WHY WORRY?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"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 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 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.”

Matthew 6:25-34

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Here’s a statement I can make with almost absolute certainty:

We will all worry about something at some time in our life. It happens.

What we worry about may differ but we all will worry about something at some time.

Maybe it will be work related…as you worry about whether you’ll get a project done by deadline, a promotion you have yearned for, or perhaps whether you’ll be able to keep your job at all. So many people are being laid off or just let go these days and the job market isn’t that great. Unemployment is the highest it has been in years. And being out of work can lead to another kind of worry…because we so often find ourselves worried about our finances.

We worry if we’ll be able to pay the mortgage or rent this month or the electric bill or any other number of bills we might be responsible for. It may even get as bad as wondering whether you’ll have enough money to buy food to eat, clothes to wear or gas to drive, that is if you can afford to have transportation.

Then we could start to talk about health worries. Maybe we have become afflicted with some disorder or have been injured in an accident that has left us disabled in some way…maybe even permanently disabled. And even if we’re in perfect health, maybe someone we love…a spouse, a child, a parent…might be suffering, causing us worry about them and their condition.

We could go into any other number of things that might bring us worry or worries partners…stress, anxiety, fear. But you get the point. We have plenty in life that might make us concerned at any given moment in time. And some people are persistently worried which brings on health detriments on its own like depression, high blood pressure or heart disease.

In the end, nothing very good ever comes out of sustained worry.

It’s little wonder then why Jesus chose to teach on this matter…and we get a sense that it was as much of the human condition in biblical days as it was today. Let’s look at our scripture and see what our Savior seeks to say to us on the matter.

As we look at our passage, we find Jesus getting right to the point. For He 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?”

Jesus is trying to tell us that we tend to allow ourselves to get worked up about things that just aren’t as important as we make them up to be…things that just aren’t worth worrying about.

For He compares those who worry about what they will eat, drink or wear to pagans…those who refuse to believe in the Lord. You see…those who don’t know the Lord, don’t understand that He is the Great Provider of all things and knows what His people need even before they ask.

Simply, the Lord will take care of those who faithfully believe in Him.

To underscore this truth, Jesus uses several examples from nature…birds and lilies.

First the birds of the air.

Jesus tells His listeners that the birds don’t “sow or reap or store away in barns”. In other words, they don’t stash food away worried that there might come a day when they aren’t given anything to eat. No…they know that the Lord will provide and feed them. And so Jesus asks if people aren’t more valuable to the Lord than birds.

Second…the Lord uses lilies to illustrate His point.

He asks the people to “see how the lilies of the field grow”…how they don’t worry about what they will look like and yet “are dressed in more splendor that Solomon ever was. So if the Lord would “clothe the grass of the field” that way, wouldn’t He clothe His people better yet.

So why worry? Indeed, why?

Because we become people of “little faith” way too easy.

And so Jesus takes the time to tell us what we should pursue in life instead of all the worldly things that would bring us to worry and stress and anxiety. He tells us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” because when we do, these things, like what we will eat or drink or wear…”will be given to (us)”.

Always and forever…in life and in death…the Lord will provide and make the way for us.

Friends, indeed… Who can add a single hour to their life through worrying? And conversely another question needs to be asked…How many hours do we relinquish in life through worrying?

These questions spawned by Jesus’ teaching challenge us today…and every day if we take His word into full consideration as we should.

For we serve an Almighty, Omnipotent, Loving Lord who wants the best for us. If we truly trust Him, then we must behave as if we do…and that means to not be stressed, anxious, afraid or worried about anything. Instead, we place our needs and concerns at the feet of the only One able to provide…and when we do, we find ourselves at a place of peace…a peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).

Thanks be to God for His word…His assurances…and His goodness. Truly…praise God from whom all blessings flow…praise Him all creatures here below…praise Him above ye heavenly host…praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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