Matthew 6:25 - 34
25 So I tell you, don't worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. 26 Look at the birds in the air. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. 27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
28 And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the lilies in the field grow. They don't work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers.30 God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don't have so little faith!31 Don't worry and say, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'32 The people who don't know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. 33 Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well. 34 So don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (New Century Version).
Well... to start with the direct translation of that word 'worry'. In the Greek it's merimnao and according to Strong's Greek it means 'to go to pieces' or 'to be properly drawn in different directions' and is part of sinful anxiety that makes you torn up inside yourself.
Secondly, the Bible wasn't written in chapters and verses, we added that in alter to make it easier to read and talk about. Which is great, but we need to look at the whole tone of the section. At the beginning of chapter six, Jesus is talking about not being a hypocrite. Don't do it for others, don't do it for show, do it for you and God because it's between you and God. He goes on to say that we can't serve money and God, because we'll be divided. Oh, look, there's that word divided, which links back into the section above.
Okay, yes, worry isn't helping our situation. Things aren't going very well and there's a big test on Monday and you need a casual job and you've got no idea what you want to do next year when mandatory schooling is over... worry won't add to your life and won't solve your problem. It's not incredibly productive. That said, it is something we feel. Jesus was so stressed before the crucificition that in the garden he sweat blood (Luke 22:44). It's called hematidrosis and it occurs when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress. Jesus was seriously stressed out about facing his painful death, something he really did not want to do.
As Christians we don't talk enough about how human Jesus was. He was incredibly human. Very human. All the human. As human as you are. Yes, but he was God in human form, you say. No. Phillipians 2:7 makes that pretty clear. He was God but he stripped himself of that and became a man. Also, we all have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, so technically, we're all in the same boat with Jesus. His relationship with the Father was just so amazing... I'm getting off the point. The point is that Jesus was stressed after giving a message on why we shouldn't be 'worried'... which kind of makes you think that he's either contradicting himself or we're interpreting something incorrectly... and to be honest, I've got to go with the latter. It's okay to be stressed, it's not okay to let yourself be divided internally about what your primary concern is, which should always be God. It's not okay to make money more important than God and it's imperative to trust Him and lean on Him... and all that comes with building a really strong relationship. Scenario: You've got no money, you think you might be in a lot of trouble, and you're in a town when you know only two people, Jack and Ben. You've known Jack for years, since childhood, and you were pretty close back then but these days you're limited to being facebook friends and liking the odd status. He's a great guy, you really like him, but you just don't hang out often, or like you used to. Ben, on the other hand, is your best friend, you talk everyday and you're always there for each other. Who do you go to for help? Do you trust Jack or Ben to help you out? I think you get the point.
TL:DR: It's okay to be stressed as long as it doesn't take you away from God. Jesus pushed into God when he was stressed and we should do the same. We should build a relationship with God so that when we get in trouble we have absolute faith in Him to pull us through it.
God Bless and Rock On!
Sarai
God Bless and Rock On!
Sarai
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