Worry really worries us. We worry a lot about worrying. It is so common and almost natural for so many of us that we may figure that it’s an acceptable part of our lives. Is that true? Is worrying a big deal or not?
How many of us are like Martha in Luke 10? Jesus said that she was “worried and troubled about many things” (10:41). Are you worried about many things? Jesus was not commending Martha but reproving her and telling her that, instead of having her mind divided in different directions, she needed to focus on “one thing” (10:42). How many of us need to stop drawing our minds in so many troublesome directions and draw them, instead, toward the Lord and what He has to tell us about living and about worrying?
The Bible tells us, “Do not worry.” Three times in Matthew 6, Jesus instructs His followers with these three simple words, “Do not worry” (6:25, 31, 34). In verse 28, He asks the rhetorical question, “Why do you worry?” There is no answer (acceptable answer) to that question. So, would it be ok for me to worry about just a few little things?
The Bible tells us, “Be anxious for nothing.” From the pen of a man who was incarcerated in a Roman prison and facing the possibility of death came these words, “Rejoice in the Lord always…Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:4, 6). But, seriously, how can I do that?
The Bible tells us, “Trust in the Lord.” Rather than worry about what you cannot control, Scripture tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…In all your ways acknowledge Him” (Prov. 3:5-6). In fact, that is the emphasis of both passages that prohibit worrying. Eleven times in Matthew 6, Jesus stresses how God is “your Father.” Paul said not to worry about anything but “in everything” to “let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).
The Bible tells us, “Your Father knows what you need.” We have an all-powerful and an all-knowing Father in heaven! There is nothing about our lives (and our needs) that He does not know (and cannot handle). Rather than worry, Jesus said to lean on “your Father” who “knows that you need all these things” (Matt. 6:8, 32). How much do you trust your Father?
The Bible tells us, “Cast all your anxieties on Him.” Not some. Not most. Not the heavy ones. Not the worst ones. Not the ones you can’t handle. “Humble yourselves…casting all your anxieties on Him” (1 Pet. 5:6-7).
It is hard (truly hard) to not worry about things. Even Martha struggled with that. But, try to focus your mind on the “one thing”—Spend time with the Lord, talking to Him, trusting Him, transferring your worries to Him.