ditch the worry

Matthew 6:33, ESV
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

At the beginning of the first lockdown - not surprisingly - many people testified to a deterioration in life satisfaction and happiness. Some 19 million adults in Great Britain reported high levels of anxiety because of Covid. And, although some of those people will have adapted, many won’t have. Because they don’t have the tools to do it. But if we’re in Christ, we do.

Jesus directly addresses worry and anxiety in an earlier passage in Matthew 6 and essentially says, “Don’t do it! Don’t worry!” And Jesus doesn’t give us that instruction and then just leave us to get on with it. Jesus tells us how we can stop ourselves from worrying. And he says it’s by running after God. We stop ourselves worrying by pursuing God’s kingdom and his righteousness. And, if we do that, Jesus tells us there’s a reward: all the things we need for life are given to us.  Which includes our peace of mind.

In the NIV translation of Psalm 68:19 it says, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour who daily bears our burdens”. In the King James the same verse says, “Who daily loads us with benefits”. Both are valid translations. We need to actively pursue the Father each and every day because - as we do that - he not only bears our burdens but loads us with benefits in their place.

Let's pray
Jesus, thank you that I can cast every burden onto you because you care for me. Today, I give you my concerns and anxiety and receive the benefits you have for me in their place. Thank you for releasing me from the weight of worry. Amen.