Do Not Worry

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25 ESV)

This may be the most difficult command for us to obey — “Do not be anxious about your life.” If we would only learn in the hidden parts of our souls to trust God in all things, to not worry, to not take on matters that are greater than we are, life would be so much sweeter.

To worry is to assume a role in life that God has not entrusted to us, to imagine ourselves responsible for something which is quite beyond us. The word in the original language is merimnao, meaning to be anxious or agitated in our mind, to be troubled, to have our thoughts stirred up about a certain matter. It is related to the Greek word for scattering, and has the idea of being scattered in our thoughts, uncertain what to do first, who to look to in a crisis, unclear as to our own role.

Paul used this word in Philippians 4:

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. (Phil. 4:6–7)

The birds of the air were given by our Lord as an example of trust. They rise early in the morning and go about their work, yet they do not worry. They do not assume a role in their minds that only God can take on. Oswald Chambers describes worry as becoming impertinent, imagining that we know more than our heavenly Father. There is no question but that our worry, our pride, our unholy desires, our lack of faith, and our selfishness are the cause of much misery in our souls, and in this world.

The Christian obligation to live in simple trust, to pray instead of worrying, results in life and joy, and is a blessing to others. To go about our days in faith will bless us and those around us more than we could ever imagine. In times when we feel overwhelmed we look to God: Pray first. Lay the whole matter out before Him, then see what He places on our hearts to do next. Ask for wisdom as to what is our part in the matter. Are we anxious because we have not learned the discipline to deal with a certain matter? Do we need to speak to someone and we have lacked courage? Do we need to let go of something that we have held too tightly to?

Some matters are resolved by simple prayer, when we hand this matter over to God and commit ourselves not to worry about it. God takes it off of our shoulders and we have peace.

Other matters, such as the raising of our children, we must give over to God daily, and even several times within a single day. Some worries, once we rebuke them, they pack up and leave. Others seem to merely move just outside the doorway of our consciousness, and wait until we invite them back in, knocking all the time. Those are the most difficult ones, but even there the principles taught by Christ apply. We simply must establish the habit of thinking along these principles. God can and we cannot.

Children may hide from their parents’ advice, but they can never outrun their prayers.