Matthew 6:25-34, in the NIV is titled ‘Do Not Worry’ a clear indication to me that there was a large enough audience to warrant the author of Matthew to write specifically about worry. Which means that worry is not unique.
Do Not Worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
Even as a teenager I regularly had beloved youth leaders and family members giving me bookmarks and advice that circled around not worrying. As an adult I recognise that anxiety is one of those things that I regularly have to hand off to God.
Looking back I realise that anxiety and worry was a fairly regular companion for me even as a teen. I wanted and needed to be enough. I worried, still worry about so many things, and though the ‘Do Not Worry’ verse doesn’t specifically talk about the things a worry about, it does make one thing very clear, the reader of the verse was not the one to fill the need.
With every word and every line of Matthew 6:25-34 God is the one who sees the need. He is the one who fills the need. From the beginning to the end He is the answer.
Its such a simple concept. God is the answer. Worrying about things rather than trusting Him to take care of them not only achieves nothing, it makes life more difficult than it needs to be, and yet I am very aware that I am not alone when I worry.
Recently I have been taking part in a study that advocates for a ‘Daily Office’, essentially it is taking time in the morning and evening to connect with God and spend time in His presence in silence. During this practice I have used the ‘Pause’ app and was blessed to encounter the habit of saying to God ‘I give everyone and everything to you Lord’.
Again, it’s simple, ‘I give everyone and everything to you Lord’. After spending twice a day for 30 days starting my time with the Lord by giving, or at least verbalising, giving everyone and everything to Him, I find myself using that phrase in other ways.
When I find myself saying ‘I don’t know’ repetitively, a common anxiety response for me, I follow it up by saying ‘I give everyone and everything to you Lord’.
When I am worried about a person, activity, or thing, ‘I give everyone and everything to you Lord’.
Every time I feel myself getting caught on the treadmill of worry and anxiety ‘I give everyone and everything to you Lord’.
Matthew 6:25-34 tells us that God is the one who takes care of all the things. It’s simple, but its not easy. If like me your head knows, but your heart doubts, I encourage you to say ‘I give everyone and everything to you Lord’ let it be a reminder to you that He is the answer, and all you need do is give your worries to Him. Look to Him first, and then see what He does with the things that worry you.