Worry — Jim Wilson

From the Sermon on the Mount, we'll look at Matthew chapter 6. If we chose or if we had to decide which was normal and which was a choice, and your three choices were worry or anxiety, apathy or trust, do you have to choose any of those?

You have to choose trust, you have to choose trust. I think you have to choose to worry. I don't think you have to choose to be apathetic, but maybe you have to choose that one also. Sometimes people are apathetic and they think they're trusting, when really they just don't care.

They're not in an anxiety mode, but they're not in a trusting mode. Here it doesn't include that, and so it includes the other two, about the worry and the trusting, so I think those two are decisions that you make.

Well, let's look at the text. Matthew 6, 25, therefore I tell you, Matthew 6, 25, 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 of the air, they do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, 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 field grow, they do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in 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 pagans run 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. I could probably take a couple of hours just talking about each phrase here, because it is loaded with a lot of questions and answers that God seems to think are self-evident, but he still brings them to our attention.

One of the first things we notice is that worry is a practice of little faith. He mentions three areas of worry, all having to do with our life, what we eat, what we drink, and how we are going to wear clothes.

I think this will probably include houses, he doesn't mention houses here, but a house is another means of protection or survival, and I've included in the word clothes that all of it has to do with how do I take care of the necessities, the absolute necessities of my life.

Now after we have the necessities of our life, we have a lot of people still worrying about clothes and food and drink, but they're no longer necessities, they are the luxuries of clothes and food and drink, and people still are anxious about them, because they think they need them, and what would they do without them?

He said first don't worry about it. When we get an imperative, a command, and we still worry, we have just disobeyed the command that says don't worry. So we have to say that not only worry itself is a sin, but it's doubly a sin because we are told not to do it.

It's like do not commit murder, we're told not to do it, we commit murder, it's sin. We are told not to worry, we do it, it's sin. It is not some sort of I can't help it, that's the way I'm made, it's just not that way at all.

It's a direct disobedience to a clear command of God. Now he gives us reasons and how he makes it easy not to worry, but first he says don't do it. So the first thing we recognize, when we do do it, we've disobeyed God, it is sin.

And again, almost, is worry connected to fear at all? Is it? And all fear, all little phobias that we have, are related to the ultimate fear, death. If somebody has claustrophobia, is it just claustrophobia, what's he really worried about?

Suffocating, dying. If he's afraid of heights, what's he afraid about? Falling, and what's going to happen when he lands? He's going to die. All these fears, fears of airplanes, fears of crowds, agoraphobia, are all little fears of the ultimate fear of death.

And worry is, maybe I'm stretching too much, but worry is connected here because this is worry has to do with life here. Worry has to do, what will happen? But when people are fearful, or worrying, they say, I cannot help it.

Now it may seem sort of callous to say, yes you can, you've just chosen to disobey, but, and person may not, it may not make sense at all, but that's what has happened, nevertheless. They've chosen to disobey.

He gives us reasons why we should not worry. And the first reason is that we are more valuable in God's eyes than birds. Birds don't worry. Birds don't worry, and the reason they do not worry, because they don't have to worry, God has provided an ecological system that provides food for them.

They don't have banks, they don't save up, and they don't need to save up. God made them so they don't need to save up, He takes care of them, and He says that we are more important than birds. So if He has taken care of birds, and He says, and you are more important than they, He will take care of you.

There's a verse in Peter that says, cast all your anxiety upon Him, for He is anxious for you. If somebody's going to worry, it's going to be God. God, cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

That's God's business to care, and He says He's capable of caring, because He's taken care of millions of birds and millions of species all over this world, and they didn't have to save up. And because we're more important than birds, we don't have to either.

We don't have to worry. That's His business, He will take care of us. We'll try to get to some practical application. I think this is practical application, but I want to say it this way. Unless you understand what the text says, you cannot apply it.

You just don't jump from anxiety and worry to no anxiety and no worry without understanding what God's way out is. Okay, that has to do with food. God provides food for birds. Now He's talking about clothes, verse 28.

Why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. In other words, they don't make clothes. But they've got clothes, and they've got pretty clothes. They don't work, they don't worry.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon, who was a king, a very wealthy king, in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. The richest man in the world couldn't dress himself as pretty as God dresses a flower.

