Do Not Worry

"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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Jesus (Matthew 6: 25-34)

I stayed in a boarding house while I was in college. It was me and 12 other college guys sharing one house, two bathrooms and one kitchen. We got to know each other! And we got comfortable with each other... which leads me to tell this story - I had gotten into the habit of sharing my anxiety over tests with my housemates. I would spend days talking about my worries about my grades and how I would do on an upcoming test. I guess I had gone to the well once too often... one day a "friend" finally spoke up and said what I needed to hear. "Dale, if you spent half the time studying that you do worrying, you would be a straight A student." Needless to say, I was taken aback by such honesty. After a few minutes of digesting the comment, I acknowledged that he had given some pretty good advice.

It is easy to fall into that trap... worry. Jesus calls on His disciples to understand that worry is wasted time. "Can you add a single hour to your life through worry?" "Is clothing going to come through worry?" "What about food?" "Drink?" He tells us that God knows what we need and that all the worry in the world will not provide what He knows we need. But there we go again... up at night, ulcers, bad relationships, drug and alcohol use, socially withdrawn... all bad stuff! So why do we do it? Why do we let the concerns of this world crowd out the peace that passes understanding?

Jesus tells us that it is a priority issue. We have the wrong things in the wrong place in our lives. Our jobs are number one. Our spouses are at the top of our list. That new house, new car is what we are working for and we will worry until we get them! Jesus calmly and quietly says, "your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well". He calls on His disciples to put God first, His kingdom, His righteousness... then He says everything that we need will be ours. Sure, some of the things we thought we needed will seem insignificant when we seek His will first and the worries will begin to disappear.

We are not to spend our time thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow is not guaranteed! Stay focused on today. He says that is enough. Today has enough trouble of its' own. That test next week, don't waste time worrying about it, prepare for it while it is still today. When and if that day comes, you will find that you are ready... and without the ulcer.

God knows His creation. He knows our tendency is to think we are responsible for everything. But, He says something entirely different... go to work, do your best, put Him first and everything will work out just fine. He is in charge. Faith. Pure. Simple. Faith. You are His creation. He will take care of you. Trust Him. Get some sleep. Love your family. Enjoy your neighbors. Pour out the drink and flush the pills.

First things first! Kingdom, Righteousness... then, all these things will be added unto you. No worries!

Wise or foolish?