Don't Worry

Phil. 4:6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Our lives are easily filled with distractions, those everyday problems and concerns which cause us to worry, be anxious (merimnao) and have a distracted mind.  We often become frantic and stirred up over them.  The Bible calls these the cares of the world (Mk. 4:19) and they can cause us to lose sight of what is really important.  We all have them.

Martha had them, too.  When Jesus came to visit, He said to her (Lk. 10:41), "Martha, you are worried (merimnao) and troubled (stirred up) over many things."  The cares of Martha's world distracted her (v.40) from what was really more important.  Martha was definitely frantic and stirred up and even told Jesus to instruct her sister Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet, to help her.  A frustrated Martha let the less important things, even though they didn't seem less important to her at the time, become the more important things.  Everyday things became more of a priority than eternal things.

There are times, like Martha, when we can become overwhelmed dealing with "many things".  We worry and become anxious with the cares of the world.  We let our priorities get out of order.

So what are we to do?  Cast all our care (merimnao), our worries, anxieties and distractions upon Him (1 Pet. 5:7) for He is genuinely concerned about us.  Let Him shoulder the burden of our cares concerning those everyday things.  In prayer, we should let God know what concerns us and what we need, thank Him for what He has already done and then don't worry.

The Contemporary English Version of the Bible translates Philippians 4:6 this way, "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything."  That's good advice for all of us.

Sock Monkey Snippet:  Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything.