“Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Luke 12:27, NIV. What a perfect blog post I thought! My wildflower garden was gorgeous- I’ve been cutting flowers to bring in the house for weeks. It will be such fun to dwell on their beauty, their Creator, the joy they bring, their vibrant colors, etc. I opened my Bible and there was the verse- under the headline “Jesus Teaches about Worry.” Ugh. What does the Bible say about worry?
I didn’t want to discuss or think about worry. I moved on to another topic. That was fine except that God wrestled with me on this one. Many Bible verses and promptings later, I’m writing a post on worry.
A Worry Story
Is there anything that tops the worry we feel for our loved ones?
I dealt with an extreme case of worry when my oldest son enlisted in the Army. It was during the height of the war in Iraq.
My cell phone became my constant bedside companion which led to many sleepless nights. (Each phone call was precious, I didn’t want to miss one!) We had to discuss his funeral before he deployed. (That was terrifying!) I’d hear booming noises in the background when he called from Iraq- “It’s just mortaring Mom, they can’t reach us.” (Not comforting.)
Did I worry? Yes, I did. Excessively.
Healthy? No. Biblical? No.
Let’s go back and see what teaching on worry Jesus wants us to plant deeply in our hearts:
Concern vs Worry
In Mt 6: 25-34 Jesus commands his disciples, “Do not worry.” Not about our life, what we are to eat or drink, our body, or what we will wear. Nothing.
We can have a concern about these things. Concern should cause us to work to provide for our needs or take positive action to alleviate the concern.
Worry differs from concern. Worry keeps us stuck in a state of fear and dwelling on our issues.
What are the effects of worry?
We lose sleep, get agitated, tense, and stressed. We focus on the worrisome situation to the point of negatively impacting our mental and physical health. It consumes us and disrupts our lives. Worry solves nothing, and it changes nothing. It is a complete and worthless waste of our time and energy.
And yet, we all worry.
Jesus then asks them this question: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
We can’t. Worrying about circumstances we can’t control is ineffective and unproductive. Jesus reminds us he cares for the birds of the air and the wildflowers in the fields. How much more will he care for us?
Bible Verses about Worry
Consider these verses:
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NLT.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25 ESV.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27 ESV.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV.
Do you believe these verses? These promises? The great love He has for you?
Why Do We Worry?
Worry is a failure to trust God and what He tells us is true.
Ouch. That hurts to hear, doesn’t it?
There’s a reason we do not trust.
We have our own agenda. We want God to protect us and our loved ones at all times, in every situation. But truly trusting God means acknowledging that He is in control, and accepting that no matter what happens, it happens for His glory.
“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.” 1Chronicles 29:11
I knew this, I believed this, BUT, I still worried about my son. I was dwelling on the very real possibility that he could be hurt or lose his life. This quote describes my mindset:
Is Anxiety from the Devil?
We also find a clue in the rest of the above 1 Peter verse. He first tells us to give all our worries to God. We are to lay them at His feet and then rest there. He cares for us so much! But he continues in verse 8: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
The enemy surely prowled around me in my worry. It’s his whole purpose as it has been from the beginning. Satan wanted Adam and Eve to question God’s word, His promises, and His character. He wanted me to do the same when I worried incessantly for my son. The enemy loves to prey on our fears.
My worry led me out of God’s word and promises and let Satan get a foothold into my life. My eyes were off Jesus, and instead, I listened to the enemy’s lies.
I would love to tell you I immediately realized my failure to trust. I did not.
Every day that a letter came from boot camp, I practically pounced on the mailman. The descriptions of his hardships and his worry made me worry more.
When we visited him at the mid-cycle break, his extreme negative reaction to almost being late to the barracks made me worried about how he was being treated.
I truly feared for his life during his deployments.
Our loving God, however, did not abandon me but did his best to ease my worry and to care for me.
Overcoming Fear and Living by Faith
When I look back, I realize just how much God had orchestrated in my life to care for me:
• He led me to join a local Blue Star Mother’s group. I happened to read about them in our small, local paper after my son joined the military.
