Worrying with a Perfect and Loving God

Once or twice a week, I get the pleasure of going and talking to Berry’s assistant Chaplain, and this week when I got there she asked what I had been struggling with the most. So I told her that I get so conflicted in my own mind by how I feel but what I know contradicts the feelings I have, so I don’t really know where to go from there. I told her how I’ve been putting more emphasis on prayer and how close I feel with God, so what do I do with my anxieties, worries, and fears? Am I a “bad Christian” for still feeling that way?

It’s hard because it seems so human to worry, to be anxious, to be fearful. Those feelings come so naturally, and I don’t think there’s any way around them, but that doesn’t mean we have to cower or let those feelings control us and/or our lives.

Erin told me to open up to Mathew 6:25-34…

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.”

So I’m going to be like the high school English/Literature teachers that we’ve all had who go through a passage and take different lines and analyze them. (Special thanks to Mrs. Lamar and Mrs. Brown for teaching me how to do so, as if I don’t overthink enough)

So I began to read the first lines of the verse to Erin on Friday afternoon, and I’m sitting there thinking, “Oh great, God tells me not to worry about my life, like it’s that easy.” But of course I’m a mere human who is doubtful and God is perfect in what He says and does. So I get to the line, “Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Crap.

So here comes God and His wisdom completely turning around all doubt I have. Of course life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Life is about joy, beauty, serenity, and so many other things. The body is about being human, making mistakes, feeling and expressing emotions, whether they be good or bad.

My favorite part about this passage is the use of nature after that sentence. So it’s like God saying “Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Because look at the beautiful lilies over there in the field or those birds up in the sky! Here are some magnificent creatures and things on this planet that aren’t worried about food or water or clothing and THEY ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL. And God asks, “Aren’t you worth much more than they are?” and that’s each of our own question to answer. But I’ll tell you that you wouldn’t be here if God didn’t want you to be, and that’s worth a whole lot. Those lilies, and those birds, they aren’t able to go spread the Love of God or the good news of Jesus, they just are. They are just lilies. They are just birds. I am just Hannah, a human being. God provides for them as He will provide for me and you and the person next to you. We just need to be, and we need to trust, and we need to love.

“Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life?”

Not a single person, that’s who. I can worry about my chemistry exam, or my relationship, or playing time all I want, but it’s all God’s plan in the end. My life is in His hands, and despite any worry, anxiety, or fear I have, I’m not going to make my life any longer or really any better.

“Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

God knows everything, the things we tell Him, the things we don’t tell Him, and the things we don’t want Him to know. God knows what we need better than we know. And sometimes what we need is not what we want, it could be the polar opposite actually, but God does know what He is doing. It’s hard, but we have to accept that even if something is painful or hard, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. For example, a relationship ending is heartbreaking and it’s really tough to get through, but that’s just one door closing, and we have no idea when God is going to open up another door that’s actually better for us. So things may be hard right now, and they may be hard for a long time, but it won’t always be that way because better things are coming.

“Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Personally, I take this as trusting God and believing that He has control of our lives and has a plan for us that is far better than any plan we could think of for ourselves. If we seek God first, if we put Him above all else, He provides for us. If we seek God before all else, we realize how tiny our problems are, we see that all the closed doors are also better doors being opened. Relationships are built on trust and as scary as it is, if we trust God, we can know that He is there with us through the hard, sucky times, and we can know that amazing, joyful times are coming.

“Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.”

Like I said before, I think it’s human to worry, to have anxieties, and to be fearful, and I believe that God recognizes all those things because He knows us better than we know ourselves. So the ending of this passage shows us that it’s okay to worry and be anxious every single day. And every single day we are going to have new things to worry about, but it’s all about knowing that despite our worries and anxieties, we still have a perfect and loving God.

So you might be having a bad day today, and you know, tomorrow might be even worse, but we have a God who says it’s okay. We have a God who says to trust in Him and follow Him and He will give us what we need.

I wake up every morning, stressed about at least one assignment or test, I worry about soccer and my relationships, and even though I’m worried, I know that no matter what happens, I will be okay because I trust in God and I know He loves me. Whatever happens might be painful at the time, but I trust that another door will open that will be even better than I can imagine.

I guess my point is that I think a lot of us see ours worries and our faith as separate. Like it’s an either/or situation, but it’s a both/and situation. It’s not, “I can be worried OR I can trust in God,” it’s, “I’m worried about all these things in my life, AND I trust in God.” So be worried today and tomorrow and in a year from now, but know that God has your back and will always be there for you and will love you through everything.