“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”Matthew 6:27.
I don’t know about you but I often have a lot of trouble with this, even with my belief and understanding contained in this scripture. One of the hardest things for me to accept is the fact that worry is not supposed to have any place in God’s kingdom of believers. People have tried to tell me that not only is worry unchristian, but on some levels, it’s actually a sin.
For me, it seems that I cannot help but worry about things which I literally have no control over and I know it. Whether it’s family, or friends, or health or finances, relationships, my tendency is, you guessed it, to worry; as if worrying alone will somehow change the circumstances or perhaps improve the situation. Because this is a learning process, I’m doing my best to be a good student of Matthew 6:27.
As such, I realize that the answer to not worrying has already been shown to me. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all things will be given you as well.” Matthew 6:33. Now the next line, I believe says it all. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I need to focus on this because life constantly gives us all pop quizzes to test our belief in this truth. It really is a faith thing. Rather than worry, we should rely on the truth of Jesus Christ. That simple truth is these issues, yours and mine, have already been dealt with via Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. As such I should feel free not to fret.
Again as a student, I can relate to the problem and intellectually understand the answer. But while this is understood on that level, life’s pop quizzes still cause me undue and unnecessary anxiety. Our text teaches us to accept through faith that worry is useless. Our teacher lets us know I have the answer and I should understand and internalize that. I also know I cannot take Him with me at test time. But through study I can recall the right answers when life wants to throw those inevitable quizzes.
“Do not be anxious about anything. But by everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6. If I can just remember to do this and then let go, I’ll know that I know that I know. My prayer is that it will become habit forming and that’s a habit we should all try and develop.
You see I know I’m a hands-on kind of student. Don’t tell me show me. By virtue of this biblical demonstration, reinforced by repetition, I think I’m getting it. At least I hope I am. If I could just quit trying to figure my way out of things on my own; quit blocking my own blessings so to speak. That is life’s recipe for failure. Let God factor into all of my decision making and follow what is then revealed.
