Alright.  Hey, everybody.  Welcome to Valley Creek Church.  Hey, I am so glad that you are here with us. We are happy and excited today.  We want to give a big welcome to our Denton campus, our Venue campus, and everybody who is watching online.  Wherever you are in the world, we are so glad that you're here with us.  And we are in a series called, Reset.  And we're talking about putting life back in order.  And we're playing off of technology.  And we've said that technology in our lives, that it's amazing, but no matter what kind of technology you have, at some point, it's going to glitch.  It's going to get fuzzy.  It's going to stop responding.  It's going to get a little wonky.  And so, the most important button on any piece of technology is the reset button.  We got to get really good at pressing reset with the technology in our lives.  And we said that that's a great analogy of life.  That the truth is, as we go through life, things can get a little wonky.  A little out of order.  They can get fuzzy.

And so, we should get really good at pressing reset.  And the best button we have in life, His name is Jesus.  And He is our reset button.  And when we press our life into Him, He puts all things back in order.  Because the truth of the matter is, this life easily gets out of order.  And I want to tell you a little bit about my disorder.  That's a great way of starting, isn't it?

As soon as the last service happens every single weekend, we have a great weekend all around here, every single week.  And as soon as the last service is over, within five minutes of it being over, I'm already thinking about the next weekend.  I'm trying to figure out, "Okay, what's my message going to be?  What's the big idea?  What are my stories and illustrations?  What thoughts do I have?"  I haven't even left the building.  And I'm already thinking about next weekend's message.  And the more I start thinking about it, the harder it becomes to breathe.  And the more life starts closing in on me, and the more weighty I start to feel.  I mean, you have to think about it like this.  Moses got 40 days to go up on the mountain and get his message, and come back.

When we used to have Saturday night service, I had six days.  I now have three and a half days having a Thursday service.  And so, Proverbs 12:25 says, "Worry weighs a man down."  And the more I think about the message, the more worried I become, the more stressed I am.  I haven't even made it home yet.  And I can barely breathe.  The cloud rolls in, it starts hanging with me.  I become consumed within it.  So, I wrestle and fight through this worry of having something to say next weekend.  But the best way I can give you an example is like this.  It's like trying to prepare a meal for thousands of people and wondering if you have all the ingredients, if they're going to like it.  And you're going to be able to pull it together on time when they show up at the house.  That's kind of what it's like.  And in John 10:10, Jesus says, "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  But I have come that you might have life and have it to the full."  Satan has come to steal your affection, to kill your heart, and destroy your faith.  And the truth is, is my worrying over sermons from week to week, has stolen, killed, and destroyed a whole lot of life from me.  Because some weeks, I lose the battle of worry.

And so, I've literally had to make this decision in my mind to say, "I'm going to refuse to worry."  In some weeks, I walk in victory.  And I do a great job with that.  In other weeks, I walk in failure and I worry all week.  And I lose most of that week.  And I tell you that with some of the disorder in my life, and I tell you this.  You'll never understand it.  It will never make sense to you.  You will never be able to empathize with me on that.  You'll never be able to understand it.  But you have things in your life that I'll never be able to understand.  There are things in your life that every single week, you have to wrestle through the worry of that thing.  And no one else in this room will understand it.  Some of you sitting in here, you're a single mom.  And every single week, you have to wrestle through the worry of, are you going to make it through this week?  But some of you are sitting here, and you're a business person.  And every single week, you have to close these major deals.  And you're not sure if it's going to work or how it's going to come together.  You have to wrestle through that worry.

