The Greek (NA27):
31 μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε λέγοντες· τί φάγωμεν; ἤ· τί πίωμεν; ἤ· τί περιβαλώμεθα; 32 πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιζητοῦσιν · οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ὅτι χρῄζετε τούτων ἁπάντων. 33 ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν [τοῦ θεοῦ] καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. 34 μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε εἰς τὴν αὔριον, ἡ γὰρ αὔριον μεριμνήσει ἑαυτῆς· ἀρκετὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς.
The English: (NIV) 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(CEB) 31 Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
—
I love this passage from the Bible. I have seen this passage used or modified in one way or another — quoted, preached on, bumper stickerized, etc. I have probably preached on it reassuring people that they don’t have to worry or be anxious about anything. I think I may not have done justice to the context.
In context, I think Jesus is saying don’t worry about coveting things that you don’t need. As I grow in my faith, I am starting to understand that this passage is very complex and the focus may not be on worry or anxiety, but on worrying and getting anxious about the wrong things, instead of dealing with the “trouble” of today.
Trouble…
κακίαb, ας f: a state involving difficult and distressing circumstances — ‘difficulties, evil.’ ἀρκετὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς ‘sufficient for each day is its own evil’ or ‘… are its own hardships’ Mt 6:34. It may be quite difficult to find a way of translating this adage in a literal way, but one can use some such expression as ‘each day has its own way of causing trouble’ or ‘each day makes us suffer in a special way.’ (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains — Louw-Nida)
The more I live life, thinking and trying to “be positive,” “just have more faith,” “put your trust in God,” “cast your burdens on Him,” and on and on it goes. I feel like there is something wrong with me when I am struggling with anything. Just trust, don’t worry, God’s got it… just doesn’t bring me relief. At times it actually makes me feel worse because if I had more faith I’d feel okay, you know… that deep spiritual joy or the peace that surpasses all understanding. Why can’t I have that much faith because doesn’t this text affirm that I shouldn’t have a worry in the world. I mean look at the birds of the air or the flowers. BOOM! God cares for them, how much more will He care for you!
But, there is trouble in faithful paradise that gets painted because what’s this trouble word that Jesus mentions causally at the end. He says (NIV) “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Maybe I’ll come back to really dig in to this passage with you, but here is the bottom line as I have come to see it — Jesus is NOT saying don’t worry or don’t be anxious. He is saying there are things to worry about and be anxious about, but do NOT get distracted by things that don’t matter or are out of your control. Do NOT worry about competing with your neighbors for things. You know, that kind of stuff.
So if that’s the case, I should be okay knowing that worry and anxiety are normal and God give us emotional responses to stimuli, some of which I need to pay attention to and others not.
So if that is the case, then how should a Christ follower approach anxiety and worry in God honoring ways and what mechanisms can be put in place to limit the anxiety so it doesn’t overflow into ways that aren’t productive. In the next few posts I will explore some thoughts and scriptures to help understand healthy anxiety versus the unhealthy type.
