Do not worry about tomorrow…

Eleven years ago or so things for my family were in disarray.  My father was ill, we were in the process of selling our house in Augusta, my mom and dad were in Peru, my sister who had planned her wedding in Augusta was now re-planning it in Peru and I was in the middle of my first year in seminary.  I was stressed, I was anxious.

While I was home for break I went out with my nephew who was six or seven years old.  He had overheard all the “adult” conversations and while I drove, he began to tell me from the back seat all the things we should be doing.  Getting to a stop sign I turned around, looked at him and said, “You don’t need to worry about these things, I worry about them, it’s not your job to figure out these things.”

As soon as I faced forward again, ready to drive, I closed my eyes and had a revelation.  A weight was lifted off my shoulders.  The very same words I had just said to my nephew God had been saying to me all along for months.  Just as I was upset that my nephew was worrying about things way beyond his control or ability to solve, God was upset with me that I would not trust him with the things I worried about.

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink.”

“Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself.”

Yet we worry about all kinds of things, don’t we?  Not only do we worry, but we grow frustrated, angry, anxious and ultimately depressed.

We must trust that if we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness as Jesus taught, all things will be given unto us.  There is no need to grow worried, frustrated, angry, anxious or depressed if we are seeking God’s Kingdom.  We place our unconditional trust in God.

Trusting God means letting go and allowing God to take charge.  We struggle in letting go and in trusting that God will take care of us.  We worry so much, about work, children, finances, the economy, global warming, decreasing fossil fuel deposits.  We watch 24 hour news networks and worry about things we don’t really even care about.  We worry and get gray hair.  We worry and lose our hair.

We want to control so many things.  We want to control our children.  I hear some wives wish they could implant a chip in their husbands’ minds to control them.  Spouses want to control spouses.  We sometimes even want to control God.  Desiring control always leads to frustration, because ultimately God is in control and we are not.

God is in control and he tells us, “Seek me first and all things will be given unto thee.”  That is the key.

There is no more tender image than a pregnant mother caressing her belly with her child inside.  God invokes this moving image to tell us how he loves us and watches over us.  That baby is safe and warm without a single worry in the world.  That is how God wants us to live.

If God takes care of the birds and the flowers, how much will he take care of us?  Why have we grown anxious?  Why do we worry excessively?  Why are anti-depressants the number one prescribed medication in the USA?  All our worry and anxiety do not change a thing.

Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow.  I don’t even know if I’ll be alive tomorrow, so why worry about tomorrow?  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  Sufficient is today.

Trusting God means saying “thy will be done.”  We say this every time we pray the Our Father, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  This prayer is an act of trust and it must be our prayer.

Praying “thy will be done” is like diving into the ocean.  We don’t know where the waves may take us or when they may pull us away, but we dive in anyways.  Letting go is the hardest thing, yet God wants us to let go and let Him take charge.  All we need to do is trust.  If we seek God first, all things will fall into place.

Do not be afraid.  Look out into the ocean, and just dive in.