Worry Walks Alone
Somewhere along the way I picked up a little card that still hangs on the bulletin board above my desk. It says: "Worry slanders every promise in the Word of God." Naturally it came to mind this morning as I read my verse for the day.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes" —Luke 12:22, 23. (And these verses come attached to yesterday's verse on being careful about greed.)
Another image comes to mind. As I watched the news yesterday, several people cheated of their life savings by Bernie Madoff, were being interviewed. One woman in particular stood out. She said that, thanks to Madoff, she no longer has the means to feed herself or to buy medicine. Basically she is now destitute.
Is she worried? Who wouldn't be?
Matthew includes the teaching of these verses in the famous Sermon on the Mount, just after the Lord taught His disciples His model prayer. Part of the that prayer included the phrase: "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11).
Were these wandering, basically homeless followers of this Jewish Rabbi worried about where their next meal was coming from? Did they think about the families they had left behind with one less worker to add to the family income? Probably. They knew about depending on the charity of others. Now they needed to learn about God's generosity. Who better to learn the lesson from than the One who had left all the riches in glory to walk the dusty roads of Palestine as a poor, itinerate preacher without two shekels to rub together.
You can worry, or you can trust. Worry walks alone. Trust walks hand in hand with the One who never fails to provide for those He holds tightly in His hands.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes" —Luke 12:22, 23. (And these verses come attached to yesterday's verse on being careful about greed.)
Another image comes to mind. As I watched the news yesterday, several people cheated of their life savings by Bernie Madoff, were being interviewed. One woman in particular stood out. She said that, thanks to Madoff, she no longer has the means to feed herself or to buy medicine. Basically she is now destitute.
Is she worried? Who wouldn't be?
Matthew includes the teaching of these verses in the famous Sermon on the Mount, just after the Lord taught His disciples His model prayer. Part of the that prayer included the phrase: "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11).
Were these wandering, basically homeless followers of this Jewish Rabbi worried about where their next meal was coming from? Did they think about the families they had left behind with one less worker to add to the family income? Probably. They knew about depending on the charity of others. Now they needed to learn about God's generosity. Who better to learn the lesson from than the One who had left all the riches in glory to walk the dusty roads of Palestine as a poor, itinerate preacher without two shekels to rub together.
You can worry, or you can trust. Worry walks alone. Trust walks hand in hand with the One who never fails to provide for those He holds tightly in His hands.
So true Lynda. But with my mind-assent comes the haunting question - how would I handle a really destitute situation?
ReplyDeleteI have just finished reading West Nile Diary, where Kathleen Gibson recounts how West Nile Neurological Disease blew through their parsonage in Yorkton Sk. I met K. at the conference, and on her web site read a column she wrote a few days ago - musing about the uncertainties of life now that her husband no longer has his job...and I think I have anxieties!
It really is black and white, isn't it? Thanks for the reminder. I'm learning!
ReplyDeleteSo, so, so true! Thank you, I need this reminder every day!
ReplyDeleteBTW your blog is lovely! I love the picure above.
What a wonderful quote! Thanks so much for sharing it. I have a wee collection of favourite sayings on my own bulletin board, and I'm planning to add this one to it!
ReplyDeletePS. I just found the photo of your purr-y girls. My, aren't they beautiful! I have one Miss Kitty.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I also wanted to say I'm coming back..... you have a lovely place to come sit awhile.
Love your theme!