Worry Free

Do you struggle sleeping at night? Are you constantly tossing and turning worrying about the stresses of your daily life? Are you overwhelmed by a massive to do list or not sure how you’re going to survive the week? Well worry not because I have six easy steps that’ll help you achieve a life that is completely worry free!

Okay, so maybe it’s not that simple but when it comes to being worried or unsure of what the future holds, God outlines the perfect solution to our struggles in Matthew 6. Pretty great isn’t it? That no matter what situations we have going on in life or what struggles we are currently facing the solution can easily be found in God’s Word. Rather than forcing us to deal with all of life’s problems on our own God provided us with the answer; He has given us all that we would ever need to overcome these problems, we just need to know where to look. Let’s open God’s Word and find out how we can overcome our fears and anxieties and live a life that is completely worry free.

If you’ve been following along with my Bible reading journey this month you’ll remember in the New Testament we began reading about the life of Christ and His ministry here on earth; how He conquered temptation in the desert, the countless miracles He performed and lives He touched. We also read through many of His teachings including the infamous sermon on the mount but the one thing that stuck out to me the most in our reading was God’s reminder for His children to have faith and not worry.

I’m sure most of us are familiar with Matthew 6:34 where it says “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Which is often easier said than done. I’ll be the first to admit that when something goes wrong or if I have an important deadline coming up typically my impulse reaction is to worry, because that is our natural instinct. As sinners we tend to sway towards what our carnal body desires, which in many cases is to rely on ourselves and exclude God in the process, this impulse reaction causes us to go down a path full of worry and fear. Leaving us feeling vulnerable and alone. So, what can we do to include God in these situations and help us get to a point of being worry free?

The Bible is full of knowledge and truth, there are many impactful verses that we can simply pull out of a chapter and understand the truth behind them (such as John 3:16 or Proverbs 3:5) but a verse on its own can be equally as impactful when reading the chapter in full. Studying scripture and memorizing verses is important because it is through these verses that we learn to hide God’s word in our heart and understand Him more but when we study scripture we also want to make sure that we study the entirety of the chapter to fully grasp the message and understand the context. Matthew 6 is one of those chapters that I believe God has provided as the perfect outline of how when we follow His perfect plan we can come to a point of being worry free. Let’s open God’s Word and take a deeper look into Matthew 6 and see what God can teach us from His Word.

Love

Matthew 6:1-4 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them….But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” 

Jesus starts off by teaching us to be humble in our actions towards others, not to be proud of our deeds but to honor God and express our love for Him by helping others. These actions and thoughts that we have towards others are determined by our spirit, when we are full of hate or pride then our behavior can be hurtful and selfish but when we have a spirit of love and kindness then our mindset will be one that is focused on God and not on ourselves.

Pray

Matthew 6:8-13 “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” 

Once we have a spirit of love in our hearts Jesus presents us with the infamous “Lord’s Prayer” which not only teaches us how to pray but is also a reminder that we are to be in constant prayer. God never intended us to go through life hurting and alone, He gave us prayer so that we could be in constant communication with Him, allowing us to pour out our hearts and rely on Him. Through prayer God is able to hear us and help us in our time of need. 

Fast

Matthew 6:16-18 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance….But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Praying, especially in the midst of trails, can sometimes cause us to get to a point of completely breaking down and letting go of anything interfering with our relationship with God and reaching out to Him. Fasting is the perfect way to get a clear answer from God in our most difficult times of need because fasting teaches us to put away anything that may be causing us to stumble and redirect that attention to God in order to draw closer to Him. It is during this time of fasting that we grow in our relationship with God and find peace in Him.

Treasure

Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

We all have treasures in our life that we value or hold close to our hearts but Christ reminds us that the treasure we hold onto should not be the temporary things this world offers but should be ones that we can hold onto for eternity. One day our lives will come to an end and when that day comes the possessions we have here on this earth are just that, they’re possessions that we can’t take with us where we go. It’s okay to enjoy life and all that it has to offer but don’t get to a point where you are valuing your possessions more than you are your relationship with God and relationship with others. It is these relationships and the impact you make that will last a lifetime. 

Serve

Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

As a Christian and someone who has committed their life to Christ it isn’t fair to God if we go through life living partly in His light and then dipping our toes in what this world has to offer. When we choose to serve God we make the decision to live in His presence, trust in His guidance and have faith in His direction for our life. When you chose to serve man or yourself you chose to live in opposition to God’s plan and calling for your life. What you choose and the direction you want your life to go is up to you but when we chose a life of servitude to God we are choosing a life that is full of hope, full of love and one that will last for eternity. I’m not saying that a life of serving Christ is one without pain but it will at least be one that when those moments come you won’t be alone and will have the peace and protection of God’s love to help you in those times of need.

Trust

Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? …Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

God is in control. He created this world therefor He knows exactly what you need. He created the birds in the air and knew exactly what they would need to survive, He created the trees and the ocean; there is nothing created that God didn’t create into perfection, this includes you. You are perfect in God’s eyes, no matter what you may think of yourself, no matter your flaws, worries or insecurities you are perfect to God. So, if God is perfect and His creation is perfect and we are His creation then why do we still worry?

Worry occurs when we are separated from God. We become separated from God when we aren’t filled with a spirit of love, when we haven’t gone to the Lord in prayer or haven’t fasted, when we haven’t laid our treasures in heaven or have been too focused on serving ourselves rather than serving God. When we neglect God in these areas it damages our relationship with Him causing us to feel separated from His love; then the moment trials come into our life worry sets in and fear takes over. Thankfully, we don’t have to suffer alone or let fear and anxiety take over because no matter the situation or how separated we are from God we are always welcome in His arms.

Matthew 6 ends with the reminder to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” When we learn to seek God first our spirit will naturally be one that is full of love, our prayer life and relationship with God will inevitably be stronger, our focus will be on God instead of ourselves and our worries will be nonexistent because God promises that when we seek Him first all these things will be added to us. No challenge or trial is too great for our God. Whatever it is that has pulled you away from Him and caused you to live separated from God it’s not too late to turn back to Him.

I wish I could say that following God would be a life of rainbows and butterflies but that’s not the case. Unfortunately, we live in sinful world with a sin nature and 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us the devil is constantly seeking those whom he may devour but thankfully God is in control and will not leave us vulnerable to the devils attacks. God promises that when we choose to seek Him first, when we have a spirit of love that is pleasing to Him, when we spend time daily in prayer, fast and dedicate our life to serving Him then we will have no reason to fear what the future holds and finally be able to live a life that is worry free.