Some of you are students.  Every single morning you wake up, you have to wrestle through the worry of going to school because you're terrified of being bullied again.  And so, you don't want to get up and go.  You want to pretend like you're sick and stay in bed.  Some of you are here, you have to wrestle through the worry of, is your cancer going to come back in your body or in the body of a loved one, or an incurable disease?  Some of you are here, you have to wrestle through the reality of, your family is just full of drama.  And you're never sure where that drama is going to pop up.  So, you're worried about it.  You wrestle through it.  Every single person in this room, Satan has come to steal.  And he has stolen, he has killed.  And he has destroyed parts of your life by causing you to worry.  So, maybe it's time to press reset.  Maybe together, we need to choose to refuse to worry because the human heart was never created to worry.  In fact, heart disease caused by stress or worry, is the leading cause of death in America.  Our worry is literally killing us.  I mean, in Matthew 6:27, Jesus says, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

He says, "Hey, has worried ever helped you out in any way?  Has it ever made your life better?  Has it ever added anything to your life?  Has it ever, in any way, made the circumstances or the future changed in any way?"  Worry certainly hasn't added anything to our life.  But it has certainly taken away time off the end of our life.  I mean, Ecclesiastes 11:10, "So, refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy."  The Bible tells us what healthcare has been telling us for years, right?  That worry makes you unhealthy.  So, our worry is literally killing us.  But it's also stealing our lives.  Listen to this.  Jesus says, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  In other words, worrying about tomorrow is the fastest way to miss out on today.  I wonder how often we're sitting there, worrying about what might be, and it causes us to miss out on what is right in front of us.

Worry steals your present, and it hides your future.  So, maybe we need to press reset.  I mean, if you think of Jesus, Jesus was never worried.  It's pretty amazing.  If you read the Gospels and you look at the life He lived, He was never worried.  He wasn't worried what His family thought about Him, even though they constantly thought He was crazy.  He wasn't worried about His disciples and whether He had enough of them, and how they'd perform, even though they were constantly rejecting Him, denying Him, and leaving Him.  He wasn't worried about how the crowd was going to respond to His teaching, even though they were confusing.  One moment, they want to make Him king.  The next moment, they want to throw Him off a cliff.  He wasn't worried about the Pharisees, even though they were constantly making death threats and coming up with hit plans to how to figure out how to takeout Jesus.  He wasn't worried about meeting with Pilate, a dishonest, dysfunctional governmental official.  Jesus wasn't worried when He had to confront the demons, when He touched a leper, when He walked on water, when He went into the storm, when He had to feed 5,000 people.  He wasn't worried when He went to the cross.

He was sent to change the world, and He never worried.  How?  Because He lived as a beloved son and completely trust in the goodness of His Father.  Like my kids, they're never worried.  In fact, I've asked you this question.  Have you ever seen a worried kid?  It's an oxymoron, isn't it?  Kids don't worry.  Adults do.  There's really no such thing as a worried kid.  My kids aren't worried if they're going to have enough food, if our house is going to be okay, if I'm going to protect them, provide for them, care for them.  They're not worried if they fail, if I'm going to leave them.  My kids are never worried.  Our kids do not worry.  So, why do we?  If the kingdom of Heaven belongs to little children, then worry was never supposed to be a part of your life.  So, maybe we need to press reset and go back to Jesus as our factory settings.  Are you with me on that?

Now, grab your Bible and look with me at 2 Kings 6.  In the first third of your Bible there, 2 Kings 6. There's a lot we could go into in this passage.  But I just want to show you in a sense where worried comes from and how we can combat it.  Just to set the stage of the story for you, so you have it.  The King of Aram wants to destroy Elisha because Elisha keeps ruining his plans.  Elisha is the Prophet.  He's the man of God, for the people of God.  And so, this king of Aram and the Aramean army, they want to find out where Elisha is.  They figured out he's in this city with a servant.  So, they come and they surround the city.  Pick it up with me in verse 13.  "The King of Aram said, 'Go find out where he is, so I can send men and capture him.'  The report came back to the king.  'He is in Dothan.'  Then, he sent his horses and chariots and a strong force there.  They went by night and surrounded the city.  When the servant of Elisha got up and went out early in the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city.  'Oh, my Lord, what shall we do?'  The servant asked."  Cue the worry.  "'Don't be afraid,' Elisha answered."

