Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Charles Spurgeon
Wasted Energy
Jesus once said, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life” (Matt. 6:27)? Anxiety is an apprehensive uneasiness of mind, usually over an impending or anticipated event, and it can actually shorten a person’s life because it stresses the body and creates tension in the mind, neither of which helps their life. Most of what we worry about never comes true anyway, so what a waste of energy it is to be anxious over things that will probably not happen.
Lack of Trust
Paul gives the church at Philippi, and by extension gives us, the command: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). We shouldn’t be anxious about anything but instead commit it to prayer. By remaining in a state of anxiety, we are not solving anything, and we actually show a lack of trust in God. Otherwise, we’d pray about it and leave it up to God because for Him, nothing is too hard.
Wrong Focus
It is so easy to focus on our needs and even our wants, but God doesn’t want us to have our focus on these things, as Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes” (Matt. 6:25). “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). The focus should always be first and foremost on the kingdom and, more specifically, the King of that kingdom. Then God will take care of all these other things.
Robs Joy
The ending thought of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 6:33 is “therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34). In other words, Jesus is saying to let tomorrow come and that you can deal with it then. We have enough to deal with today without having to borrow trouble from tomorrow.
Conclusion
If we are anxious over things that we can do something about, then we must do something about them. But if we can’t control what we are anxious over, what good is it to worry about it in the first place? Besides, what we worry about may never come to pass anyway. Anxiety is a big waste of energy. It shows a lack of trust in God and that our focus is on the wrong things instead of on the right Person, and it robs our joy.
