Small Stuff

When I was growing up, my Dad always told me he had two rules in life: Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff. This made a lot of sense to me at the time, and I grew up not really ever worrying about anything. If it was something I could do something about, I did it. If not, I braced myself for whatever was about to happen.

Of course, even my Dad would tell you, the carefree life instantly dissolves when you add family into the mix. Particularly when you add children. You worry about what they're going to eat. You worry that they're always going to have a warm place to sleep. That they're getting along well in school. That they'll always be safe.

Worry is easy. But of course, Jesus was never a fan of taking the easy way.

“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 than food, and the body more than clothes? Look 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27)

He goes on, with reminders not to worry about what we'll eat, or drink, or wear. But instead, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (v33)."

In other words: keep your eye on the Big Picture. Worry never made anything better. But Christ did more than simply give us the admonishment not to worry. He gave us a promise, too. That He, God, had it well in hand. As the Psalmist says, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken (Psalm 55:22)."

We aren't promised an easy life. Indeed, we're promised trouble in this world. But we're also reminded that Christ Himself has overcome this world (John 16:33). 

The point in all of this? Simply this: keep your eyes on Christ. I could go verse after verse after verse, but this is the message. Keep your eyes on Him. Focus on eternal things. The rest is small stuff. Don't sweat the small stuff.