Why Are You Worrying?

So, what are you worried about today? Anything? Why? Jesus clearly tells us not to worry about things. Sure... that's easy for him to say! Actually, with a little bit of practice, we can learn to control our worries, too. If you choose to read my sermon, I have some suggestions for doing just that. I hope they're helpful to you!

Just about a month ago, many of the women of the church participated in a one-day retreat. To make conversation easier, the women were divided into small groups. At one point during the day, I asked each group to dramatize one way that we fill our lives with things that leave no room for Jesus. One of the groups presented a wonderful skit about worrying. A member of the group was invited to walk in the garden and enjoy the flowers; and to eat some tasty candy. But that woman was worried about so many things that she turned down all the invitations! The sunlight in the garden was bad for her skin; the weather might turn suddenly nasty; and who wants to eat candy with sugar that rots your teeth? In the end, her worrying took all the enjoyment out of her life. I imagine everyone worries about something. The opinion of physician and author Lewis Thomas was, “We are, perhaps uniquely among earth’s animals, the worrying animal.” Now, I have no idea whether other animals worry or not; but I know that all humans worry about something at some time in their lives. It’s human nature. And it’s a tragedy.

Did you know that the word “worry” comes from the ancient Anglo-Saxon word wyrgan? Wyrgan meant “to strangle.” Worry can do the same thing to us. Worry puts its hands around our necks, and it squeezes the life out of us until we feel cold and dead. Worry can strangle all the enjoyment out of our lives until we are wearing dark glasses that make the whole world look grey and overcast. Sometimes, worry can even physically kill us! I know of people who have been told by their doctors that they must reduce stress in their lives or they are headed for an early grave. What is one of leading causes of stress? Worry. And worry is a byproduct of fear – fear of the future and what it might bring! We don’t have any control over the future, after all. And because we don’t have control over it, we worry about it.

Take a moment and think about how you would fill in the blank in this sentence: “What frightens me about the future is ______.” If you’re a typical worrier, what came to mind is money. Will I have enough to live on, and to continue to do the things that I enjoy doing? Or you might be worried about someone’s health – yours or that of a loved one. Or maybe it’s the election. Lots of people are worried about that! Those are scary things, all right! Our finances… our health… our country. But Jesus’ disciples worried about the very same things, and you know what Jesus told them (Luke 12:22-31). “Look at the birds and the flowers. God takes care of all of them! Why do you think that you are the one part of God’s creation that he’s going to ignore?” Now, we all know that nasty things are going to happen to us now and then. That’s the way life works. But if you worry about all those nasty things, then you must secretly believe that whatever causes them – bad karma, or Satan, or the chaos monster; whatever you want to call it – you must believe that it’s bigger than God is! And the last time I checked, the Bible was pretty clear that God is bigger than everything. Whatever happens in the future, God’s got it covered!

But I suspect that we’re going to worry, anyway, regardless of what Jesus said. At least, we’re going to worry unless we learn how to deal with our fears about the future. I have a couple of suggestions about how we can do just that. The first suggestion is that we pray. Too many people use prayer as a last resort, and when they’re at their wits’ end, they send up “911 prayers” like Dennis the Menace throwing snowballs at Mr. Wilson. So let’s use prayer first. And what do we pray for? Well, of course, we pray about the situation that’s worrying us. We pray that, whatever it is, God will take care of it. But we mustn’t stop there. We need to pray for discernment – for the wisdom to understand what it really is that frightens us. That’s not as easy as it sounds. When we worry about our health, maybe we’re really worrying about who will care for our loved ones if we become seriously ill. Trying to pinpoint our fears is sometimes like playing a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. You think that you know where to put that tail; but when you take off the blindfold, you find out that you’ve attached it to the nose instead of the other end. We’re often just as blind when we try to figure out what it is that we’re afraid of. So pray about it! Ask God to show you what you’re really afraid of! I’m pretty sure that God will help you with that. My second suggestion is to ask for help. Now, I know – we’ve already asked God for help. But other people can help us, too. If you’re worried about money, find a financial adviser. If you’re worried about your health, go to a doctor! If you’re worried about being able to cope with life, go to a therapist! If you don’t know where to start looking, ask a friend or a colleague. You can even ask me! I’ll bet that I will be able to point you in the right direction. My third suggestion is to do what you can. You can’t control everything, but you can influence some things! When my daughters were teenagers, I worried about them all the time. What was I afraid of? That they would do something stupid and get hurt. So I did what I could. I tried to teach them to make good decisions. I kept the car that they drove in good repair. I made sure that I communicated with their teachers and coaches on a regular basis. There’s always something that you can do about your worries. Beyond that, we need to admit that the future is simply out of our control.

But we shouldn’t stop there! Have any of you ever read the instructions on a bottle of shampoo? We are told to apply shampoo to wet hair; lather; and rinse. Three steps, just like the three that I just suggested. But shampoo bottles have one more step: repeat. Apply, lather, rinse, repeat. And that’s what we can do, too: pray, ask for help, do what we can; and then repeat! After all, conquering our fear of the future and reducing our worry doesn’t happen in one easy step. No, it’s a process that we have to repeat over and over and over again! And that process is like a spiral. We begin way at the outside, close to all our fears and our worries; but as we progress, we find that we’re getting closer and closer to the center where we’ll find the peace that comes from trusting God with everything – even with our lives. That’s the quiet center where we all want to live, and where God intends for us to live, too! So, don’t worry! Take a walk and admire the beauty of the flowers and the birds. Be reminded that God cares for them; and God will care for you, too. And don’t be afraid! God’s got it covered.