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? In other words, He said you're more important to Him than flowers are.

Flowers are very transient. We're not transient. We are more important to God than flowers. Not only will He take care of our basic needs of clothing, but He'll take care of it in pretty clothes. Nice clothes.

I know some people think that if you're, quote, trusting God, then you'll have the bare minimum and it'll look awful. He's talking about pretty clothes here. He's not talking about warm clothes. The whole issue is how pretty it is, not how warm it is.

He's talking about luxury in clothes here, because He uses Solomon as an example. He uses flowers as an example. So He's talking about looking nice, not just keeping warm. And you do not have to worry about it, because God thinks it's important to wear clothes and to look nice.

Yes, Barbara. Oh no, He's talking now. Because we're worrying now. He said the flowers die, but He's talking about now, when we're alive, that God is going to provide clothes, and I think He's saying that look nice.

Now, it's pretty hard. I wandered through one of the department stores the other day and I thought, God can do better than this. They didn't look very nice, the colors on there. I thought they should go out and look at the flowers and see how to design clothes.

Not very pretty. I remember a few years ago, all the clothes on the rack were what they call earth colors, off shades of purple and brown and rust and just pretty bad. And everybody thought they had to wear them because that's what was in style, whether it looked right or not.

God, though, is, we do not have to worry about what we wear. He said we are more important than flowers. So the first two cases of food and clothing, He compares it with objects and nature that He has created and provided for.

What He is saying is that our position in God's sight is a much higher position, and God knows that. Verse 31. So, and the so is a conjunction, based upon those two statements, so do not worry. And expressions of worry are sayings like, what shall we eat?

Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? Those are expressions of worry. He said don't say them. Now He gives another reason not to worry. The first two reasons He gave was our relative value in relationship to birds and flowers and His capability of providing for birds and flowers.

He has a much greater capability of providing for us. Now He gives another reason. Verse 32, it's a conjunction again, the word for. For the pagans run after all these things. One of the reasons you should not worry is that's what unbelievers do.

Do pagans run after food, drink, and clothing? A person who is not a Christian, what's most important to him? These kinds of things. He said one of the reasons we shouldn't do it is that's what unbelievers do.

They run after them. They are anxious about it all the time, and when we do the same thing, we are just like pagans. So a major reason not to do it is that's what the unbelievers are doing. Okay, the next reason is, why not to do it?

Your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. God created us with stomachs. God created us with a need for food and drink. So He knows we need them. God created us with a need for clothes. The wild animals have fur coats all the time, and we don't have any fur.

So we need clothes to keep warm, and to look nice. Two reasons not to. This is what the pagans do, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. Okay, now we have actually three reasons. The birds and the flowers, one reason.

The pagans, another reason. And your Father knows you need them, the third reason. He tells us not to worry, and tells us why we don't have to. He gives us an alternative in place of worry. And this alternative doesn't seem like an opposite.

It's like saying, don't be sad, be happy. Those are opposites. But He says, don't worry. And He says something else that seems to be unrelated to not worrying. It's not a direct opposite. It says, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

If we are not worried about these physical things we need, but we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then these other things will be added to us. Our food, our clothing, and our drink.

This is saying, a lot of times when you have a negative command, it says, don't do something. And then we think, okay, I won't do it. I'll concentrate on not doing it. What happens when you're concentrating on not doing something?

That's all you think about, right? That's all you think about. Let's suppose something's bothering you from the past, whatever, and you say, I will forget it. So you decide to forget it. How do you go about forgetting something?

Think about it all the time. Which means, you say, I'll concentrate on forgetting it, which means you just focus on it and memorize it even more. In order to carry out a negative command without concentrating on the negative command, you do something positive.

And when I concentrate on seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness, I'm not concentrating, I'm not worrying. I'm not thinking, I won't worry, I won't worry, I won't worry, I won't worry. It's wrong to worry, it's wrong to worry, it's wrong to worry.

And just the nature of it means, what? I'm worrying. So this is the real way. He gives us several reasons why we shouldn't and don't have to because God knows what we need and God takes care of. But the real way out is don't think about not worrying.

