Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Worry”
Our Bible verse for today: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Give all your worries and cares to God.”
I once read a statement written by a psychologist who had conducted an extensive study on the subject of worry. In his conclusions he wrote, “Approximately 80% of the things the average person worries about never happen. Another 10% do happen but they turn out good instead of bad. Only about 10% of the things we typically worry about happen, and happen bad. But even then, it’s seldom as bad as we imagined it would be.”
Based upon my experiences in my own life, and in what I have observed in the lives of others, I agree with his conclusion. Most of what we worry about either never happens, or does happen but ends up being good instead of bad. And even when the thing we worried about does happen, and it is bad, seldom does it end up being as bad as we imagined it would be.
And yet, we worry. Most of us worry a lot. We worry about big things and about little things; we worry about things which could actually happen, and we worry about things that probably wouldn’t happen in a million years. Worry is part of our human nature and so we’re all susceptible to it.
But Jesus doesn’t want us to be consumed with worries and doubts and fears. He is sovereign over the events of our lives and He wants us to learn to trust Him. And if we do trust Him – really trust Him – then we won’t worry. That’s why Peter urges us to cast all our cares and worries on Him – because He cares for us!
All this month we will explore the subject of worry. We’ll consider what it is, where it comes from, what things cause us to worry, and what we should do about it.
Years ago there was a popular song by singer Bobby McFerrin with a title and refrain that urged us to “Don’t worry, be happy.” It was a cute and catchy tune – but it stopped a little short of Biblical truth. The Biblical instruction is, “Don’t worry, trust Jesus.”
Yes, let’s do that. Let’s stop worrying so much and just trust Jesus.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 