“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25–26, NIV84)
This verse cracks me up and convicts me every time I read it. Jesus is talking about stress and worry. Who of us isn’t dealing with stress and worry on a daily basis? There has been a pandemic, life, relationships, children, work, etc., etc., etc. to be thinking about. Worrying about! And stressing over! We sleep less, work more, and medicate ourselves to relieve the pressure we live under. Stress-related illnesses are in the top 5% of issues dealt with by our medical community today. To all of these daily stress-related issues Jesus asks one simple question: “Why do you worry?”
Jesus, are you kidding? Didn’t you just hear me list off all the things I have going on in my life? That is why I worry! To that, Jesus says: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very simple thing, why do you worry about the rest?” You see, to God, adding an hour to someone’s life is a “very little thing.” He does that kind of stuff all the time. I think stress and worry are the consequence of taking upon ourselves the things of God. There are things that only He knows about, and only He knows what He wants to do about them. When we start poking our nose into His domain, we will find ourselves filled with stress and worry because we don’t know. We need to trust in the one who always sees the bigger picture and knows what He is going to do about it. We need to give back to God the things that we are trying to control that are not our responsibility. He alone has the divine power to meet the challenges of this life. He controls time and eternity. He touches and He heals. He loves and redeems. He controls the entire universe, and loves us enough to call us by name and answer our prayers.
Today, let’s STOP worrying! Let’s STOP stressing. Let’s “cast all our anxiety upon Him because He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7).
Peace!
Pastor Tom
www.firmlyrooted.church