DOMINION OVER DARTS OF WORRY

“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…” – Matthew 6:25a                   

Our Lord Jesus Christ is explicit on the need to exercise DOMINION over DARTS of WORRY: “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? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Mt.6: 25-27). God desires that we enjoy worry-free lives. His Word stirs faith in our hearts to dispel fear and worry. But we must intentionally reject every anxious thought and cast out every spirit of worry in order to be shielded from the pain, perplexity, and distress in the world.                                 

Many Believers, seemingly afraid to put their full weight down on God, are still being plagued by worries on diverse issues of life. We feel anxious about our finances: How to pay the bills – food, rents, utilities and medicals; how to fix the aging car if it breaks down; how to fund the children’s education; how to save enough for retirement; what if there is a job loss; or what if the economy fails! We worry about our health, especially as we grow older: Younger folks worry about aging parents. We often worry about our children: Whether they’ll turn out okay, without peer-pressure, drugs, and sexual immorality; how they’ll be safe in a crime-ridden world; how they’ll get into a good college, get a decent-paying job, pursue a worthwhile career, marry a godly person, and have a happy home!

There’s plenty to be concerned about here on earth. The danger is when worry begins to displace God’s Peace and Presence at the core of our hearts, and we become consumed with circumstantial and potential threats that keep us from recognizing the Holy Spirit’s activity in our daily lives and finding comfort in God’s Word. Sometimes we can’t identify any specific reason for worrying while it’s there, gnawing away at our hearts. If we don’t learn to deal with it properly, worry can cause diverse health challenges, feeding fresh worries! Creeping in over big and petty things, worry is like a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind, which if encouraged, will cut a channel into which all other thoughts are drained – ending in being “stressed out” or having “a panic attack.”

Dominion over Darts of Worry comes through Devotion to God rather than worldly-mindedness: “No one can serve two masters…”  (v.24). God requires our whole heart, and will not share it with the world. Whoever loves and embraces the world, despises God. Whoever loves God, must give up friendship of the world (Jam.4:4). Our Lord Jesus consistently warns His disciples against sinful, distracting, distrustful cares of life. Our times are in His Good Hand. We are to not worry about the comforts of this life or be anxious for the future: How we shall live next year, or when we are old, or what we shall leave behind! As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not be worried about it, or the events of it. What can God who gave us life – spirit, soul, and body – not do for us?

In Christ, we can overcome worry in an uncertain world, waking up every morning overwhelmed by God’s Love and excited to step out in faith! Receiving His inner strength by the Word and daily prayers, no temporal concerns should destabilize us. Our Lord Jesus spoke these comforting words at a most difficult time – the eve of His crucifixion: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). Christ’s Peace can be our constant companion even in the midst of trials.