Photo by Massimiliano Sarno on Unsplash
By Mike Chaffin
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. Luke 12:22
Fear’s little brother, and a barometer of our faith, is worry and anxiety. Simple worry and anxiety are not sins in themselves, not until they cause us to listen to them instead of hearing God’s promises and resting in them.
While faith is a cure for fear, worry scratches away, trying to erode our faith, turn us from our trust in God and robs us of our rest in His peace.
The catalyst of worry is doubt. We doubt about God’s presence in our situation. We doubt He heard our prayer. We doubt He will be with us in the valley of the shadow of death. Worry, worry, toil and trouble. That is the way the devil robs us of faith.
The battle is on in our minds. We are torn between trusting in God and worrying about what we see our circumstances are. A prominent preacher delivered a great sermon. He delved into worry and doubt. His outline contained four points.
- Submit your doubt (worries) to Jesus Christ.
This is the front line of defense. Prayer and supplication, with praise is a mighty weapon to bolster our faith.
- Doubt (worry) is a natural part of our faith.
Jesus tells us we shouldn’t worry about our provisions because God will provide. However, when we worry it should trigger prayer.
- Don’t let worry (doubt) become a sin.
Jesus warned his disciples about the false teaching of the pharisees, saying a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. The analogy is this, a little false teaching can lead to a lot of false believing. In the same way, worry that grows out of control, blinding us from the promises of God, is sin.
- A seed of doubt, a bout of worry, is a place where faith can grow.
Doubts and the resulting worry given to God grow our faith. When we walk by faith and not by sight, as the Bible instructs us to do, we have an opportunity to mature as Christians. Through faith we can wring the worry from our hearts and rout the doubt from our minds. With this newly strengthened faith we can praise God from who all blessing flow.
Jesus thought the subject of worry was so important he spent a good deal of time on it during His sermon on the mount. A couple key verses point out the futility of worry.
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34
Prayer: Dear Lord, I give my worries and fears to you. You have conquered death and the grave, and you are in control. I put my life in your hands. I ask for forgiveness of my sins and shortcomings and ask for a refreshing of the Holy Spirit to fill me with your peace and power. In Jesus’ name, amen.
