Worry Wart

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 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?

“Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, 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, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” Luke 12:22-31

I am a worrier by nature. I thank God frequently for my husband who brings such balance to me in this area! Since being married I have calmed down quite a bit, but I still have those moments when I can wear the name tage of “worry wart” quite well. So as I was working my way through the book of Luke and I came to this section of scripture and it struck my heart heavy as a good reminder about the problem with unchecked worry.

I love how Christ uses illustrations we can easily understand to vividly paint a clear picture of this whole area of worry. This passage of scripture uses the example of birds and how they are fed each and every day. As I sit here and write this post I hear the birds chit chatting away outside my window again bringing me a sweet solidification that God is taking care of them and how much more will He take care of me.

I heard it said that “Worrying is like telling God you don’t think He can handle it.” Not too many of us would be willing to look the Lord straight in the eyes and tell Him that He is not capable of taking care of our situations. Yet for so many of us, myself included, we are willing to worry about our problems and in essence we are saying “God you can’t handle this problem I am facing.” Ouch! How this must hurt the heart of our Lord who longs to have us cast our cares upon Him because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). The Lord does not desire for us to carry around the weight of these worries on our shoulders. He loves us too much for that! I am so grateful that I serve a God who encourages us not to worry, but to cast.

Our weapons against worry

According to Luke 12:31 we are to seek His  kingdom, then all these things will be given to us. One of the most powerful weapons we have in this war on worry is to seek the kingdom of God in prayer. We are to seek His face and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27). When our focus is on the Lord as opposed to our problems our worrying will seemingly disappear.

Another weapon we have in this war on worry is one I have already mentioned. It is the ability the Lord has given us to cast our cares upon the Him (1 Peter 5:7). This enables us to let go of the things that are holding us down. He does not desire for us to hold onto the things that we spend our time worrying about.   

Those two weapons sound like such simple solutions right? That’s because they really are. The Lord has not made this life of kingdom living a complex thing. The kingdom of God really and truly is a simple thing. It’s just that far too often we want to bring our worries, into the picture and instead of getting a clear simplistic picture of birds or flowers of the field, we get our own complicated mess of worry. I know I have brought my complicated mess to the Lord’s feet more than once for the Lord to sort out and bring back to the simplistic place that it belongs. So when you find yourself in the complicated mess of worry, seek His kingdom in prayer, and while you’re there, cast your worries upon Him. This is what He desires from those of us who are bound up in the frustrating chains of worry. The Lord has made it easy for us to be free from our worries. It’s just a matter of us being willing to humble ourselves and cast!

Lord, I thank you so very much you have made it easy for us to be free for the bondages of worry. Help us to remember the simple weapons you have given us to break those chains when we feel overcome by worry. Help us to humbly seek you in prayer and to cast our worries upon you. Thank you that you desire us to be free for all worry!

For more related posts visit: Casting Our Cares