Hakuna Matata

“...what a wonderful phrase...it means no worries for the rest of your day....”. You can’t tell me your not singing the song.  We all want to feel this but is it possible?

Worry according to Oxford’s is:

verb-

give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.

noun-

a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems.

So as a verb it means you have made a choice, as a noun it is a place you are at.  So can we make a choice to leave a place we are at and go to a different place?  I believe that answer is yes, but I also believe we don’t or can’t do either without help.  

The Bible and our Lord cover worry extensively.  I was amazed at the number of places and times that pulled up when I did the word search. Nearly 3500 in the Old Testament and over 400 times in the New Testament, two word that follow close behind and walk hand in hand are fear and pain.  Both fear and pain are real and both are the source of our worry, so how do we take these two very real states and discount them away.  As I am starting this study I know it is possible to not worry, I have seen many examples, so how it can be done and why it should be done is what I want to explore.  I know there are folks who have studied this for years and will have much better explanations than what  I will attempt to share, but that’s not going to stop me from unpacking my thoughts on the matter.

So much is written that it is really hard to even find a starting point.  So I thought I would try to find examples from the Bible and the first one that came to mind took place in a small garden just outside Jerusalem...

All four Gospel account record the event that took place in Gethsemane, I believe the Lord was very worried, worried probably more than I have ever worried in my whole life because he knew what was about to happen, he understood the pain he was about to face he had every reason to be worried. One thing that is important to understand and to take note of, in all four Gospel accounts, which save John are almost exactly the same, the Lord is praying, which I believe is the key to this study, also,there is something vey specific in Luke’s account that I want to point out:

“He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly,....”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:41-44‬ ‭NIV

Our Lord prayed, he wanted to not move forward with these actions that were going to be painful, but he surrendered his will to the Father, and the Father provided him with help and strength to get through the difficult times ahead.  I do not think the Lord discounted the situation ahead of him, he instead understood he had help and thus could see past the difficulty that lay immediately before him to the glory that would be after the difficulties.  He chose to not give into his fear he chose to look beyond the immediate future, and he was given help to get past where he was so he could get to where he was going.  So easy to say yet so hard to do. So how did we get here, if we follow Christ example we have to be praying...

 The next verse I wanted to look at is the parable of the sower...

“The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Notice how the Lord says the worries of this world can actually separate the seed from that which will allow it to grow or the message of the Lord, and makes you the seed unfruitful.

This verse the from the Old Testament I believe has a similar thought...

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To me both this and the parable of the sower are telling us that we need to have a deep root system founded in our faith and trust in the Lord to keep the worries of this world from separating us from the Message and thus from the Father. 

If we are not worrying we are do something else, your focus has shifted from what might happen to what is happening?  I think that is the right way to look at it.  To not worry requires us to be patient, to wait on the Lord...

“...yet not my will, but yours be done.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:42‬ ‭NIV

It also requires us to trust the Lord and understand that we are not in control...

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

again...

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have needed to hear this message for so long, it’s crazy to me that it has been right here in front of my face for years.  Not a single one of these scriptures have I not read, but I am not so sure I ever really heard them.  It just seems unfathomable that it is this simple but I believe it really is.  What Good News!

I am going to continue this study and will share what He shows me, but I think I want to go ahead and post this much of it now.  I hope this is helpful to some of you, if you have thought on this please share them with me.

Have a great day...

hakuna matata!!!