Queen Worry

Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will wear.  Matthew 6:25

If I asked you to make a list of the top ten things you worry about, what would it look like?  Stop for a second and bring a few of your worries to mind….Why do we spend so much time worrying?  What do you suppose brings it all on in the first place?  I actually know a few folks who could be professional worriers.  I’ve met people who worry if they can’t think of enough things to worry about. It’s a crazy thing but it’s so common. 

I happened to meet a worrier extraordinaire on my flight from Houston to Atlanta this week so I knew exactly what God was going to ask me to write about this week!  In the span of about 10 minutes this poor woman who was the size of a pixie stick worried that her bag wouldn’t fit under the seat, that her toothpaste would squirt out of the tube due to changing air pressure, that her Diet Coke wouldn’t  be served with ice, that the sweater in her bag would get too wrinkled, that her curling iron cord would get tangled and that the seat belt would be too small to fit around her itty bitty waist…that one made me laugh out loud and as I pointed to my already fastened seat belt… we both chuckled at the ridiculousness of that last concern. I asked her if she often felt joyful and she looked at me like I had two heads and replied, “I don’t have time to be joyful, I have too much to worry about for that!”

This passage from Matthews Gospel is one of many that warn against unnecessary worry.  Jesus was teaching that too much worry is a clear sign of not enough trust! Yes, we are going to be concerned about things and ponder and pray about our children, our finances, our future and when we will next have dessert, God knows that but he expects us to lift those concerns to him and faithfully ask him to take charge…and he will…in his time…in his wisdom and in his way. 

I was glancing at my boarding pass as we landed in Atlanta and Queen Worry Wart glanced down at it and nearly hyperventilated.  She told me there was absolutely no way I could make my connection 3 terminals away in such a huge airport in less than an hour.  “Aren’t you worried, it’s late, you’re gonna miss your flight and you’ll never get home tonight, you’ll have to sleep in the airport and someone might steal your things while you doze off sitting in the uncomfortable chairs, what will you do?”  I smiled at her and said, “Sister, God invited me to go on this trip and spread a little of his word and he knows my middle lovelies need me tomorrow morning so I am certain that he will help me glide my chubby hind parts three terminals over in time to get on the plane and make it home tonight.” “How can you be so sure about that?” came her reply.  I smiled, touched her hand and said, “Because the God who made us and loves us takes care of everything perfectly when we let him.  He depends on us to love him and if we’re too busy worrying, we don’t have as much time for that as we should.”  I made it to my gate with several minutes to spare so I sat down to tell him thank you!

My friends, worry robs us of peace, it strips us of our joy and it erodes our trust.  When we were little, our mom’s told us not to touch the stove because it was harmful and dangerous.  In scripture our Father tells us the same thing about worry.  We listened to our mom’s but how are we doing with listening to our Father?  Jesus told the Women of Jerusalem on his way to Calvary not to worry even while he could see his own cross.  I’m sure nothing I could worry about could even compare so I think I’d better pay attention.  Charles Spurgeon, a famous preacher used to say, “ Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its trials; it simply empties today of its joy.”  Great food for thought as we get ready to begin Holy Week.

A Seed To Plant:  Lift your list of worries to the Lord and ask him to help you swap worry for trust!

Blessings on your day!