Luke 21:14 “But make up your mind not to worry beforehand…”
There are so many things we could worry about. Everything from what we’re going to wear to how we’ll pay the bills to concerns for our family, church and country qualifies as sources of worry. We can get to the point where we feel irresponsible if we’re not worrying about something! But worry is toxic. It robs us of God’s peace, and accomplishes absolutely nothing. It reveals how we are relying on ourselves—our own desperate search for understanding— rather than God, to fix things.
Irresistible as it may appear, we actually have a choice not to worry. As this passage in Luke testifies, we can decide ahead of time not to give in to anxious thoughts. Jesus exhorts his disciples to replace worry with reliance on his words and his wisdom. He warns them that they are about to face betrayal, rejection, even death. Yet he promises that no matter what they face, he will help them. That’s all they needed to know. It’s all we need to know as well.
I don’t know if you’re like me, but when a trial comes, it’s usually accompanied by a relentless mental pursuit to “figure it out.” I want to make sense out of my suffering, so I try…and try…to connect the dots. But it never helps, and usually makes things worse. What has helped is the discovery that I don’t have to fret. Worry can be replaced with a quiet confident declaration: Jesus I trust you.
Is there something looming on your horizon right now that is stealing your peace? It doesn’t have to. Make up your mind not to worry. Entrust it all to the One who assures us that he will help in every need. As my daughter recently reminded me of something I used to say to her, “No matter what, God is for you. I promise.”