The real way out is get your mind set on something else. In this case, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. And verse 34, Therefore do not worry, therefore is another conjunction, do not worry about tomorrow.

Now this is another key phrase. None of us ever worry about right now. It's impossible to worry about what's happening right now. Got that? An impossibility to worry about what's happening in this instant.

Do you follow me? You cannot worry about right now. You can only worry about what's going to happen in the next second. People are never afraid about what's happening right now. It's always what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day.

The nature of worry and the nature of fear is always future. It is always imaginary. It's always future, it's always imaginary. I don't know where I saw this. I wish I knew where it was. I might even get somebody to make me a similar copy.

But I saw this plaque. Only time I ever saw it. Where? I don't know. And it was a picture of an old man sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch. And the caption said, I have had many troubles in my life, most of which never happened.

Because all of his troubles were anticipated worries about what was going to happen. And he ruined his present by worrying about tomorrow. And what he worried about tomorrow never happened. Tomorrow he worried about what was going to happen the next day.

And it never happened. Worry is always future. Worry is always imaginary. I have to choose to do it. But the best way to choose not to do it is not to say, I won't, I won't, I won't. But is to do this positive thing, what gets you involved with your time, your energy, your focus, your prayer, everything is seeking first the kingdom.

And when you do that, you find out you're eating and drinking and you impose. Heather was talking about beggars. Now, some cases, just a situation, the beggar cannot help being a beggar. He just cannot help doing anything else.

But some of the beggars, like this fellow, shivering, since we don't know his background, but my guess, he got into some worry and despair and became immobilized. So he couldn't do anything positive. But there are other people who have similar bad situations and they focus on something positive and it may not still be great, but they don't end up in this despair situation.

And despair says there's no hope. And people get themselves that way by worry. Now, the Lord Jesus said, I want you to seek first the kingdom and God providing for you is God's business. Your business is to seek first the kingdom.

You say, well, can I pray? Sure, if you pray without anxiety, because he tells us when we pray with anxiety, you're wasting your time. The double-minded man is unstable in his ways. Let not that man think he should receive anything of the Lord.

The person who is worrying. When he tells us to pray, he tells us to pray in faith. Let's jump down to the 7th chapter for just 7 -7. I'll probably get back to this verse 34 again, but I knew you were thinking, well, what about praying?

Here it says, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who receives, everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.

What this is saying is God is very responsive to knocking, very responsive to seeking, very responsive to asking. But asking and worry is not asking in a way. What you're saying is, God, I don't trust you.

I just do not trust you. I'm going through the motions of saying the words, but I don't think you're going to come across, you're not going to open the door, you're not going to respond. Worrying on your knees.

Worrying on your knees and calling it prayer. We have been guilty of worrying, and we go in and out of worrying. And there's absolutely zero reason in our life for ever worrying again. We have God coming through on these things, not only consistently, daily for food, but also for the unusual.

And we just received yesterday somebody two or three days ago, I met him once or twice, I don't know him, called from another city some distance away and called and he said, do you have enough money to go to your daughter's wedding?

I said, yes, we've got the tickets. We probably don't have enough to eat, but we'll get there and back. And yesterday a check for several hundred dollars came from this fellow that I barely know. Now, we would be guilty of lying if we said we hadn't worried what we were going to do.

Because we have worried. But God knows. God knows these things. Now we have asked, and we have received. We knock and the door is open. And I anticipate that as we keep on asking in a trusting way, God will keep providing for what we need.

Now, I also know this. He won't provide a dime extra. Or maybe a dime extra. But he doesn't overwhelm way beyond our needs. He might someday. And then we say, well, how come the extra? And then we'll find out how come the extra because he anticipated a problem that happens the next day.

Well, I've gone pretty much through the text that I wanted to go through. I have another portion in Philippians 4 where it says be anxious for nothing. Philippians 4, 6, and 7. Maybe I should comment on this.

This is something that happened a long time ago. But I memorized it probably pretty close to 40 years ago, this verse. Philippians 4, 6, and 7. And sometimes when you've memorized a verse, not only do you think you know it mentally, but you also think you know it spiritually, and you also think you've applied it.

