*I have allowed myself to be severely stressed out the past several weeks. First was a lectureship that I spoke at with only a week and a half notice. Then came storms that threatened our crops. So take this with that in mind*
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In the greatest sermon ever given (Matt. 5-7) Christ imparted in beautiful and powerful language a wealth of knowledge on how to live a life in a way that is pleasing to God and beneficial to us. Christ talks of the nature of discipleship, hatred, worship, love, prayer, even marriage, divorce, remarriage, and adultery. Perhaps the one admonition that we all fall short on from time to time is that of worrying not.

The section on worry is found in Matthew 6:25-34. Verse 25 starts: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life..." We cannot ignore the word "therefore". This word introduces us to an expansion of previous thought. The thought is that we are to live for God and not the world. We cannot be servants to the material things of this earth. There is something higher, and worry indicates a longing for the physical, and attachment to that which is described as "the world".

The tendency to worry is great. It is a universal problem, and we see a great deal of it in the richest, freest country in the world. We worry about our jobs, about money, about the economy, about gas prices, about terrorism. We worry about what others think, about how we look, about our weight, about our age. Worry is no respecter of persons, reaching out to all.

We often end up worrying about things which will never occur, Mark Twain put it so well: "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened."

Many quotes can be found and many books can be read dealing with worry, telling us to avoid it, and that it isn't healthy. Some have some good ideas, but none more so than the Bible.


Worry is not harmless
It affects our physical life, causing high blood pressure, heart attacks, and a tremendous amount of health problems. That in of itself should be enough to try to avoid worry.

More than that though it affects our walk as Christians. Worry demonstrates a lack of faith, Matthew 6:30. Worry interferes with the direct command to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." Matthew 6:33. We certainly can't do that when we are preoccupied with the cares of this world.


Worry is futile
The Lord asks a rhetorical question in verse 27: "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" Worry gets us nowhere. We can't make the grass grow, we can't make the rain fall, and we can't put food on the table by worrying. In fact worry prevents us from focusing our full attention and abilities on those things which we NEED to do.


How to get rid of Worry
Put our faith and trust in God. We can depend on Him for all that we truly need if we are faithful (Matt. 6:26,28,30). 1 Peter 5:7 instructs us to "Cast all our anxieties on Him..." Why? "...because He cares for us." God not only allows us to cast our worries on Him, He pleads with us to do so.

The outlet by which we can cast our anxieties on God is prayer. Philippians 4:6: "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Surely if we cast our cares on God, we can rid ourselves of this needless worry and harmful stress, and we can experience the peace which the Holy Spirit through Paul tells us will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:7: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We would do well to head our Lord's advice when it comes to worry: "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matt 6:34)

Brotherly,
Lee

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John 6:67-68: "Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, 'Would ye also go away?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.'"