Ginghamsburg, how are you doing?  It’s great to be with you in worship.  Earlier we read about Jesus speaking to his disciples and telling us this morning to put our trust in God.  Well, there is just this one little, tiny problem…it’s called “worry.”  I am wondering if anybody will admit to spending - maybe not for a year or six months or 30 days -  at least one hour of your life worrying too much? All right, I’m in the right place. You see, worry and anxiety – they are the outgrowth, the symptom, or the byproduct of our struggle to trust God. We asked our Ginghamsburg Facebook family this question a little earlier; “Give one area that you struggle trusting God with,” and this is what they said: “It feels like life is out of control.” “I would say that I am talking to him and wonder if I am making all the right choices.” “Definitely control. I try to give it over to God, but I struggle with my second lay-off in 2 ½ years and after 35 years of never losing a job.” “It probably again would be control, money.” “Where should I be serving and allowing God to guide me?” “My future.” “At times I feel like I’m not deserving of God’s love and grace.” “God’s timing.” “The care of significant relationships.” The list goes on and on. But here is the challenge. Our struggle with trusting God, left unchecked, leads to worry and anxiety in our lives that we were never designed to carry. Worry and anxiety are something we all have to deal with. Scientists tell us that years ago our brains went from 1 ½ pounds to over 3 pounds with the addition of this thing called the frontal lobe. With the frontal lobe, we have the ability to plan our future. Not only do we have the ability to plan our future but unlike any other animal that God has created, we have the ability to accommodate worry. So here’s what happens, we plan our future, but then when reality looks different, if we are not careful, we take on worry. Again, we have the ability to plan our future, but when our reality looks different than those plans, and we try to understand all of that, then worry and anxiety set in. The problem is that worry comes in T-shirt sizes -  small, medium, large and extra large.

Can I take you inside the closet of my worry wardrobe? Walk with me through just a week of living. On Thursday, I went out to play golf and you know it was supposed to be a great time. But I only stayed in the fairway about four times.  I didn’t plan on that, and it caused a little bit of stress. Then there is the commode at home. It all started on Monday. I’ve been hearing this little leaky sound that goes “tee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee” and then “Kaplunk!” about every 45 minutes. I did not plan on that, so that is adding a little bit of stress to me. Then there is my daughter, Brianna. Brianna is a gymnast and has Olympic dreams. She recently had an injury, and she is recovering well from it, but I did not plan on that injury. Last week we drove to Virginia – it’s 535 miles away – and my wife was supposed to be my co-driver and drive along the way, but she couldn’t go. My son, who just turned 16, has his learner’s permit. I know you don’t have to wear helmets in the car, but you know worry can cause you to do some crazy stuff. Worry comes in all shapes, forms and sizes and if you are carrying all that worry, it all gets kind of packed in.

Then there is our dog, Gracie. Gracie is just a little tiny thing. I love dogs; I really do. After 17 years it finally clicked that the only type of dog that my wife likes, actually the only type of animal, is a stuffed animal. So there is a little bit of an issue with Gracie. While we are on the topic of marriage, I figured about three years ago we would have this marriage thing whooped. But even after 17 years, there are days when I say blue and she says yellow; I say up and she says down; I say maybe and she says definitely; I say cold and she says hot; and I say today and she says tomorrow! That brings with it a little bit of anxiety. I did not plan on all that.

Then there’s also the extra-large category of worry where we are challenged to deal with mortality issues. When we struggle with the grief of a 22-year-old young man who loses his life, it causes a whole another layer of worry and anxiety. Then my dad calls and says, “Brian, I think I only have a couple months left on this side of the journey.” These morality issues – all of this stuff, we try to carry it. And we were not designed to carry all this stuff! If we don’t turn it over to God, then we end up carrying all this stuff around; worry, fear and anxiety and it causes us to lose our creativity. We lose our mobility. We can lose our motivation. Even thoughts that didn’t bother us before, all of a sudden are overwhelming. We cannot discern the word of God, we don’t know which direction to go and we cannot figure out which voice is God’s from the other voices. Then we are unable to live the life that God intended.

