No worries...

"Therefore, take no thought..." Matthew 6:31

Good morning, my dear friends,

I spent a sleepless night here last night.

It was one of those nights where I had so many things going on in my head, and I could not find the switch to turn everything off and sleep peacefully. I thought about this week, about the children, about my medical visits, about my husband, about this week, about my children...and the cycle continued. Often when I have moments like this, I have to laugh a little myself, because when I am trying to carry the world on my shoulders, my husband was sleeping like a baby next to me. He even snored. Obviously, he did not have any problems finding sweet peace last night.

It's actually quite comical in the light of day.

Why am I so worried in the evening? I can spend my whole day, without much thought to the problems that I'm facing, but as soon as my head touches the pillow, I struggle to stop the process. Or, at other moments, I sleep peacefully, and then I wake up at 3 am thinking about everything and anything until the alarm rings and I have to deal with the same problems, but without having had the rest that  my body needed to face them.

How much I need to grow in my faith with God.

This morning when I woke up, I deliberately sought the passage in Matthew 6, where Jesus speaks precisely of our tendency as human beings, to want to worry about everything. In this short passage of 10 verses (v.25-34), Jesus told me three times not to worry about things in my life.

What are those things for which we should not worry?

1. For my life. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Matthew 6.25) How many times do I worry every day about the material things of life? Jesus reduced my worries about my life in two things: food and clothing. My life has become too complicated, if I have to worry about so much more than those two things. Even so, Jesus told me not to worry about it! Jesus reassures me that God takes pleasure in caring for His creation. (v.26,28) Shall I trust him enough to let Him provide the necessities of life? I have the promise that God, as my Good and Faithful Shepherd, will make sure that "I shall not want. "(Psalm 23:1)

2. For my future. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. "(Matthew 6.34) How many times do I worry for the things that will happen to me, or could happen to me? Often my thoughts lean towards:  "But if this  happens to me, what would I do?" I fall quickly into the temptation of anticipating the worst case scenario, instead of placing my trust in God, who already has it all in His hands!  As it is, I can not do anything to fix my life-God alone is in control of my life and my future! Jesus reminds me in this passage, "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" (v. 27) "Obviously, the answer is: nobody. When I worry about my future, I am putting myself in the place of God, trying to arrange the circumstances in my reasoning, and not by His will.

It is best to leave these two areas--my life and my future--in the hands of Him who made me, and knows all things. After all, I can not do anything to better arrange the situations of my life. He alone is able.

The next time I am tempted to worry about my life or things that can happen to me in life, may God help me to remember that I can not do anything in my life, or my future, except for one thing: to put my trust in God and Him alone. In this passage is the wonderful promise of God regarding my concerns: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. "(Matthew 6:33)

I think I'll sleep better tonight, if I can just remember that ...