March 19, 2020 Some years ago, the phrase “No Worry, No Dread, No Frustration” occurred to me as I prepared to minister for a Watch Night service. I, believing I was led of the Lord, declared that year as a year when, if appropriated in faith, the child of God could rise above and beyond the grasp of worry, dread, and frustration. Once again today, amid the chaos of current events, when the world is reeling from the clutches of the deadly virus COVID-19, and when worries about economic survival in tandem with other existential concerns loom so darkly on the horizon, I remind the children of God that there is yet a place in Him that will release us from cares and concerns that we are incapable of resolving on our own.
The Lord Jesus Christ in His great discourse in Matthew 6 told His listeners Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt. 6:34, CEB) Don’t get the text twisted. Jesus was not telling us to live mindlessly without proper thought or consideration. He was not, by any means, suggesting that we should not take time for reflective planning and preparation for the future. He was, however, telling us that we should not be burdened to the point of worry, dread, frustration, or even depression when life throws us a curveball. He simply does not want us to overwhelm ourselves with cares that in the end, we can depend on Him to handle.
I remind you now of some other words He spoke in that same discourse: Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? (Matt. 6:26–30, CEB) Oh my! It sounds like He has us covered!
Exercise strong faith. Relax in Him today. Believe Him for tomorrow. “No Worry, No Dread, No Frustration”
Yours in His Service, Bishop Lambert W. Gates, Sr.