I was reading through Jesus’ words on worry yesterday and it struck me once again just how down-to-earth and practical they are. In Matthew 6 he says things like, “Doesn’t God clothe the flowers with beauty and the birds with feathers? Hello! Won’t he take care of you too?... So what are you so worried about?... Friend, don’t worry about what you’re going to eat or drink or wear, those are the things that worldly people live for. Choose to focus on living out and spreading God’s story instead and trust me, he’ll take care of all your needs…”
All this makes so much sense to my heart, but it’s so hard to actually do. Then Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” And I realized that worry never adds anything positive to life, it only detracts from life. It detracts from peace, from faith, from relational harmony, from your spiritual, physical, emotional health. Worry only takes away from the life and doesn’t actually change anything in the end. It has no power to heal, to add life, to deepen relationships.
I know firsthand just how destructive it can be.
I think if our world didn’t have to deal with guilt, shame, grief and worry we’d be experiencing the foretaste of heaven.
Today my prayer is going to be that God lets me have a little nibble by leading me away from worrying about tomorrow. It’s like Jesus said, “Every day has enough problems of its own.”
