Worry?  What, me worry?

Actually, I am not prone to worry.

Friends tell me how worried they are about something that is totally out of their sphere of influence or control and I do my best to talk it over with them to see how they can diminish the worry, even stop it.

These same friends, sometimes get a little exasperated with me and say “What’s a matter with you? Everyone worries.”

Here is where my simple mind is once again exposed.  I take this verse seriously and literally:   “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

When I share this simple but very significant saying of Jesus some often scoffs at that…they say “Well, yes I know that what Jesus says, but it is impossible not to worry.”

What?  Jesus is giving directions for that which is impossible?

Jesus doesn’t give us direction without first teaching.

Matthew 6 is loaded with instructions on how to eliminate worry…

Take care of the less fortunate. (focus on someone/something other than your worry)

Pray with sincerity. (pray in faith and belief)

Fast with a pure heart. (fast with purpose and authenticity)

Understanding true wealth.  (not what the world offers)

Do not hoard.  (the one who dies with the most toys is foolish)

Keep eyes from all unwholesome things. (a clear eye is an unspoiled eye)

God is the master of your life. (it’s true we cannot serve two or more masters)

Understand and believe God cares for us.  (If you have seen God help you, sustain you, guide you, comfort you in the past, why would he not do it at all times)

Then comes the last verse in the chapter with the catchy first word…Therefore…therefore…some translations use the word So.  Jesus is saying if you understand, believe and do what is in the first 33 verses you will have no reason for unnecessary, unfruitful, life-sapping worry.

I’ve been told I am too simple-minded.  Or I have no intellectual depth.  Or I have my head buried. Or I am too naive.

Hmmm, maybe, but the last part of verse 34 means a great deal to me…Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here  (nor is it guaranteed) and today is the only time I can handle the trouble as best I know how with the help of Christ and His wise words.

So when my friends say “What’s a matter with you?” I can only shrug my shoulders and point them to the life saving, not life-sapping words of a Savior I know cares for me.