When we’re in high school, we worry we won’t receive the grade or SAT scores to get into the college of our dreams.

When we get into college or get our first job, we worry we won’t be able to do the work required.

We worry about finding the right spouse.  We worry about whether or not we will be a good mother or father.  We worry about if we’ll be successful.

In reality we have all had a sleepless night or two worrying about some future event, some large unknown.  What parent, while rocking their infant child in the wee hours of the morning, hasn’t worried for their child’s future.  People say, "Don’t worry, be happy."  If it was only that easy. Unfortunately we are not born with a worry on/off switch.

Worries ..... they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, as do the way in which people face their worries.  People face worries by making poor decisions, some give in to discouragement, some numb their anxieties with alcohol and pills, some get angry, some simply quit and withdraw, some even take their own lives.

That is what happens when we allow worries to saturate our minds instead of dealing with our worries.  Something which seems so benign, simple, and easily managed becomes an uncontrollable monster.

There is a commercial for an investment firm, which pictures a mother worrying.  She is thinking about the "what ifs" in her life.  What if her son makes it into an ivy league college, will she be able to afford it?  What if her parent needs nursing care, will she be able to afford it?  What if they both happen at the same time, will she be able to afford it?

During my twenty-four years as a pastor many people have come to me because of life’s problems, life’s ‘what ifs’.  While no two problems were identical, there was a common thread. The thread was they were worried about what may or may not happen in their tomorrows.

The best advice I can give anyone when they are worried is to learn to deal with worry as Jesus did.

In our scripture this morning Jesus asked Philip,

"Where are we to buy bread
for these people to eat?"

Try to imagine yourself as Philip?

People are everywhere.  Up on the hillside.  Down by the lake. You have just been asked by Jesus where you could buy bread enough to feed this massive gathering of people.  You begin assessing the probable cost.

You look at Jesus hoping that you might see a gesture, a smirk that would indicate that he is joking.  Instead Jesus looks at you expectantly.  You know he is serious.  Jesus has given you a tremendous responsibility.  Jesus is waiting for your answer. You answer as you only know how, "Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a little."

Now try to imagine yourself as Andrew?

Nothing has changed.  People are everywhere.  You have heard Jesus’ question of Philip,

"Where are we to buy bread
for these people to eat?"

While Philip is assessing the situation, you see a boy with five barley loaves of bread and two smoked fish.  Would you as Andrew did make Jesus aware of these resources?  OR would you say of what use is that?

Why do you think Andrew made Jesus aware of the boy and his lunch?  Did Andrew remember being at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, the same wedding Philip would have been at, when Jesus turned the water into wine?

Andrew told Jesus about this boy because he was looking at the problem very differently than Philip was.  Andrew was looking at possible solutions.  Philip was looking at the magnitude of the problem.  Which do you do, when faced with a problem? Worry about the problem or focus on the solution?

I want you to do something this morning.  I want you to extend your right hand out in front of you, with your thumb sticking up.  I want you to see your thumb as a problem.  Now I want you to close one eye.  Now stare at your thumb.  Now begin to bring your thumb closer and closer toward your face, until it is approximately an inch away from your eye and hold it there. Now, what do you see?

Do you see the point I am trying to make? When we worry about our problems. When we focus only on our problems.  We do exactly what Philip did.  The problem blinds us.  One look into the eyes of Jesus, and Philip would have seen the answer. The answer was right there in front of him, as was the problem.

I want to believe that Jesus was saying to himself, "Philip, look at me!  Don’t you realize who I am?"  I want to believe that this is what Jesus is saying to us when we are struggling with a problem.  When you can’t sleep because you are worried about your future?  Is Jesus saying to himself, "If you would only look at me.  Don’t you realize I am God?  Your creator!  Your sustainer!  Look at me!"

Do you worry because you focus on the problem and not the solution?

Philip saw only the problem when Jesus asked,

"Where are we to buy bread
for these people to eat?"

When life presents you with a problem which prompts you to worry, remember this morning's thumb exercise, more importantly remember Jesus’ faithfulness in the past.  If you go back and read the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.  You will read that the disciples were with Jesus. Which means that unlike Andrew, Philip had spiritual amnesia. Like Andrew, Philip would have seen Jesus turn the water into wine.  Since the wedding Philip would have seen Jesus open the eyes of a blind man, heal the sick, free a demon possessed boy. Unfortunately he couldn’t seem to bring the reality of those events to bear on the problem at hand.  All too often that is our problem.  We develop spiritual amnesia with each new problem.

When you feel worried, reflect on the past events of your own life.  I am sure you will see many speed bumps, many problems, many struggles and with them you will see the presence of God. At the time we may have forgotten God, BUT God didn’t forget you.  Not just in the Bible but in your own life you can see: that

"God has been a very present help
in times of trouble."

That God has been everything the Bible said God would be.  So why do you worry about present problems, when Jesus is saying,

"Don’t worry, be happy!"

We worry because we focus on ourselves and not on Jesus, because we focus on the problem instead of the solution.

We may not come with a worry on/off switch.

We DO however, have: a God who knows what we need and comes to us at just the right time; a God who says,

"Do not worry about your life.....
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness."

Life presents you and me with a choice: to worry or to have faith in an awesome faithful God; to trust yourself or to trust God, who is described in the Bible as a

"God whose faithfulness endures forever."

It’s your choice.

amen

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