Friday, April 21, 2006

Worry, worry, worry

The story is told of a young man who was courting a girl. He visited in her home and the young lady was sent down to the cellar to draw drinks for all of them. As she was waiting for the glasses to fill she glanced up into the floor joists and saw a pickaxe sticking out of one of them. She began to think, "What if Hans and I got married and we had a child and we sent the child down here to draw drink and that axe shall fall on him and kill him?" The more she thought about it the more upset she became and forgot completely about the drinks. After awhile Mother got worried and went down to check on her. Well, the daughter went through this whole thought process with Mother and she too bursts into uncontrollable tears. Finally the Father goes down to see what is keeping the women and after hearing he too joins the pity party.

I am reminded of the quote from Winston Churchill (and someone else before him) to the effect that, "I have suffered many disappointments and setbacks in my life, most of which never happened." How often do we "know" that only the worst is going to happen? How many times have we wanted something--a better job, a raise, a date with a girl, etc., but we never make any serious effort to secure it because we "know" we couldn't get it anyway? How much time and energy are wasted worrying about "what if's"? Why do we seem so intent on borrowing trouble? This question is especially troubling to me when Christians are involved in it.

The New Testament is very clear: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. " (1 Pet. 5:6-7) Is it that hard to understand that all your care in this verse means ALL your cares and worries? No, the problem is not understanding the verse, but rather putting it into practice. Why is it so hard to give our problems and worries to God? I'm persuaded much of it is due to our unwillingness to let go; after all, if we give a problem or worry to God it's out of our hands and what if He lets us down?

As soon as we voice such an idea we see how absurd it is. Will God ever let us down? Will He ever do something that is not in our best interest? Of course not. But are we willing to humble ourselves enough to let go and let Him handle things? That's the rub, isn't it? Brethren, we need to learn that the future is not ours to control. If we can ever really believe that, we can let our worries go, because we know God can take care of it.

Tol

No comments: