- Worrying will lead you away from the Word of God (Luke 8:14) — One of the greatest antidotes to rid worry and anxiety in this life is to close the world and open the Word. It is in this passage of scripture that Jesus teaches the lesson of the various soils. In His effort to warn His disciples, He explains there are three things that can ultimately steal God’s message from your heart; worrying being one of them. The polarity of worrying is growing your relationship with God.
- Worrying will distract you from Jesus’ presence (Luke 10:41) — Martha and Mary were both thrilled at the presence of the Lord. However, while Mary sat at His feet, Martha was concerned with her preparations and service. The Messiah responded, “you are anxious and troubled about many things.” Sometimes the best service we can give to our Savior is attention to His presence. There are few places that are greater to be than the feet of Jesus.
- Worrying will rob your confidence in God (Luke 12:11) — While we live in different times than the First Century and how the Holy Spirit engages our speech, we are witnesses of the divinely-inspired scriptures. Jesus encouraged His disciples to not “worry” about what they would say in the midst of a synagogue. Contextually He is speaking of their confession and acknowledging Him as Lord. When we worry about how others will receive us, we lose our grip on the confidence that God gave us.
- Worrying will redirect your focus (Luke 12:22) — Jesus preached God’s providence often. God has provided for His people for the length of history and He won’t stop now. Yet even with the acknowledgment of that we need the sobering reminder, “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.” Rather our focus should be on our communication to God in His will to “provide our daily bread” (11:3).
- Worrying will provide a futile effort to extend life (Luke 12:25) — Sometimes we forget that this life is not a means of survival. It ought to be a means of a spiritual revival. When we are spiritually awakened we recognize that the greatest treasure of all is our communion and reunion with our God. It is when we lose our life in Christ that we find life (9:24).
- Worrying will consume your thoughts (Luke 12:26) — I am frequently reminded that the best teachings of Jesus are the simplest. In the same section as chapter 12, He states, “if you are not able to do as small a thing as that (12:25), why are you anxious about the rest?” Worrying becomes a spiderweb of processes that eventually lead us to being entirely consumed.
- Worrying will leave you abandoned in Christ’s return (Luke 21:34) — In His dialogue concerning the judgment day, Jesus mentions the individuals that will be woefully unprepared for His return. Included in that category are those who are burdened down with the worries of this life. What do any of the temporal entities matter in the grand scheme of eternity?
Tyler King