Prepare but don't worry

My post from Wednesday, July 22, ended up being pretty morose. I was moaning about the fact that life can change in an instant. I think my not eating and drinking in preparation for my colonoscopy the next day was affecting me. The next day, after I'd had a good lunch and was able to drink enough water and juice to rehydrate myself, I was in a better mood and everything seemed more manageable.

But our situation hasn't changed. There's just as much chance of accidents as there was when I felt bad. But feeling better tends to make me feel more optimistic. I read Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus says,

"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? Look 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If 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? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." NIV

So, we shouldn't be worrying about how precarious life can be. But should we do nothing? Do we not work or plan? Do we just sit and wait for God to provide us with what we need? No, there is a big difference between not worrying and not preparing or working to get what we need. No, there are many places in the Bible where we are exhorted to work hard, don't make foolish decisions and store up food for hard times. We are to be prepared for hard times but not to be consumed with worrying about them. After all, if we sit around worrying, we're not doing anything to be prepared. We can do anything through Christ.