Why do we worry? We worry because we fear the unknown. We fear what might or will happen. We do not know the future, so our imaginations go into overdrive, and we think of the worst that could happen. If only we knew the future. The world has always been full of unknowns. Now, however, it seems that the unknowns have blasted into “warp speed” and have created anxiety, frustration, and extreme fear. We do not like the unknown! We want to know what tomorrow will bring. We want to know what the weather will be like tomorrow. We want to know the results of the tests. We want to know if inflation is going to slow down. We want to know the future! Why? Knowing produces a sense of security, resulting in the feeling that we can be prepared for what is coming. Even if the outcome is terrible, knowing creates a false hope that we can somehow do something about it. But so often, we do not/cannot know. We often walk down a dark hallway into a dark room with no light switch. How do we handle not knowing? How do we live each day with peace instead of worry? In his devotional book Bread for the Journey, Henri Nouwen offers excellent advice on being comfortable with the unknown.
Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day. The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark.
Nouwen’s words suggest that it is easy to miss the present moment because we are so focused on what might or might not happen tomorrow. Instead of enjoying today, we worry about tomorrow. Instead of walking in the light we have now, we worry about what light we may have tomorrow. Jesus had some piercing words concerning worry. In the “Sermon on the Mount,” he exhorted his followers not to worry. But he did not just give us the command not to worry. He gave us the key to actually living without worry.
‘Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.’ — Matthew 6:33-34 NLT
If we genuinely seek to be Kingdom citizens, living the right way, we do not need to worry. Notice, however, that he did not say “what you want.” Jesus said. “Everything you need!” The Apostle Peter reinforces this fact.
His divine power has given us everything required for life and goodliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. — 2 Peter 1:3 CSB
Peter tells us that God, through his divine power, will give us everything required to live our lives - including how to live righteously (Matthew 6:33). We have the ability, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, to live as Kingdom citizens, walking in righteousness. Everything falls into place when we do, and all we need for living a godlly life will be given to us. That promise should push out any worry. But, so often, it does not! We still worry. Why? The root cause is that we really do not trust God. We say we do. We may even think we do. But our problem is that we only trust him when what happens is what we want, not what we need.
In his book Tusting God, Jerry Bridges argues that we must believe three essential truths about God to trust him truly. We need to believe that…
God is completely sovereign. He is the creator of all and the supreme authority. Everything in the universe is under his direction and control. There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of his influence and authority.
God is infinite in (truth and) wisdom. Everything known is known because God is the ultimate knower. Anything true originates from him. Truth is that which conforms to the reality of his knowledge. He knows all things and has a total understanding of what is true.
God is perfect in love. True love is defined by God because “God is love” (1 John 4:8). He loves us no matter what! We can never do anything to make God love us more or less. His love is totally unconditional.
To trust our loving Father, we must believe he loves us unconditionally. We must know that his wisdom is always true and correct. We must believe that he is fully in control over every aspect of the universe - and our lives. This means that when things that seem unfair or unjust happen in our lives, we must believe God has allowed them to happen. And in allowing them to happen, he knows what is best for us. We often do not understand why everything is happening the way it is, but we can know that God is in control and loves us- no matter how unfair or wrong what we are going through may seem. Bridges expresses it this way,
“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.”
I will admit that this is hard. Living in the reality of these truths when “bad” things happen in our lives is difficult. We struggle with God allowing it to happen. We struggle in our trust that God really does love us. We struggle with the question, “If God is a loving and powerful God, why doesn’t he do something about this?” The truth is - God is doing something about it! It may not seem as if he is. It may not be what we want. The Bible says that God’s ways are higher than ours - he is incomprehensible (beyond our understanding). The hard thing is to trust God enough to accept his love and his wisdom, which is always right.
The bottom line is the foundation of our trust. What is our trust resting on? Our trust cannot rest on what God does or what we think he should do. Our trust in God must rest on who he is! He is sovereign, all-wise, and all-loving. We can rest in these truths and the fact that he will always work in our lives for what is best. It may not seem like it, but it is true!