Friday, March 01, 2013

Excessive Worry

Do you ever worry? If you do, you're not alone.

There is a healthy kind of concern that all people should have who have taken on responsibility, but the Bible warns us against excessive worry.

 

Consider this:

Excessive worry comes when you think you are absolutely sure you know exactly what has to happen... and you are afraid that God won't get it right.

 

God's Word reveals to us who God is: loving. good. all-powerful. all-knowing. providential. transcendent. And one of the results of truly embracing the biblical understanding of who God is, is that you come to the place where you are able to rest from excessive worry because you realize that only your Heavenly Father knows exactly what you need and only your Heavenly Father has the ultimate power to give you what you need. So you come to the point where you say: "I admit that I don't know what's really best for me in the big picture! I don't know what really has to happen! Because I can't see the big picture from my vantage point. But I know that God can! And I do know that God loves me, and God holds all things in His hand and is working out His plan, and He's not going to mess it up."

 

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

(Matthew 6:25-33 ESV)

 

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:6-7 ESV)

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