Nowhere in the Bible have I read Jesus saying, “I have come so that you might have worry and anxiety and you might have it more abundantly.” No – Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it to the full.” If we are going to experience life to the full, then we are going to have to contend with worry. Unless you’ve had a lobotomy recently, you won’t have that problem. Psychiatrists tell us that we spend about three hours of every day planning our future. With the ability to plan our future, we have the ability to put on our worry wardrobe when things turn out differently than plannee. I hear Jesus telling us, “Look, here’s the deal; you don’t have to worry about all that stuff. Your Father in heaven, God, has already worked it out while you were trying to figure it out!” That is what Jesus is trying to tell us this morning. In Matthew 6 we read that once, not twice, but three times, Jesus tells us not to worry but to trust God. One of the reasons we can trust God is because God cares about us. Jesus says, “Don’t worry about food; don’t worry about clothing; God will take care of those things.”

This whole idea about God’s care reminded me that I recently had an amazing experience. About two weeks ago, Brea and Brielle – 6 and 8 years old – and I were playing with Gracie out in the yard. All of a sudden, Gracie takes off to the end of the yard and we see a mother goose and four little goslings. They take off, but when Gracie gets to the edge of the yard, the mother goose opens up her wings, sticks out her chest and says, “You don’t want none of this!” We run over there, grab Gracie, pick her up and the mother goose turns to us and she says, “You either.” And I believed her too. I was amazed at that. Look at the situation; she was outnumbered four to one, she was outweighed 100:1, she was clearly outmatched. Yet she was willing to stand up and protect her little goslings. I hear God telling us this morning that sometimes in life we might feel like a little gosling and see something like Gracie charging towards us.  You might feel that life is out of control and there is reason to fear, but God is saying, “I am with you; I am never outnumbered; I am never outweighed, and I am never outmatched. I am there saying, ‘Evil, you don’t want none of this.” God says we can know that he cares for us. Not only does he care, God wants us to understand that he has our back. How do we learn to find a life of abundance and leave the wardrobe of worry behind? Jesus tells us to replace worry with trust - to replace it! And one of the ways we do that is in remembering that God cares for us more than a mother goose cares for her goslings!

Peter puts it this way in I Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” Sometimes we need a way of remembering an action step, that we can use to remember that God cares for us. Late at night, before you lay down, before you get undressed, go through your day and say, “God, these are the things I thank you for that went right. These things are still on my mind, and I need to turn them over to you because I know you love me and I know you care for me. Thank you for allowing me to have a good night’s rest. God, into your hands I place my trust, and here is my wardrobe.” Just in case you have some bad dreams or decided to get dressed in the middle of the night, in the morning, say, “God, here I am again. I thank you for another day, but God these are the things I am facing today. These are things you know I cannot handle. These are the things I need direction in, and these are the things for which I am seeking discernment. God, show me the plan you have for me, but I’m not going to worry about it; I am going to put my trust in you.” As we start our day, it is more than just a good idea to read God’s word. It is more than just a good idea, because we have the ability, the opportunity and chance to read the stories of the men and woman that have gone on before us who also had a worry wardrobe but did not put it on. When we see how they deal with their worry wardrobe, we are able to become stronger keeping ours off and trusting God as well.

I like David. David always fought with his wardrobe, but then he would wake up. In Psalm 27, he is thinking about the trouble that he is about to face, but he says, “Wait a minute! The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, who shall I be afraid of?” He reminds himself that there is nothing bigger than the God he trusts in. That is what happens when we set aside time to spend with God; we hear the stories and learn how to keep off the worry wardrobe. There are times when David looks back over his life and says, “God, I remember when I was once here and then you brought me a little farther; then you brought me through that, and you brought me through that.” We can do the same thing and look back and say, “God if you brought me through all of that, then you can surely take care of this.” Go back through the word in the morning; use it as an action step to remind you to be free to live in the direction that God wants you to go, unencumbered by the worry wardrobe. God is stronger than anything we can face, and even at times when we get weak, God is telling us that I care about you and I’m right there with you. Jesus says don’t worry about food; don’t worry about clothes. When it comes down to food, you know, we all go to the meat market. Maybe you go to Kroger or you go to Meijer. God says, “Wherever you go to buy your meat, I want you to know that before the meat hits the market, I am the one that owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I will take care of you.” And clothes – maybe you like nice clothes – I don’t know…Donatella Versace, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein or Gucci. But I’m here to tell you that even Victoria and all her secrets cannot dress you like God can. God says, “I’ll dress you for today. I will take care of you.” The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding, but in all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” The reason we are told to trust God and not to worry is because God knew there were going to be all these opportunities. We plan for the future, as we should, and then put on this worry wardrobe. But God says, “I don’t want you to do that; I want you to trust me – this is a partnership. I don’t want you to spend your life in doubt and living in fear and uncertainty.” As we put our trust in God we begin to understand that not only does he care, but God knows all about our situation. There was a situation two weeks ago that reminded me that God cares about us because you know it’s one thing to know that God cares. It’s another thing to understand that he knows all about the situation.

