Do Not Worry About Your Life

 

 "One morning, Death was walking into a city when a man stopped him and asked what he was doing. Death answered, “I’m going into the city to kill 10,000 people.” The man replied, “That’s terrible that you would kill 10,000 people.” Death responded, “Taking people when their time has come is my job. Today I have to get my 10,000.” Later, as Death was coming out of the city, the man met him. Again, he was furious. He said, “You told me this morning that you were going to take 10,000 people, but 70,000 died today.” Death answered, “Don’t get mad at me. I only took 10,000. Worry killed all the rest.” (1)

W-O-R-R-Y.

My friend, Beatrice was a 92 year old worry-all-the-time lady on my Meals on Wheels route. She worried she was going to have a stroke one day....she worried about who called on her phone and hung up.....she worried about when the trash truck was going to show up, and she worried about her doctor firing her. Beatrice was the most worrisome person I'd ever met.

And yet, she had a great and deep love for the Lord. This - I - know.

She just has a problem with trusting Him.

And don't we all! We worry we'll catch the Coronavirus. We worry who will be our next President. We worry it won't be the one we voted for. We worry whether we'll have a job next month and we worry we'll forever have to wear a mask. Being a recovering worrier myself, I'm learning how to replace that space within me that's been reserved for Worry....with Trust. It's like when my granddaughter Brie was little. She would stand on her bed, arms stretched out wide, and say, "Lele, I'm going to jump into your arms and you're going to catch me, right, Lele?" She showed her trust in me by taking that leap off the bed and into my arms. And I never dropped her.....not once.

It's the same with God. He simply asks us to trust Him.....to catch us when we jump off the cliff of sorrow, anxiety, and worry. And when we do....He catches us. Those great big strong nail-scarred arms are outstretched as if to say, "I love you THISSSSS much" and He catches us as we trustingly fly through the air to His waiting arms. And He never drops us....no, not once.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or what you will drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:25

1 Haddon W. Robinson