Worry and Stress
Body
There’s a story about a young lawyer who was called in from the big city to represent a large railroad company that was being sued by a farmer. It seems that the farmer’s prize cow was missing from a field through which the railroad passed, and the farmer was suing for the value of the cow. Before the case went to court, the lawyer cornered the farmer and convinced him to settle out of court for half of what the farmer originally wanted. The farmer signed the necessary papers and then accepted the check. The young lawyer couldn’t resist gloating a bit about his success. He said to the farmer, “You know. I couldn’t have won this case if it had gone to trial. The engineer was asleep and the fireman in the caboose was also asleep when the train passed through your farm that morning. I didn’t have one witness to put on the stand.” With a wry smile the farmer replied, “Well, I tell you the truth young man, I was a little worried about winning the case myself because that cow came home this morning.” Worry is something we all do. And it is not good for us. Still, most of us struggle with worry. By definition, “worry is feeling uneasy or being overly concerned about a situation or problem.” It leaves many with a sense of impending doom or unrealistic fears. Worry gives you more things to worry about. It makes us ultra-sensitive to our environment and to the criticism of others. In fact a large percentage of our illnesses are related to worry, anxiety and stress. Thirty-eight percent of all deaths are heart related and many of those are related to hypertension, high blood pressure and anxiety. Worry has been linked to cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis, gastrointestinal illness and suicide. Three-fourths of all visits to primary care physicians are stress related complaints or disorders. The question then is: If we know that worry is a killer-then why do we do it? Matthew 6:27 asks the question, “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” The obvious answer is two-fold. Worry can’t add to your life, but worry will subtract from your life. There is no shortage of things to worry about. Is the coronavirus going away or will it storm back? Will the economy get better or are we heading for a deep recession? Will violence, riots, protests, wars escalate and get worse? Will they affect me personally? Then there are personal problems to worry about. Is my health going to get worse? What about my financial hardships? Is the cost of living going to continue to increase so sharply that I won’t be able to buy groceries? How about the cost of fuel for my car, my home? What about my personal relationships? Are they going to deteriorate? What does the Master say about worry? DO NOT WORRY! Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” We all have needs and God knows what they are. What we usually freak out about is our WANTS. I Timothy 6:6 teaches, “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Jesus says not to worry about having enough food or clothing, but to put our faith in God, not in the stockpile of your pantry or closets. You can relax knowing God sees your troubles and will carry you through. Remember the lesson God taught Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. Every day God provided manna for the people to eat. Every day they were to collect ONLY what they needed for that day. God provided for them one day at a time and they never missed a meal (Exodus 16). In Job 38 God spoke to Job and presented him many questions to show the futility of man-“Where were Devotionals are the beliefs of the pastors who write them. They do not reflect the views of the staff or owners of the Archer County News.
