In Matthew 6:34, Jesus of Nazareth gives some strong commands about worrying. This verse impacts me in multiple versions of Scripture.

Revised Standard: “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”

NIV: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The Message: “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

WORRY IS NOT FROM GOD

What situations cause you to obsess about the past or worry about the future? For me, seeing someone I love suffer from mental illness is extremely painful. The nature of the illness is that symptoms come and go unpredictably. I never know what today brings. I tend to obsess over the past with “what ifs” or “if onlys” as well as to dread the future.

No matter the cause of our worry, it is never from God.

Jesus commands us not to worry. To help that happen, he says we only need to think about one day: today. In reality, none of us knows what today will bring. But we know, from Jesus, that we can expect trouble in this life.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Allen Hill, in a 2009 commencement address to the seminary, said we actually can expect trouble every day. His rule: “Expect it. Accept it. Address it. Forget it.” Refusing to worry gives us additional strength to do this.

Give Your Entire Attention to what God is doing now

Therese of Lisieux said her sole concern was to carry out the will of God as it was revealed to her second to second. “I just keep concentrating on the present moment. I forget the past and preserve myself from worries about the future,” she wrote.

Two related spiritual disciplines cultivate this ability: recollection (meeting God within yourself) and the practice of the presence of God. These practices are what I mean by the term Christian mindfulness.

Recollection is also called centering down. Below is one simple method:

• Sit still in a quiet place.
• Hold your palms down on your lap.
• Offer up all your thoughts and anxieties.
• Turn your palms up once your mind is calmer.
• Receive peace from God.

The practice of the presence of God cultivates alertness to God at all times. You relate to His constant presence through brief acts of recognition and prayer. This allows each activity in your life to be an opportunity to meet God. How?

• Focus on one activity at a time.
• Invite God into this activity.
• Love the person in front of you.
• Express gratitude to God when the activity is done.

Isn’t Mindfulness Buddhist?

Much talk about mindfulness comes from a Buddhist slant. It has a different philosophical foundation and a different goal from the Christian form. Some Buddhist techniques can be transferable to a Christian with the extremely important addition of focus on God.

Buddhists look at the moment. Christians look at God in the moment.

The present moment is the only place where you can meet God. So we must give up fantasies, impossible dreams, “what ifs” and “if onlys” in favor of living in the present.

Christian mindfulness sees every moment, every person and every activity as an opportunity to meet God. To do this, we must be “all there” in the moment, giving love to God and people.

My guardrails in this practice are a vibrant spiritual life and a commitment to God’s will. I am a structured person. So I keep lists of things I feel God wants me to do in my station in life. (Retired writer, wife, mother of an adult child with schizophrenia, mother and mother-in-law to my other kids, small group leader, and, best of all, Grandma!) Then I do the next right thing, as my husband says.

Christian Mindfulness Can Eliminate worry

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” 2 Timothy 1:7 says.

Worry comes from a spirit of fear. It is often is a response to stress. Biomedical literature suggests that individuals are more likely to have a stress response if they:

• Feel they have little control over stressors or are chronically disempowered.
• Feels they do not have predictive information about how long or how intense the stressful situation will be.
• Do not have many outlets to vent frustration.
• Do not have adequate social support for any confinement caused by stressors.

Christian mindfulness reduces the stress response. Being fully present empowers people to take small steps and create real changes to their external environment. So the brain has less opportunity to build scenarios and forecast troubled times ahead.

Inviting God into every situation from brushing your teeth to having that tough conversation with your teenager changes everything. God helps you deal with whatever happens when the time comes.

PRaying the Scripture eases chronic worry

Praying the Scriptures is another spiritual discipline that eases worry. I often pray in the first person, reading the Scripture and saying “I” for “you” or “we.” Here are prayers from three Scriptures, for example.

• Based on Philippians 4: 6-7: God, whatever today brings, help me not to worry about anything, but in all my prayers to ask You for what I need. Help me to always ask with a thankful heart. And please send your peace, which is far beyond my understanding, to keep my heart and mind safe in union with Jesus.
• Based on Ephesians 3: 19-21: Help me to come to know your love, even though it can never be fully known. Help me to be completely filled with the Holy Spirit, your very nature. To You, who by means of Your power working in me, are able to do much more than I can ever ask for, or even think of. To You be the glory.
• Based on Matthew 6:34: “Therefore I will not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

This keeps the mind busy translating the Scripture into prayer. And it brings peace. God will help you with whatever bad thing is stuck in your worried mind. Just concentrate on his presence.