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I wish I could recall the preacher who said this, but I have never forgotten it, sitting in a chapel service in college many years ago, “Worry is nothing more than jumper cables to the imagination.” Since I am highly imaginative, I need to avoid that unnecessary spark at all cost. Think back on how many worst case scenarios we conjured up in our mind over something that never came to fruition. Not one part of all that negative emotional energy invested into worrying affected the outcome one teeny tiny bit!
The reality is that worry either dethrones God or makes Him non-existent; it really is an act of dishonor to treat God as if He is not on the throne or that He doesn't exist. We do it all the time when we worry. I must confess I do not have the mastery over being anxious. Beverly will ask me, “Are you having a God is not on the throne moment?” Hanging my head down like a little boy who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, I simply confessed what I could not disguise, “Yes.” You just can’t hide the look of worry from others for very long and certainly not from God at all!
Is this an insult to God? Why of course it is; any attitude or action that is not based on faith is sin (Rom 14:23). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). There is a good principle here, “When in doubt, don’t.” “Without faith, don’t!” Should I worry over this or that? The answer still is no; we shouldn’t. Our attitudes and actions are to be rooted in faith, acknowledging God and all that He is as revealed in Scripture. James doesn’t pull any punches, “So whoever knows the right things to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas 4:17, ESV), that sounds straight enough. So we could say it is never right to worry, and when we do it is sin. There really is no need to sugarcoat it; James doesn’t.
Honestly, I don’t think we will ever shuck this thing called “worry” or being “anxious” anymore than we can stop from sinning this side of eternity. But what we can do is to limit its impact on our physical and spiritual health. Whether we admit it or not, we all are prone to worry. Okay, dignify it by another name if you want, like, "concern, burden, or bearing your cross; the results are the same" (Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, on Lk 6:25).
The objects of things to worry about are endless. There's plenty to worry about! Worry can keep stress alive, churn and twist our guts into Gordian knots, produce ulcers, drain of life's energy, grey the hair, add wrinkles, cause doubt, fear, immobility, depression and so on. Worry can become a tyrant to our physical and spiritual well being. This certainly doesn’t describe a picture of perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God because of trust (Isa 26:3)! We are never instructed to “Worry in the LORD,” but we are commanded to “Trust in the LORD.”
While worry replaces trust and dethrones God and behaves like an atheist; trust does just the opposite. It removes worry and recognizes that God is on the throne and acts like a true believer who trusts in a loving, all wise and all powerful God. Trust blesses; worry curses. If we are to glorify the Lord in all that we do (1 Cor 10:31), worry doesn't worship, exalt, or adore God; its only concern is of future events.
Worry keeps our minds occupied on the future of the here and now. Anxiety distracts and divides, or as Wiersbe literally defined it, “to be drawn in different directions” (Ibid, Mt 6:25). While God wants for us to look up we are looking down. We are so consumed by worry that it has pulled us away from the object of our faith. We are drawn in a different direction from living with eternity in view to the temporal things of the world. Worry or anxiety creates a distraction and pulls us away from looking to Christ to focusing on the circumstances of life, worrying over the future that generates doubt in the goodness and greatness of God. One commentator described the worry over the future as denying the love, wisdom, and power of God!
“It denies the love of God by implying that He doesn't care for us. It denies His wisdom by implying that He doesn't know what He is doing. And it denies His power by implying that He isn't able to provide for our needs” (Bible Believers Commentary on Mt 6:25).
Worrying about the future “causes us to devote our finest energies to making sure we will have enough to live on. Then before we know it, our lives have passed, and we have missed the central purpose for which we were made. God did not create us in His image with no higher destiny than that we should consume food. We are here to love, worship, and serve Him and to represent His interests on earth. Our bodies are intended to be our servants, not our masters” (Ibid, Mt 6:25).
We were made to live with eternity’s values in view, living for today, not the future (Mt 6:34). Does this rule out working and planning, no (2 Thes 3:10). But if we are so consumed about “retirement” and planning for our future that we can’t live for Him now because we are too busy working for the future, when we, if we, reach retirement, we are not going to serve Him then; we will be too busy playing golf….
When I was visiting a sister church down in central Florida recently, I met a counselor who told me that his biggest concern was retirees who have retired on God; they simply have no interest or anything to do with God or His church, and they will point blank tell you that! I suspected they never were committed to the Lord in their whole life, but I kept my opinion to myself. Perhaps it’s best for us to reflect upon what Jesus said at the conclusion of Matthew chapter six.
(31) "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” [Emphasis mine]
If you get an opportunity go to the eleventh chapter of Hebrews and each time the word faith appears (24), replace it with the word worry. And stick it out until you read the entire chapter (40 verses). This exercise will give you insight into the futility of worry.
If you get an opportunity go to the eleventh chapter of Hebrews and each time the word faith appears (24), replace it with the word worry. And stick it out until you read the entire chapter (40 verses). This exercise will give you insight into the futility of worry.
Worry doesn’t seek; it freaks out. The additions come with the seeking, with worrying comes the subtractions, physically and spiritually. Faith makes for a better future. <><
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