A Good Antidote
By Susan Klein
“Who of you by
worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew
12:25 (NIV)
As I look back over my fifty-some years of life, I have to wonder
how much of that time was spent worrying about things I couldn’t control. How
many days, weeks even, did I lose to worry? (I believe the converse of the
above verse to also be true.) And the thing is, none of my worrying changed the
outcome of any of those situations. In God’s sovereignty, He allowed the rain
to fall and the sun to shine. The outcome was in His divine control, and my
fretting did not change a thing. The only things worry did change were my peace
of mind and my health.
So why do we do it? Why do we spend so much of our time fretting
about matters small and large that are going to happen, or not happen,
regardless? I used to think it was a major design flaw. God must have given us
a faulty wire somewhere along the way. After all, He created us with a vast and
detailed emotional network, so He must have made a mistake. But, wisdom
eventually knocked on my faulty thinking and showed me that worry is a choice,
not an emotion. Granted, some people are more prone to worry or even have
anxiety disorders, but they will be the first to tell you that they have to
make a conscious choice to “not worry.”
God has equipped us with the ability to choose, and we must
choose trust over worry. Jesus tells us in the Gospels that we will
have trials in this life. He also exhorts us to not worry about
things we need because our heavenly Father knows what we need before we do. He
will not leave us high and dry! He may not give us our desired outcome, but He
will give us what we need to sustain us in each and every situation. Perhaps if
we could truly fathom His outrageous love, mercy and grace, we’d choose to
worry a whole lot less. Maybe that’s the antidote: wonder, not worry. Learn
more about God, His character, and His attributes so we can choose to be secure
in Him. Besides, the time we spend with Him is time we won’t spend worrying.
In
the words of Corrie Ten Boom, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It
empties today of its strength.”
GOING
DEEPER:
What
types of situations trip your worry trigger?
Try
increasing your time spent in God’s Word and in prayer, getting better
acquainted with Him.
FURTHER
READING:
Susan enjoys
teaching Bible studies, writing, and mentoring. She and her husband Mark enjoy
opening their home to those in need.
