When your mind runs ahead to everything that could go wrong, Jesus points you back to the Father who already knows what you need.
By EEW Magazine Online Editors
Worry can take hold before the day even begins, but Jesus offers a better place to put it. Credit: LumiNola/Getty Images
Some mornings the worry starts before your feet touch the floor. Bills are due, decisions are waiting, and the problem you couldn’t solve last night is sitting right where you left it. Your mind races ahead, and by the time the coffee is ready, you are already tired. If you have ever called yourself a worrywart, you know how this goes. You replay conversations and brace for problems that haven’t arrived, and you can’t rest until every loose end is tied.
Life rarely ties every loose end, so peace keeps slipping just out of reach.
Jesus addressed that struggle in the Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on” (Matthew 6:25, KJV).
The phrase “take no thought” can sound like a ban on planning. The Greek verb behind it, merimnaō, describes anxious concern that presses on the mind and will not let it rest. Jesus takes these needs seriously as He teaches His listeners where to place their trust.
Then He points to creation. “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26, KJV). He adds the lilies of the field, which neither toil nor spin, yet outshine Solomon in all his glory. If the Father feeds the birds and clothes the grass, His children have far more reason to trust Him.
In verse 32, Jesus says it this way: “for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Before you find the words to pray, He knows what is pressing on you. Worry insists that you are carrying everything alone. Being fully known by the One who cares for you exposes and disputes that lie.
Jesus also reveals how little worry accomplishes. “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27, KJV).
A sleepless night spent rehearsing the worst changes nothing about what happens next. Preparation has its place. Worry is what keeps the mind circling long after you have done what you can.
Jesus answers worry with a new priority. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33, KJV). When God’s Kingdom comes first, needs stop ruling the heart.
A handwritten copy of Matthew 6:33-34 holds Jesus’ call to seek God’s Kingdom first and leave tomorrow in the Father’s hands. Credit: EEW Magazine File Photo
Next time worry spirals, name what is troubling you and bring it to God. As Paul urged, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6, KJV). Then do what you can today, and ask for support when needed.
Jesus closes with words made for the habitual worrier. “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34, KJV).
Every day has its own trouble, and Jesus draws a boundary around it. Tomorrow will be met when it comes, with the same Father beside you.
In difficult and anxious moments, when your thoughts race, stop and look at the birds outside your window. Remember the lilies. The Father who feeds one and clothes the other counts you worth far more than both.
And He already knows what you need.
