Too Blessed to Be Stressed: What Jesus Says About Worry in Matthew 6

Everybody is carrying something: money, kids, a marriage, a job, a doctor's report, the news. What does Jesus say to you about all that worry? In Matthew 6, He doesn't promise a life without pressure. He shows you how to live with pressure without letting it rule you. The key is seeing your life through the kingdom of God, where you carry your responsibility and your Father carries the rest.

Why does stress take over your life?

Stress grows when life becomes bigger than your view of the kingdom of God. That was the big idea of Pastor Marty Sloan's message on Matthew 6 in our Kingdom series.

Matthew's Gospel keeps returning to the kingdom of God and the authority of its King. In chapter 1, Jesus is the King of the Jews. By chapter 28, He holds all authority in heaven and on earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, He sits on the hillside and teaches as one with authority.

A kingdom perspective puts God on the throne above you and your pressures under your feet. When you flip that, putting your problem on the mountaintop and Jesus down in the valley, life gets heavy fast. You will feel stress at times. You still get to decide what has the rule and reign over you.

What is worry, really?

Worry is paying interest on a debt you don't owe. You can lie awake at night arguing with yourself about things that will never happen. Picture walking into a bank where you have no loan and asking to pay the interest now, just in case you owe them someday. It sounds absurd, yet that's exactly what worry does. As Pastor Marty put it: "Worry is paying interest on a debt before you owe."

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 to 7

Jesus speaks to worry as the King, and the order in Matthew matters. First He announces, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 4:17). To repent is to turn around: to stop walking further into your stress and turn toward the kingdom with it. Then He teaches you to pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done" (Matthew 6:10). A few verses later, He talks about worry.

That order is on purpose. When God's kingdom becomes your main reality, your stresses don't always disappear, but they lose their authority over you. The bill may still be due. It no longer runs your life.

Does God really care about what I need?

Yes. The kingdom starts with your value.

Look at the birds of 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?

Matthew 6:26

Food and clothing were not small worries in the first century. One failed harvest could mean famine. There was no Costco and no grocery delivery. Jesus looked at people with real needs and still said, "Do not worry." The need was real. But your need is not greater than your King.

Stress shrinks your world. One diagnosis, one bill, one conflict, or one person's words can become the whole story. Stress takes something that is part of your life and makes it the ruler of your life. Jesus says life is more than that, and God is doing more than you can see.

Does trusting God mean I stop planning?

No. A kingdom perspective looks up. Jesus tells the crowd to look up at the birds, and birds aren't lazy. They build nests, find food, and feed their young. What they don't do is worry. Call it responsibility without anxiety.

Many of us have merged our job and God's job into one, and no wonder we're tired. You have responsibility. God has sovereignty.

• You can raise your kids to love God, but you can't control their adult choices.
• You can steward your finances, but you can't control the economy.
• You can take care of your body, and it can still get sick.

So prepare, plan, work, and pray. Then, at the line between your responsibility and God's sovereignty, say, "Father, I trust You."

Who am I when I'm afraid?

You're a child of the King, and your identity is affirmed by Him. Jesus keeps saying "your heavenly Father." The King is also your Father, and that moves the conversation from provision to identity.

Pastor Marty admitted that he was a pastor's kid at camp. He got an extra scoop in the lunch line by reminding the servers who his dad was. So why don't we remind fear and anxiety who our Father is?

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Matthew 6:32

You are not an orphan trying to figure life out alone. Your Father sees you, knows you, values you, and knows what you need. You don't have to live as if everything depends on you.

Does worry ever help?

No. Worry doesn't work in His kingdom.

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Matthew 6:27

Has worry ever paid a bill? Healed anyone? Changed another person's heart? Try writing "I'm worried about this" on a check and mailing it in to see if it counts as payment. Worry doesn't add anything. It takes peace and joy out of today and sleep out of tonight, and it divides your heart and your relationships. Pastor Marty confessed that his own stress habit is a late-night trip to the pantry for a bag of Double Stuf Oreos. Worry has never solved a problem, but it has created plenty of new ones.

For further reading, Pastor Marty recommends Freedom from Fear by Neil T. Anderson, Building a Non-Anxious Life by John Delony, and Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund.

It helps to change how you talk. Instead of "I'm stressed out," say "I'm blessed out." Instead of "I'm worn out," remember you have worth. Instead of "I can't," say "I know a God who can."

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

Common questions

What does Jesus say about worry in Matthew 6?

In Matthew 6:25 to 34, Jesus tells His followers not to worry about food, drink, or clothing. He points to the birds God feeds, reminds us we are more valuable than they are, and says our heavenly Father knows what we need.

How do I stop worrying as a Christian?

Start by turning toward God with your stress instead of walking further into it. Philippians 4:6 to 7 says to bring every request to God with prayer and thanksgiving. Separate what is your responsibility from what is God's, do your part, and hand the rest to a Father who already knows what you need.

Does trusting God mean I stop planning or working?

No. The birds in Matthew 6 still build nests and find food. Pastor Marty Sloan calls it responsibility without anxiety: you plan, work, and pray, and you trust God with what only He can control.

What does "too blessed to be stressed" mean?

It's a declaration that the promises of God are greater than the pressures of life. Pressure may come, but it doesn't have to possess you, because you are a child of the King and live under His rule.