| June 6, 2018 -- Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25-34
There’s a huge difference between planning for the future and worrying about the future. Jesus talked about both on different occasions.
It is not only Jesus who tells us not to worry. St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, tells us: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”.
Note that there is nothing wrong with planning for the future. But Jesus warns us in two parables that we should plan wisely, expecting that things may go wrong. First is the parable of the three wise virgins, who brought extra oil for their lamps, and the three foolish virgins, who did not do so. When the expected bridegroom was late in making his appearance foolish virgins had no oil with which to replenish their lamps and greet him. And second is the parable of the wise and foolish builders: the first built his house upon the rock and the second built his house upon the sand. The storms came, with their winds and waves, and the house built on rock stood and the house build on sand collapsed. Finally, there is the admonition: “Do not store up treasures here on earth, where moth and rust may corrupt, and thieves break in and steal; but rather build up treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, nor thieves break in and steal.”
To sum up: we should plan wisely and hopefully for the future, but what the future brings is in God’s hands and we shouldn’t worry about it.
Thanks to Peter Keefe, who gave me the idea for this column.
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