Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not rob today of its sorrows—it robs
tomorrow of its strengths.” When you worry, you are filled with fear and not
strength. Fear becomes the burden we carry from day to day. Kierkegaard said,
"No Grand Inquisitor has in readiness such terrible tortures as anxiety, Worriers feel every blow that never falls and
they cry over things they will never lose.[i]
Worry is what we do. We worry about our next meal, what we are going to
wear, our house, the weather and a thousand other things. Is there another way
to deal with the anxiety that is so common to all of us? Jesus said there was,
and he gave us his perspective, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is
more than food, and the body more than clothes” (Luke 12:22-23).
Jesus knows us from the inside out, and he knows what we worry about.
Most of our worry boils down to worrying about our bodies—what we will eat,
drink, and wear. Jesus wanted his disciples to not worry but trust God for all
their needs. No matter what we worry about, the solution is to learn to trust
God to meet all of our needs.
Jesus said, look at the ravens: they don’t plant and work the fields and
wait for a harvest, and yet they never go hungry. The ravens and crows are
everywhere, in every nation, and yet God feeds them. This is of course not an
implication that we shouldn’t work. The Lord only knows that we have millions
of able-bodied people who should be working who are not. Jesus was pointing to
one of the most common of all birds that lives according to its instincts, and
God provides for it.
Then Jesus pointed out something so important. Even though God takes care
of the birds, “How more valuable you are than birds!” (Luke 12:24). Realizing
our value to God is paramount with enjoying life. We are the apex of God’s
creation and are more valuable than the animals. You wouldn’t think so if you
listened to academia today who happens to think animals are of equal or even
higher value than humans. God says otherwise.
I can see Jesus picking up a wild Poppy and admiring its beauty as he
says, “…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, how much more will he clothe you, O you of
little faith!” (Luke 12:27-28).
Jesus emphasized the absurdity of worrying by asking this question: “Who
of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing,
why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26). The question is a rhetorical
one--"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Of course
none of us can and since we can’t, then why do we worry about the rest?"
Jesus asks us to consider the brevity of life. This is another hurdle we
have trouble getting over. From our youth we fail to grasp this truth that life
is so very brief. Consider what we lose by not understanding this fundamental
concept of life. We fail to apprehend the wonderful opportunities that are
there for the moment. If we know life is short, we can live these moments and express
to our loved ones how much they mean to us. We can use our money in ways that
are meaningful if we know our days are numbered. We can, with God’s help, choose
to trust God instead of worrying for our daily needs.
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