“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 6:27-34)
I worry every day. I worry about my finances, my job performance, my direction and purpose in life, my marriage, and my parents. I worry about lots of things but the aforementioned are the heavy hitters. Worry is a part of life. But it is how what we do with those thoughts, how we respond to them. Most of the time, I let them in, control my life and ruin my day. I think…”how will I pay for this?” “what will I do if my parents health starts to fail?” “am I living out what God intended for me?” It’s all on me and what I will do. Instead of saying, I can’t but I know who can…my God. I don’t know how I will respond or what I will do but I do know that God will give me what I need when I need it.
So to those who worry, and this advice is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading this; don’t. God is not worried, so you need not be worried. As the passage above suggests, we are higher than the birds and the flowers. We were created in God’s image and we are worthy of His grace and His love. So He will always take care of us. He will not forsake you. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) Worry is simply a fear. A fear of the unknown. But God is not fear. God is faithful. Which means that God will always deliver on his promise?
What is that promise? The answer is found above; God will give you all you need. What do we need to do? Seek His kingdom, above all else. That includes worrying. We trust Him, knowing the promise is true. How exactly do we seek His kingdom? While I’m still figuring this out, I think it begins with including God in all our thoughts and actions. How we deal with ourselves and others. Our self talk, our habits that improve instead of erode, our reason for the things we do. Are we saying little prayers of gratitude throughout the day, asking for patience and grace instead of retaliating or cursing someone when they wrong us? Are we being the light that shows others God is present? That He is the ONLY thing we can trust. He is THE reason to not worry.
So I pray for you and for me. That we trust instead of worry. We believe instead of doubt. We seek so that we may find. We receive the promise of abundance and reject the lie of “what if”. Do not be afraid. God isn’t worried so I won’t worry.
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