Summary
Why Do We Worry?
Worry is one of the most common thieves of Christian joy. It robs us of peace, strangles hope, and stalks us even as we try to outrun it. The couple lying awake over a corporate reorganization, the young mother waiting on test results, the man punching the same numbers into the calculator hoping for a different answer, the child dreading the new bully on the block—these are the daily faces of a struggle Jesus addresses head-on in the Sermon on the Mount.
Three times in Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus says plainly: do not worry. The "therefore" of verse 25 ties this command directly to verse 24—"You cannot serve God and wealth." The immediate context is possessions, food, drink, and clothing; but the principle applies to every form of worry. Beneath every anxious thought, no matter how it dresses itself up, lies the same root: doubt in the sovereign control of God and the perfection of His provision. To worry, Jesus says, is to act like the pagan—the one who has no Father in heaven to trust.
This does not mean idleness. Scripture interprets Scripture, and Proverbs 6:6-9 sends the sluggard to the ant to learn diligence. There is a fundamental distinction between labor that glorifies God and fretfulness about the future. The Christian works hard, plans wisely, and then entrusts the outcome to the Father who already knows what we need. Jesus points to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field—creatures that neither sow nor spin, yet are fed and clothed by the Father's hand. If God provides for sparrows, raccoons, squirrels, and hummingbirds, will He not much more care for those He has named His own children? And what does worry add? Not one hour to your life.
The deepest answer to worry is not a technique but the gospel itself. Romans 8:32 presses the logic: "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all—how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" The Father has already provided for our greatest need—our redemption. The Son has borne our sin, including the sin of worry, and clothed us in His righteousness. We who once stood condemned now stand washed white as snow, our sin removed as far as the east is from the west. The God who secured our eternity will not fumble our daily bread. This is the confidence that allowed David, hunted by his own son Absalom and hiding in a cave, to write, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety" Psalm 4:8.
God does not merely command us to stop worrying; He gives worry a replacement. "But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" Matthew 6:33. The Greek can just as well be rendered strive only—as if to say, this is the one thing we are to be about. And by grace, the kingdom is already ours. In Holy Baptism God incorporated us into His kingdom, adopted us as children of the King, and clothed us in the righteous garment of Christ. Each day we simply pray, "Lord, let your reign and rule, not the rule of worry, govern my life"—and He answers: you already have it.
So Jesus closes the section with mercy: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" Matthew 6:34. Tomorrow does not yet exist; war-gaming what might be only steals the moment God has actually given. He holds our days. The same Father who feeds the raccoon and delights the hummingbird has called you His own and will not fail you. For a fuller treatment of this passage, see Why Do We Worry Mt 6:25-34.
Video citations
- Why Do We Worry Mt 6:25-34 — Would you open your Bible please with me to the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew for our study today? The couple is up late at night and they're thinking about the reorganization of the…