Anybody ever have this challenge? You know God cares, but you are going through some stuff and it is weighing you down, and you wonder: “God, do you really know what I’m going through?” Oh, have you ever been there? Well, recently, Brea, my six-year-old, learned how to swim. She finally had enough confidence; I’m in the water saying, “Brea, I’m right here; you can trust me.” So she jumps, and now she has got this deal going. She had a little bit more trust than I did at the same age. You see, I remember going to the edge of the diving board. My dad was out in the water, treading water saying, “Brian, jump; you can trust me; I’m right here.” After about three minutes I was still sitting there. Here was the problem: I’m standing there and I’m looking down at this pool of water, and it might as well have been the Atlantic Ocean from what it looked like to me. My Dad was treading water and I knew my father cared for me; that was not the issue. The challenge was: Did he know what he needed to know about this situation? Did he know how far I was going to go down when I hit that water? I know he cares, but did he know how long it was going to take for me to come back up? Did he know how long I could hold my breath? Those unanswered questions caused me to put on my worry wardrobe and walk right back off the diving board. How could he know all of that?

I hear God speaking to us this morning saying: “I’m with you; I care for you; not only do I care for you, but I know how far life sometimes will take you under. And not only do I know how far life can take you under, I am strong enough to reach in and grab you and bring you out! Because I have all power in my hand; I am omnipotent.” I hear God saying, “Not only do I see you, but I know how long it’s going to take you to come back up – because I am right beneath you; I’m on top of you; I’m to your right, to your left, in front of you and in back of you, and I am even inside of you because, you see, everywhere at all times I am omnipresent.” I hear God saying: “I even know how long you can hold your breath because I was there when you were in your mother’s womb. I was there. I was there yesterday; I’m here today; and guess what, I’ve already seen you come out of this because I am omniscient; I am here yesterday, today and tomorrow. I know all things. I’ve already seen you come out of it.” God not only cares, but God knows all about our situation. We sometimes face all kinds of challenges. We face all kinds of things that give us the opportunity to put on the worry wardrobe. If you make mistakes, you might find yourself in this life-worrying situation. That’s one way. You can just live, and worry will come running at you. Or you could be right on target doing the will of God and then all of a sudden you find yourself in uncertain times looking towards what you planned and your reality. God said, “Regardless of what it is, you can trust me. Put your trust in me.” Jesus says, “God will give us all that we need – just seek the Kingdom and all these other things will be given. Seek the Kingdom. Don’t put on that stuff – just walk in what I have given you; walk where I have given you to walk and do what I have given you to do. I have given you something to do. Don’t worry about it.” Why not trust God? What do you have to lose besides a worry wardrobe?

Next weekend we have the opportunity to experience baptism. Maybe you have never been baptized before and experienced the waters of this new outward expression of inward grace that connects us with the rest of the believers, saying I’m going to trust in God and lean not unto my own understanding. It’s a good action step. Or maybe you have already been baptized and you have carried around something for a long time, you have worn it. You see, the worry wardrobe is not biodegradable; it just stays on as long as you want to wear it. Maybe next week is a good time to reaffirm the vow that you made to trust God and leave the worrying to him as he works it out.

Pray with me: God, we are grateful to know that You care. Not only do You care for us, God, with the love of a parent, but You are strong enough. You are strong enough, You know enough, and You have the desire, God, to bring us through every situation in order that we might live the life that You intended for us to live. So we say thank You for that. God, we all came in this morning, carrying some things and wearing some things – not our natural clothes, God, but clothes that came out of our worry wardrobe. And here we are seated with our hands open, God, saying that we are giving them to You so that we can be free to seek, free to hear, free to move, and free to be creative and discover the brand new plans You have for us even on this day. God, we are giving You our financial concerns, and our family concerns. We are trusting You, God, even with our mortality, knowing that You’ve watched over us here and You will watch over us, God, in the rest that is to come. We thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.