We tend to be future thinkers, dwelling on all the ‘what if’s’ and worst case scenarios that could happen in life. The truth is, the absolute worst thing that could happen has been taken care of by Christ at the cross. The greatest fear we could ever face is eternity apart from God. When Christ bore our sins, he took that punishment for us. He redeemed us so that we could be free from the power of sin. Through faith in Christ, we have the certainty of eternity forever with him in a place where there will be no more worries or fears.

I never realized how much of a worrier I was until I had children. Being a parent seems to magnify the sins we already struggle with and in the case of worry, having children brought that hidden sin out into the light, revealing to me how much my heart focused on all those ‘what ifs’ of life.

It seems like the first five years of my son’s life were spent in and out of doctor’s offices. With one infection after another, he was always on antibiotics. And then there were the frequent asthma attacks followed by rounds of steroids. I spent my nights awake, listening to him cough and wondering if he would ever get better. After seeing multiple specialists, he ended up having surgery. Followed by a second one. Watching your child being wheeled into a place where you can’t follow brings a kind of worry and fear unlike any other.

For many Christians, we consider worry one of those ‘acceptable sins.’ It is something we know we shouldn’t do, like gossip, but we tend to permit it in our lives because it seems so normal. Everyone worries, right? And if a parent doesn’t worry about their children, what kind of parent are they?

Yet God’s word admonishes us not to worry. Jesus preached an entire sermon on it in Matthew 6. So what’s a parent who worries to do?

1. Remember the gospel: We tend to be future thinkers, dwelling on all the ‘what if’s’ and worst case scenarios that could happen in life. The truth is, the absolute worst thing that could happen has been taken care of by Christ at the cross. The greatest fear we could ever face is eternity apart from God. When Christ bore our sins, he took that punishment for us. He redeemed us so that we could be free from the power of sin. Through faith in Christ, we have the certainty of eternity forever with him in a place where there will be no more worries or fears. And because God went to such great lengths to purchase our redemption, Paul asks in Romans, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (8:32).

2. Remember your status: Imagine one day, finding your son or daughter curled up in the corner of their room, crying. You ask what is wrong and hear, “I’m worried that you will forget to feed me today.” Can you imagine that? Seems crazy, doesn’t it?

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