My junior
high school published a monthly newspaper called the Cardinal Star. It was written by a dozen or so eighth
graders. I was thrilled at the end of
seventh grade when I was chosen to be one of the people who informed and
entertained our school each month. We
wrote about teachers, clubs, sports, class projects, and anything else we could
think of. But we especially loved the silly things: quizzes, puzzles, games, and jokes. One of my favorite things to write were “what
ifs”.
What if the
sky was green instead of blue?
What if the
principal used Rogaine?
What if Mr.
P taught home ec and Mrs. P taught science?
What if the
football team wasn’t good?
What if the
basketball team was?
What if we
had pizza for lunch every day?
Each issue
had pages of these silly questions, absurdities, impossibilities, and inside
jokes. And we loved them.
But now life is full of different what ifs.
What if that
check doesn’t clear?
What if I
forget to lock the door and someone breaks in?
What if I lock the door and
someone breaks in anyway?
What if I
get sick?
What if gas
gets too expensive?
What if
there is a tornado/earthquake/ hurricane?
What if I
get hurt in a car accident?
What if I
lose my job?
What if that
mistake I made blows up in my face?
What if he/she does this/that?
What if?
What if?
What if?
I am always
worrying about what is going to happen next.
And I know I am not the only one.
But Jesus
made it clear that He expects us not to worry!
“For this
reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat
or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more
than clothing?
"Look at the birds of the
air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
worth much more than they? And who of
you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow;
they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in
all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much
more clothe you?
"You of little
faith! Do not worry then, saying ‘What
will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For
the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that
you need all these things. But seek
first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to
you.” Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB)
Jesus
plainly told us that worrying is a symptom of a larger problem – lack of
faith. Jesus has kept the world moving
for thousands of years, but we’re worrying about our (often hypothetical)
problems.
We let our
worries take our focus off of God. We
need to take control of those worries so that our focus can be on serving
God. When we’re doing this, He promises
to take care of us.
When I start
feeling anxious, the first thing I do is figure out exactly why I am
worried. Because I generally feel
anxious a lot of the time, I don’t always know why I’m feeling that way. I take a moment to think through my day and
usually that is enough to bring to my mind what is bothering me.
Once I know
exactly what it is I’m worried about, I decide if there is anything I can do
about it. Sometimes there is a solution,
but other times, my worries are future worries that I can’t do anything about. Having an action in mind is obviously helpful
when managing worry, but I've found that simply acknowledging there is nothing
I can do about it helps as well.
The most
important step, though, is hopefully the obvious one: prayer.
We should be talking to God throughout our day anyway, so when a worry
or concern comes up, we should be taking it directly to Him. Tell Him what you’re worried about. Ask Him to take care of it, and then ask Him
to help you quit worrying about it.
“Therefore
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the
proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB)
What things
do you worry about? How do you handle them?
Wow, this matches exactly with my day yesterday. My daughter asked me a lot of What If questions. What if we hadn't moved? Do you think I'd be better in school? Would Dad have a better job? What if....
ReplyDeleteI just told her "But we did move. And you do fine in school, could do even better if you'd give it more effort. can do well in school. And..." Then I said we can always think "What if" but what good does that do? Life in the here and now, the way things are. Try your best. Be thankful for the good things in life. Practice gratitude. Learn and grow.
That being said, it's not always easy, is it? I worry about finances, my health and the health of my aging parents and those I care about. I worry about what I can do the make my life easier and to make others lives easier.
That passage in Matthew is one of my favorites. So true! Worry is a non-productive activity that can only make us feel worse. Best to have faith that what will be will be and our worry doesn't change any of it.
ReplyDeleteLee
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