Don’t worry is a phrase I’ve heard and said often. It is one of those sins that seem to be overlooked as a sin. We seem to forget that in God’s eyes, any sin is as bad as another. While the consequences are different from murder, stealing, or many of what we classify as “big sins,’’ to God, it is still a violation against Him and His attribute of holiness. It is a sin we have come to accept as a part of life. We don’t try to hide it from anyone. We often tell others, “I’ve been so worried.” I find nowhere in the Bible that gives us the liberty to worry.
The dictionary defines worry as “giving way to anxiety or unease; allowing one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles; uncertainty over actual or potential problems.” Worry is the habit of thinking over and over, hoping and wishing that circumstances were different than they are, but not doing anything physically to change the situation. Worry takes responsibility for situations over which we have no control.
So many times, we pray and tell God our problems and ask Him to intercede and take care of them, yet when we finish praying, we pick those problems up and continue to worry over them. Our words may say that we trust God is capable and willing to handle the situation, but our actions say we don’t trust Him to do it. I Peter 5:6-7 tells us to come humbly before God and turn the things that trouble us over to Him. We need to truly let go and get out of God’s way.
I Peter 6:6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
It was interesting that Peter instructed us to humble ourselves before He instructed us to bring our burdens to God. Could it be that Peter was aware of the prideful heart of man? Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write these words, making it even more evident that our pride is a major problem in our lives. Our pride often stands in the way of our prayers being answered. I’ve heard people pray for a specific problem, and during the prayer, they tell God how to solve the problem. If there is one thing in life that I am fully confident of, it is that God does not need our help at all. When instructed to “cast all our care upon Him,” it means ALL, holding nothing back that we think we can control. The Greek word for “casting” is to throw upon or cast upon. This word literally means to throw it upon, or in our terminology, “get rid of.” When you get rid of something, it is gone, and you’ll never pick it up again. That is what we are to do with our burdens. We are to cast them on God.
We must train ourselves to leave our requests with God. When we begin to worry about things, stop and remind ourselves that we have given them to God; it is not our problem anymore. Don’t keep hashing them over and over in your mind as if there is something you can do about it.
Matthew 6:25-34 makes it very clear that God cares deeply about us, and He will take care of us. Those verses remind us that he is in full control of everything. He feeds the sparrows, and He provides the lilies of the field with everything they need. If He does all that for them, He will do so much more for us. We are created in His image. We are an eternal soul that was made to worship Him and live forever with Him. All of creation is important, but none will live forever except mankind.
We see in Matthew 6:34, that we are not to worry about tomorrow. God already knows what tomorrow will bring, and if we place our total confidence in Him, we can rest. He knows our needs better than we know ourselves. He loves us and longs for us to depend on Him.
Matthew 6:34 “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Philippians 4:6 is another passage that Paul wrote to tell us not to worry or be anxious about anything. The phrase “be careful,” means anxious, in our terminology, it would say “don’t worry.” The solution, pray and make our request to God.
Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
He also connects thanksgiving with prayer. When we truly look at our lives, we can’t help but be thankful. Acknowledging all God has done for us should cause our worrying to cease.
We may think that worrying is no big deal to God, but it is. When we worry, we tell God we don’t trust him to care for our needs. We are questioning his ability to control everything! He is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. Nothing, or no one, knows us like God, and for us to question his ability is an insult to His character. Worrying is a sin against the character of God. We should treat it like we would any other sin, doing our best to eliminate it from our lives.
Worry will do one of two things in our life. It will either drive us away from God or draw us to him. The challenge is how you plan to deal with it. When you begin to worry, stop, ask for forgiveness, pray, and ask God to intercede in the situation, then place your mind on the blessings of God. If we are to overcome this sin, it will take a lot of work. However, it will be well worth it when you stand before Him one day as your Savior, Redeemer, and King!
