Jesus encourages us not to worry about our lives.
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?
Jesus encourages us not to worry about our lives. One reason, he explains, is that by worrying we can’t add even an hour to our span of life. (In fact, studies show that worry can actually shorten our lives.) So, worry doesn’t help us live better or longer lives. What does help is realizing that our lives are in God’s gracious hands?
Based on Jesus’s exhortation in Luke 12:22, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.” Jesus urges us not to worry. But he doesn’t leave us on our own to figure out how to avoid anxiety. Rather, he gives several reasons not to worry. We can see God’s care for birds, and that’s great, but God cares for us so much more. Because we matter to God way more than birds, we don’t have to fret about our lives.
Jesus follows his first reason with a different, practical argument. “And can any of you,” he says, “by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26). Now that’s a good, commonsense argument against worry, isn’t it? By worrying you don’t lengthen your life.
Now, one might object, “Wait a minute. Sometimes when I worry about something I’m led to acting in a way that does help me.” For example, if you’re having heart palpitations, you may very well worry about them. So you go to your doctor and get it checked out. This leads to a treatment plan that helps you to get better. So, could you say that worry added to your span of life?
Not really, when you think about it. Worry didn’t help. Using your mind to decide to see a doctor helped. Choosing to act wisely helped. If you’re one who’s inclined to worry about your health, and I admit that I’m one of these people, then you know that often worry can keep you from choosing to get the help you need. Worry is constrictive and debilitating.
In fact, worry not only doesn’t add to your span of life, but it can actually shorten it. A study published in 2012 in the British Journal of Medicine found that anxiety “is associated with increased risk of mortality from several major causes.” This led CBS News to run a story with this provocative title, “Mild cases of anxiety, depression may lead to an early death.” The findings of the 2012 study were confirmed by a 2018 study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry. In a nutshell, researchers found that “anxiety disorders significantly increased mortality risk.”
So Jesus was surely right about the practical limitations of worry. Yet, the part of us that wants to guarantee our longevity, that wants to control our lives, balks at the notion that we aren’t ultimately in control. We think we’d like to be sovereign over our lives, and we can even assume that we are. But, in truth, we do not have such authority and influence. That can feel like bad news. But the good news is coming in just a few verses. We get to live under the gracious sovereignty of God, and when we do, God is pleased.
Today, however, we would do well to remember the ineffectiveness of worry. It really doesn’t help. It doesn’t lengthen our lives. In fact, it can even shorten them. When we’re facing difficult circumstances, we need to act wisely as we deal with what is challenging us. But, more important even than this, we need to realize that our lives are in God’s hands. And that includes our lifespan. When we’re worried about our lives, we would do well to remember the prayer found in Psalm 31:14-16: “But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.”
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