“Cast your burdens. Upon Jesus. For He cares for you.”
Worry is not something I dealt with a when I was younger. But as a child, I found myself being primed for a future where worries would come – “Cast your burdens upon Jesus” would ring out around my Sunday School classroom on Sundays. And it’s true – as we grow older, new worries emerge, and we often find ourselves thinking how much easier life was before work/children/home ownership/needing to be a “responsible adult”.
I find that worry comes in waves for me. There are times when I don’t worry much at all. Other times, I’m worrying about something and haven’t even realised it. This happens at work, when I’m struggling to prioritise things, or when I find that I have a schedule clash. I begin to worry and then when I sort it out, I realise the burden I’ve been carrying.
Jesus was pretty clear about worry in the Bible, reminding us not to worry about tomorrow, because God takes care of the details. That’s not an excuse to avoid planning, but it’s a reason to not sweat the small stuff. It comes down to a challenge around trust: do we trust that God cares about the details, and has things in hand, even if we don’t understand his reasons and purpose all the time? Can we let go of our need to control details and let God do His thing? It’s a challenge.
Now I’m older, there are many more things to worry about. Life is moving on, and I’m beginning to age. Grey hairs, a slowing metabolism, the responsibilities of marriage and work – these are things that can weigh me down. But I’m intent on keeping in mind the words of Peter in 1 Peter 5:
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
I’ve never achieved anything in all my time worrying, except potentially encouraging a few grey hairs to grow. By choosing not to worry, I’m letting God know that I trust Him with my future – a future that He knows well.
And there’s great comfort in that.
