Don't Worry

Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-34

There's a lot to worry about. The economy is terrible, despite rumors from experts that it's improving. Business is tight, and personal expenses are ever-increasing. It's a lot. Not to mention health and family concerns. Have you felt weighed down? Has not getting a promotion or raise been worrying you? What about dealing with that new boss or that irritating customer? Matthew 6 has some encouraging words, "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?" If God takes care of birds and flowers, will He not take care of you? That doesn't mean everything is going to be just like you want it, but it does mean that He is there, loving you.

Verse 27 has a more practical thought: "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Does worrying really make life better? Does it make the problems go away? Or, instead, does it make your life more miserable?

But this idea of trusting God and not worrying comes with an important caveat. Look at the context before and after the passage (in both Matthew and Luke). Before Jesus says don't worry, He explains that we cannot serve both God and greed--we have to choose. After encouraging us not to worry, Jesus says instead of worrying to seek first God's kingdom. Before and after telling us not to worry, Jesus tells us that we have to be seeking God first. That's the key to not worrying. If we are seeking God, whether at work or home or anywhere else, then we can not worry about everything else.