If there is one thing I’ve discovered while monitoring my own finances through the years it’s this – the future is friends with worry. It’s inevitable. At some point I will worry about money.
I think many people are right there with me. A recent survey showed that 73% of Americans ranked their finances as the #1 stress in their life. That’s over things you’d think would cause more stress like relationships, career, family, kids and traffic on the freeway.
So what’s to worry about when it comes to money? Well, everything really.
First and foremost, we worry about how to make ends meet. Again, recent studies show that just over 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. That means they can only make ends meet from one paycheck to the next. That’s no way to live, wondering if you can make it to the next pay stub.
But there are other areas where people worry about money.
They worry about how to make a budget to meet those monthly bills. Of course, they are worried about the future. How will one fund retirement living paycheck to paycheck?
And then there are the kids. With the rising cost of higher education, knowing how to pay for college is a big worry.
If we are not careful, we will end up exhausting ourselves when we worry about money.
So, is there a better way? What if we could shift our mindset so that most, if not all of the worry melts away? Is that even possible?
I’d say the answer is yes. But we are going to need some help.
It’s All Me
To me, worry seems like a selfish act. When I worry about money (or anything really), I put the whole burden on myself. Whatever topic is the focus of my worry, is mine alone to bear.
I’m the only one who can make it happen. I have to manage all the details. And only I can foresee all the external factors that may arise.
I need to be in control so that I can achieve a desired outcome.
Even as I write those words, I know it’s wrong. No one should put the whole burden on themselves in this way. Yet, I can’t keep myself from doing it time and time again.
So what is the better path? Well, I’ve learned I need help. I may think I know my needs and how things are going to turn out. But in reality, I don’t.
However, there is someone who knows my needs far better than I. And if I chose to rest my worry about money at His feet, my life calms down a lot.
Comforting Words When You Worry About Money
My go to Bible verse when I start to worry about money is actually a series of verses. In the midst of perhaps his greatest sermon, Jesus challenges worriers with these words in Matthew 6:25-34:
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
God Puts Our Value in Context
In these verses, God puts our value in context.
He created all that we see. As I wrote in the very first post ever on this blog, He owns it all. And He’s concerned about it all, right down to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. So if that’s true, why do we worry about money?
The birds of the air have needs, chiefly food. God sees them and provides for them. And since we are more valuable than they, why should we worry. God provides for them. He will do the same for us.
Likewise, the lilies of the field are beautifully adorned. They grow by drinking in the rain and bathing in the sun that is provided to them on a daily basis. They have no cares other than to exist and enjoy the life given to them but for a short time.
If God cares for a simple plant in this way, why do I think He won’t provide for me? Do I not have more value than the lilies as well?
When I worry about money, I’m demonstrating a shallow faith. I’m assuming God is overlooking my needs, that he doesn’t know what’s going on in my life. That’s not true in the slightest, as we see him interested in the lives of others and providing for them time and time again in the Scriptures.
Therefore, I should trust that he knows what I need and will provide it in his time.
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Sufficient for the Day is Its Own Trouble
I also love the line that closes out the passage. It should sum up our mindset. Focus on today’s events and leave tomorrow for tomorrow.
Keep in mind though, Jesus isn’t saying “Don’t plan.” Jesus believed in counting the costs of an endeavor to make sure you would be able to finish. He is pro-planning for the future but anti-worrying about it.
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Jesus is challenging us to monitor our emotions as they relate to our future plans. Agonizing over things we cannot control or events that may never happen will be counterproductive to living a joyful and fulfilling life in the moment.
Plus, I think there is great value in being mentally and emotionally present in the moment. When our minds are so focused on tomorrow, we often miss opportunities in the present. The chance to make a connection, solve a problem or help someone in need passes us by because we are worried about events down the road.
A Better Goal
Ultimately, there is a better goal buried in this passage. Instead of spending my energy worrying about money, I should focus on God’s plan first. Towards the end of the passage, we get this charge:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…”
Yes, money is important. Budgets are important. So is paying for the kids college and funding retirement.
But in the end, those things pale in comparison to the real goal that should drive our lives. God’s agenda should be our agenda. Living our lives in the right way should be our motivation. That’s the better goal.
And oh, there is an interesting outcome of doing things this way. When we seek God first, we are told this in the next phrase of the passage:
“…and all these things shall be added to you.”
What are all these things? The same things talked about previously in the passage – food, drink, clothing, etc. When we honor God and seek his kingdom first, he will provide for us the very things we have been worrying about in the first place.
Understanding that, helps me release the worry about money. God’s got me. I can rest in that.
Let Go and Don’t Worry About Money
I plan to always have food to eat, clothes to wear and a roof over my head. Hopefully, the decisions I’m currently facing will work themselves out in a positive way. I anticipate the financial plans I’m working on to be successful in the long run.
But whatever the outcomes may be, I need to lay my worry down about them. It’s a burden not worth carrying.
Leave a Comment or Answer a Question Below: Are you a natural worrier? Do you ever find yourself getting wrapped up in worry about money? How do you deal with it? What’s the biggest thing you worry about?
These are great verses. It’s so important to turn to God when we worrry!
It’s really inevitable that I worry about the future. But, I am really learning not to but to focus on what I have today. Brian, your bible verses are really eye-opening and relieving. What I do is that I think of God who will and can take care of the future. I just put my faith in him, which makes me have the feeling of security I need.
That really is a great verse for the day-to-day challenges we face as humans. I have been trying to be more intentional about digging into the word and thinking about the mortality we experience as humans. It’s easy – and natural – to be afraid of death, disasters, etc., and really the only way to feel at peace with those sorts of things is to look to the word. Otherwise you can end up spending all your time worrying.
I hear you DC. Those tragedy-type things are easy to worry about. I think because they are so spectacular in nature we tend to build them up in our mind and worry about them more.
I think that worrying is a pain that is necessary sometimes if we want to get things done and move forward in life. Great article!
Thanks Simon! For me the concept of worrying goes beyond simply thinking about how to solve a problem. In my eyes worry means getting so emotionally upset about an issue that it affects your thinking and disrupts your day. And so often it’s worrying over things out of our control that we have no way of impacting.
I am a worrier so this is one of my favorite verses as well. It’s sort of a bonus that it’s in a financial context, but it’s great to apply to any worry. I know God has already done for me everything that I truly need in the Gospel.
As I’m sure you know, there is so much teaching in the Bible tied to money. It’s comforting to know that God looks on us with such care. He definitely knows our every need and we should trust Him for that.
I did worry about money in the past but we are now financially ok so when I worry it is about health. As a cancer survivor (13 years cancer free….hooray), I always worry about the disease returning. But each time I get a good report, I have a few months before I start worrying again. It is very draining.
I’ve had several family members and friends go through the cancer battle and they experience the same emotions before the next checkup. Here’s to your continued cancer-free victory! 🙂
My biGgest worry is often money, but there’s a fair dose of worry about being a good parent, who is raising my children to walk in God’s way. When I worry about money, I find this passage very comforting, but there’s nothing that eases the worry of being a Godly parent. But this is a more constructive form of worrying, as it spurs me to action.
I can relate to worrying about being a good parent. That’s one of my biggest goals is to see my children grow up to be Godly men and women. Sometimes I feel as though I’m not doing enough in that regard to help them.