Do Not Worry

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes...Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25, 27, 33, 34, NIV)

Have you ever heard this phrase, “If I just had ___________, then I wouldn’t have to worry.” Maybe you have said it yourself – filling in the blank with any number of things: a good job, a million dollars, or a significant other in my life. We toss out this kind of statement as if worrying were the natural course of events, and only finding the “magic” thing (or combination of things) can keep us from worrying.

I come from a long line of worriers. We never told my grandmother when we expected to be at her house, because she would worry if we weren’t there exactly on time – imagining all sorts of horrors about how we were lying in a ditch by the road somewhere. We didn’t want her to worry – so we only gave vague times – and frequently over-exaggerated our departure time so that we would be there earlier than she expected us. My mother is a worrier – and I do my best to keep things from her that I know she will worry about. I won’t lie in answer to a direct question, but if there is any way I can avoid the question being asked, I will do that. I have the “worry gene” too. I am quite adept at imagining all manner of disasters, and most of them never become reality.

“I wouldn’t have to worry.” If you take out the conditional part of this statement, you are left with, “I have to worry.” Imagine that, “I have to worry.” Despite the fact that Jesus clearly told us “do not worry” we live our lives as if we have to worry, as if it is some sort of requirement. What will I eat? How will I pay this bill? Can I stick with this weight loss? Am I going to get a job? What if my boss doesn’t like this presentation? What about global warming? The unrest in the Middle East? Once I start the worry engine – I can go on forever, with no end in sight.

So, if I don’t worry, what am I supposed to DO? Jesus answers that, as well, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [that you are not supposed to be worrying about] will be given to you as well.” When we have our priorities straight, there truly is nothing to worry about.