And sometimes people know so much Bible, they think they're living the Christian life just because they know a lot of Bible. And that was my situation. I knew a lot of Bible, at least in pieces, and I thought because I knew it, I was more spiritual than people who didn't know it, which meant just about everybody else because very few people know the Bible.

And I remember it was the 1st of January, 1954. We were at a conference up at Mount Hermon, and it had rained the whole weekend, and it was Sunday morning, and we had a combined service with the InterVarsity staff for this conference.

Douglas was six months old. And I remember the preacher for that morning at the worship service was a German seminary student, and I was turned off for two reasons. One, I didn't like his accent. And two, he said he was going to speak on Philippians 4, 6, and 7.

And I just mentally rejected it. Oh, that's too bad. This guy with his German accent is going to teach on something I already know so well because I've memorized it. So I was just sort of not paying much attention.

And I remember he said, let's look at the text here. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And he asked, these people were Christian officers in the Navy, mostly Naval Academy graduates, and university staff members. And he said, how many of you make your request known unto God? Everybody raised their hand.

And he said, how many have your request answered by God? Everybody raised their hand. And he said, how many thank God when he answers your request? And everybody raised their hand. And he said, how many do not thank God until he answers?

And everybody sat there sort of dumb like. He said, the text says, you make your request with thanksgiving. You don't thank him when he answers. You make your request with thanksgiving. When you ask, you thank him.

You don't wait until he comes across and then thank him. And I said, boy, this is wonderful. This is how you're not anxious. You thank God when you make your request. So I was rather pleased by having learned something, even though I wasn't prepared to learn it.

And after the service was over, everybody packed their gear and went home. Well, I was in charge of our conference. So I was down at the business office paying all the bills. The class had a boy named Roy Grayson.

I think he had four children. And this was the first of January of 54 and he graduated in 49. Maybe only had three. I'm not sure. But anyhow, there were only two of us there and we were parked into the trees.

He was parked in the trees this way. I was parked in the trees this way. And the hill went up like this. It was a very steep hill. It had been raining solid all weekend. And as I came up the hill from the office, I saw that he had the hood up in his car.

And he had a 48 Studebaker. And it was a straight six engine with no cover over the spark plugs. And the spark plugs just stuck out of the top. And there was a little puddle of water around each spark plug.

And his car wouldn't go. And he was drying out the spark plugs. And the car just never, ever started. So he said, well, Jim, if you give me a push. So the two of us pushed the car backwards up the hill.

And then he jumped in the car and took off down the hill out of gear. Very steep hill. It was a winding thing like this. I thought, well, I'm glad he's an airplane pilot. I didn't want to do this. So he disappeared out of sight.

And I went over to our car, which was a 48 Nash. I know you've never heard of Nash's or Studebaker's. But anyhow, it wouldn't start. I couldn't see any puddle, but it just wouldn't start. I had nobody to push me.

It was Bessie and Douglas. So I just sat there and prayed and stepped on the starter. The starter on this was underneath. It didn't have a key. The starter was underneath the clutch. So you put the clutch in.

You hit the starter button. And I stepped on the starter. Nothing happened. And I kept praying and stepping on the starter. And finally, the battery wore down. And it's gone. What did I do? I'm in the Navy.

I'm going to have to get back to Monterey. And so I sat there and I said, Lord, what are you trying to teach me? Bessie was in the cabin with Douglas of Lorraine. What are you trying to teach me? And the voice, almost a voice, said, What did you learn this morning?

Well, I learned to make my request with thanksgiving instead of with worry. Ah, wonderful. So thank you, God. And I said, thank God for starting the car and stepping on the starter. And nothing happened.

I said, well, God, I'm sorry. I just was plugging the formula, saying the magic words. But I really do believe what I learned this morning. That I'm to make my request with thanksgiving. And I thank God.

I thank you with all my heart for starting this car. I stepped on the starter and just roared. Just took off. Bessie and Douglas got in the car and we drove down the hill. And got down the bottom of the hill.

And Roy was, his car was parked down the road. And he was coming up to my car. And I said, Roy, I'll give you a push. He said, you don't have to. My car is going. I said, guess how I got mine started.

