Worried about worrying?

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

There are various wise and witty sayings that do the rounds and nobody really knows who first said them. Here’s one I particularly like, spoken supposedly by an old man approaching death: My life has been full of troubles. Most of them never happened. Was that Winston Churchill? Or Mark Twain? I’ve heard it attributed to both those illustrious men, but nobody seems to be sure.

Never mind. What matters is, Is there wisdom there that we ought to take to heart? Answer, Surely Yes.

I trust we all get the point… Many of our worries and anxieties exist purely in our minds. We would save ourselves a lot of time and inner peace if we could train ourselves to face them down and keep them firmly in their place.

That’s easier said than done, of course, especially if you are – for whatever reason – the worrying type. (I knew somebody very fondly once who just had to be worrying about something or other in order to be happy. We used to joke – only affectionately, of course – that if she had nothing to worry about she would worry about not having anything to worry about. Whereupon she would smile…)

But wait a minute… Are we right to say we don’t know who spoke those words? Never mind Churchill or Twain or whoever, what about… Jesus? What about Matthew 6:34? Certainly, the thought is framed in different words, but isn’t the thought pretty much the same?

Jesus wasn’t being original in this respect. Being himself a Jew, he was drawing on many centuries of Hebrew wisdom: go to Proverbs 12:25 or Ecclesiastes 2:22. Certainly, Jesus spelled it out most clearly, but he wasn’t the first to give this warning.

But… once again, wait a minute: a question of interpretation arises. In other words, what, in practice, does Jesus mean when he tells us not to worry? After all, when it threatens to dominate our minds, worry isn’t something we can idly swat away like an irritating fly; it’s more like a rampaging elephant threatening to overwhelm us.

We can do great harm and hurt if we glibly quote “Oh, Jesus said, Do not worry!” to somebody in the depths of fear or crisis or anxiety. Worry is an emotion, and you can’t just switch it off like turning off a tap; no, it needs to be confronted realistically and, with God’s help, to be dealt with. And that process may take time and effort, in the course of which we need the prayers, love and practical support of others.

I think there are at least two important things that need to be said as we try and think through Jesus’ words here.

First, “Do not worry” is not an order or a command. It is not in the same category as “Do not kill” or “Do not steal” or “Do not covet”. Putting it another way, to slip into worry may be a weakness, but it is not a sin. On the contrary, Jesus’ word is more like an invitation or a reassurance: as if he is saying, “My dear child, trust me! I have your interests at heart. I love you, and I will bring you through this testing time”.

A loving parent will say to a distressed child “Don’t cry!” and you could interpret that as an order: “Stop crying, or I will be cross with you!” But of course that isn’t what the parent means. “Don’t cry” is a word of comfort, as the tone of voice makes clear. It is all about love and care.

If – when – we give in to worry we are likely to feel bad, to feel that we are failing to trust God enough. And that may be true. But the word “Do not worry” is all tenderness and compassion. Whatever we do, let’s not hear it as hard, cold judgment.

Second, this word of Jesus is spoken in the context of everyday life, not in the context of crisis or extreme pain.

I have quoted just the last verse, verse 34, of what you might call a mini-sermon. If we go back to verse 25 we find that Jesus is talking about the basic necessities of life – food, drink and clothing. The same applies to verse 31.

Putting it another way, I don’t think Jesus would have said “Don’t worry, just trust in God!” if the people in front of him were literally starving to death. And in the same way, it would be grossly insensitive for us to urge people “Don’t worry, just trust in God!” at a time when, say, bombs were falling all around them, or a vital harvest had failed, or a diagnosis of terminal disease had been received.

I think that James, very probably the brother of Jesus, had something important to say about that (see his letter, chapter 2:14-17).

Of course, even at such traumatic times we are called to trust in God and not give in to worry. But we needn’t pretend, either to ourselves or to other people, that that is easy or automatic. Far from it: it may well be a battle we have to fight on a daily, even an hourly, basis. It’s a battle which may have to be fought through gritted teeth – but we may be sure that our loving heavenly Father will bring us through.

Loving Father, when worry rears its head I find it so hard to trust in you. Please forgive my weak faith, and please help me to hold on tight until the storm is over. Amen.

 

Wise words about worry…

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. C H Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it falls due. William R Inge (1860-1854)

Beware of anxiety. Next to sin, there is nothing that so troubles the mind, strains the heart, distresses the soul and confuses the judgment. William Ullathorne (1806-1889)