May 28 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The heart of this passage can be summed up with the word “anxious.” Jesus repeats this central word five times! To be anxious is to worry. All of us, at one time or another, have worried about something or someone. Did you ever pay attention to how often you use the word worry? Worry is concern about something outside of our control. Worry strangles and chokes our joy and can cause physical ailments. It can affect our thinking, digestion and sleeping patterns.

Worry and its twin, anxiety, hit people in different ways and times. Some of us may worry when strenuous situations arise and strain our emotions. Others may worry about world issues, the future of the church, health concerns, a strained relationship, job security, financial concerns or the eternal well-being of our children, siblings or acquaintances. A young man may worry about getting a job and a young woman may worry about her looks. Parents may worry about their children who are away from home.

Being anxious seems to be such a little thing, yet in reality it has the ability to turn us away from living by faith and from truly trusting in the Lord alone. Worry has a way of extracting joy and happiness out of our lives. Christ’s instruction clearly teaches us to turn our attention to the Father and to seek His direction. We have a heavenly Father who wants us to concentrate on today and leave the concerns of tomorrow where they rightly belong – in His hands.

We tend to be worrywarts because we like to be in control. Why do we worry about the weather? Why do we worry about the future? It is because we cannot control them. Christ says to you and me, “Stop being anxious! Don’t let worry get a hold on you because it will strangle and choke your joy.” To worry is always hazardous to our spiritual health. The worst part about worry is that it is a lack of trust. We are saying to our heavenly Father, “We know you have good intentions but we’re not sure you can fulfil your promises.” Worry is a vote of no confidence in the almighty power and providence of our Father. Pray that God give you the ability to stop worrying about tomorrow. Trust that all things are in God’s hands, where they are safe.