It was sort of a superior fashion. And he said, I know. You thanked the Lord. It took me 30 minutes to think of it, too. Now, this was the difference between praying in faith and praying in anxiety. And when I pray in faith, I thank God.

Years later, this was in 49. No, that was in 54. And I think probably in 58. In 58 sometime, maybe it was 57. Anyway, it was the winter of 58. We were in Christian work in Washington, D .C. And I was in trouble with the chaplain at the Naval Academy.

And he wanted to see me, to chew on me. And I think we had 55 cents to our name at the time. But there was gas in the car. And I left Bessie with the 50 cents and took the nickel. Drove the 30 miles to the Naval Academy.

I lived in Washington, D .C. And I was driving in a snowstorm. And went down there and parked and went in to see the chaplain. And after I'd seen the chaplain, it was pretty rough, I came out. And it turned out I'd left my lights on.

I'd driven in a snowstorm and the car was dead. And I forgot all about this. It never even occurred to me. I panicked. I didn't have a dime for the telephone, I had a nickel. So I went over to the math department to look up a Christian math professor I knew.

And he was home sick in bed. I used the math department phone to call him. And told him what the situation was. He said, you stay right there by the telephone. And somebody will come in from another office and give you $10 or something like that.

So I hung up pretty soon. Another fellow, I think it was probably Mr. Hawkins, gave me $10. I called a tow truck and got a push or a jump or something like that. I went out to see this friend who was sick in bed.

And I explained to him that we were broken. He said, well, I'll loan you, I think it was $25. Counting the $10 that was already, so maybe another $15. So I drove home and got home and Bessie told me that Joe Carroll had called.

And was coming out for dinner. And Bessie said, well, you have to, you know, the refrigerator was empty. And Bessie didn't know what to feed Joe Carroll. And Joe Carroll was and is a very powerful teacher of the word.

If you want to hear his tapes, we have them over at the store. We'd known him in Japan and in the Philippines. And he was used of God to get missionaries back in fellowship with God. I said, well, Bessie, don't worry, I have money.

So I went out to the store, Safeway, and bought certain items. We bought something for dinner. But I also remember buying the items that you need for little children. The things they put in the refrigerator.

I got some cheese and some eggs and some milk. I remember it was five half gallons of milk I bought. And cheese and eggs. Those are the things I remember. And something for dinner. Well, Joe Carroll arrived with Sam Obetz.

And he had cashed in an airplane ticket. And they'd gone to a supermarket. And they came to the house filled with groceries. And they duplicated everything I'd bought. Everything I'd bought. Well, I mean, at least the things that were in the refrigerator.

I remember it was five half gallons of milk in the refrigerator. He had five half gallons of milk. Whatever cheese, he had the cheese. Whatever eggs, he had the cheese. It was a snowstorm, so we put it out in the snow.

But it was duplicated exactly number and what I'd gotten. And this was a gift. And the other had been borrowed. And the other had been done out of anxiety. And this had been done out of the provision of God.

In other words, I had done the one out of anxiety. And God knew I had needed these things all the time. And duplicated it. So I was miserable. Joe could see I was miserable. So he asked me what the problem was after dinner.

And I told him what the problem was. He said, does God always provide? I said, always. But he wasted a very last minute. He always provides. But it's generally so anticlimactic, I'm not up to rejoicing when he does.

And he said, Jim, you got it all wrong. You don't know Philippians 4, 6, and 7. He said, that's your problem. He said, we start. He said, what you're doing, you are worrying on your knees first, calling it prayer.

And you're doing everything backwards here. It says, be anxious for nothing first. Well, it says something earlier than that. Up in verse 4, it says, rejoice in the Lord always. Then it says, do not be anxious.

Three, it says, let your quest be made known with thanksgiving. And next is the peace of God. He said, you're doing everything backwards. He said, you start out with rejoicing in the Lord always. I said, well, it sounds good.

How do I rejoice in the Lord always in these circumstances? He said, well, you read Scripture on joy. I said, tell me some Scripture on joy. He said, Philippians is a chapter on joy, a book on joy, and 2 Corinthians is on joy.