They are a group that provides support for moms who have sons or daughters in active military service. They shared their wisdom with us and let us share our concerns and questions. We kept busy with projects for our children, sent care packages, and worked on veteran’s issues.
•God’s care for me didn’t stop there though! He placed another Christian Mom in that group whose son was in the same company as my son! Our sons went through everything together, and so did we. We became great shoulders for each other to lean on. Our God is an awesome God!
Don’t discount the abundance of help that fellowship brings. To meet with others who are going through the same experiences as yourself can be an invaluable source of comfort and care.
Prayer and Worry
•He led me into the most intense prayer life I have ever experienced. Prayer rooted me into leaning heavily on God. He also sent many prayer warriors to stand beside us which was extremely comforting.
Prayer releases God’s power over your situation. Don’t worry-pray instead.
•He also gave me many Bible verses that comforted me. Time in His word brought me some peace.
I combined breathing and relaxation exercises with verses, and my go-to mantra: the doxology. Can you imagine how much the enemy must have hated hearing “Praise God from whom all blessings flow… Praise him all creatures here below…. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts… Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost” sung over and over?!
The enemy wants us to stay in those dark places of worry where our eyes are off God. He wants to bring us down and keep us there. What better way to make him flee than praising God?
Cast Your Cares on God
•Our family took a much-needed vacation during the second deployment. I was hesitant to leave, but family members stepped in with reassurances and offered to be a contact person. (We had limited cell service.) I took to heart the command to cast my cares on God and let Him have them for awhile.
I looked back on this later and knew that God had orchestrated that vacation and the peace He gave.
It was during that vacation that my son was medically evacuated from Iraq.
I praise Him even today for sheltering me from that scenario.
Building Faith
God grew my faith in a big way during my worry. He showed me his care and concern in a new light. I was in a place where there was no way out. That left me with only one other option- trust. I did not know what the outcome would be, but my worry and fear lessened as I trusted and relied on our great comforter.
Related Post∼ Our Comforter
Don’t think for a second that I was in complete compliance with Jesus’ command “do not worry.” It was definitely a learning process. He has helped me to recognize the worry and put it in its place going forward in my life.
Jesus Teaches about Worry
When worry, doubts, and fear gather on the horizon, think of what Jesus teaches us about worry and the simple wildflowers growing in the field. Jesus wants us to know that they are beautiful, and he has lovingly created and cared for them.
If He cares that much for wildflowers, how much more will he care for you? Do you trust Him?
Encouragement for the week ahead: What is one thing you are worrying about today? How can you move into trusting God and placing it at His feet (and leaving it there?!) Comment below!
Blessings!
AnnMarie
- While some worry is normal, talk with a doctor or counselor if your worry becomes severe or excessive. Do not feel guilty or ashamed! The Bible isn’t afraid to talk about mental anguish and neither should you ♥
Thank you somuch for your open and honest sharing on worry .I have been encouraged to know that God’s word is my only place to find help and comfort in times of worrying.The many scripture references have also greatly helped me especially one of my favourite verses in Proverbs 3 Trusting the Lord with all my heart nd learning this each it’s
fresh from His heart to mine..I do believe in God’s
promises yet i still fall short when it comes to worrying..My family lives in three different countries and every day my phone is my go to place to breath in nd exhale after reading a text message from the three countries where my Heartbeats live.There are days i worry more than other’s and fear just creeps in and the what if word keeps me on the edge throughout the day.But God through His word nd your teaching and sharing brings me back to being thankful and i go on my knees pray nd confess to God all those worrisome feelings sometimes i get up nd the have His joy as my strength to trust nd belive it’s not the voice or text messages that keeps me going But God’s amazing love nd grace towards me.Am forever greatfull for in Him i find joy to live each believing my God is able to do more that i ask as waite on the Lord for when we do get some family quality time together remembering many are the plans of a man but it is only God’s purpose that prevail…
Thank you once again for the encouraging reminder to pray instead of worry.
