Pastoral Letters

Worry

March 16, 2025 Author:Elder liu Kerh Li
As we grow older, our worries increase as well. Our childhood memories are mostly joyful, without worries. Even if there were difficulties at home back then, it was the adults who dealt with them, and it had nothing to do with the children. A child’s needs are simple: as long as they have food, clothing, and a place to sleep, they are satisfied. They don’t worry about whether they’ll have bread to eat tomorrow or where they’ll sleep the next day. Once children enter primary school, they start to worry about their studies and their self-image, worrying about how their parents, teachers, and friends will view them. As children grow older, they begin to worry about not having friends, the comments others make about them on social media, their grades, and their future education or career path. Once they enter society, they worry about job stability, not having enough money, and the prospect of marriage. After starting a family, they worry about their spouse and children, about retirement, and about the returns on their investments. As they age, they start to worry about their health, whether their children will find a partner, and whether their grandchildren will behave well. We have worries throughout our entire lives. Especially now, with the global economy facing unprecedented changes and crises, our worries are more than ever. Business owners worry about whether their business will survive, and whether they will be able to pay salaries. Employees worry about whether they will have work and whether they will receive a paycheck. Honestly, it is impossible for us not to worry, because we have endless problems to solve, and life is so unpredictable. Who can truly be fully prepared for it?

Jesus comforted the people living in poverty during his time, telling them not to worry about their lives. “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? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25-34).

Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, because worrying does not help. The problems that will arise tomorrow will happen regardless of whether we worry or take precautions. Jesus directly states that tomorrow has its own worries. Ultimately, the root of our worries is a survival issue. We fear that we and our loved ones won’t be able to survive the difficulties of life. Jesus comforts us by saying that God knows what we need and will provide for us. Therefore, with God’s promise, we need not worry about survival. However, we still worry because we lack faith in God. This may not necessarily mean we don’t believe that God will care for us, but that we think we need more than what God has promised to ensure survival. We do not believe that God’s care is sufficient. We may still trust the ways of the world, thinking that we need sufficient wealth to survive, health to survive, good education to survive, a stable job to survive, or our own house to survive. Don’t get me wrong; the things mentioned above are good, but they are not the key to survival. Yet, we are often busy worrying about pursuing these additional things for ourselves and our families. Jesus advises us to focus: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Christians don’t need to worry about survival because God will certainly deliver us and solve the issues threatening our survival. We don’t need to focus on pursuing more security or building a bigger safety net. Our focus should be on how to work faithfully according to the teachings of the Bible, to raise children to know God, to nurture relationships in marriage and with children, to care for and help fellow believers, and to care for our bodies in order to serve God with strength and energy. Let God, his word, and his work be the centre of our lives, and God will take care of us.

We do not worry not because life is smooth sailing. We can avoid worry because God is with us in all our troubles. This loving, all-powerful, and faithful Father commands us to look to and follow him. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him’” (Lamentations 3:22-24).

translated by Elder Liu Kerh Li