The Worries of Life

"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 important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies 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, O 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. -Matthew 6:25-34

If you have been around for any length of time, then you have seen the destructive power of the wind. A tornado can take down a town. The tightly formed, swirling winds will level anything in its path, leaving behind a trail of mangled destruction. A hurricane is the same way. The hurricane’s winds meander along the ocean, drawing strength from the warm waters. Its powerful force hits the coastline bringing with it wind, and rain, and the ocean's fury. Devastation is left in its wake. But who needs such dramatic examples of the winds destruction. A simple thunderstorm can bring with it straight-line winds that will topple trees, crashing onto cars and homes, causing plenty of damage, headache, and sometimes heartache.

Not nearly as recognizable, but what the scripture calls “the worries of life” can be just as destructive. We easily get caught in the swirling trap of tomorrow’s questions. Replaying over and over again, in our minds, the “what if’s” of life’s possible troubles. We get stuck in the fears of all the worse case unknowns.

Twice Jesus warned against the devastating consequences of worry. In Luke 8:5-15 Jesus tells us the parable of the sown seed. Some of the seed falls on the path, some on the rocks, some among the thorns, and some on good ground. As Jesus explains what all this means, it is the thorns that are emblematic of the worries of life. Jesus describes the very life of God – his Word, as being chocked out of the believer by worry. Trust in God brings about his goodness. Faith is belief in action. Faith and trust compel God to move in his nature. Worry in antithetical to faith and trust.

The second time, in Luke 21, Jesus is preparing the disciples in a duel prophetic moment. He is describing a future time when the Jewish nation will be crushed by the Roman Empire and the people disbursed. He is also talking about the last days and time of the believer on earth. The moment just before the anti-Christ appears to wreak havoc for seven years. He ends his preparatory moment with a warning. "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap” (Luke 21:34, NIV). In this descriptive analogy, Jesus compares the effects of worry on our reasoning with being in a drunken stupor. Our capacity to recognize our place in God’s unfolding history is hampered by our anxieties and fears. Our prophetic reasoning becomes blurred in the intoxication of worry. We loose the capacity to react in faith; to trust that, regardless of the circumstances around us, God is in control.

The worries of life are the enemies attempt to remove us from the will of heaven into a self-focused, faithless reasoning. Everything we need is in the will of heaven. That is where we will truly find all the answers to the things that cause us worry.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. -Philippians 4:6-9