Monday Meditation

After hearing an interesting radio sermon on the subject of worry, I did some searching in my Bible. I was specifically looking for where scripture touches on worry as a sin. I couldn’t find any passages specific to that. (If you can think of any, please share!)

However, if sin is disobeying God, then worrying goes against Jesus’ command in Matthew 6:34:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

and Paul’s words in Philippians 3:6:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

As a chronic anxiety sufferer, these are two of the key verses in my arsenal. I recently came across another that I love:

When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Psalm 94:18-19

The reason I like this verse so much is because it speaks to the fact that God knows our fragile human condition–knows we will fail at the command not to be anxious–and yet still chooses to give his consolation, his comfort.

Is it wrong to worry? Yes. Will I still do it? Yes. Do I have tools to combat it? Yes. Will God continue to comfort and make his presence known even when I do? Yes.