Then Jesus said to his disciples: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body what you will wear. Life is more than food and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no store room or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? (Luke 12:22-26 NIV)
Of all our Lord’s instructions to us this is perhaps one of the hardest for many of us to follow. The fact is that we live in a fast paced, stressful world where there always seems so much to worry about money, work, health, relationships and so on. It is in fact something of a vicious circle, the reason that so many of us feel under pressure at work is because we worry about money, paying the mortgage, feeding the family, paying for the holidays etc. and this in turn puts pressure on our relationships, and all this together has an adverse effect on our health. It is obvious then that it is not so much the situation as worrying about it that often spoils our lives. That is why Jesus says, “Do not worry” because he wants us to experience life in all its fullness and he knows we certainly can’t do that when we are worried and anxious about something. Of course this is easier said than done and if we are to achieve this attitude we need to take to heart not only this passage but all our Lord’s teaching.
For example, on work he says “Come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest” In other words our Lord is saying no matter how difficult things might be at work or in life, you can always come to me for a fresh outlook on things and I will help you through it. Don’t worry about it bring it to me.
On money, “Pay unto Caesar what is due unto Caesar” and “Man cannot serve God and money.” He also told the rich young man to sell everything and give it to the poor. It is quite clear from this that though we are expected to pay our dues, money must never become our master or our reason for doing things. Once we stop striving after money and possessions life becomes much less complicated and we stop worrying about these issues. St Paul puts it into context in his letter to the Philippians 4:12-13 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
On relationships Jesus says, “Love your neighbour as yourself” and “Love your enemies.” When we do everything in love even to the point of loving our enemies our lives are enriched, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t experience difficulties, but if we do everything we can to live up to this principle commandment of our Lord we will be at peace with ourselves the fruit of which will be borne out in all our relationships.
On health and illness Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Jesus’s will for all God’s children is that they should experience his healing power in their lives whether it be actual physical healing or as in the case of St. Paul the strength to get through what ever it is that ails us. Though we should take care of our health Jesus does not want us to worry about it because he knows that anxiety simply makes things worse.
If then, we are to sum up this teaching of our Lord it would be that instead of worrying about things we must hand them over to him and trust him to deal with them for us. And this is where faith comes in. Faith in Jesus drives out worry.
The story goes that “George Muller Massena, one of Napoleans generals suddenly appeared with 18,000 soldiers before an Austrian town which had no means of defending itself. The town council met, certain that capitulation was the only answer. The old dean of the church reminded the council that it was Easter, and begged them to hold services as usual and to leave the trouble in God’s hands. They followed his advice. The dean went to the church and rang the bells to announce the service. The French soldiers on hearing the church bells concluded that the Austrian army had come to rescue the town. They broke camp and before the bells had finished ringing they had vanished.” (From A Barrel of Fun, J. John and Mark Stibbe, Monarch Books.)
And that is the truth of it when we have faith in Jesus and not only hand our worries over to him but also leave them with him, when we look again we will find, more often than not, that like those French soldiers, they have vanished.
As Jesus points out which one of us can change anything by worrying, the answer is of course no one, but we can change everything by having faith in him.