By Elder Janson Reynolds
For The St. Louis American
We live in a day and time that nobody trusts anybody. We have had bad experiences in life, and as a result, we have learned not to trust anybody or anything other than ourselves. Consequently, we have become very cynical, especially when someone offers to help us to get where we’re trying to go.
Since we have trouble trusting a person we see every day, we most certainly will have a difficult time trusting someone we cannot see, namely our Heavenly Father.
When we realize that something’s out of our control, the next step is naturally to worry. One day I was so worried about how a situation would play out, I could not sleep that night and I did not want to awaken the next morning. Worry had turned into depression.
According to the Word of God, as found in Matthew 6:25-34, part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He teaches that worrying has no place with the people of God.
Is there anything in your life that’s causing you to worry? Have you asked yourself, how can I stop worrying? Why worry anyway? In the KJV, Mathew 6:25 uses the phrase “take no thought,” which is rendered as “do not worry,” in other translations.
In verse 31, three questions are identified as worry: what shall we eat? what shall we drink? what shall we wear? It can also be said that worry is created by unanswered questions in your mind. He answered each question by referring to the Father. He gave them a fuller revelation of who their Heavenly Father was. God was being revealed as their provider.
He also declared in v.27 that worrying was a wasted effort. Things cannot be changed by worrying. That brings the point home to us in this day and time. Jesus replaced worrying with a working knowledge of God. What do you know about God? Can what you know about God carry you through the tough times?
If you don’t know Him at all, don’t you think it’s time to get acquainted with Him? You can start by opening a Bible and asking God to reveal Himself to you.
Reynolds is associate minister, Tabernacle Memorial Church of God in Christ.
