“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” This is the verse (Matthew 6:34) I thought about when I once saw a church-yard sign that read “Don’t worry about tomorrow – God’s already there!” Although this is not a quote out of the Bible, it seems to be quite a valid point based on Biblical doctrine. Jesus’ whole point in Matthew 6:25-34 is just this – that we should not worry.
Now someone may say “but don’t you have to worry sometimes about some things?” I believe the answer to that question has to be emphatically “NO!” Certainly we must be concerned about various responsibilities we have. All of us have responsibilities to take care of, such as working a job (in-home or out) to provide for our families – this and many other duties we simply cannot ignore. But I believe that concern becomes worry when such concern grows excessive. So when does concern become excessive? When we
forget about God – when we forget that He is in control, and when we try to take things into our own hands. James makes this very point in 4:13-15. He does not seem to be condemning the making of plans, but what he does condemn is what we too often do – leave God out of our plans. We should take the time to daily read Matthew 6:25-34, as well as many other passages, that encourage us not to worry, but rather to put ALL of our
trust in God. I Peter 5:7 reads “cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Romans 8:39 reminds us “…nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God…” The Proverb writer wisely states in 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”
According to the Bible, worrying is a sin. It demonstrates our lack of trust in God, and places too much emphasis on what we can do by ourselves (which isn’t much!). I Corinthians 10:10 refers to Israel murmuring (something they seemed to do quite often!). What causes murmuring or complaining? It is when we get worried over something, is it not? This verse tells us that some were destroyed for their complaining, so we had better learn the lesson from Israel’s worrisome/complaintive attitudes! When we begin to worry about the job, money, tomorrow, or anything else, we forget that God is our Rock, Hope, and Salvation. As the aforementioned sign read, God is already in tomorrow’s picture – He created tomorrow – He determined it before the world was created. He is omnipresent, meaning that He is everywhere. There is nowhere we could possibly go, where He is not – even into the future (if we could possibly do that!). So we have no need to worry about what tomorrow holds. We have to finish today before moving on to tomorrow! All of the things we worry about are actually out of our control anyway, and all of the worrying in the world is not going to change anything. So obviously worrying is a great waste of time, in addition to it being sinful. If we could just fully realize that God will take care of us, and live as if we honestly believe that, we would fear nothing – we would be living as God wants us to. I am afraid this is a concept we all have trouble grasping at times. But let us all strive to
avoid the temptation of worrying, and concentrate on putting all of our trust in God. Remember Hebrews 13:5- 6: “…for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'”
