Winning the War on Worry

In the 1980’s, Bobby McFarren sang, “Don’t worry. Be happy.”

Great sentiment.

Worthless advice.

Everyone wants to not worry. Who doesn’t want to be happy? If it was easy as McFarren’s lyric, we’d all be grinning ear-to-ear twenty-four seven. Thanks Bobby, but your help is not helpful.

Jesus also said, “Don’t worry.” In fact, three times in Matthew 6 Jesus tells us to not worry. (I’m not sure, but I don’t think Jesus sang it to a reggae beat.)

If Bobby’s wasn’t, why is Jesus’ help helpful?

Because Jesus told us HOW to not worry. He said the solution, the replacement, for worry is … trust.

Should I Worry or Trust?

I have two kids. Growing up, they occasionally asked what we were having for dinner. They never worried about whether there would be dinner. They never feared not having a place to sleep or clothes to wear. Why? They had a father. (They also had a mother, but father is going to work better for my metaphor.) Their father wasn’t perfect, but their father knew their needs and provided what they needed.

Jesus says you don’t have to worry because you have a father. Your heavenly father is perfect. He knows your needs and will give you what you need. You don’t have to worry because you can trust.

That sounds … well, almost too good to be true. I would struggle to believe it. In fact, I did struggle to believe it. But over the last thirty-one years, since I put my life in his hands, God has come through for me over and over. With finances, in our marriage, with the church, in the lives of our kids. The few times I felt like he didn’t come through I later looked back and realized he did. Honestly, I’m still tempted to not believe it. But every time I think back on God’s track record and it’s tough not to tempt him.

We are all working through trust issues.

In Philippians 4:6, the Bible tells us: Be anxious for nothing. Pray about everything.

We can trust God because he is trustworthy, and so we turn our worries into prayers and we win the war on worry.