Don’t Worry; Be Happy - Martin Wiles

 

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down. 

~Proverbs 12:25 AMP

Worry and anxiety are bedfellows that often show up together.

Kelita sat in her car, gunning the engine but going nowhere. And there was a good reason. The gearshift was in neutral. She burned fuel and fogged up the garage where the car rested, but it remained in place.

Hearing the noise, her father finally came out of the door and asked, “What are you doing, honey?”

“Trying to get to work,” she huffed.

“But you have to put the gearshift in drive to make the car move,” he said.

Seems like a silly scenario—and it is—but often, we repeat Kelita’s mistake by worrying. Worry and anxiety will keep us in the garage—or mental prison—burning fuel but going nowhere. And in the process, we’ll pollute the world around us and accomplish nothing beneficial.

Jesus instructed us not to worry (Matthew 6:34), and the wisest man who ever lived said anxiety would weigh our hearts down. But situations in our lives and the world make both easy to do. And since they are first cousins, the first is typically followed closely by the second.

Worry and anxiety in small doses are good, not detrimental. If we had such an attitude that we never worried or felt the least anxious, we’d sit around and fail to respond properly to situations. If we didn’t worry a little about crime, homelessness, abuse, and corruption, we wouldn’t respond to opportunities to affect these circumstances as Jesus instructs us to do.

On the other hand, too much worry and anxiety will disturb us physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The human body is connected, not compartmentalized. What touches one part of us distresses the other parts. When we’re emotionally unbalanced, we’ll experience physical consequences.

Remembering that God is in control and a loving God helps us manage worry and anxiety so they don’t afflict us. As the sovereign ruler, God controls world events and the details of our lives. As a loving God, he won’t allow anything into our lives that he won’t give us the strength to face, conquer, and learn from.

Don’t let worry and anxiety keep you in the garage. God’s shoulders are strong enough to carry you wherever he wants you to go.

Father, I trust you to help me endure whatever you allow or bring into my life. 

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