Worrying is atheism because...

I am signed up to receive an email each day with quotes pertaining to the Christian faith. Some are people I've heard of before like Billy Graham, Augustine, Calvin, Luther and others. Some are people I've never heard of yet their insight into the Christian faith is rather profound. Just the other day I read one that caused me to pause and reread it to make sure I fully grasped the simplicity yet profound nature of the quote. It was a quote by Bishop Fulton Sheen and it said "All worry is atheism, because it is want of trust of God." What the late Catholic Bishop is telling us is that worry at its core is atheism. Worry is atheism because we doubt the ability of God to care and provide for us. If we doubt the ability of God to provide and care for us then we, in essence, doubt His very existence.

According to Webster's dictionary atheism is the "disbelief in the existence of deity." When we worry we go from a point of faith and trust in God to a point where we doubt His existence. The point being made is not that worrying believers somehow renounce their and enter into some level of apostasy. What I am saying is that we should not overlook the power our worry has over us. It causes us to go from sane and rational believers who praise and worship God to irrational people who think the wringing of our hands and the pacing of our feet will change things. The only One who can change things is God and if we start to doubt His ability to do anything for us then we find ourselves in a severe downward spiral. 

Worry is a sin. Point blank, it's a sin. We should avoid it like we would any other sin. Jesus even tells us how useless worry is and how we should avoid it in Matthew 6. He says in Matthew 6:27 "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (NIV). If we can't add a single second to our life, which seemed to be a simple thing to Jesus, by worrying, then why should we do it? He goes on to say in verse 34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (NIV). Each day has enough worries and stressing over what may happen tomorrow is unproductive and ineffective. We should replace our worry with worship and praise of the One who cares and provides for us. He's the One who can change things and the last thing we need to do is doubt in His abilities to do so.

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