Isn’t it ironic that the majority of professing Christians trust God with their eternal security but have difficulty trusting Him with the details of everyday life? Based on John 3:16, they fully expect to spend eternity with Him, yet seem unable to take hold of Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything” (CEV). Is it that God, who created the universe and everything in it, cannot handle the details of the here and now?
God cares about us and the things that impact our lives far more than we realize. Like a good and loving parent, His heart breaks as He watches His children wrestle with things that provoke doubt, and fear, robbing us of peace of mind and heart as He waits for us to bring those concerns to Him. He did not intend for us to worry about how we were going to make it from one day to the next, but rather that we should cast those cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). Not some of it, but “all” of it; everything, nothing—not even what seems to be the most trivial—is left out. For some of us, that is a very difficult thing to do because worry is like a worn-out pair of shoes. We need to throw them out, but they are most comfortable. Yet there is no ambiguity to Father’s instructions: He says, “Don’t do it!” for “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:30, KJV).
If God takes care of the fowls of the air, He will take care of those who are His. This is the same God who so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus that all who believe in Him might have life and have it more abundantly (John 3:16; 10:10). Surely, having demonstrated the extent of His love for His children, how can we doubt Him when He says, “Don’t worry”? It is no wonder that Jesus emphatically said, “Don’t do it!” Is there anything too hard for God to handle? (Genesis 18:14).
Whatever weighs heavily on your heart and mind, why not resolve to come boldly to the throne of grace and leave it there? When the inclination to worry presents itself, don’t do it! “Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4:6–8, The Message).
