Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25–27 (NIV)
Yesterday I woke up at 3:30 am. My anxious mind woke me from a troubled sleep. My brain was racing with questions about our upcoming move: Will our loan go through for our house? Will our two younger boys be able to adjust to their new school? How will Jack do at college when we are out of state and he can’t visit on the weekends? Will Scott like his new job? How will I find a new job? I tossed and turned for the next several hours. I finally got out of bed exhausted. (Anyone else awake at 3:30 am out there?)
Worrying subtracts joy from our lives. It exhausts our minds and spirits, leaving us depleted and anxious. But Jesus is all about addition. Adding hope. Adding peace. Adding strength. In the presence of Jesus, there is fullness of joy . . . not worry. We can bury our worries in the knowledge that He always will be the ultimate problem-solver, the absolute answer-giver, and the over-the-top provider of all good things. When we turn our anxious thoughts into prayers, we invite Jesus into the worrisome conversations going on in our minds. His words of love and hope still the nervous chatter and replace it with peace.
Faith Step: What anxious thoughts are stealing your joy? Meditate on Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:25–34. Let His loving truth replace your worries. Decide to trust Jesus and live worry-free.
