This morning my husband is taking a good friend in for hernia surgery. It shouldn't be any big deal, but so often surgeries, hospitals, medicines, recoveries - well, they are not fool-proof. So I'm thinking of his surgery and thinking about our human tendencies to worry and take anxious thought.
We're not supposed to - take anxious thought, that is. We're supposed to do what we can do, and then we're supposed to trust in the sovereignty of God that He will work things out according to His will. You remember the Sermon on the Mount: Who of you by worrying can add a day to his life? Our worry doesn't really accomplish anything.
So, I'm lying in bed, listening to the guys getting ready to leave for the hospital, when the bed starts shaking. I'm thinking, "An earthquake? But it's cold outside. The wind in howling. I don't want to go outside." Funny, isn't it. The safest place to be, if it were indeed a strong earthquake, would be outside in that howling wind. But I just wanted to stay in my warm bed.
I think our worry gets to be something like that - a warm, comfortable, familiar bed. We're used to worrying. It has become our modus operandi, and that's where we want to stay. I think that continuing in a habit of worrying is every bit as dangerous as staying in a structure during an earthquake. We can't hope to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ if we don't learn to take our worries to Him and trust Him for the outcome. Worrying is a statement that we don't believe our Savior - that we don't believe He's strong enough to save us, or that we don't believe He cares enough for us to work things out for our good even though He gave His life for our salvation. Think about it. How long can you fret and worry before Jesus has to come to you face to face and ask you about the size of your faith? And, that's scary because we know that without faith, no one will see the Lord.
So, when Jesus said to take no anxious thought, he was serious. Quit worrying about things. You can be concerned. You can make preparations. You can be diligent. But don't let worry, unbelief and faithlessness dominate you. They are a relationship-breaker.
What do you think? Do you think you worry too much? Do you think your worry separates you from God? If you do, what can you do about it?
We're not supposed to - take anxious thought, that is. We're supposed to do what we can do, and then we're supposed to trust in the sovereignty of God that He will work things out according to His will. You remember the Sermon on the Mount: Who of you by worrying can add a day to his life? Our worry doesn't really accomplish anything.
So, I'm lying in bed, listening to the guys getting ready to leave for the hospital, when the bed starts shaking. I'm thinking, "An earthquake? But it's cold outside. The wind in howling. I don't want to go outside." Funny, isn't it. The safest place to be, if it were indeed a strong earthquake, would be outside in that howling wind. But I just wanted to stay in my warm bed.
I think our worry gets to be something like that - a warm, comfortable, familiar bed. We're used to worrying. It has become our modus operandi, and that's where we want to stay. I think that continuing in a habit of worrying is every bit as dangerous as staying in a structure during an earthquake. We can't hope to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ if we don't learn to take our worries to Him and trust Him for the outcome. Worrying is a statement that we don't believe our Savior - that we don't believe He's strong enough to save us, or that we don't believe He cares enough for us to work things out for our good even though He gave His life for our salvation. Think about it. How long can you fret and worry before Jesus has to come to you face to face and ask you about the size of your faith? And, that's scary because we know that without faith, no one will see the Lord.
So, when Jesus said to take no anxious thought, he was serious. Quit worrying about things. You can be concerned. You can make preparations. You can be diligent. But don't let worry, unbelief and faithlessness dominate you. They are a relationship-breaker.
What do you think? Do you think you worry too much? Do you think your worry separates you from God? If you do, what can you do about it?
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