Why worry?

Stuff happens. Jobs are lost. Relationships are broken. Ends don’t meet. Illnesses take unexpected downturns. We make mistakes. The pressures of Christmas crash in. Life feels unpredictable. And most of us, to a greater or lesser extent, respond by worrying.

Some days the nagging insecurities about the future play irritatingly in the backs of our minds. At other times we’re overwhelmed by a torrent of panic that leaves us utterly inert. We want to know it’s all going to work out ok in the future. And we feel we can’t relax until there’s some tangible evidence it really is going to be fine.

But when we turn to the Scriptures we’re confronted with the inescapable fact that the Bible says, “don’t worry”:

• Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life (Matthew 6:25)
• Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:27)
• When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves (Luke 12:11)

For some of us the command might as well be, “don’t’ eat” or “don’t breathe”! It feels impossible. Don’t worry?! It’s so far out of our realm of experience that we often can’t even imagine what that could be like. So how do we tackle the apparent gulf between our behaviour and our call?

1. Know we’re not alone. The God who knows us intimately (Psalm 139) is aware that we worry. We don’t have to try to hide it. It’s pointless to try. And the fact that the Bible tells us not to worry is a fairly good indication that it’s something with which a lot of believers struggle.
2. Know we can change. God loves to change his people – to renew us by the transforming of our minds. It’s the exciting truth of Romans 12:2. His Spirit is at work in all his children, reminding us what is true (John 16:13). So for believers, the possibility of change is not a wishful thought, it’s a certain hope.
3. Know we are forgiven. Yes, for all those times when our actions and thought processes have careered out of control – we are forgiven, if we have turned to Jesus. Washed whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). Jesus’ forgiving work on the cross is that complete.
4. Know life is under control. It may be that we need to take some practical steps to change our circumstances. But by far the best antidote to feeling worried about the future is to reflect, and reflect again, on the perfect power with which God rules the past, present and future. His loving sovereignty never waivers. The God who flung stars into space and who watches over sparrows (Matthew 10:29) has our circumstances under control too. It’s a truth that we need to speak to ourselves daily, hourly. And it’s a truth we need to speak with confidence. Colossians 1:15-20 is a good place to start.
5. Know that good will come out of whatever we are facing. Uncertainty is tough. But God uses all things for good (Romans 8:28). The issues we are struggling with right now may be unpleasant in the extreme but, in the hands of the living Lord, they will be used for our good. We can pray for change but don’t have to see the bad times as wholly bad. We can regard the tensions as opportunities for growth. That’s rarely easy but it is possible!
6. Know that others need encouragement too. We are not the only worriers in our local congregation. A simple text message, pointing someone else to God’s sovereignty over their problems, can encourage them beyond measure. And refocus us afresh on God rather than ourselves (Hebrews 10:24).