The Commandment that Virtually Everyone Breaks

Recently my son had a rough day at school. The issue was relatively minor, but he came home upset and dreading going back to school the next day, worried about a repeat of what had happened that day.

Image via Pixabay

We sat down after school and talked things through. He was genuinely emotional, as it all felt very real to him. He was anxious and worried and distraught, as I did my best to comfort him and bring him some peace.

As we sat together, I thought about how big and real his feelings were in this moment, and yet how I wasn’t worried at all. From my vantage point of age and experience, I knew this was a small matter, that it would blow over, and that tomorrow was going to be just fine.

The fact is that I’m his dad, and because I am older, it also means that I am wiser than him, and I know more than him, and because of this, I was at peace that everything was going to work out for him.

But, understandably, he was having trouble seeing it. The problem seemed so huge, and the emotions were so real, and the future was so vague, that he honestly felt like this was going to be a massive problem forever.

I wasn’t frustrated with him at all for not understanding what I could understand, because he can’t help it at his age.

But I knew it was all going to be alright, and it was. The next day at school, everything was fine.

And, because I’m a preacher who looks for illustrations and material in literally everything, I found a great one here.

Because how often do I worry, feel anxious, get overwhelmed by my problems, when all the while I have a loving Father in Heaven who knows already that everything is going to ultimately be alright?

Consider Jesus’ comforting words from the Sermon on the Mount:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that 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, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mt 6.25-34)

It is important to note that this does not come as “good advice.” Usually when we say, “Don’t worry!” to one another, there is a casualness to it. “Aw, don’t worry about it!”

But when Jesus says, “Do not worry,” these are words from the same God who said, “Do not lie; do not steal; do not murder; do not commit adultery.”

When Jesus says, “Do not,” it is not friendly advice; it is commandment.

As such, we need to take it with seriousness. But, we also take it with comfort and encouragement. God does not command without giving grace for us to fulfill it, and forgiveness when we don’t.

And crucially, He does not command anything without offering Himself and His blessings as the ultimate solution.

So we don’t lie, because we trust that He will protect us as we speak the truth. We don’t steal, because we trust that He will provide. We don’t kill, because we trust that He will avenge what needs avenging. We don’t commit adultery, because we trust that the spouse He provided will be enough, or that He will sustain us in our singleness, if single.

When God commands, He also provides Himself as the alternative to sin, an alternative that is of course much greater than any shallow promise that sin can offer.

In the command to “Do not worry,” Jesus’ words are then followed by the reasons why we don’t need  to worry. The Father provides for the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the fields, even though neither of these groups works for their sustenance, like humanity does.

And just so we don’t miss it, Jesus notes: Are you not much more valuable than they?

May we understand this deeply – you are valuable to the Father. You have value in His eyes. He values you.

So the provision of a good God is the basis for our trust in this commandment. But there is also a practical question that Jesus throws out: “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

In other words: God proves through His care of Creation that He is more than capable of providing for everything and everyone. And our worrying about the affairs of this life accomplishes literally nothing.

Or at least, nothing good. It certainly does accomplish a lot of unhealthy stuff that doesn’t help us at all.

And our Father, who sees us as valuable, sits from His vantage point in Heaven, above time and space, knowing that our problems seem big to us but are so small compared to who He is, knowing that even if we feel overwhelmed, He isn’t worried at all – just like my experience with my son.

It is likely impossible to turn off worry completely – it seems to be a most natural response for most if not all of us.

But the words of Christ constantly remind us of who our God is, and so we seek to renew our minds and train our thoughts to return to Him and His power and His provision, and not to dwell on the worrisome matters of this life. We seek Him first, and His Kingdom – and then we choose to trust Him for literally everything else.

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