Worry seems to be a major issue for so many, and the reason why evades many who suffer most.  Worry is the state of conscious, and consistent fear of the future.  Spiritually, it is the declaration that God is not big enough to handle the things that may arise in our future. 

Worry is the same as doubt. 

The scriptural response for worry is simple.  The Bible says, “Do no worry about anything.” But frankly, that has never really comforted me, or helped me to stop worrying about something that bothered me.  So how is it that we are supposed to just stop worrying? Well, the answer lies in a part of scripture that is sometimes neglected. 

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Phillippians 4:4-7

Just before the command of verse 6, there is a statement that is connected to the command that helps to solidify the possibility of “not worrying.”  Prior to being told that we should not worry, we are assured of the one thing that can help us trust that our issues can be resolved without our constant doubt. 

“The Lord is at hand…”

That statement, absent from so many coffee mugs and even sermons, is the resolution to the problem of worry.  It is the preemptive strike upon doubt, fear, and defeat.  It is all we need when the worry of the world finds it’s way into our lives.  Too many people are trying to not worry by constructs of this world.  They try to overcome worry by being positive, or meditating, or vacation, or something else that fails to provide real solutions.  The solution can only come from the knowledge that God is near to us. 

To know that the God of creation is at hand is the most comforting statement ever made.  It is the reason we have life.  It is the reason we have hope.  The Lord is in our midst, and we are in His.  He is over all, and has overcome all.  He is capable of creating and destroying all things.  He is not at our fingertips as if we were to command him to strike down our enemies, he is at hand in that he has already defeated sin and death, and we reach out for his loving embrace. 

He does not evade our grasp, nor does he flea from us.  He crushes fear and shame without leaving us.  He has already struck down the evil one, and though his heal is bruised, he is victorious. 

We have no reason to be fearful.  We have no cause to worry.  We have no right to be doubtful.

Because we have Jesus.