(With apologies to Alfred E. Neumann)
I am a worrier from way back.
I’m not alone.
Some of you are confident extroverts without a care or a backward glance in life, but there are others who are not so certain of themselves or the path through their present circumstances.
The answer for me to hear the Gospel proclaimed and applied to my life, so I remember to take confidence in God’s redeeming love, not my own capacities or present situation.
Justin Taylor offers ‘A Word For Worriers’ that quotes from Charles Spurgeon: ‘You are meddling with Christ’s business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances.You have been trying “providing” work and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing.’
Taylor gives credit to Doug Wolter for initially posting the quote on his blog and also post a quote from a recent sermon of Wolter’s that touches on the same theme: ‘Today is the tomorrow that you were worried about yesterday. And often our worries about tomorrow rob us of the joys and blessings God wants us to experience today.’
Burk Parsons of Ligonier Ministries provides encouragement for those who endure ‘Uncontrollable Anxiety’: ‘As we live before the face of God each day with real reasons for real anxiety, we can rest assured that His sovereignty (not ours)- — His control (not ours) — His faithfulness (not ours) — is our only real hope in this sad world. For that which He creates He sustains, that which He authors He perfects, and that which He begins He completes. And whether we are comfortably numb to our anxieties or fully aware of them, it is neither our acceptance, control, nor rationalization of them that will free us from our self-created, self-controlled, self-contained prisons of anxiety. We will only be free when we become as dependent on God as the birds of the air that our heavenly Father feeds and whose songs lift our eyes heavenward when we hear them sing, “Son of Adam, don’t worry for tomorrow, cast all your cares on Him, for if He cares for me, how much more does He care for you?”’
On a related theme, Tullian Tchividjian, whose circumstances over the last year could have led him to oceans of worry, writes: ‘The Smaller You Get, The Freeer You Will Be’, saying, in part, ‘Interestingly, the world would have us to believe that the bigger we get and the better we feel about ourselves, the freer we become. This is why so many worship services have been reduced to nothing more than motivational, self-help seminars filled with “you can do it” songs and sermons. But what we find in the gospel is just the opposite. The gospel is good news for losers, not winners. It’s for those who long to be freed from the slavery of believing that all of their significance, meaning, purpose, and security depend on their ability to “become a better you.” The gospel tells us that weakness precedes usefulness—that, in fact, the smaller you get, the freer you will be.’
Tchividjean is onto something. A lot of worry is about enduring uncertain and unpleasant circumstances. For the Christian, the outcome is not uncertain, God will have us grow like Christ. That is what is important, not whether we feel comfortable or know with certainty what is going to happen.
Worry is a resistance to growth, a desire to stay as I am and not undergo the sacrificial experience of growing more like Jesus.
How can I teach and model Christianity for others when my worry demonstrates that I don’t want to grow and don’t trust God fully? (Answer: I can’t)
I’m trying to worry less and thank God for his redeeming love more.
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