Worry Not

Jesus commands, “do not worry about your life” and I have to wonder if most of us have failed to keep the command.

We understand that Jesus has never commanded us to do something that we don’t have the ability to do. That means we can choose to worry about everything, or worry about nothing. One thing is for sure, it is easy to say to others, “Don’t worry,” and much harder to keep ourselves from worrying. Matthew records Jesus’ teaching what is wrong with worry and how to overcome worry of the mind! Jesus would not command us to do something that we didn’t have the ability to do. It can be done. We must do it!

Worry is forbidden because it is born out of a great lack of faith in the goodness and care of our heavenly Father. While we may outwardly claim to believe that God’s word is true and powerful while our heart is troubled with worry and anxiety. What this proves is that our faith is either very weak or dead (Heb. 11:6). I have been at the side of many saints who were hours from death and witness those who said, “I am ready, Lord come quickly, and those who were filled with fear and uncertainty about their place in eternity. Listen carefully. How can we rest in the mercy of God in the hour of death if we were afraid to trust Him in life?

Jesus does not forbid giving thought to the necessities of life, after all we must provide for our own (1 Tim. 5:8). We should give some thought and care to the physical body (1 Tim. 4:8; 1 Cor. 3:16-17). What Jesus is forbidding is our worrying and being troubled and upset to the point that we do not have peace of mind.

Jesus knows that worry makes rest impossible and takes the joy out of life. Jesus knows that worry blinds us from seeing our blessings, and then we fail to give God the glory and thanks for them. Jesus knows that worry chokes the spiritual life and makes us useless in the Lord’s service.

“The worry which wears out the mind wears out the body along with it. Worry affects a man’s judgment, lessens his powers of decision, and renders him progressively incapable of dealing with life. Let a man give his best to every situation – he cannot give more – and let him leave the rest to God” (The Gospel of Matthew, William Barclay, Vol. 1, p. 263). We must have the proper view of life and that is being far more concerned about our spiritual life than our earthly life (Col. 3:1, 14)…