Worry...Don't!

Look at the birds of the air; 

they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, 

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

Are you not much more valuable than they?  

 Can any one of you by worrying 

add a single hour to your life? 

Matthew 6:26-27

Worry...it will drain the life right out of your heart and mind.  Really, it's a killer!  The Bible instructs us not to worry for very good reasons. 

1.  As stated in the scripture above, it won't add to your life.  In fact the stress of worrying not only decreases the quality of your life; it can decrease the length of your life as well. 
2. Further in that same passage of scripture in Matthew 6:44 Jesus says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  We can't hold all that there is to worry about.  Jesus is certainly not saying there aren't troublesome things that will happen in life.  We only need to look around and we see plenty of things worthy of our worry.  
3.  The Bible instructs us not to worry for another reason...^"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)  We have a better solution to troublesome situations than worry.  We can pray and turn it all over to God. 

It may seem like we trivialize situations to think we shouldn't worry about them.  I think sometimes I worry in direct proportion to how important something is to me.  But worry is futile. My daddy used to say 99% of what we worry about doesn't occur and if it does most of it is not as bad as we made it out to be.  I think that's really true.  I found this poster on Pinterest.

It says the same thing my father said.  Worry is a fabrication, a lie.  We are forming thoughts and feelings that are not accurate, not true...so worry is not from God.  And that is perhaps the biggest reason to cast worry from our hearts.  Worried thoughts are not of God.  Worry robs us of trust and is a faith-killer.  Examine your heart daily and make a commitment before the Lord to turn over any worries the day might hold to Him.  He will fill you with His peace and assurance. 

This card is for my DT submission to Mustard Seed Faith Challenges and I invite you to our blog to be inspired and challenged.  You will be delighted by the devotional thoughts and artful inspirations there.