"Don't be afraid."  That's what he says.  I can picture the servant being like, "Easy for you to say, Elisha.  Don't be worried?  What are you talking about?"  When we look at the people in our lives, it is so easy to look at them and see them worrying, and say, "What are you worrying about?  You're going to do great on that test.  Of course, you're going to close the deal.  Your relationship with your mom is going to be fine.  It always is."  I mean, we look at people in our lives and they're worried.  And we think, "It's so silly.  Why are you worried about that?"  And then, they look right back at us and say, "Then, why are you worried about what you're worrying about?"  Your worry always looks silly to the people around you.  I'd say it to you like this, "Worry looks good on no one."  So, maybe don't try it on.  "'Don't be afraid,' the Prophet answered.  Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."  And I can picture the servant saying like, "Are you looking at the same thing I'm looking at?  Because as far as I can see, I can see an enemy army with horses and soldiers, and chariots."

Verse 17, "And Elisha prayed, 'Oh Lord, open his eyes so he may see.'  Then, the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked.  And he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire, the army of God all around Elisha.  As the enemy came down toward Elisha, Elisha prayed to the Lord, 'Strike these people with blindness.'  So, he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.  Elisha told them, 'This is not the road, and this is not the city.  Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.'  And he led them to Samaria.  After they entered the city, Elisha said, 'Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.'  Then, the Lord opened their eyes and they looked.  And there they were inside of Samaria."  So, catch in.  Elisha and his servant are in the city.  The king of Aram brings his entire army, the entire force.  They're in front of the city.  They wake up in the morning, the servant sees it.  He worries.  He panics.  He comes to Elisha.  Elisha says, "Don't be afraid.  There are more for us than are against us."

And then, he says, "Lord, open his eyes."  And he opens his eyes, and he sees the army of God as far as he can see.  And Elisha and one servant win this incredible victory and defeat the entire army of the king of Aram.  And what we learn in this story is this.  Worry comes when you look at your life through your physical eyes, instead of the eyes of your heart.  Worry is the result of you choosing to allow your reality to be defined by your perspective instead of God's perspective.  We get so focused on the enemy in front of us that we forget to look at God's army all around us.  2 Corinthians 4:18, "So, we fix our eyes on what is seen, but what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal."  No matter what is going on in your life, you have to remind yourself that there is always more for you than are against you even if you can't see it.  1 John 4:4, "Greater is He that is in you than He that is in this world."

In other words, the God that is in you is greater than the enemy that's in front of you.  Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"  John 16:33, "In this world, you will have trouble.  But take heart for I have overcome the world."  There's more for you than there was against you.  You see, at the end of the day, ultimately worry, worry is agreement with the kingdom of darkness.  It's what it is.  Worry is agreement with the kingdom of darkness because it's the belief that God is not in control of the future.  It's the belief that there are more against you than are actually for you.  I mean, do you remember when Jesus was about to go to the cross?  And He tells the disciples, and they panic.  And Peter is super worried.  He can't compute this, and he's terrified.  And he's stressed out.  So, he pulls Jesus aside and says, "Jesus, I will never let this happen.  This is not okay."  And Peter goes into worry mode.  And in Matthew 16:23, Jesus looks at him, and He says, "Get behind Me, Satan.  You are a stumbling block to me for you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Okay.  There's a pretty strong reaction.  I know Peter had some issues.  But, "Get behind me, Satan?"  Jesus isn't saying that Peter is Satan.  And He's not saying that Peter is full of Satan.  What He is saying is that, "You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men."  So, what He is telling us is that when we think like the world, we're in agreement with the kingdom of darkness.  When we have a perspective that's in alignment with the king of darkness, we become in agreement with him.  That's why Jesus' main message was, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand."  Change your thinking, a superior reality is here.  Stop looking earth to heaven.  Start looking the heaven to earth.  Open your eyes because there are more for you than are against you.  And you need to allow His truth to be superior to however you feel.

