Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Robbing Todays Joy
I once told my barber jokingly that I was a professional worrier but finally got out of the business. I was going through some financial difficulties, so I hired a professional worrier to worry for me. My barber said, “How can you afford that!?” I told him, “That’s for him to worry about.” Seriously, I know that we tend to worry, and when I look back at what I worried about five years ago, it all turned out to be a waste of time and energy because my worries were unfounded. The problems I thought would be serious ended up being nothing to worry about at all. What a waste! Can you think of something that you worried about five years ago? Did it turn out to really be anything worth worrying about? Do you feel the same way today about that worry as you did five years ago? Probably not.
Needless Worry
Jesus told His disciples not to worry about their life because there’s a lot more to life than what we’ll wear or what we’ll eat (Matt. 6:25), yet I tend to gravitate to doing just that. It is my natural tendency to worry. I have to resist this. The late pastor and Bible teacher Adrian Rogers once said that 85% of the things we worry about never come to pass and the other 15% are things that are out mostly out of our control anyway. So why worry about something that will never happen? And if it does and you can’t change it, why worry? If you can change any of the 15% of things, then change them and don’t worry about the things you can’t change. Of course, he is exactly right. We can’t even add a single hour to our life by worrying (Matt. 6:27). In fact, worry can actually shorten our life span. Jesus rebuked Martha about worrying over the unimportant things in life (Luke 10:41) and to seek out what the true priority is in life and do that (Luke 10:42).
Killing Anxiety
After you have looked back at what you worried about five years ago and hopefully saw that it was wasted time and energy, you can look at today’s problems and see them in the same light. Paul said if we’re anxious about anything, simply commit it to prayer and give it up to God (Phil. 4:6). If we seek first and foremost Christ and His righteousness, God promises to take care of us and our needs (Matt. 6:33). Take every single anxiety and give it up to God because you know that He loves you and cares about you (1 Pet. 5:7). Don’t worry about tomorrow because it will take care of itself since there is already enough for us to think about today (Matt. 6:33).
A Closing Prayer
Father God, You alone know my future. Help me to trust You about those things that I tend to worry about, and forgive me for worrying when I know You care for me and love me as one of Your own children. I praise You and thank You. In the name of the soon-coming King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, I pray.
Amen
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