Good morning!
Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. (Matthew 6:28-29)
Recently I read an article about our worry. It tells “Lo and behold, it turns out that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning. This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misconceptions.” Statistically speaking, our worries are ungrounded.
Then why do we worry? In short, it is a work of our flesh. The Bible tells “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (Romans 8:5)” We, Christians, should not worry, because we are no longer under the flesh that makes us desire things on earth, but we are of the Spirit sent by God, and live in accordance with the Spirit. The Spirit desires the things of the above, which is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8 )
Being worrying does not give any solution to what we worry about. Jesus said “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Matthew 6:27)” No, absolutely not. Instead, our worry adds to our anxiousness. It lives inside of us, and undermines us from inside out. It continuously drains our mental, physical and spiritual strength. In deed, our worry is a clear sign of our self-reliance, and our effort to solve the problem with our own way. However, the deepest part of our heart says that it is beyond our ability. If not, we have already done something about it.
“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? (Matthew 6:25)
Even so, we want a control. We love to be the master of our own self, although we are absolutely helpless before the problem that we confront. How foolish we are! This is the time that we yield our own control to the real master, our God, who is really capable. Also giving a control to God means giving out our worries to God. It is uneasy to give up our control and our worries. Our flesh screams not to lose the control by bringing all logical reasons why we need to be in charge and worry.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
Then why do we tenaciously stick to our own worry? Because we really care for the object of our worry. If we don’t care for the thing/person/event, we will not worry about it at all because we don’t care. We worry because we really care for and love our money, job, status, reputation, child, and even self. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” That is, where our heart is becomes the source of our worry. Among sports fans, I have never seen a single person who worries about the opponent team, because the person’s heart is already with the the person’s team.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. … (Matthew 6:24)
Our life is more important than a sport game. However, we are foolish enough to implicitly think that things on earth will reach to the entirety. What we see is transient, and what we cannot see is eternal. (2 Corinthian 4:18). Putting our heart, cares and concerns to a thing on this transient world is the very source that makes us worry. The original word in Greek, which is often translated to worry in English Bible, is “mrimnao”, which means “to be anxious” and “to care for.” The Bible gives a clear teaching in a single word – we worry because we love.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)
I am sure each of you have at least one that you dearly love. It could be your own child, spouse, job, money, fame, popularity, and even self etc. However, Jesus told that “you shall love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and then you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells us that our concerns and associated worries should be directed to God and our neighbors. Jesus continue telling us “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (Matthew 6:31-32) Instead, He says “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
What a blessed word from Jesus! All that we worry about will be taken care of by Jesus. (In fact, all that we worry about are beyond our capability anyway.) We just love God with all of our heart, and love neighbors as ourselves. (It is a simple command, but we know it is also impossible for us to keep if we try with our own might.) This is the mystery of our faith. Although we cannot do by our own strength, the power of the Holy Spirit in our heart enables us to truly love God and love our neighbors (even including our enemies). Praise God, who reveals this secret to us! He continues watching over us to grow in Him to have a deeper understanding and relationship with Him, to do God’s wills and desires rather than fulfilling our flesh’s desires. Therefore, continue following the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and fix our eyes on Jesus on cross. Then we run our race given to us. Soon we will be turned out more than conquers of all our worries in Jesus Christ. This is our faith. The highest glory, honor, and praise to Jesus, the savior and finisher of our faith. Praise the Lord, whose mercy endures forever!
Let’s continue praying before God to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in us. He will continue guiding us and protecting us from all our worries, concerns, and dangers.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)
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