Worry is a bondage.  It's like a glitch, a virus.  It's when your system goes wonky, and God wants to set you free from it.  So, the question I would ask you today is, where are you worried?  Because I promise you, just about all of us who walked in here with some kind of worry.  Where are you worried?  Open your eyes.  There are more for you than are against you.  So, maybe we can press reset.  Do you want to know how to do that?  Open your eyes.  A couple thoughts for you.  First thing is this.  Just obey God's commands.  If you want to be free of worry, obey God's commands.  I am convinced that a lot of the worry in our lives is self-induced.  Disobedience invites disorder into your life.  We are slow to obey the things God asks us to do.  We want to do things our way.  And then, that leaves us open to a lifestyle of worry.  We sit there and worry things like this.  "Is my girlfriend pregnant?  Am I going to pay off all my debts this month?  Am I going to get caught for this?  Are they going to find out what I said about them?"

And all of a sudden, sin opens the door to a lifestyle of worry.  When we do things our way instead of God's way, the only possible result is to be worried.  If we do our sexuality and our finances, and our integrity, and our words, in all of our life, we choose to do it our way instead of God's way, the only possible result is for you to live a life of worry.  I mean, I remember when I played college lacrosse.  And I know here in Texas, you guys don't know much about what lacrosse is.  It's not field hockey.  We don't wear skirts.  We get really cool shorts.

It's what we get.  And every sport has its thing.  In lacrosse, it's shorts.  You join the team that you're just to get the shorts.  The shorts are the thing.  And so, I was on this team this one year, and they weren't going to let us keep the shorts.  And I'm like, "You got to be kidding me.  This is why I'm playing this game, is to get these shorts."  And so, what we'd have to do is we'd play in the game.  And then, we'd have to all put all shorts in the laundry.  And then, they'd wash them.  In the next game, they'd give them back, hand them out to everybody.

Well, I just decided one day.  I said, "I'm going to just steal the shorts."  Because I want the shorts.  And so, I took a pair of shorts when no one was looking, shoved it in my bag, zipped it up, went home, washed it myself, hid them in a closet somewhere.  Because that's what you do when you're not supposed to have something.  You hide it somewhere else.  I hid it in my closet.  And then, I remember going back to practice the next day, and I was so full of worried that I was going to get caught for taking the shorts.  Coach calls me, "Hey, Stickl, come here."  I'm like, "What do you want, coach?  I didn't do it, man.  I don't know what you're talking about."  "What are you talking about?  I just wanted to tell you, it's a great game yesterday.  Get in there.  Let's go do it again."  And I remember the trainer calling me saying, "Hey, Stickl, come here."  I'm like, "Wait, why?  I didn't take the shorts.  I don't know where they are.  I don't know what you're talking about."  "What are you talking about, man?  I just want to stretch you out before the game gets started."  And so, I was so worried the rest of the season that I literally -- I remember this.  I literally started hating going to practice because I was terrified I was going to get caught.  I think that's how a lot of us live our life.

We're so afraid of getting caught with all this worry stuff in our lives that we start hating the very life we're living.  Listen, God doesn't ask you to obey for His good.  It's for your good.  And you don't have to understand in order to be obedient.  It doesn't have to make sense to you in order for you to choose to trust and submit to the goodness of God.  Proverbs 16:25, "There's a way that seems right to a man.  But in the end, it only leads to death."  Do it your way, you'll live a life of worry.  And so, maybe we need to press Ctrl, Alt, Delete.  Confess, repent, respond, and go back and do whatever the last thing is that God asked us to do, and just choose to obey His commands, even if we don't get it.  Okay?  So, obey His commands.  Second thing is this.  If you want to be able to open your eyes and be free from a life of worry, you have to pray.  In this whole reset series, I don't know about you, but here's what I'm convinced of.  I want to spend my life praying more and worrying less.

