Do Not Worry

Worry is the exact opposite of faith. We find it very easy to worry about money. What if I lose my job? Suppose I get laid off? How am I going to pay for college? How much will I need to retire? Suppose I get sick and can’t work? These are all things we worry about. Worrying about yesterday won’t change the past, and worrying about tomorrow won’t add anything to the future.

Jesus would like us to live worry-free. In John 14:27, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Paul says in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition…present your requests to God. And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus wants us to have peace in our hearts. Put all your burdens down as early in the evening as you can. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Pick them up tomorrow if you must. Remember that “worry” does no one any good. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you!”

Matthew 6:25-27: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

By the Rev. Tommy Herndon