Why WorryShembull

PRAYER:

God, as I pause to connect with You, help me to see as You see.

READING:

Devotion Emotion

When Jesus decided to teach about worry, the topic He started with was money, which for many people is their number one worry.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:24

The Greek word “money” is translated “mammon,” which means “stuff.” You can’t be fully devoted to both God and your stuff. You’ve got to decide which one you’re going to be most devoted to. Our worries focus on what we are most devoted to.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...” – Matthew 6:25

Jesus says not to worry, listing specific things His listeners worried about. If He were addressing us today, He would list things we worry about: getting into college, staying healthy, getting married, our 401K plans. He’s not saying those things aren’t important. They are important, and there is uncertainty related to all of them. But there is a way to face the uncertainties of tomorrow without worrying about them today.

“…Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” – Matthew 6:25

With this question, Jesus is trying to pull us out of our hyper focus on the things we worry about. He wants us to examine them and ask ourselves, “Is life not more than those things?” 

“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?” – Matthew 6:26

The birds of the air don’t have plans; they go by instinct. And God takes care of them. Jesus isn’t saying we should be irresponsible and just assume everything’s going to work out—that’s fatalism. He is inviting us to trust—not in fate—but in our heavenly Father. He wants us to work hard and do our best. But once we’ve done all we can do today, we don’t need to worry about tomorrow.

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:27

When you worry, are you really helping yourself? Worrying today can’t create certainty tomorrow, so it’s a waste of time. But if you’ve done all you can do in the now (that you do have some control over), God can be trusted in the next now (that you have no control over). 

“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?” – Matthew 6:28–30

God takes care of the flowers and the birds, and they don’t do anything. We’re even more important to Him, so He will take care of us. When we worry, we’re expressing a lack of confidence in God’s willingness and ability to care for us. It might even look to others as if we have more faith in our worrying than we do in God. But if we could live our lives confident that He can be trusted, we would stop worrying. Not because we know exactly what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day, but because we’re trusting our heavenly Father.

REFLECTION:

The emotion of worry is driven by the things we are devoted to. What are you most devoted to? If you’re not sure, track your worries, because your worries often lead you to the point of your greatest devotion.