Don’t Worry About Anything

That fourth chapter of Philippians has been spinning around in my mind.  Four little words: Don’t worry about anything.  Don’t worry about anything.  Anything?  This is something the Holy Spirit has been bringing to my attention a lot lately.  He hasn’t started scolding me yet – the church word for that is rebuking – but I suspect that’s next.  I hope it doesn’t have to come to that.  

The fact is, I do worry.  Most would probably say a lot.  I worry about my performance – as a wife, as a mother of grown children, as a worker, as a follower of Christ.  I worry about sins of the past, I worry about what I might do tomorrow, I worry about my friends and family who don’t know Christ.  Heck, I worry about this podcast.  What I say, creating scripts on time, is anyone listening?

There are things I know.  I know that our God is so big, and cares so much about me that He even helps me with the minutia of life.  Also, I know that Philippians 4:6-7 tells me not to worry about anything but to pray about everything.  I mean, it doesn’t get much more succinct than that, does it?  There are really no interpretive challenges in those two verses.  I know that Jesus told us that God clothes the flowers, the lilies of the field, more beautifully than Solomon’s finest and that He makes sure the birds are fed and the birds don’t worry at all.  I know that Scripture is true.   I know these things intellectually.  But as I so often say, it’s that journey from my head to my heart that is such a long one.  

Be a Doer

Am I so arrogant as to think that I am in control of anything?  What does worry say about my faith?  What kind of a witness to God’s truth can I be if I worry?  These questions are rhetorical because I’m pretty sure I know that answers.  James tells us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  When I worry, I’m just being a hearer.  Not to mention, it’s exhausting!  Jesus tells me that His burden is light and His yoke is easy and that, in Him, I will find rest for myself.  Why would I believe Him for salvation and not for the day to day?  

Here’s one more Scripture that you’ve probably all heard before: Proverbs 3:5&6 tell us, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

Do you worry?  Have you memorized Scripture to help you with that?  Would you consider not worrying about anything but praying about everything?  Let me know your thoughts at Lifting Her Voice, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.