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The dictionary says worry is feeling undue care and anxiety, and while that is a good definition'after all, it made its way into the dictionary'who's to say when feeling anxious becomes "undue"? If your worst-case scenario begins unfolding, and you are ravaged by the ungraciousness of your dread, who's to say what an appropriate level of anxiety is versus an "undue" level?

Malcolm Smith says worry is fearing that God is not sufficient. I think that is a workable definition. Although the Bible doesn't talk much about worry, God does devote a number of verses in His Book to anxiety. Perhaps the most familiar is Paul's exhortation, “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). The passage we referenced last week from Matthew 6:27 is the Bible's lengthiest and most compelling discussion on anxiety delivered by Jesus during his sermon on the mount: "Do not be anxious for your life, for what you will eat, what you will drink, or what you will wear. Consider the birds. Think about the flowers. Your Father watches over the birds, clothes the flowers, and cares more for you than He does for either birds or flowers. Why be anxious?"

I can't help but wonder--as much as Jesus quoted the Old Testament--if He was trying to make an application for His mountainside audience regarding David's statement in the Psalms, "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, / Your consolations delight my soul" (Psalm 94:19). The argument could be made that David did not face the ominous prospects we face--war, human rights abuse, computer viruses, infrastructure collapse, nuclear proliferation, terrorist threat--and thus makes an assertion that doesn't apply today. But then again, David spent a fair bit of time running for his life and dodging hurled spears from Israel's disgruntled and insecure monarch, King Saul.

I think we all face the temptation to believe our concerns are the gravest of all time and that no one has ever faced the pressures we face. Of course, in our rational moments, we know this is not the case, but the temptation persists nevertheless. Our Heavenly Father knows the pervasiveness of this temptation and inspired David to say, "Even in the face of multiplying anxieties, / Your consolations-thoughts, comforting perspective, and encouragement-delight my soul." This is the thought I leave with you until we approach more on this next week.

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