Joyful and thankful Joyce
I’m standing right there with you Joyce! I fall short in worry, but I am learning to recognize it and turn from it- going to my Lord for His peace. Satan loves to keep us in the worry and I’m determined not to let him win! I started in again yesterday and said “No! I’m not going to worry today Jesus. You tell me ‘do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.’ So, I trust You.” His Word is what keeps me close to Him and brings me the peace and comfort I need! I will be praying for your family- My family is in different states, I can’t imaging them in totally different countries! God bless you Joyce!
Good morning it is in Africa. I feel the love and connection of God’s word in season and am forever greatfull and thankful for your encouragement and kind response especially the very truth that Satan is at work like a roaring lion waiting to pounce on this issues that bring worries to us as wives, and mothers it’s really challenging for me every passing day i have questioned God many times and prayed for us to live in one country with my husband especially as the children are growing and will be an empty nest in a few years but still waiting in His grace trusting Him for in His time He makes all things beautiful.
Am looking forward to more topics that help and encourage me daily to remain strong and rooted in His word and promises knowing that the school of faith is not graduated from will keep fighting the good fight of faith with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit through God’s grace each passing day.
Thank you for your prayers it’s really heart warming and comforting to have Christian Sister’s praying for one another ..
Yours choosing to not worry and rejoice in the Lord Joyce
Good morning from Minnesota USA Joyce! God never ceases to amaze me- He unites 2 women, bonded in their faith in His Holy Son, through technology and His Holy Spirit. I love this encouragement from Isaiah 55:11- “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” You are a blessing of encouragement to me, Joyce. To Him be all the glory!
Worry is a failure to trust God! Ouch for sure. The hard part is that there is no way to deny it. I catch myself worrying and know I shouldn’t. I also know it’s a pointless thing to do and that I have to trust God and accept the fact that I am not in control. Wonderful post – thank you for the painful reminder (she says laughing).
I know! I’m just as guilty, but at least I have the reminders from the Holy Spirit to lay my worries down. Now- just paying attention to those gentle reminders and obeying! 🙂
My favorite part of this article is “The enemy wants us to stay in those dark places of worry where our eyes are off God. He wants to bring us down and keep us there. What better way to make him flee than praising God?”. So good! Praising God is truly the best way to repel the devil.
And it’s so easy to do! A song, a verse, (even through our tears) can send our enemy packing.
As the mom of a medically complex child, worry is one of my biggest struggles and temptations. I flinch at the slightest cough and am constantly monitoring for any signs of illness. I have to surrender those fears and worries to God daily and TRUST that he has a plan.
It’s so much work to NOT worry! I think it may be the “mom-protector” in us, but these are big pieces of our hearts out running around! It’s so much LESS work to trust Him, but it’s harder to do sometimes. I liked your word “surrender”- we do need to wave the white flag and put God in control.
Worry took on a whole new level when I became a mom!! This is a very encouraging post. I am pinning it so I know where it is when I need it ❤️
And it doesn’t end when they fly from the nest! Jesus has been so gracious to me while teaching me his lesson on worry!!
What a great explanation of concern VS worry! Worry freezes us in the situation. Concern drives us to action!
It’s helpful for me to know I can be concerned, and then take the appropriate steps to remedy the situation. But worry is strictly an emotional reaction that leads nowhere!
Lovet hat your when Jesus teaches about worry He says He cares about the things we care about… but don’t worry. It’s good to know the concern is okay but at some point, it tips to worry and we need to flee.
That’s where I have had to learn to draw the line. I know now when something is consuming my thoughts, that’s when worry vs concern has begun to creep in and I need to let go and give it to God!
So much good stuff in this blog.
Thank you for sharing so much about the time you dealt with worry during your son’s deployment. I think all of us as moms can so relate to the fear and worry we have for our children- you had the ultimate “worrisome” situation! So good to be reminded of how unproductive and dangerous worry can be. I’m gonna use the doxology for those times. Thank you for that.
I also love the quote by C.S Lewis!
Thanks, Ann for a great word today.
Our children seem to top the list of our “worries”, no matter how old they are 🙂 Jesus did teach me some great lessons on worry through this hard time. He is so faithful!!