Why WorryShembull

PRAYER:

God, it’s so easy to get caught up in worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow and the next day and the next. Help me to trust You when worries surface in my life.

READING:

Switching Sides – Part 1

Yesterday, we learned that you can’t add anything to your life by worrying—it’s a waste of time! But it’s not that you shouldn’t care. God expects you to do all you can do in the areas you’re concerned about. But once you’ve done all you can do today, you don’t have to worry about tomorrow, because your heavenly Father cares for you.

That’s where we begin today.

“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…” – Matthew 6:27–30

Jesus is teaching us a lesson from nature, reminding us that God created everything, put it into motion, and controls it all. Keeping sight of that is part of overcoming your worry. 

“…you of little faith?” – Matthew 6:30

There’s a relationship between the size of your faith and the size of your worry. The reason our worries are so big is because our faith is so little. You can’t stop worrying by trying to stop worrying; that doesn’t work. It’s a faith issue. If you truly believe God is in control of everything, then let your faith take the next step—trusting Him with your future.

“So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?’” – Matthew 6:31

As we said yesterday, Jesus was addressing the worry points of the people in His culture, which are not worry points for most of us. If He were speaking today, He might point to our worries: Where am I going to find a job in this economy? or How am I going to pay for my kids’ college? He’s telling us not to spend our time stressed over those things. Not because they’re unimportant—they’re very important. And not because we shouldn’t care. But after you’ve done all you can do, don’t sit around worrying about the future.

“For the pagans run after all these things…” – Matthew 6:32

The pagans are people who don’t believe there is a God who knows your name and answers prayer. When they “run after” the concerns of the day, that’s like our “worry.” We can get so distracted by worry that we act like people who don’t even believe there is a God. But when we come in contact with people who have the same concerns as us, our response should be so different that they are amazed. Jesus says our struggles and temptations and circumstances are common to all men—the difference could be your response. It’s an opportunity for your light to shine brighter than ever.

“…and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” – Matthew 6:32

Even if you don’t know what God is going to do about your concerns, isn’t there extraordinary comfort in the fact that He knows? If He knows and He’s working on them, then you don’t have to be worried. But you’re only going to stop worrying if you believe He knows and you trust He knows—that’s why the bigger your faith, the smaller your worry.

REFLECTION:

If you were totally confident that God knew what you needed, that He knew about all your concerns and was working on them, how would your stress level be impacted? What would happen to your worrying? Consider what it could look like for you to adopt that perspective.