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Matthew 6:26 – ^“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?”

Worry has taken our country by storm.  As of August 9, 2020, there has been 161,284 deaths in the United States from the COVID virus.  But did you know 25,000 people die each day?  That means in less than seven months, that many people would pass away from something.  If you go to CDC.gov it will actually break down the number of deaths by how people died.

It’s a yearly total so you do have to do some math, but if you’re looking for COVID deaths, it gives you a new figure every day, no math.  I’m not trying to make light of how many people have died, but yet we worry more because there is something call “Social Contagion” which is formed by us talking to each other about our anxieties.

Normally, “they” say it’s best to talk about your feelings and get them out, but this is different.

We are spreading a different pandemic by worrying and speaking about those worries.  1.5 Billion people have Googled the topic “anxiety or worry linked to COVID”.

Too many of us have had way too much time on our hands to think about our worries.  Jesus said not to worry.  I heard someone say the difference between worrying and concern is worrying is making stuff up in your mind about things you do not know will happen.  Concern is when you are watching for your child not to get to close to water or running out in the street.

Concern is solving a problem before it happens, as in always informing your children to stay away from such things.

The above scripture (Matthew 6:26) tells us that worrying will not make us taller.

So why do we worry?  It’s the enemy.  He wants to keep us in turmoil.  If we are in turmoil, then we won’t be joyful, and doing God’s will.  It is almost impossible to do God’s will when your upset.

I know if I’m tied in knots about something, it’s hard for me to pray for others.  All I’m doing is praying for myself.

Do you know that the Devil has 25 different names in the Bible?  Worry is not one of them, but we could tack that on him as an alias.

I have known two people in my life that were happiest when they were upset or worrying about something.  They had grown so familiar with that mindset; they could not function any other way.  But they did not function well, either way.

We need to function, even during our trials so that we continue with our plans.  Jesus did not worry but He still planned the last supper right down to where the donkey would be.  He knew what His fate was, but He continued with every detail.  We know the fate of the Devil.

It tells us in Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

I know that I know all of the above so most of the time I’m asking myself, “I know He can, but will He?”

The scriptures state that God will provide for all my needs and He has, but so many times my mind gets blurred from my needs to my wants.  Hence the question “Will He?”

We need to remember that God is not our magic genie.  Get a good mindset on who God is.  We are supposed to be pleasing Him, not the other way around; and it does not please God for us to worry.

Karen Y. Stevens is Executive Director at Meals on Wheels