WHY WORRY?

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In Christ, Mark

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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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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—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.

Are you a worrywart?

Do you tend to worry all the time, even about things you have absolutely no control over?

Through my more than 57 years of life, I have encountered more than my fair share of people like this, several of which I am connected to now. And I can tell you one thing about people who are incessant worriers: they worry to the point of harming their health, first from a mental health standpoint as they deal with anxiety, depression, or both and then from physical ailments that result from the chronic aforementioned mental health conditions.

One’s thing for sure and I can say this from absolute confidence.

Nothing good ever comes out of constant worry and the associated stress it brings.

Perhaps this is why Jesus felt it important to touch on the matter during His signature teaching event we also know as the Sermon on the Mount. It’s obvious that continuous, unmetered worrying was prevalent in New Testament times as well so Jesus addressed the subject with the following words:

“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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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—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

Note how Jesus uses nature as an illustration to drive His point home, using two common living items (birds and flowers) that the people would be very familiar with, two items that have translated through the ages to present times where still experience the birds of the air and flowers of the field today.

First, Jesus reminds His listeners (all of us included) that the birds of the air don’t sow or reap their own food nor do they store away provisions in barns. Rather, they eat as they go, as they need to, and God in turn always provides for their needs.

So if God provides for the birds as He does and makes sure they are fed, will He not care even more for His people who He sees as far more valuable?

This is the question Jesus poses and essentially asks:

“Why worry?”

Next Jesus turns His followers’ attention toward the fields where the flowers were abloom in great beauty and splendor. Jesus reminds His listeners that none of those flowers clothed themselves but rather were adorned by God in a way that Jesus proposed was more magnificent than Solomon, the famous beloved former king of Israel.

So if these flowers of the field, who would live only temporarily and then fade and die, would be adorned so beautifully then how much more would God clothe His beloved people?

Again, Jesus was asking the people:

“Why worry?”

Jesus said there was no reason to do it. No reason to worry about our lives, what we will eat or drink, or about our body or what we will wear. There’s no need to lack faith as pagans (non-believers) do and every reason to trust that God will provide for our needs, needs He knows of before we even ask. Therefore, there is no need to worry, not about today and not about tomorrow. You will never add a single hour to your life by worrying but you sure can subtract them.

Did I mention the adverse health consequences that come from consistent and persistent worrying?

So if we’re not to worry, what are we to do?

Jesus tells us we should “seek first His (God’s) kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

It’s too easy, right?

Instead of placing our focus on our worries, we to give our full attention to God, the only One who can handle anything we are going through. The Apostle Paul gives us a two verse prescription to do just that in his letter to the church in Philippi:

“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 4:6-7

The scriptures command us to not be anxious or worried or stressed or afraid about anything. Anything. We’re to write these negative emotions out of our lives. Period.

So what are we to do instead?

We’re to pray, bringing our concerns and requests before God in every situation. Every situation.

You know what that’s called?

It’s called absolute trust and in this case, absolute trust in the only One who can do all things, the Maker and Master of all creation, the God through which all things are possible.

And when we do that, when we give our absolute trust to God, something wonderful happens.

We find peace and not just any peace but a peace that only God can give, a peace that transcends all understanding because it is not a peace this world can give.

Friends, isn’t that a peace we all long for?

So why are we worrying?

Let’s just commit ourselves to be obedient to the scriptures and give God our absolute trust. He’ll never disappoint those who place their full faith and hope in Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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