day 150: Reasons not to worry

^{Matthew 6:25-34}

²⁵ “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? ²⁶ 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? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NLT)

******************************************

I was reading a different Bible tonight. It's one of my husband's study Bible.  The reason I was using it was because it was closer than mine... and I was too lazy to get up...

But I'm glad I was...

I had read this verse before.  I've even written on it for this blog before.  But this Bible has "Seven Reasons Not to Worry" listed out based on this verse. 

The Bible my husband has is the Student's Life Application Bible. 

The bold is what says...

I'm going to add my own comments under it.

Seven Reasons Not to Worry....

1. The same God who created life in you can be trusted with the details of your life.

*A lot of times, we thank God so much for making us.  We marvel at how he could create life out of dirt, but we can NOT fathum how he can solve our everyday 'worldly' problems.  Putting our trust in God means that we understand that "He's Got This." 

2. Worrying about the future hampers your efforts for today.

*Worrying takes time.  It takes away time you could spend reading the Bible or helping others. It also hurts your health because it makes you feel tired and drained.  It takes away your energy that you need to get through today.  We aren't even promised tomorrow, so why do we waste so much time worrying about things we can't control anyway?

3.  Worrying is more harmful than helpful.

*What are some health issues that come from worrying?  Just off the top of my head I can think of: anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, addictions, heart problems, ulcers, etc.  Worrying hurts... literally.  If you worry about a tree falling on your house in bad weather, and a storm comes up, does all of your worrying help? No.  It probably hurt because you were probably too worried to fix the problem anyway. 

4. God does not ignore those who depend on Him.

*Thought you were pretty self-reliant, didn't ya?  We all depend on God.  I read this thing once where this guy had invented this machine that made people out of dirt like God did.  He was bragging to God that people didn't need Him any more because people had gotten so smart that we could make people.  God said, "Ok, fine.  Now.  Make the dirt."

He, of course, couldn't.  We depend on God more than we think.  If God stopped making air, we would die.  If he stopped producing food (even McDonald's food), we would die.  And because we are dependent on Him, he will take care of us.

5. Worry shows lack of faith and understanding.

*I should probably say that I'm a big worrier.  BIG.  So this point hurts a bit.  I like to think that I have faith and understanding, but my actions say otherwise.  This is something I need to pray on.  Anyone else?

6. There are real challenges God wants us to pursue, and worrying keeps us from them.

*God had a plan for all of us.  The Devil doesn't want us to fulfill that plan... so what does he do?  He plants those little seeds in our head.  That doubt.  Those 'what-ifs'.  Worry takes time away from God, which Satan wants.  We need to kick him to the curb and trust in God.

7. Living one day at a time keeps us from being consumed with worry.

*I've been worried a lot this weekend.  My oldest daughter has been sick with a fever (ranging from 99 to 103).  I was worried about her, and I was worried about my 2 other kids because I didn't want them to get hurt. I was also worried about missing work and trying to plan for babysitting/staying home/strategy for when/if the others got sick.

I wasn't thinking in the here and now.  Turns out my daughter doesn't have anything contageious.  She had a bad UTI and is dehydrated (so we are pushing water down her...).  All of that worrying and 'what-ifs' was for nothing.  I believe that God did that to show me a lesson.  1. To trust in Him.  2. That He is in control.  And 3. Don't worry about tomorrow when today isn't even written yet.

I hope this has helped you as much as it has helped me.  God allowed me to find it at just the right time. 

God Bless You :)

Kelly