Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
By Mike Chaffin
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Luke 12:25
I like the Song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” by Bobby McFerrin. Part of the first verse says,
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don’t worry be happy, don’t worry, be happy now
Worrying about an issue can wear one out more than going through it. It’s worse than work. Worry is a verb and a noun. The verb is to “Give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.” The noun’s definition is “a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems.”
What is certain is we will have problems. Jesus confirms this but then comforts us.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
The song said, when you worry you make your trouble double. Corrie ten Boom was a young girl who lived through World War II. Her family hid Jews from the Germans so they would not be captured and killed. She wrote: ‘Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.’
The problem with worry is it wears us out over things that might never happen and creates anxiety that obstructs clear thinking on our current situation. Jesus is right to ask us if worry can add a single hour to our life. Older translations say a single cubit to your height. Neither is going to happen by worrying. If anything, the hypertension caused by worry and anxiety will shorten our lives, impact our health and bend our shoulders into a frown. There is a formula for dealing with worry. Paul wrote,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Peace is a gift of God, and one attribute of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. God’s peace removes worry and doubt. It puts us in a Psalms 23 frame of mind, ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear’.
Who can be free of worry and anxiety? Those who live in the Spirit and put their faith in Christ.
Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:5
Contemplation: Do I worry more than I should? Where should I turn when I tend to fret over things happening or imagined?
