Daily Devotionals

Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27)

Yeshua speaks with great compassion on this issue. I can almost hear him reasoning with those suffering from the agony of worry. Who has not experienced that agony?

Years ago a precious Jewish woman attended our congregation. She was a mother to many. Unfortunately, she worried like the proverbial Jewish mother as well. Anxiety was a way of life for her. Of particular concern to her were her own grown children. Whenever I discussed her anxiety with her, she would say jokingly, "My maiden name means 'worry' in Yiddish. I guess I'm just living up to my name." Her name did mean "worry" in Yiddish. In time, she was diagnosed with a fatal disease. We prayed for her healing, but unfortunately she continued to deteriorate. Naturally, the illness also caused her great anxiety. When she was near death, I visited her in the hospital. She told me she was very worried about her children. I told her she had to trust God to take care of them, since she couldn't. Finally, she truly relaxed for the first time as she gave them to God. Hours later, she went to be with the Lord.

Don't wait until you're near death to deal with anxiety. Choose trust over worry.

...decide to not "worry about anything; on the contrary ...by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4:6), I will present my requests to God. Then I will leave it in his hands!

MW