The Useless Business of Worrying — Morning Devotions

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And it is quite incredible the intricate care of God over the smallest detail, and you’ll find some practical steps. Worriers, those who worry have a difficult time to stop their worrying, but Jesus is actually giving us some practical suggestions.

How do we stop worrying?

In fact, Jesus said, why don’t you trust your heavenly Father, your Father in heaven? Jesus said, He takes care of the birds. Yes, aren’t you worth much more than the birds? He will surely do even more for you. Haven’t you got the faith? Your Father in heaven, He knows that you need all of these things. So actually, when you think about that, Jesus is saying, if you’re going to worry, you’re not exercising that much faith. Your faith is very little. The ultimate cause of worry, I think, is the lack of faith.

Well, the Bible actually tells us faith comes by hearing and believing the truths of God. So I think the natural thing is to try and increase your knowledge of the Bible. It’s a wonderful book, it has all that we need to know.

Our experience with God tells us what we need to feel and know in our hearts. So if you don’t have enough knowledge of God, yeah, well, you may well worry because we’ve chosen the wrong focus. No one’s perfect. I’m not saying that, but we can actually trust God if we can choose to believe that God is big enough to handle that concern we may have. We can trust Him and He’ll provide what we need. I think that’s what Jesus is saying, because after all, why wouldn’t you want to place yourself in the hands of a potter if you like, who is shaping us, God, the ultimate God.

Now it’s easy to say that but I believe it’s true. It’s something we need to aim for every day. Jesus actually then says, but more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what He wants, and the other things will be yours as well. So here it is, the motivation for choosing faith over fear and worry.

Well, it’s our orientation. If we seek first anything that’s not God’s plan, then yes, worry will come. God may be using actually the circumstances or the bumps in the road, if you like, the trials that you might have. He might be using that to get your attention to redirect your course. No one likes pain. We don’t like the things that hurt us, but somehow if we seek God’s kingdom, we don’t have to worry. Does that sound too good to be true?

Well, Jesus said, don’t worry about tomorrow. It’ll take care of itself, he said. You’ve got enough to worry about today. So what I think Jesus is saying is live one day at a time. Handle each worry as it comes. And many points of life and many points of worry rather will never come to pass. The Bible says that God will never give you more than you can handle.

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So don’t add to the troubles for today. God’s given you enough to handle for this day. So there it is, planning for tomorrow. Yes, you certainly do have to do that. We all have to do that, but we don’t have to worry about tomorrow.

Well, there it is, an idea, and I think that sometimes we need to be proactive, understanding that worry is not necessary, even though it of course affects all of us. We can always pray as well.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, we know that worry is senseless and harmful. We know it in our heads, but we struggle, Lord, to choose not to worry as a way of life. Thank you, Lord, for loving us, even though sometimes we are the ones that don’t have enough faith. So, Lord, help us to overcome worry. And Lord, may we choose today to sing and smile and to be worry-free. Amen.