s presence, purpose and provision.

Our Lord’s treatment of worry in Matthew 6, however, offers direction for our prayer. Earlier in the chapter we find:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:9-13

Remember, this is a model prayer.  It gives topics.  We color in the details specific to our need, in this case the adversary of worry.

• We draw near to our Father in heaven who knows our needs (v. 32), whose name we pledge to hallow.  We are not foreigners to the kingdom, but its sons and daughters. That changes everything!
• We loosen our grip on what we are worrying about, desiring God’s kingdom over our own (v. 33), disposed to lay up our treasures in heaven rather than on earth (vv. 19-21), shifting our focus (vv. 22-23).
• We resolve to trust His ways and submit to His will, stepping aside as a rival to our God (v. 24). We surrender all.
• We turn to Him for our daily provision to meet the troubles of the day, leaving the “what ifs” of “tomorrow” in His hand, finding His grace for the “what is” of today (v. 34).
• We confess our sin of lack of trust in our God and submission to Him as our only Master. We press on in the practice of righteousness (6:1), despite our inclination to turn inward in self-preservation and step to the sidelines from kingdom pursuit.
• And, we find our protection and strength against the schemes of our spiritual foe who urges us on to treason in his assault on us, his former subjects.

One more thought.  The model prayer our Lord gives is not to be used as some sort of  incantation to exorcise worry.  It presents us not merely with a prayer to pray, but with a place to stay in ongoing communion with our God and unflagging commitment to His kingdom.