Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?
Matthew 6:27 (CSB)
Yesterday it was the birds. Today Jesus asks a simple question. Has worry ever gotten us anything?
Jesus asks what worry has ever built. The answer is nothing. Not one extra moment of life. The length of our life is in God’s hands, not ours. Worry can’t stretch it.
But worry can feel like work. It keeps us up at night. It takes all our attention. It feels like we’re doing something about the problem. We replay the scene at two in the morning. We run the worst case over and over. We argue with someone in our head who isn’t even in the room. And at the end, nothing is different except that we’re tired.
When we catch ourselves replaying the scene, we should stop and pray one line from the Bible: “The course of my life is in your power” (Psalm 31:15 CSB). Say it out loud to God. Then do what needs doing today, and leave the rest of our days to Him.
Underneath the worry about our life is usually a fear of death. Jesus dealt with that. The Bible says He died to break the devil’s power over death and “free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15 CSB). Jesus knew exactly when His time had come (John 13:1). He gave His life up, and then He rose from the dead. The One who holds our days has already beaten the grave.