Easier said than done, for sure. I was flying earlier this week to a city in the U.S., and I started getting a little anxious when our plane returned to the jetway, having never made it to the runway. The pilot announced that there was a mechanical problem, and the repair crew was coming to inspect the plane. The pilot would keep us posted on what was transpiring. Shortly after this announcement, he let us know that the engine starter wasn’t working, and everyone had to disembark.
I was getting more anxious because I had an appointment that I was trying to keep for later in the day, and the longer the plane was delayed, the more difficult it would be to make it there on time. After getting stressed about possibly missing my appointment, I then thought about the technical difficulties for the plane, like what if the plane malfunctioned mid-flight resulting in a crash landing. Like I said at the beginning, to “worry not” is easier said than done.
At the end of the whole experience, we changed planes, had a safe flight, I changed the timing for my appointment, and everything worked out fine in the final outcome. The “worry not” part was definitely a challenge, nevertheless.
With all that said, I’m in the middle of reading in Luke 12 where Jesus tells His disciples not to worry. In verses 25-26, He says, “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?”
Furthermore, Jesus challenges Martha about her worry and fretful behavior in Luke 10:41-42, where we read: “But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”
While we can recognize that Jesus tells us not to worry, we still get stressed, nervous, anxious, uptight, tense, edgy, etc. So why do we struggle to let go of anxiety and worry? Sometimes we struggle with this issue because our brain gets in a bad or familiar rut, such that it gets difficult to jump the tracks and pull out of the downward spiral of worry. Perhaps we begin to wrestle the “what ifs” dominos, when our plans go awry and we start thinking of how everything could go wrong. I also think that we can get into worry because of being concerned about how we look or what people think about us. Needless to say, there are lots of reasons why we worry. At the end of the day, however, Jesus tells us not to worry. To this end, I’m asking for divine help to keep His imperative in my crosshairs and push the stresses and worries outside of my scope of focus. I’m endeavoring to remember that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. God looks out for me, and I can trust in His character, which is grounded in genuine love. Rather than choosing to stress out and get dizzy on the worry merry-go-round, let’s decide to trust God and believe that He works all things together for our good!
