Most people are going to see ‘worry’ in their day to day lives as something similar to weeds in their lawn: something annoying that you’ll never get rid of, something that you’ll always battle. But what if there was a way to see the reality of worry, anxiety and its good friend- ‘fear’ reduced in your life? The Bible addresses such a scenario head-on.
In the book of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34 Jesus delivers some stunning challenges that address the place we give ‘worry’ every day. He’s going to present real alternatives to worry. He understands how worry works, because he understands us perfectly! He begins: “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? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not plant or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” That’s a rhetorical question of course! He ends with: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” When the Lord is referring to ‘your life’ he is addressing all of your being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. God knows what we need and what we seek. But are we prone to seek with worry, or with confident expectation?
Our English term ‘worry’ comes from an old German word meaning ‘to strangle or choke.’ You can see how even a little bit of worry can wiggle its way into your mind and go to work! It has been discovered that a dense fog covering seven city blocks a hundred feet deep is only composed of about a single glass of water! Somone has described worry as: “A small, thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind, which if encouraged will cut a channel so wide that all other thoughts will be drained out.”
Are we to work hard in life to plan and provide for the future; yes! Might troubles come? Another yes. But we neither made ourselves, and neither do we actually keep ourselves alive! The antidote to worry and fear starts to come into view; that we absolutely must have a trust and confidence in someone beyond ourselves. Psychologists say about 90% of what we worry about will never happen. Let such a waste of time, be replaced by a confident, growing faith in God. This is always the antidote to anxiety and fear. The Lord is always ready to meet us in the midst of our fears.
Pastor Jim
