Worry is a self Inflicted wound.
What a wonderful thought to keep with us. Admittedly, it is not my line. I heard it in a song that came up in my playlist. I don’t remember which one. It was not the title, just a line.
Why should a line in a song affect me or you so? Why did it speak to me in such a way that I wrote it down?
Worry affects us all, every day. Sometimes it is big, sometimes it is small, often it is somewhere in between. You might say that I believe in the Lord God, so I have no worries. That is wonderful, if it is actually true. I doubt there are any of us that worry does not affect our daily lives. We are after all human, with all the failings that is implied.
I am not a Buddhist, but some of their philosophy speaks to all of us on so many different levels, especially as Christians. Buddhism teaches us not to worry since what will come to pass will come to pass, without any affect from our being. Likewise it teaches that what will not come to pass, will not, again without any affect from our beings. This is a marvelous attitude and one we should all embrace. All of our worrying does not affect what will come to pass, yea or nay.
Jesus gave many object lessons in worry, one of the earliest and most dramatic was when they traveled by ship to another place.
Mat 8:23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
Mat 8:24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
Mat 8:25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish
What was wrong with the disciples? They were voyaging with Jesus, why were they afraid? Worry, that most common and prolific of human emotions. This is the turning point of the sea voyage. The apostles were afraid; they were worried that they would be swamped in the storm and founder. They woke up Jesus and said ‘We are afraid, we will perish’.
But Jesus said to them…
Mat 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
Where was their faith? It was lost in human experience. They knew that being at sea during a violent storm was something that seldom had a good end. They worried that they would founder. Their worry out stripped their faith and their knowledge of whom they carried to sea.
Jesus said to them, “Why are you fearful? Why is your faith so small?”
He calmed the sea and the wind, returning the sea to a tranquil state. In doing so he eased their worry.
Mat 8:27 But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
This was his object lesson to them, but it goes far beyond the sea and foundering boats.
Why do we worry? Why do we expend energy and thought on something that has not come to pass? There was no reason, just as there was no probability of their boat foundering with Jesus on board.
Now you might say that Jesus knew he had more to do, his time on Earth was no where near finished. This is true, but in that he had faith in his Father. He was remember, human. He needed faith, and faith guided him to do all he did when he was here on Earth. What he questions is the faith of the disciples, when the first major issue came up, they were afraid. They were worried.
We cannot worry about the past. The things that have happened have already happened. Their history is written. We can make amends when we need, we can learn valuable lessons, but what has happened, is not subject to change.
We cannot worry about the future. We can by faith and effort, live our lives as blemish free as we can, acknowledging that we are not perfect and mistakes will be made. That is inevitable, it is the human condition. However, if we have done our best, tried to live a righteous life, placed our faith in our Lord and believed, then we have done what can be done.
Worrying will not change things; only make us less in our faith and less in our own eyes. That is the key to it isn’t it? Less in our own eyes? The human ego is never far behind is it? We don’t want to be embarrassed; we don’t want to make a mistake. These thing are not bad as such, but expending our energy worrying about an outcome, is.
We all have doubts. It is our nature. Even the disciples, those whom walked and lived with Jesus, had doubts, just as they worried about their voyage. Thomas said that I believe when I can touch Jesus. That is where we get the phrase doubting Thomas. It is in our human nature. Faith on the other hand is also in our nature and it is our choice as to which has the upper hand.
What we must do is live for today, in today. We must strive to live in the ‘right way’. Better faith with love for our family, our neighbor, our municipality and our Lord. This is what is important. If we are doing all we can to live right, to exhibit love, tolerance and faith, then we have done what we can do.
Remember Jesus loves us regardless of what we do, and there is nothing we can do to ‘deserve’ his love. His love is his to give and he gave the ultimate expression of his love by dying so that he atoned for all our sins. The only harm we can bring to this is willfully leaving the path of doing that which is right and following our own path to our own ends, denying his guidance.
The next time worry creeps up and snares your thoughts, just stop and ask yourself, what are you worried about. Is it vanity, embarrassment or is there truly something amiss. If it is amiss, then rectify it now. For the others, leave them by the way side. Faith in yourself, faith in your family, faith in the Lord is all you need.
Rev. Roland
Blessings and blessed be
Rev Jeff