Why do YOU Worry?… Who Me?
Luke 12:25-26 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?
It’s a great question!
Why… DO… You… Worry…
I don’t think there is a great ANSWER but nonetheless I guarantee we ALL do it anyway!
One dictionary defined worry as “giving way to anxiety and unease” – “allowing one’s mind to dwell on difficulties &/or troubles”.
Matthew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
For sure there is MORE THAN ENOUGH trouble to occupy our day. Day in and day out, there is always something vying for our attention. Unfortunately, difficulties and trouble dress themselves in DANGER… URGENCY… HORROR… and therefore manage to always be in the center ring of our circus. Then they hire the marketing manager, called worry, to add drama and intrigue so that we will be glad to pay the price of admission. The currency?… FOCUS! Every thought, desire, plan, action must be brought to SERVE this possible/probable/might be the death of me, event.
What do we get out of this (sometimes entertainment – IF you can view it with humor) circus act?
Do we SAVE time? Do we GAIN strength? Will we BECOME rich and famous?
Not so much!
Other than a HIGHLY DEVELOPED imagination, we end up with the opposite… less time to accomplish good, better, best stuff – exhausted and weak – poor and lonely with no one willing to hear our sadness over and over again.
So, WHY. do. I. worry?
Some would say that worry is “planning”… or being proactive… or being prepared…
In my case, if I were honest with myself, “as I always try to be” (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas), I would have to admit that the thing I worry about the most is ________________.
The blank above is not because there are so many things I worry about. It is my hesitation to type the not so pretty truth, or the temptation to put it into a costume of ministry to my minions, and if I can’t, to leave it blank for you to guess. It’s taken me YEARS to admit… but the thing I worry about the most is… my own disappointment in and about my life.
My worst enemy is, most times, myself. My worst fear is my own reaction and response to the anger and vengeance that will be unleashed upon all things making Mary unhappy &/or uncomfortable.
So I worry… about ME!
Thank God this is my OLD nature! But this old woman will be with me until I cross over into God’s Promised Land. She is becoming less as Jesus becomes more, and her tantrums yield less and less fruit as the Holy Spirit prunes her DEADwood away.
The cure for my worry was not JUST to stop worrying… Jesus gave me my cure in Matthew 6:21 “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.
Like I said… YEARS – not so much in the giving (from Jesus) but in the receiving. Receiving the truth – to KNOW the CAUSE of the worry… hint… it’s our treasure!… to LOOK and SEE (assess our profit) it’s value and it’s cost!
Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Upon receiving the truth – CONFESSING the reality of my status in the deal… I was the slave NOT the master!
I thought I was the Master because I was worrying about me. Doesn’t that make me the one in control? Nope! Sin (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life) was in control!
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
I was the slave in charge of SATISFYING my master, SIN. I remember the unlimited opportunity for worry because sin (rebellion against our Creator) is NEVER and WILL NEVER be satisfied and the result WILL ALWAYS be hatred of the worthless slave who CANNOT provide the wealth.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom ad His righteousness, and all these things (the NECESSARY STUFF) will be added to you.”
And finally, after receiving and confessing – REPENTING – changing the treasure of my heart. I changed my heavy heavy HEAVY purse of the worry of disappointing my ever insatiable me, to the coin purse of my portion of daily bread for today, FROM THE HANDS OF MY DADDY!
Yes, I still have moments of worry (will I “enjoy” my portion?)… the old lady doesn’t die easily! But I remember the slavery and then I observe (follow) the path (know – confess – repent) to freedom from the slavery.
Worry didn’t/doesn’t add even 1 hour to my life… THE TRUTH (Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life) set me free and I gained… ETERNITY!
Hallelujuh! Worry is UNDONE!
Just as the dictionary defines worry as “allowing one’s mind to dwell on difficulties &/or troubles”…
I now define “Worry Undone” as “allowing one’s mind to dwell on the Way the Truth and the Life”
I hope, when people view my life and the way I walk it today, the question will no longer be “Why do YOU worry?” but will be…
Why DON”T you worry?
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible