When the kingdom of Israel was divided due to the ill-advised policies of Solomon’s son Rehoboam (1 Kings 12), Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, became king of the northern ten tribes (1 Kings 12:20). God had told Jeroboam, through the prophet Ahijah, “So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.” (1 Kings 11:37-38). In spite of the promise God had made to him, Jeroboam began to worry about what might happen if the people went to Jerusalem to worship as the law of Moses commanded. “And Jeroboam said in his heart, ‘Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.’” (1 Kings 12:26-27). Rather than trust God’s promise, Jeroboam worried about something that had not taken place and tried to do something about it with disastrous results. In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us five times not to worry. We worry about things that may never happen, we worry about things over which we have no control, all to no purpose. There is no harm in preparing for things when we can as long as we do what we can and leave the rest in God’s hands. If we place our trust in God, it doesn’t matter what the stock market does. “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5). Everything is in God’s hands and everything in this life is temporary, so why worry? “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (1 Timothy 6:6-7). Even as our lives come to an end, the faithful Christian has no need to worry. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).