Are you sick? Have you coughed in the last week? Have you recently stood next to a person who coughed? Have you been vaccinated? Fully vaccinated? Let me take your temperature. Let’s all get tested. Anyone sniffly? I feel stuffy, I better stay home from worship. And since you were around me yesterday, you better stay home, too.
Some have died from sicknesses. It is a sad thing, but it is also not a new thing. People have been getting sick and dying for most of human history. When we learn about the details of any sickness, we may be tempted to worry. Jesus spoke against worry from Matthew 6:25-34, repeatedly rebuking the worrisome, instructing all to trust in God instead.
Paul also condemned worrying in Philippians 4:6 where he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The same word translated “worry” in Matthew 6 is translated “anxious” here.
In these contexts, worry is a life-consuming, life-controlling concern that does not deserve that power. It is similar to what we see in Luke 10:38-42, where Jesus visited Mary and Martha, two sisters. Martha, described as “distracted” in verse 40, was upset over her sister listening at the feet of Jesus while she, herself, was making many preparations. Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary…”
Many are allowing the all-consuming worry of sickness and death to direct their life, and they are ignoring their own spiritual decline in the process. They are distracted by so many things and are forgetting the good part, the one necessary thing in life. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…” Don’t let worry claim your soul. Do what is right, do what is godly, and trust in God’s care.