We are alarmed at the events of the world in the past couple weeks. Again we have seen how cruel and inhumane people can be. It is shocking to see how some can regard human life so cheaply.This can cause us to fear and worry about what will happen, not just to our world, but to each of us individually. Yet for believers we must pay attention to the words of Jesus where He challenges us to focus not on our worries and fears, but on God’s faithfulness. As followers of Jesus Christ we need to know that our God is there to keep us and sustain us during our fears and worries.Even though Job suffered great loss and tragedy, he was able to say, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).While Jesus was not speaking directly to the subject of war in the Sermon on the Mount, he was commanding us to focus our attention on God’s power and His faithfulness as He cares for us.In the passage of Matthew 6:25-34, He commands—three times—”Do not worry.” Or as the KJV puts it, “Do not be anxious.” The Greek word literally means “to be drawn or pulled in different directions.” So one is divided or distracted, and Jesus’ point is that worry and anxiety pulls us away from God.So Jesus tells us to look at the birds and learn to trust God’s providential care. We must reflect on God’s promises and His love. We must remember these verses: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” (Psalm 23:1). God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20). “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28) “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).Trusting God doesn’t mean that we have nothing to do, that we do not have to plan or take care of our responsibilities. It means that we realize God is taking care of us and we cast our burden upon Him.As the old hymn tells us: “Jesus, Savior, pilot me over life’s tempestuous sea.” The prayer of that song is not that we have nothing to do, but that we give our worries to God and we trust in His guidance.
