Do you ever find yourself worrying?

Heather and I are reaching milestone birthdays this year. One of us will soon be 62, and the other just turned 65.

Neither of us is sure how we got here. It’s like we blinked our eyes and life went by. Of course, that’s not the way it happened, but looking back, that’s the way it feels.

We both have reached access to Social Security and penalty-free access to our retirement savings. And yes, one of us has signed up for Medicare and supplemental health insurance. Yee haw.

I sure am grateful for the 1.2 trillion TikTok videos that explain exactly how to navigate finances in this stage of life. I find it helpful that each one gives different advice. Thanks for that.

Frankly, I’m not sure what the big deal is. The goal, after all, is rather simple: make sure you run out of life before you run out of money. How hard can that be?

Do you know when you’re going to run out of life? I don’t either. I had a heart attack last year, so maybe I’m already living on borrowed time. Or not. I had breakfast recently with a dear friend who suffered his first heart attack 35 years ago — and he’s still going strong.

There are so many variables to consider, and so many scenarios to play out. Social Security may run out of money. The stock market might crash. Inflation may skyrocket. A health setback could evaporate our savings. There’s a lot to worry about.

Welcome to life on Earth. Everyone has plenty to worry about. If you have money, you worry about losing it. If you’re broke, you worry about bills. If you’re healthy, you worry about sickness. If you’re sick, you worry about getting better. We worry so much that Jesus had to confront it in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6):

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 labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor 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.

That passage begins with the word, therefore. I was taught long ago that when you see the word therefore, you need to find out what it’s there for. To do so, let’s read what Jesus said just before the therefore:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

His teaching on worry provides a diagnostic tool, a question we can ask ourselves: Am I trusting God, or am I trusting in this world? If I am indulging in worry, then I am not trusting fully in God. I’m serving two masters – and that just doesn’t work.

I find that worry comes and goes. Like all temptations, it presents itself in vulnerable moments and seasons. And like all temptations, I am called to resist the quick pleasure of looking to this world for comfort and security. I confess, it’s not easy. Worry seems to be lurking around every corner.

I don’t know when I will run out of life or money. These things are out of my control. I can, however, pursue what Jesus commanded, and I can do it wholeheartedly:

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

If my eyes are filled with him, my life will be filled with the light of his peace. If I take my eyes off him and look to Social Security and the stock market, my life will be filled with worry and darkness. Life’s too short to waste any of it on worry.

Heavenly Father, help me keep my eyes so focused on you that I won’t have the time or desire to worry over things I cannot control or change. I look to you alone. I trust in you alone. Help me to walk confidently in your peace. Your kingdom come, your will be done. Amen.