Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Luke 12:25 NLT
Jesus was so good at so many things. No surprise, right? He was God. But I’m talking now about human kinds of things, things people need to be able to do but frequently don’t handle well. For example, have you ever had a teacher, someone who was tasked with teaching other humans how to understand and do something, who never seemed to be able to put it in simple enough language that you could get it? I have, and it is so frustrating to be trying my best to ”get it” when the language and presentation of the teacher is so far above my understanding that there seems to be no on-ramp for a poor soul like me.
When Jesus was helping His disciples understand that worry was not a helpful way to live, He was Creator God. He got it all. He could have gone into a spectacular doctoral level presentation about cardiovascular impact triggering hormones that raise heart rate and blood pressure, weakening the immune system, and causing mental health issues like anxiety and depression, leading to physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and potentially serious long-term conditions like heart disease. He could have said chronic stress keeps your body in a state of alert, disrupting normal functions and increasing vulnerability to illness, impacting everything from your heart and gut to your memory and mood. He could have said so much more, all of it true. Google it. You’ll see – that’s what I just did.😊
But He was an extremely effective communicator. In one exchange He asked a question that clarified everything with an answer so understandable it showed what worry truly is. The question was, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Every single person in the crowd and every person who has heard Jesus’ question since then has the same answer. NO. Worrying all day every day can’t accomplish a second’s worth of good.
So how does worry get its power? Worry is an imposter. It sneaks into our lives, arriving cloaked in false responsibility and strangely mixed layers of confidence and doubt. There’s a situation happening in our lives that obviously needs help. We immediately think it is our responsibility to handle, and we set about figuring out what we can do. Almost before we know what has happened, we find ourselves twisted up with what we think we should be able to figure out and do and completely stressed that we don’t know how to make it happen. Worry is essentially the underlying fear that God may not be big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to handle what is happening in my life. It’s the opposite of trust.
- God, life is challenging. Worry makes me think I have to handle it. Trust tells me I can put myself and my issue in Your hands. Help me trust You.