I want to pray more and worry less.  Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious or worried about anything.  But in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God with thanksgiving.  And the peace that surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  In other words, he says, "Hey, if you don't want to live a life of worry, pray about everything and worry about nothing."  Pray about everything.  Worry about nothing.  But if we're honest, we reverse it.  We worry about everything and we pray about nothing.  Listen to me, prayer is the enemy of worry.  If you want to be set free from worry, prayer is the way we attack it.  I mean, prayer is just simply this.  It's just saying, "Hey, God, I'm just going to tell you how I feel.  I'm going to invite you to move.  I'm going to ask you to open my eyes."  Again, think of Jesus.  Luke 5:16, "He constantly withdrew to lonely places to pray."  The reason Jesus was never worried is because He prayed about everything so He's worried about nothing.

And what prayer does is it invites God into the situation of your life.  I watch my kids all the time, sitting at home, and they'll be trying to fix something or do something.  They're struggling.  It's not working.  And I can see the frustration building in them.  And I'm sitting back just watching them while they're trying to do something.  And I'm just waiting for them to turn around and just say, "Will you help me?"  And I think a whole lot of times, we're worried and we're struggling, and we're stressed in life.  And I think God is just sitting there waiting for us to turn around saying, "Will you just help me?"  We're waiting for God to move, but I think He's waiting for us to surrender.  Prayer is not weakness.  It's wisdom, people.  I mean, read the Psalms.  The Psalms will teach you how to pray.  The heroes of the faith, they had worry just like you.  And if you read the Psalms, they're crazy.  "God, take my life.  I can't do it.  I'm going into the grave.  These people are overtaking me.  I have nothing left."  The very next verse, "Oh, but you are a good God, God.  And I trust you.  You are my shield and my strong tower, and I run to you."

Wait, is this the same guy?  Yeah.  He wrestled through worry.  But he learned how to press reset.  By talking to God and inviting Him into the situation, that's when everything changes.  Proverbs 21:31, "The horses made ready for battle, but victory belongs to the Lord."  Maybe we need to spend more time asking God for victory than we do preparing our horse for battle.  Maybe we need to spend more time praying than worrying about how we're going to make it happen on our own.  Prayer is choosing to say, "I trust you more than I trust me."  And so, when was the last time you actually prayed about the things you're worried about today?  Okay.  So, obey God's commands.  Pray, and worship.  If you want to be free, you got to worship.  Here's the reality.  You can worry or you can worship.  But you can't do both.  You can be a worrier, or you can be a worshiper.  But you can't be both.  Why? Because worship displaces worry.

Worry is simply the worship of the unknown.  That's all it is.  It's how I would define it for you.  Worry is the worship of the unknown.  You're literally, and you're sitting there, in your mind, you're magnifying it.  You're exalting it.  You're lifting it up.  You're dwelling on it.  You're giving it your attention.  So, worry is the worship of the unknown, which ultimately means that worry is idolatry.  It's worshiping someone or something else more than you do with God.  And so, what worship is, is it's like a giant reset button on life.  That when we press it, everything goes back the way it's supposed to be.  In fact, I've loved our service countdown video for this series.  For those of you that have paid attention to it, we have a five-minute countdown clock.  It starts five minutes, counting backwards.  Five minutes before service kicks off.  And at the beginning of the five minutes, it creates the reset logo and has a timer.  And it starts counting down.  But as it gets closer and closer down to zero, the thing starts to have more and more glitches.  It starts to have more and more fuzz and scribble, and sounds.

And then, it gets down to about 30 seconds.  And it really starts getting wonky.  It starts getting out of sorts.  And it gets to five seconds, the whole thing is scribbling.  It's jumping.  And it goes black, and boo.  It powers down.  And then, bang, the sound.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  The computer sound, bang, it comes back up.  Two, one, here we go into worship.  That is a prophetic picture of your life.  You leave this place.  You go out into the world.  And the glitches start happening over the week.  And as the week goes on, more and more worry, more and more chaos, and you get to the end.  And when you walk into this place and it gets to zero, boom, everything shuts down.  We kick into worship.  Go into the presence of God.  And we press reset, and worry leaves are life.  And everything goes back the way it should be.  Some of you, you thought that video was like just really a problem.  And so, yeah, it stressed you out.  And others of you, you have no idea what I'm talking about.

