By Chris WittsTuesday 24 Oct 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
What are you worrying about? The Voice translation of the Bible for 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Since God cares for you, let him carry all your burdens and worries”. There’s the answer. Don’t keep your worries to yourself—hand them over to a loving God who is big enough to handle your worries. You don’t need to handle it on your own.
Think about that phrase, Cast all your cares on him. Either God carries the worry or we do. If we do, we’ll be divided, distracted, disturbed, confused, frustrated and burdened. If he carries the load, we may still have trouble and difficulties, but no consuming anxiety, no dominating fear, no undue concern, and no hopeless despair.
Here’s another way to say it: Jesus will carry your backpack as you hike toward heaven. It’s not just that your burdens will be carried. It’s that he, the Lord of the universe, will carry them for you.
- He who is before and above all things.
- He who created all things and is our Saviour.
- He who knows and loves us.
- He who came, died and rose for us.
- He who intercedes for us and one day will come again for us.
He will personally carry all our worries. So then:
- why would we lug that heavy weight when Jesus will do it for us?
- why would we cling to our problems when the Lord of Heaven and Earth will do it for us?
- why would we stagger under that load when our Lord says, Let me carry that for you?
God Promises to be With Us
Don’t worry about tomorrow because God is already there. He is the God who goes before his people. God promises to be with you no matter what happens to you tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and all the days after that. You can live without fear because God has you on his heart at this very moment. He will not forget you, indeed, he cannot forget you.
We all have our concerns. I have my list of 43 things—that quickly grew to 47. You have your list that grows day by day. We’ll never be free of the cares of this world as long as we live in this world. But we can live without suffocating worry that strangles our faith and drains our joy. To all our fears the Lord says quite simply: I am with you always. Fear not.
I’m sure the Apostle Paul completely understood how not to worry. After all, he said, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 – NLT). When the Apostle Paul says, Always be full of joy in the Lord, he doesn’t say to only be joyful in good times. Even when times are tough, the Bible teaches we can be joyful if we follow this simple strategy: Don’t worry about anything.
Worrying doesn’t change anything. It’s stewing without doing. There are no such things as born-worriers. Worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That’s good news: The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned.
Worry—How Do You Unlearn it?
Live one day at a time. Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 – NIV, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. He’s saying don’t open your umbrella until it starts raining.
Pray about everything. Instead of worrying, use your time for praying. If you prayed as much as you worried, you’d have a lot less to worry about. Is God interested in car payments? Yes. He’s interested in every detail of your life. That means you can take any problem you face to God.
Thank God in all things. When you pray, pray with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is not love but gratitude. It actually strengthens your immune system. It makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They’re never satisfied. It’s never good enough. So if you cultivate the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in everything, it reduces stress in your life.
Think about the right things. If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think, because the way you think determines how you feel. And the way you feel determines how you act. The Bible teaches that, if you want to change your life, you need to change what you’re thinking about. This involves a deliberate, conscious choice where you choose to think about the right things. We need to choose to think on the positive and on God’s Word.
What is the result of not worrying, praying about everything, giving thanks, and focusing on the right things? Paul says we will then “experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 – NLT).
Talk it Over. What do you worry about? Talk to God about your worries and honestly tell him why you worry. If you prayed as much as you worried, how do you think your life would change? God says he has your best interest at heart. Thank him in all things, even if you cannot understand what God is up to in your life.
What do you think about most? What do you think God wants you to think about? Are these two things in alignment? If not, then why?
Remember this important verse from Jesus: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has trouble enough of its own” (Matthew 6:34 – NIV)