Faith chooses trust over worry

Inflation, personal finances, sickness, troubled relationships, politics, peace treaties and the list goes on. Hey, what’s to worry about?

If we’re not on our guard, worry, fear and anxiety will eat us up.

Jesus had a lot to say about fretting over the unknown, and what he said was this: “Don’t do it!” In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, Jesus said, “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing and your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Jesus was clearly saying, “We’ve got your back.”

A wise person once said, “Worry is making a payment on a bill that you haven’t received yet and may never get.” So why do so many of us sit down and write a check for a bill that may never come? It’s easy to be a bit disingenuous and say, “Well, I’m not really worrying, I’m just very concerned.”

Here’s the difference between worry and concern: Worry paralyzes; concern mobilizes. That’s the litmus test of how we are handling the situation; are we mobilizing and taking steps to resolve the problem or are we mentally rehearsing every bad outcome that could ever happen? Paralyzed or mobilized, the choice is ours. “Can any of you add one moment to his life by worrying?” Jesus asked. The answer, of course, is no.

Scripture speaks of several times when Jesus was amazed at people’s faith. When his hometown of Nazareth rejected him, Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. When the Roman centurion sent messengers to Jesus saying, “That’s OK, Lord, you don’t need to come to my house, I know you have the authority to heal no matter where you are,” Jesus was amazed at his great faith. As believers, we have the ability to amaze Jesus with our great faith or with our unbelief. Great faith never worries; it sees the good result before it happens.

Finally, in Matthew 6:34, Jesus says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Planning for tomorrow is OK; worrying about tomorrow is not. Worry keeps us from stepping out in faith and tackling the very things God wants us to deal with in life. Belief or unbelief, how will you and I amaze Jesus today?

Ken Staley is pastor of Faith Church of Pleasant Grove, 9:30 a.m., and Harrisville Methodist Church, 11 a.m. Both are Global Methodist congregations. Text Ken at 918-852-9797.