So, let's talk about that for a moment.  Because about once a quarter at Valley Creek Church, I remind you that worship is more important than the sermon.  That if your life is so busy, you can't be here for an hour and five minutes service.  Then, we would encourage you to come early and leave before the sermon than come late through worship and stay till the end of the message.  If your life is so busy, you can't be here for an hour and five minutes service, which may be true for your life, then here's the deal.  You don't need more content.  You need more connection.  You don't need another sermon.  You need to worship.  Because worship reconnects the drifting heart to the anchor of our souls.  It is only those who worship that gets set free of their worry because they become aware of the one who is with them.  Worship does not make God bigger.  It makes Him bigger to you.  I mean, listen, I don't know about you.  I don't know how you get through life without worship.

I honestly have no -- my life is so full and got so many -- I don't know how I would get through life without regularly worshipping and encountering the presence of God.  I mean, 1 Peter 2 says, "But you are a chosen people."  So, here's who you are in Jesus.  "A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God."  Why?  "That you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."  He flat out says, "This is who you are in Jesus.  And this is what you're created to do.  Worship."  The primary created purpose for your life is to worship God.  So, if you never worship God, you're never in your purpose.  You're probably always going to be worried.  It's just how it works.  Listen, God is not an egomaniac as if He wants all of us to worship Him.  God asks you to do what's best for you.  And what's best for you is to worship Him.

I mean, listen, can I just tell you?  If we cheer and get more excited for our favorite team than our faithful God, something is wrong.  If I'm more excited about a team that could care less about me than my God who created me, something's wrong.  We see these people in church, and they're grumpy.  It's not you.  It might be the person next to you, but it's not you.  And they're grumpy.  And you look at him, and you're like, "How are you so grumpy?"  He called you out in darkness into His wonderful life.  And they sit there and they're grumpy.  And they're stoic.  And they don't want to participate in any way.  And then, you see them on Saturday at the game.  They got the big curly wig.  They got the foam finger.  "Whoa," like going crazy.  Is that the same person?  Yeah.  I mean, I remember watching a guy one time.  He was so grumpy in church.  And I saw him in a game one time, and he was going absolutely nuts.  And I flat out asked him, I go, "Bro," I go, "Why are you going crazy here, but you're always grumpy be in church?"  He goes, "Well, because this is my alma mater.  This is our fight song, so I do it."

This is your fight song.  This is your fight song.  Worshiping Him is the fight song because we don't have to fight.  That's the whole point.  He's already won the victory for us.  When you raise your voice, it's a sign of gratitude.  You raise your hands, it's a sign of surrender.  You raise your heart, it's a sign of hope.  Only the heart that worships Jesus lives free.  It's your choice.  While the world worries, the people of God worship.  Don't be embarrassed to live in freedom.  Worship.  And then, the last thing is this.  You got to meditate on His promises.  You say, "Meditate?  Weird word.  I'm not sure what to do with it."  If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate.

Same thing.  It's just what you're choosing to dwell on.  That's all meditation is, thinking about the same thing over and over, and over again.  And the battle for worry is one in the mind.  Because whatever you think about grows. Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things."  Would that describe your thought life?  If not, then maybe we need to remove and replace.  Remove some of those things, and replace them with the promises of God.  Maybe we need to meditate.  I'll say to you, I guess, maybe you need to worry about, Philippians 4:19, "That my God will meet all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Maybe you need to worry about, Hebrews 13:5, "That my God will never leave me nor forsake me."  Maybe you need to worry about, Romans 8:28, "That my God is going to work all things together for the good of those who love Him."  Maybe you need to worry about, Isaiah 53:5, "That by His stripes, I am already healed."  Maybe you need to worry about the right thing instead of the wrong thing.

