Ian Barclay's Thought For The Day

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Fright spread out thin
Reading: Matthew 6:25-34 Click to view passage

That was how the biographer of Lady Randolph Churchill described “anxiety.” Jesus is not forbidding planning and careful forethought but anxiety and worry about an actual event. The tense of the verb in v25 is saying, “Stop worrying” and in v31, “Never worry, don’t let the habit grip you.”

Jesus clearly says worry is needless (v26), futile (vv27-29), faithless (vv30-31) and completely unchristian (v32).

However, even knowing the strong statement of Jesus that worrying is wrong, we are left with the reality which grips us from time to time. So what can be done? Worry is like a very heavy fly-wheel that once set in motion is almost impossible to stop. The one thing I have learnt that will stop persistent relentless anxiety going around in my mind is to recite Scripture.
The Prime Minister, W.E. Gladstone, was questioned about the secret of the unusual serenity he was able to maintain in spite of the stresses of his office. He replied, “At the foot of my bed, where I can see it when I go to bed and when I get up, are the words, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” Well there’s a good bible verse and a secret of dealing with worry.

Matthew:30