Worry or Concern?

Marilyn Appleby 

One of our readings today is taken from the gospel of Matthew, and many will be familiar with it. ’Do not worry’, we read. Sometimes it seems impossible to not worry about certain areas of our lives, whether within our families, our church or globally. Currently many people are worried about the discord amongst nations, worried about their personal health or the health of others, or the effect of war or natural disaster.

It is true that worry is a pointless exercise, where we focus on things and events that have not yet happened, and that may never happen! Concern, on the other hand, is where we are touched by certain events which affect people’s welfare, whether at home or abroad, and which motivates us to actively do something to help relieve thesituation. Maybe we donate to charity appeals, or lobby our MPs; or on a more personal level we may be motivated to help, or visit, or encourage others.

In Philippians. 4:6 Jesus tells us not to worry: ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’

So our first response to our worries is to pray, to bring before our Lord those things on our hearts which keep us awake at night and which rob us of our daily joy. Then we leave the rest to God.