Take No Thought

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

 

Our daughter Melissa is quickly nearing the end of a four-month internship in Washington, DC. It has suddenly come to my remembrance that I started writing an article when she first arrived there, which I always meant to get back to and finish and send to her. Here it is, now or never.

She and I were exchanging a few light texts one evening when she abruptly changed the subject. She said her insecurities were flaring up; she was over-thinking things, putting certain expectations on herself. Many of the stresses she wrestles with fit under the heading of what she calls “people pleasing.” Her thoughts were running away with her and she couldn’t seem to stop them.

I see an unfortunate similarity with her mother in the area of runaway thoughts, unconscious and undisciplined thinking, and I find myself hoping that she will get free of these things a lot sooner than I have.

“Hey dear,” I texted, “I wish I could help you stop your busy mind …”

Then I thought of something that Jesus said several times in His earthly ministry, and that He has said several times to me personally over the years.

I continued: “I think Jesus would say, ‘Take no thought.’ Think of it as a command.”

I paused and thought and then texted on:

“So when you catch yourself ‘taking a thought,’ repent—that means change your mind!—and put it back where you got it.”

If we take something we’ve been told not to take, especially if it’s God and His Son who have told us not to take it, well, we’re obviously moving in the wrong direction.

I glanced at my watch. It was a little after 9:30 p.m. That made it nigh on to midnight where she was. I hoped she’d get to bed soon and not start doing a Bible study at this very moment; nevertheless I made a suggestion:

“Do a search in the King James Version for ‘take no thought,’ and I think you’ll see the kind of things he doesn’t want us clogging our minds with. He implies that it’s the antithesis of faith. Rest and peace on you, my dear girl, body and soul.”

She thanked me for my words and said she would look it up in the morning. Then she added, “Plus I realize that I didn’t spend quality time with God this morn. Still trying to get a routine and a place to have my quiet/rest-in-Him time.”

Of course. Jesus, toward the end of all his advice on taking no thought, gives that very antidote: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His way of living—and He’ll see that everything else is looked after.” (Matthew 6:33, paraphrase)

It must be hard for Melissa to carve out that space for seeking God, I thought, just settling into this internship in DC, sharing living quarters with several other young women and a bedroom with one of them. It’s hard enough for me to find that time in the midst of my own busyness, even with all the freedoms my current status in life affords. The empty nest and all that.

I looked it up for myself in the morning—“Take no thought.”

The first twenty-four verses of Matthew 6 are all about learning to choose God’s opinion, God’s approval, God’s kingdom, over the opinions, approvals, and dominions of this world and its people. We are called to love and serve others, but we can’t even do that freely when we’re caught up in what they think of us. It comes down to letting go of our reputation so we’re free to move in God’s rhythms.

Then at verse 24 begin the “take no thoughts.” “Take no thought for your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, what your body looks like and what you will put on it. Your father will look after all of that.”

“Take no thought about how tall you are or about how many years you will live. You have no control over that, but God does.”

A little further along, Jesus reiterates. (Repetition speaks of emphasis.) “Therefore take no thought—and waste no words talking—about what you’ll eat or drink or dress yourself in. Those who don’t trust God worry about these things, but this kind of preoccupation is not appropriate for a child of God.”

I had texted Melissa to consider “Take no thought” as a command. Perhaps I didn’t choose the word carefully enough. Some Christians are fond of saying, “It’s a command, not a suggestion.” It’s a way of manipulating, trying to force people to comply with God’s instruction. It quickly brings bondage. But God’s instruction is meant to bring liberty—in this case, freedom from the worries that preoccupy most of us. “Instead,” He says, “focus on my kingdom. Get preoccupied with that. God will keep that person in perfect peace who steadies his mind on God and His interests. Oh, and then, by the way, God will look after all those other things you used to worry about.” (Isaiah 26:3, Matthew 6:33)

The chapter ends with another exhortation about our thought life: “Take no thought for tomorrow. Tomorrow will look after itself. There are enough challenges today in which you will have opportunity to test your faith to the limit.”

I like what The Message version says in this chapter, in the part where Jesus instructs us to consider the state of the birds, blithely living under God’s provision: “Look at the birds, free and unfettered, ... careless in the care of God.” Not careless as in sloppy, but as in without a care in the world. It reminds me to cast all my cares upon the One who cares for me. (1 Peter 5:7)

“What I’m trying to do here,” The Message continues, “is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving....” Getting may make us think of materialism, being enamoured with the goods of this world, but getting is broader than that. In my case, my most obsessive desire for getting has to do with getting things done, and this is always a struggle of my own fleshly effort. God, meanwhile, is continually trying to give me something: His peace.

Further from The Message (6:33 again): “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

There is another final “take no thought” a few chapters farther along. It refers specifically to times of intense persecution when Christians will be hauled up before authorities, but the exhortation and promise given here cover us in any situation where we are put on the spot to speak. As a daily discipline and delight, let us learn to listen for God’s prompting and only speak those things we hear Him speaking. “Take no thought,” says Jesus, “how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you (Matthew 10:19-20, KJV).

 

Will not God, who gave his son, freely give you all things? (Romans 8:32, paraphrase)