So he went on his way. He went on his way. And I thought, well, when I spent that borrowed money, it was duplicated stick for stick. I'm not going to spend any more of this borrowed money. But the next day, I had to leave for West Point.

I had some leftover money. I had a rail travel car to catch the train. On the way to West Point, I was to speak at a Christian businessman's luncheon in Newark, New Jersey. And the train would go to Newark, and I had a travel car to catch the train.

I used the 50 cents to get to the train. I got to the train with the 50 cents. I used the travel car to get to Newark. I had no idea how I was going to get to West Point after I got to Newark. Because now I was dead broke, and I was not going to touch that borrowed money.

Boy, I hope that hotel I'm speaking at is not on the other side of Newark. I don't know how I'm going to get there. So I walked out of the train station, and there was the hotel across the way. So I walked over.

And, oh, what did I do on the train? I read 2 Corinthians. And by the time I reached Newark, I was filled with joy. Now, the circumstances hadn't changed a bit. I was filled with joy. I went into the hotel and spoke with real power to the businessmen.

They were paying my lunch, but I had no expectation of an honorarium or anything. They bought my lunch. But afterwards, I was shaking hands, and I was shaking hands with this fellow. And there was a $20 bill in my hand.

And that's how I got to West Point. But the $20 bill was from this fellow. Back in the summer of 49, and this had been 58, 57, 58. Back in the summer of 49, I asked Jack Wurtzen if he knew any missionaries I could pray for.

He said, yes, you pray for Dick Hightower. He's in East Africa. I did not have any letters on him. I didn't know what he did. I had no idea what Dick Hightower did. I just had this name. I knew one missionary, Dick Hightower.

So my last year at the academy, I prayed for Dick Hightower when I was praying for missionaries. When I went to the Korean War, when I was praying for missionaries, I got to know some more out there. But in the meantime, I always included Dick Hightower.

Never got his prayer letter. Never knew what he was doing. Didn't know anything. And did that off and on for years. The man who gave me the $20 was Dick Hightower. And later on, from Joe Bailey, I told Joe Bailey this story, and Joe said to Jim, he said, Dick Hightower was home from the mission field because all of his family had polio, and he didn't have a dime when he gave me the $20.

Doing it God's way. I'd done it my way, and God answered anyhow. I did it God's way with joy, but to do it with joy is the way to do it. One of the things that I've learned over the years, not just from these passages, but from other passages, that do not seem to make sense to Christians, because Christians say, let's be realistic.

Let's be real. This isn't real. And then they'll wonder why I have such wonderful experiences. I've had the bad ones too, but I mean, why do I have the wonderful experiences? It's because I will act on the text even though I don't know that it's ever worked before.

It'll seem unreal, and I'll do what it says, and God honors his promise. I wish that I acted based upon the text more often. When I do, it always comes out like this. If I say, no, let's do it the humanistic way, I suppose, consequently, just in the Lord's provision, two of our favorite verses are Matthew 6 .33 and Philippians 4 .6 and 7.

They are God's guarantee of how he does things. Here, in Philippians 4 .6 and 7, he doesn't say he'll give us our requests. He says he'll give us the peace of God. And the other, he says he'll give us our necessities.

Here he says he gives peace, there he gives necessities.

It's always imaginary, because you're worried. But sometimes you're imagining a disaster. Could be. I mean, like, something happens, and you know your father or somebody's going to blow up, and you're worried about the blow-up.

And it does blow up. And it blows up. And you're worried about it ahead of time. Or, especially if you're dealing with non-Christians, you know them well, and you're worried about it, and it's not, I mean, the answer is based on knowledge of the person.

How do you not worry? Well, the major thing is that it also governs your reaction later to the blow-up when it happens, because you go into it with this worry and fear, and then you don't take it well when it happens.

If you go on, OK, I know it's going to happen, but it's nothing to be anxious or worry about, it's just going to happen. And it's the event that it will happen, and consequently, when it blows up, I can take it with some sort of equilibrium, where if I go on worried, I'm not going to take it with any equilibrium.

I've just guaranteed my reaction to this anticipated blow-up. So the major thing there, we've got two solutions. One is the peace of God, and the other is the actual provision. So we can go in with peace, even though you say, well, we know something like this will happen.