Remove and replace.  You need to grab a hold of His promises for us.  But then, you need to find His promises for you.  The reason we engage the scriptures in our lives, one of the primary ones, is because God has promises for you in your life that you need to grab a hold of.  There are things in my life that if I didn't have promises from God, I would be a worry wreck about all the time.  But because I have a promise from Him, I hold on to it.  And that's what I think about when the worry starts to come.  A heart that is empty of hope will always be overflowing with worry.  And the reality is, is that when you know the end of the story, you don't have to worry about a bad chapter.  Romans 8:32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not then and Him give us all things?"  If He gave you Jesus, His best, will He not take care of every other thing in your life?

We know the end of the story.  So, you don't have to worry that you're in a bad chapter.  And so, here's what I want to do.  I just want you for a moment to just listen to the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.  It would have been a situation just like this.  A lot of people gathered together.  They're sitting there on a grassy knoll.  Jesus comes, He starts teaching them.  And all those people that showed up, just like us, they're all there.  They're all worried.  They're worried about their family and their marriage.  They're worried about their finances and their kids.  They're worried about the economy and the government.  They're worried about their future and their provision, and the relationships in their life.  They're worried.  And so, just listen for a moment what Jesus says.  "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 important than food and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds at 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?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the fields grow?  They do not labor a spin.  Yet, I tell you that not even Solomon and all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  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, O you of little faith?  So, do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear,' for the world runs after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Don't be afraid.  There are more that are for you than are against you.  What are you worried about?  God is leading you into your fears to make you fearless in His love.  He's leading you into the impossibility to show you He's the God of all possibility.  And He's making you face your worry face on, so He can reset your life and set you free.  So, will you do this with me?  Will you close your eyes for a moment?  Let's just be still for a moment.  Here's what I want you to do.  Can you close your physical eyes so you can open the eyes of your heart?  I want you to, for a moment, just think about the place in your life where you're the most worried right now.  Can you picture it?  Think of that situation or that circumstance.  Where are you the most worried?

And now, what I want you to do is I just want you to invite Jesus into that situation.  Just for a moment, just picture what it is.  And just invite Jesus in.  And then, look at what He's doing.  In fact, just like Elisha prayed over the servant, and I pray over you, Lord, open their eyes, that they might see that there's more for them than against them.  Resetting our worry is about changing our perspective.  And so, some of you, you're picturing that child that's gone off to school, and you're terrified about it.  Maybe Jesus is showing you right now in the eyes of your heart that He's walking with that child wherever they go.  Some of you are sitting here, and you're worried about sitting at your computer all day long, being able to get your work done and close those deals.  I think Jesus might be showing you that He's sitting in the chair right next to you.

And He's going to help you take care of everything.  Some of you, you're worried about being able to have enough provision for the things in your life.  I think Jesus might be showing you the loaves and the fishes.  And He's multiplying them and showing you that He's the God of all provision.  And He owns all the resources of Heaven.  Maybe you're worried about that marriage, and it's falling apart.  Maybe Jesus is showing you, standing right in between you and your spouse, pulling you towards Him and pulling you towards each other.  What are you worried about?  Picture it.  And then, open the eyes of your heart.  And see that there are more for you than are against you.  And we don't have to live a life of worry that steals, kills and destroys.

We can live a life of freedom, a life of faith, hope, and love.  Because in Him, we are free.  So, Jesus, we choose together today to press reset on our worry.  We choose to say that that is not a part of the created order of what you've made for us.  The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children.  And we choose to be children desperately dependent for the love and the care of their good father.  And so, Lord, I pray for every person in this room that today would be a day that they lay their worry down.  That they choose to reset their life in a unique, in a profound way, that they will be obedient.  That they will choose to just start talking to you.  That they will make a different choice to worship regardless of how they feel.  And that they will start meditating on your promises instead of their fear.

Lord Jesus, I ask that you would open the eyes of our heart, that we would see there are more for us than are against us.  In your name we pray, amen.