Luke 12:22 NKJV Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

1 Peter 5:6-7 NKJV Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Jesus loves us and wants us to be worry-free. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. Luke reminds us at the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus said, “do not worry about your life.“ Pretty simple, right? Wrong!!!! That is one of the most challenging things there is to do. What’s crazy to me is that as a young Christian, this was one of the easier principles for me to connect with. I’m typically a pretty laid-back guy with not too many cares in the world, or at least I used to be, so much so that it would frustrate people around me, because even as a kid, my thought process was that God would take care of it. 

However, now more than ever, I worry about so much. My Life-my own mortality; my Family-my relationships with my wife and with my kids; my Business-EVERYTHING (every little freaking thing); my Faith-are you still there Lord. It’s honestly like the more God has blessed me, the more I worry about what He’s blessed me with. But common sense (or the Wisdom of the Word) should tell me that if He blessed me with it, then why would I worry (Proverbs 10:22 NKJV The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it). 

I see the issue in one of my favorite scriptures, Matthew 11:28 NKJV Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This was never a problem for me; I loved running to Him when I felt overwhelmed and casting all of my cares at His feet. Yet, here was my screw up, Jesus said to “Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.“ 

Yet, rather than taking His yoke (a contraption used to pair oxen to carry extremely heavy loads), I was taking back His burdens. What?? A yoke is also a burden or bondage. Jesus died to give us a divine exchange, His righteousness for our sin, burdens, sorrows, and diseases. Yet when we hold on to the worries and the cares that are supposed to be laid at His feet, we grab hold of the very burden that He died for. We need to grab His Yoke (which, without going into the first sermonette I ever preached in front of Pastor John K. Jenkins… long story, irrelevant, and a great memory for me). His Yoke is the Cross, and when we grab ahold of it rather than our worries, we receive the Grace that is sufficient to meet every need we have (Phil 4:19). After all, His Yoke is easy…Matthew 11:30 NKJV For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”