What, me worry?
What is weighing on your mind? Pause right now and think about the three things you have worried about recently. Someone you know is worried about their marriage, health, job, family or finances. What does the Bible say about worry?
We are commanded not to worry in Philippians 4:6. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (NLT)
Worry can cause even followers of God to fall into sin. In Exodus 32, when Moses was on Mt. Sinai for a long time the Israelites didn’t trust God or Moses. Since they felt abandoned by God they built their own false idols and sinned against God. Just a few chapters earlier Moses was worried that he wasn’t enough of an orator to fulfill God’s will to get the Israelites out of Egypt.
Worrying accomplishes nothing. Jesus asked in Mathew 6:27, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (NIV) Clearly none of us can. Most of us are smart enough to take action if we can tangibly solve our problem, but most worrying is where we don’t have control.
Worrying implies that you don’t trust God. When you worry you either believe that God is not powerful enough to handle your crisis, or simply he will not take care of you. Clearly the Bible refutes both of those ideas. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus assures us that God will take care of all our needs, and we have no reason to worry.
So you’re ready to give up the worry – but how? Worrying is bad habit you have to break. Even the disciples with their access to Jesus still worried they would drown in a storm when Jesus was asleep on the same boat. The answer is to consciously give your worry up in prayer. Philippians 4:6 which we just read continues, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (NLT)
Challenge for this week – banish worry from your life and cast your anxiety on Him.
Love it…well put…great, but difficult challenge to remain in God’s peace regardless of our circumstances. Thanks James…love the mind and heart God blessed you with. Thanks for using both for Him writing this F1A. Take care my friend, Doug
Trust is so hard! That’s why we worry so much – thanks for the fabulous reminder.