Don't Worry

[bluidkiti]

DON'T WORRY

"So my counsel is: Don't worry about things — food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body — and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don't worry about what to eat — they don't need to sow or reap or store up food — for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?
"And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don't worry about theirs. Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?
"So, don't worry at all about having food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.
"So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time."
Matthew 6:25-34

Today, I quote from the Recovery Bible's section on the serenity prayer:

"It is easy to slip back into worrying about tomorrow, dwelling on the 'what ifs and the 'if onlys.' Each day brings with it a host of things we cannot change. We face the continual reality of circumstances beyond our control. There is also the reality of who we are — human beings confined within the slice of life we call today. It is tempting to deny the present, but escaping reality is part of the insanity of our addictive way of life.

"Jesus once said, 'Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?'. . .God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.' (Matthew 6:27, 34). The prophet Jeremiah said, 'It is only the Lord's mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day' (Lamentations 3:22-23). Since God's grace comes in daily doses, that's the best way to face life.

"We need to ask at every turn in life. 'Am I accepting this present moment, or am I pretending — trying to escape into the past or the future?' For each day, there is something to find joy in, and there is strength promised for the troubles of that day. The psalmist wrote, 'This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it' (Psalm 118:24). We, too, can choose to find joy, strength, and sanity when we accept today's realities."
--Woes to Wows