Out of Control? — A LifeWords Devotion

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (NLT)

We are pretty good at two things: one is worrying; the other is telling ourselves and others not to worry! It seems even Jesus tells us not to worry. Easier said than done, but wise advice all the same.

Jesus is well aware that life has its challenges and that his followers are not immune from those challenges. We do not have automatic immunity from the many and varied troubles that beset our world.

We worry largely because we fear things are out of control. And for people such as us who like to imagine we are in control, anxiety about such loss can overwhelm us. It is a good time to remember that ultimately we are not in control of our world. This can lead some to despair, but it hopefully leads followers of Jesus to deeper helplessness which is the most basic form of trust.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Trying to take it by the scruff of the neck so that it bends to our will is an exercise in futility and an invitation to chronic worry. We live life using our God-given minds to properly plan and appropriately face what tomorrow might bring. But this is God’s world not our own.

Worry doesn’t work and actually leads to more worry. As the old preacher Spurgeon once said, “Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it only empties today of its strength.”

Blessings
David