Don’t worry over anything whatever

“Don’t worry over anything whatever.” (Phil. 4:6, Phillips) There is so much that a person could worry about—the possibility of cancer, heart trouble or a multitude of other diseases; foods that are supposedly harmful, accidental death, a communist takeover, nuclear war, runaway inflation, an uncertain future, the grim outlook for children growing up in a world like this. The possibilities are numberless. And yet we are told in God’s Word, “Don’t worry over anything whatever.” God wants us to have lives that are free of care. And for good reasons! Worry is unnecessary. The Lord is looking out for us. He holds us in the palms of His hands. Nothing can happen to us apart from His permissive will. We are not the victims of blind chance, accidents or fate. Our lives are planned, ordered, directed. Worry is futile. It never solves a problem or avoids a crisis. As someone has said, “Anxiety never robs tomorrow of its sorrow; it only saps today of its strength.” Worry is harmful. Doctors are agreed that many of their patients’ ailments are caused by worry, tension, nerves. Ulcers rate high on the list of worry-related maladies. Worry is sin. “It doubts the wisdom of God; it implies He doesn’t know what He is doing. It doubts the love of God; it says He doesn’t care. It doubts the power of God; it says He is not able to overcome the circumstances that cause me to worry.” Too often we are proud of our worrying. When a husband reproached his wife for her incessant worrying, she replied, “If I didn’t worry, there’d be precious little of it done around here.” We will never get deliverance from it until we confess it as sin and utterly renounce it. Then we can say with confidence: I have nothing to do with tomorrow, My Savior will make that His care; Should he fill it with trouble and sorrow, He will help me to suffer and bear. I have nothing to do with tomorrow; Its burdens, then, why should I share? Its grace and its strength I can’t borrow; Then why should I borrow its care?