Do Not Worry: The Difference Between Worry and Concern
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“There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.” Harold Stephens
Matthew 6 NIV
25"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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look 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? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If 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, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Many people think worry is "just a part of life." After all, everyone worries. However, worry is a human activity which is destructive, worthless, and always counterproductive. It is most often a mental habit—a habit is something you do, that when you do it, you don’t know you are doing it. Some people think that the opposite of worry is apathy. This is not so. The flip side of worry is concern. This can be confusing to some people because it seems these two are really the same thing. Our culture is often quite supportive of worry because of the inappropriate connection with caring. Often, if you tell someone you do not worry about an issue, they may wonder if it is because you do not care. Worry is not a sign of caring; concern is the real companion of caring. Unfortunately, some people are such chronic worriers that when they find themselves not worrying, they worry that something is wrong. These "worry warts" think that if they did not worry, life around them would fall apart. As strange as it seems, worry is viewed as glue that holds life together. One of your goals is to know the difference and to be able to discriminate between the two. This can be difficult at first because worry and concern have some similarities. They both... • are mental activities • can take a lot of effort and energy • have the potential for focusing on important issues
Biblically, worry is akin to doubt and unbelief. Holding on to unfounded fears speaks to an inability to trust God to meet our most basic physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual needs. Jesus spoke forcibly about this issue in
Matthew 6. He stated that we should "take no thought" in regard to our future.
What he meant was that we should not worry about problems that are beyond our scope. We should not try to play God. We should "trust in the Lord with all of our hearts". We can be confident that the providence of God will be enough to meet our every need.
Concern, on the other hand, simply means that we plan (reasonably) for our future. We see specific needs that we can meet, and make the necessary effort to do so. Concern is a close cousin to compassion. Concern does what is reasonably possible, and leaves the rest to the supernatural ability of our Saviour.
So, examine yourself right now.
Are you worried, or concerned? Are you trying to carry a load that is humanly impossible to bear? Are you needlessly "stressed" about things you cannot change? Is your health being negatively affected by trying to play Hercules?
Why not let go and let God? You will feel better immediately.
He's bigger than all your problems.
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