Handling Turmoil

Handling Turmoil

Matthew 6.25-27; 33-34

“25"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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look 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? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

As we hear of tropical storms and hurricane season, we are reminded of the massive turmoil and chaos present in our world today. Why, just yesterday I spent my first day navigating my way around a crowded campus built in the middle of a city with less than sufficient parking :) Hurricanes and cities are examples of natural turmoil, but today I want to talk about the kind of turmoil you and I face nearly every day of our lives: life turmoil. Almost all of us become stressed at one point or another in our day. It is easy for us to grow anxious, weary, and depressed. We imagine the next day with the same pattern repeating all over again.

But Jesus has not commanded us to worry. He wants us to overcome turmoil. How do we do that? He tells us the answer Himself! Jesus teaches us to “not worry about [our lives], what [we] will eat or drink or about [our] body, what we will wear.” Worry feeds turmoil, and it is the source of discomfort, frustration, and a sudden attraction to sin in some pleasurable form. That is why Jesus stresses that there's no reason to worry about life! Why? He's got it all taken care of! He says for us to “seek first [Christ's] kingdom and His righteousness, and all [our needs] will be given to [us] as well.” So Jesus says for us to substitute worry with faith in Him. When we “seek first [His] kingdom,” our focus shifts from all the clutter and turmoil spiraling through our lives and teaches us the peace that passes all understanding.

So seeking God's kingdom brings us peace. Paul says in Philippians 4.6 for us to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let [our] requests be made known to God.” Again, Christ calls us away from our turmoil and into the focus of God. The bottom line is that when we focus on God through “prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving” and when we “seek first [God's] kingdom and His righteousness,” all of our needs will be met. The old saying that God will never give us any more than we can bear holds true. When we stop, take a deep breath, let go of all our worries and schedules and appointments, and pray to God, drawing in His peace, then we will find relief from turmoil.

Do that today, beloved. What is it that is causing you turmoil in life? Follow Christ's model here in Matthew 6—replace worry with Jesus. I do not mean that in an abstract, feel-good way; I mean that in a very real, concrete sense. Pray to Jesus; pour your heart out to Him. Grow in His word. Love Him. Love others. Love yourself. Purge your heart of sin and replace it with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. When you do, all of life's worries will begin to seem much smaller, and our God will appear much bigger! Amen.


With love in Christ,




Austin Aldrich