Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Luke 12:22-26
Mentioned 366 times, the most common command in the Bible is, "Fear not". Related to fear is the emotion known as worry. Like fear, God has something to say about our experience of worry. One of the most well-known commands of Jesus is simply this, "Do not worry...". If then Jesus says, "Do not worry...", why do we still worry? If we truly believe the words of Jesus on the subject of worry, surely now we can rest easy over our current circumstances? If only it were that simple! Consider some of the ways in which you are worrying today. Perhaps it's concerns over your finances, maybe it's uncertainties over your future. Whatever it is that is causing you to worry, my guess is that you believe what Jesus says, yet worry still clings stubbornly to your soul refusing to let go. Can we ever be free of worry? Is Jesus command to not worry really realistic? The more I read and think on the subject of worry, the more convinced I am that worry has to do with trust, and trust has to do with confidence.
I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU >>> I TRUST YOU >>> I DO NOT WORRY
I LACK CONFIDENCE IN YOU >>> I LACK TRUST >>> I WORRY
Who is your captain?
A recent advert for 'Air Fast Tickets', included a fictional airline company called 'AirBahal'. As two passengers make their way onto the plane, the man is boasting about the low cost of the tickets. Yet as they make their way to their seats, the phrase 'you get what you pay for', takes on a whole new meaning. The inside of the plane looks like a cross between a farmyard and a market. So far it isn't looking good. Surely things couldn't get any worse, could they? Yes, they could. Out comes the captain. Although appearances can at times be deceiving, you instantly know that this is a man who shouldn't be flying a kite, let alone a jumbo jet. His over-sized boiler suit and comical pilots helmet, begin to make you wonder whether he's up for the job. As soon as this unnerving character opens his mouth, his words do not inspire confidence.
"Me, AirBaHal captain, you very lucky, this super-lux plane er... has... er... belts... for everyone. Down down for balloon jackets and extra balloons... for water... eh. Ah... I have this er... metal petal shoe horse for good luck, ...trip good."
As the 'captain' makes this announcement, the look of terror and an abundance of worry lines, begin to appear on the passengers faces. No wonder! They are about to be 30,000 feet in the air, with a captain who looks as though he got his pilots license off e-bay. Lack of confidence in the captain, leads to lack of trust, which leads to worry.
The Inevitability of Worry
Worry is inescapable in a broken world. We will all in some way experience times of anxiety, times when we will come face to face with worry. In a world full of sin, worry is an inevitable reality. If then worry has to do with trust and trust has to do with confidence, in our times of worry, what are we trusting in? Where are we placing our confidence? The world we live in is God's world. The reason Jesus can say to us "Do not worry...", is because he is God. He not only knows us and our circumstances, he is with us in our circumstances. He is the maker of everything and the only one who has the right to say to us not to worry (Colossians 1:16). Why then do we still worry? Answer, we don't trust God. Why don't we trust God? We lack confidence in him. And so instead we try to place our confidence in ourselves.
In other words, worry is my way of trying to be in control of the world and everything around me. Yet if you think about it, I am doomed to fail, because the world and everything around me is not mine. I will never be able to control my circumstances, no matter how hard I try. To use our earlier illustration, the good news for the Christian, is that their life is not under the control of an 'AirBahal' captain, but under the control of the Almighty, LORD God of heaven and earth who is the Sovereign Creator of the universe. The good news is that we can trust him because not only has he proved he is up to the task, he is the only one suitably qualified for the task. A helpful example of this is found in the story of the Exodus.
Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.‘Therefore, say to the Israelites: “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”’
Exodus 6:5-8
Notice two things. 1. The promise. 2. The person who delivers the promise. God says unequivocally that he WILL bring his people out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, he WILL free his people from being slaves, he WILL redeem his people with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgments, he WILL take his people as his own, he WILL be their God. Promise after promise after promise is made, and he says that his people WILL one day know that he is the Lord their God. No one else brought them out of Egypt, he did. No one else brought them to the promised land, he did. Notice how this passage ends, with four words - I am the Lord. The trouble is, we all too quickly forget who is the Lord of our lives. More seriously, we start to live as though we are the Lord of our life, not God.
Remember, worry has to do with trust, trust has to do with confidence. If I'm trusting in something other than God to do what God can only do, worry will more than likely be the outcome. Only God has the power to free his people from Egypt, only God can deliver them to the promise land. The question is will they trust him? Will they rely on his strength, or will they rely on their strength? The great news for the Israelites, is that time after time God displays his power, showing them that not only he is capable of freeing them from their slavery, but also he is determined to save them and fulfill his promise of old.
You and I may not be in the land of Egypt, we may not be slaves to Pharoah, but in some small sense, each new day brings with it a mini-Egypt, a place of slavery, a situation that will cause us to worry whether or not we will make it to the promised land of peace. Ultimately Egypt is a picture of our slavery to sin, sin which places me at the centre of God's world, sin that will lead to death. When I worry, I am in one sense saying to God that he is not in control and therefore treat him as though he is an 'AirBahal' captain, and so I better fasten whatever seatbelt I have and help him work out how to fly the plane! However isn't it true that worry leads to more worry? As I begin to realise rather quickly that I'm not actually in control, my worry levels begin to increase. What does all this mean? It means, we need to know who the captain is. We need to know who to let take control.
The good news for us is that we serve and know the same God as the Israelites, a God who is faithful, a God who is more than enough to help us in our time of need. If ever I am to be able to deal with worry, I need to know this God. The question therefore is do I know this God? If I build my confidence in God, I will begin to see that he is able to help me in my time of need. With this new found confidence, I will learn to trust him more and as I learn to trust him more, I will not need to worry. In theory this sounds easy, but I know this is far from the truth. Yet as we close, it's worth considering, are we striving to harvest a right understanding of who our God really is, by reading his word, meditating on his character? If not then perhaps it's time to head back to the scriptures. Jesus can say to us, "Do not worry...", because he is the one who has done what is needed to bring about everlasting peace in our lives. Through his death on the cross, Jesus died to sin, freeing us from its slavery, and gifting us with the hope of eternal life, a place in the promised land of God's eternal kingdom. As we look to him, we will begin to see that the peace he offers is incomparable with anything this world can offer (John 14:27).
The Long Haul
You and I may be in for the long haul, a flight where we will no doubt encounter much turbulence along the way. The question however is do we know the captain, the one who is not only in control, but the one who has promised to get us to our destination. As someone who knows the struggle of worry, overcoming anxiety is easier said then done. Yet what a blessing it is to know that we are not alone as we walk through times of worry, Jesus is right their walking with us. Reminding us that we need not worry, because we are valuable, we are loved, we are his, and he will fulfill his promise of peace in our lives. Let's encourage one another with this truth, as we journey together to the promised land.
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