Jesus said, “So
don’t be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself...”
—
Matthew 6:34a (USC)
God’s will
is satisfied in the satiable delight of humankind that delights in life as it
is. There are so many very basic and ordinary things that God provides, as if
on-tap, and the majority of the world finds its ease in the society within
which it lives. No doubt there are large populaces that face incredible need,
but just about everyone reading this will have at least some choice over their
living circumstances.
Many people have
much to worry about in their immediate moment.
This verse isn’t
saying don’t worry for things that are worthy of worrying over. Some things
that are worthy of worry — the tenuous aspects of grief, for instance — and God
bids us our due course, with his
Presence!
There are entire
seasons where worry is not only necessary; our circumstances give us absolutely
no choice. Our hearts are rent asunder and our minds are overwhelmed with pitch
dark thoughts.
It’s appropriate
during these times to go a little greyer. It’s appropriate to be pushed to the
limit so as to melt into the arms of the Lord. It’s even appropriate to be so
stressed as to need another person’s support.
Anxiousness and
anxiety are not wrong, in and of themselves.
Where they become
wrong is when they are unnecessary and superfluous. When we worry about the
things that don’t concern us, or over needs that will most certainly be met, or
when, for a little more faith, everything will work out.
We will be stressed
about our families when they’re ailing. We would be poor stewards of our
relationships if we didn’t care so much as to worry our prayers to God.
We must always ask
ourselves — in being the best servants of God we can be — if our concerns are
appropriately weighted and accurately directed. Inappropriately weighted and inaccurately
directed concerns are not only a waste of energy, they are harmful to our
relationships. The one thing we are not stewarding well is truth.
A wise grasp on
truth means our anxious concern is appropriately weighted and accurately
directed. Such concern will drive us toward the right level and variety of
action.
Jesus doesn’t say, “Don’t
worry.” He says, “Be concerned only for the right things.”
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. What usually tops your list of
concerns? What proportion of your anxiousness is well weighted and directed?
2. How will you overcome any
propensity you have to be anxious? If you cannot overcome it, how will you
reduce it?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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