The Waste Of Worry

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life. Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" 

 ~Luke 12:25-26

In Luke Chapter 12 verses 22-34, Jesus talks about three specific enemies.  Worry.  Fear.  Selfishness.  The first one He talks about is worry, and that's the one he has the most to say about.  Twice in these verses He commands us not to worry.  In verse 22 He says, "Do not worry about your life." And in verse 29 He says when it comes to food and drink and all those needs we have in our life, "Do not worry about it."  He says God knows we need them and will provide them.

There's actually two different words used here for worry.  The first Greek word refers to our mind being distracted.  That's a pretty accurate description of worry.  The Greek word used in the second command is only used once in the New Testament.  The Greek word meteorizomai-- from that word we get the word meteor.  It literally means to be "up in the air" or "suspended in space."  Another good way to describe us when we're in a state of worry--not grounded.

In these verses, Jesus points out there's two things we tend to worry about.  The first are things that aren't our responsibility.  Things that God will provide if we will put our trust in Him to provide them.  We worry about clothes and shelter and food and all these things.  But Jesus says if we put our trust in God, He will provide these things because He knows we need them.  

The other thing we worry about are things we can't change.  And who by worrying can add a single hour to their life?  We worry about all these things that could happen, or might happen and we wind up worrying our life away.  

Our job is to take good care of the bodies God gave us, and be responsible and obedient in the way we live, but to live in faith that God will open the doors when we need them to open.  And will provide us with the means of caring for our physical needs.  And if we trust in God, He will even show us the exact reason He put us here--that purpose God planned out for each one of us and uniquely provisioned us for.  

Each of us has a mission in this life.  A purpose.  But we spend so much of our lives distracted, many never discover what that purpose is.  We worry about things we have no control over.  We worry about things that don't matter.  We worry about not having those things that have already been provided.  We spend so much time focused on the small stuff.  The meaningless stuff.  We miss the most important stuff.  

Worry is learned behavior.  We can unlearn it.  The best way to unlearn worry is to be aware of when we're doing it.  To learn to focus our attention on those things we can change rather than those things we can't change.  When these worries come up, pray about them.  Give them to God.  That may or may not happen the first time you pray about it, but if you pray about these worries every time they come back, eventually they will fade.

But the best thing we can do to combat worry is to completely shift our focus.  When we worry we're usually looking at our life through a pessimistic lens.  We're expecting bad things to happen.  We're living in a very negative mindset.  

Change it!  Change what you're looking for in life.  

What's God doing in you life right now?  What do you have that you're grateful for?  Spouse?  Nice house?  A car that's reliable?  Kids?  Grandkids?  If you start looking for things to be grateful for, instead of things to worry about, you'll very soon see a change in your outlook.  Write those things down on a gratitude list if that is helpful.  Each morning, list out all the good things that happened the day before--no matter how small they may seem.  

There's a good reason Jesus talked about worry as he did.  Because when our mind is distracted, we can't see God working in our lives.  We miss the blessings.

~Pastor Todd Creason