Life of a Worry-Wart

Today, during my four hour shift at work, my supervisor and I were talking about life in general and how crazy it is that it can be over in a blink of an eye and we have no say in what happens in our lives, because God is the author, and the illustrator of our stories, a.k.a-our life. Upon finishing the conversation, I continued thinking about our conversation and I just can't help but to blog about life and the life of being a worry-wart. It is said that physical life ends at physical death. King Solomon once said "Before the silver cord snaps and the gold bowl shatters; the jar is broken at the spring and the wheel is crushed at the pit before dust returns to the earth as it was before and the life-breath returns to God who gave it"(Ecclesiastes 12:6-7) We, as humans, have whatever we possibly need for our own selfish desires and enjoyment. Right? A little will serve to sustain us comfortably, and a great deal can do nothing more than that alone. Matthew Henry, who is my all time favorite commentary writer says "We cannot say, Better is the sight of the eyes than the resting of the soul in God; for it is better to live by faith in things to come, than to live by sense, which dwells only upon present things. Our lot is appointed. We have what pleases God, and let that please us. The greatest possessions and honours cannot set us above the common events of human life. Seeing that the things men pursue on earth increase vanities, what is man the better for his worldly devices? Our life upon earth is to be reckoned by days. It is fleeting and uncertain, and with little in it to be fond of, or to be depended on. Let us return to God, trust in his mercy through Jesus Christ, and submit to his will. Then soon shall we glide through this vexatious world, and find ourselves in that happy place, where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore." What truth...such value and wisdom, and yet, there is nothing inside of us who can say what we can have or simply how to live our lives. I mean sure, we can make choices and decisions, but where do those decisions get us in the end? If we know we are doing wrong, but still decide to do wrong, then feel bad about it later on but decide to do nothing about the wrong thing to make it a right, then where does that get us? Nowhere except it leads us to be swallowed up by a flood of guilt and remorse until eventually, we can't take anymore of the guilt, the conviction, remorse, and anger that the wrong doing has caused us, that, in reality, we decide to just forget that wrong doing ever happened, and we move on to living our own selfish lives...planning our next wrong and sinful move. Another thing that I keep thinking about is that life alone is the most important thing over anything in this world. Matthew 6:25 states "So I tell you, don’t worry about the things you need to live—what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it.” One thing that I believe us Americans, and most of the world, has a problem with is just plain out worrying. We waste so much time and energy worrying what will happen if we do this or don't do that. We worry about two minutes from now to the day after tomorrow. Why? I mean, I am also speaking to myself when I right this part of the blog because many people have told me that I worry too much and I just need to learn to chill and go with the flow. But seriously-why do we worry so much that we allow worry to overpower our thoughts and in reality, most of our actions? I just don't understand our thinking sometimes. One of the greatest poets of all time, Robert Frost writes "The reason why worry kills more people than work is because more people worry than work." Seriously, worry has become an American pastime. For many people, worry has become so ingrained in their personalities that once the old worries are gone they search for new ones. They’ve become dependent on worry as a lens through which to view life, and they’ve forgotten any other way to live. Have I forgotten to live? How long have I been looking through the glass lens of worry?? Now here is the true question that is running through my mind as I am ranting on about this blog is simply this...Is there a legit reason to be worried today? Most people would say there is due to high energy costs, a worsening economy, rogue nuclear nations, threats of terrorism, widespread job layoffs, and tension in the Middle East—all of these reasons make for uncertain times. Fortunately, in the midst of a world of “worry-warts,” Jesus isn’t worried. Jesus says "Don’t worry, be hopeful." The truth within that is this: Jesus is against high anxiety and unhealthy worry. Jesus promises to meet your needs because He cares for you. Pretty cool huh? I think its so cool that someone, who is so mighty and who is as jealous as God, can create us, write our stories, deal with all of the drama and the crap that we give to Him, every sin that we make and how we EXPECT everything to be alright without even praying and asking for forgiveness, and yet HE STILL CARES FOR YOU...He cares for all of us! The main point is simply this: we, as Christians, are followers of Christ, He has us on a mission, whether we want to acknowledge that or not, WE ARE ON A MISSION FOR CHRIST and as His followers, Jesus wants us to stop worrying about the little things in life such as clothing, food, the car that we drive, what our house looks like. Stop worrying about our body images and make-up, and all in all-worldly things, because lets face it...It's not cool to be labeled as a worry-wart. Remove that label from yourselves, and put the label of a Disciple. Because that is what we are, that is what we should be concerned about. We should be worrying about how we are living our lives for Christ instead of for ourselves. We are not here for ourselves, but for Christ. Imitate Him and STOP being a worry-wart!!