We live in a society that is plagued by worrying. Many of us from the time we wake up in the morning (if worry didn’t keep us awake) until the time we go to bed have a non-stop worry fest. We worry about relationships, finances, health, jobs and just about anything you can think of. Because we have done it so often it seems natural to worry. Unfortunately, excessive worrying can not only compromise our psychological and emotional health, it can also compromise our physical health. Excessive worrying leads to anxiety, and according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America there is an estimated 40 Million people in the United States that suffer from some sort of Anxiety Disorder. In addition, worrying leads to stress which can be a contributing factor in a variety of physical illnesses including heart disease and ulcers.
Now that we know what worrying can lead to, let’s define what worrying means. Worrying is the feeling of unease or overly concern we have about a problem or situation. So, what does the bible have to say about worry? In Matthew 6: 25-34 (NIV) it says:
“(25) 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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
(26) 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?
(27) Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
(28) And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
(29) Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
(30) 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, O you of little faith?
(31) So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
(32) For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
(33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Verse 26 tells us not to worry about our life or our body, and not to worry about what we will eat or drink. If we took that to heart that would probably eliminate 80% of the things we worry about. In verse 28 we are admonished that we should not worry about clothing ourselves and we go on to read about how God clothes the grass of the field which here today and gone tomorrow, then how much more will he clothe you.
God doesn’t just tell us that we should stop worrying, he also gives us a game plan as to how we can accomplish this. In verse 33 he says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you as well.” That’s the secret to overcoming our propensity to worry. We must first seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness. Once we have truly given ourselves to him and give our thoughts and actions over to his will then we will trust that whatever happens is in his will, so there’s no need to worry about it.
Does this mean that once we have accepted Christ as our savior our lives will become problem free, or that if we have problems in our lives that must mean we are not truly following his will? No, it does not. Psalm 23:4 (NIV) says:
” Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way.”
Notice, that there is no promise that you won’t walk through your particular dark valley of death. What is promised is that when you go through your valley (the loss of a loved one, diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, the loss of a job, the breaking up of a marriage, etc.) God will be right there next to you, guarding you and guiding you through to the other side. He will not abandon you or forsake you, but he will provide you with the strength you need to deal with whatever problem(s) comes your way. That is his promise to us and he never lies.
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