Worrying about life..

I know that another area that Christians struggle with in their daily lives is the topic of worry. For some, they do not worry about anything and for others–it is a constant battle for them. I grew up in the constant battle of worrying about everything daily. My mom was one of those people who worried about EVERYTHING and she still does to this day. I know that I followed in her footsteps when it came to my high school career and my college days. I would worry about getting to school on time, is my homework right, the rejection of asking a girl out, and so on. You name it, I worried about it. Even after I met my wife and we were well into marriage, I still worried about every little thing. I knew I drove her crazy.

It only escalated when my son, who has Down Syndrome and had a host of medical problems at birth, came into this world. I would worry about what the numbers would say on the monitors, his blood work, oxygen levels–so many different things. I believe that it gave me an ulcer and all this grey hair I carry today. But thinking about this journey back to God, is it OK to worry? Shouldn’t I be more trusting in God than relying on others and myself for things? To answer that, I went to the Bible to see what Jesus had to say about worry.

From the Book of Matthew

6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry 33 about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? 6:26 Look at the birds in the sky: 34 They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds 35 them. Aren’t you more valuable 36 than they are? 6:27 And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? 37 6:28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers 38 of the field grow; they do not work 39 or spin. 6:29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! 6:30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, 40 which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, 41 won’t he clothe you even more, 42 you people of little faith? 6:31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 6:32 For the unconverted 43 pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom 44 and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 6:34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. 45 (http://www.bible.org/)

So there you have it. We shouldn’t worry anymore! Right? My goal in these writings is to be real and genuine so that we can all understand that we go through the same things and that some of us are not better than others when it comes to things. So that is why I say that I have read that passage 100 times over and still I worry about things.

I believe it is a normal human reaction to worry about things. Sometimes it is just automatic. Something happens and we worry about the outcome. But maybe, just maybe, we can trade some of that worry for some trust in the Lord.

I know we all just can’t give things up right away. Sometimes it is a gradual process. In like smoking, just quitting is really hard. I smoked for six years and just quitting was REAL hard. Sometimes is has to be a process to get to the end result. But we need to get to the end result and not just say we are getting there and not do the right thing at all. I believe we are a new creation in the Lord and all the old and nasty habits we have, like worrying, do take time to eliminate.

So, in taking this journey back to God and finding who He really is, I believe it is natural for us to worry about things. But since we are new in the Lord, we should start laying those worries upon him. The Bible does say to cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you. Everyday our prayer should be to ask the Lord to help us this day to trust Him a little more and give up that worry. He said in Matthew 6 that we shouldn’t worry–why not try it. I have never known the Bible to ever mislead us.

God is so good and He always keeps His promises to us. If He said He would take care of us, that is what we should believe. Trusting Him a little more each day–until the day we come to meet Him face to face.