Worry and stress is an issue for me, for you, for everyone. Although I believe in God, more often than not, I’ve trusted more in my own abilities than I have in his faithfulness. We think, I know God’s a good God and all that, but I’ve got this situation handled. And when it turns out we don’t have it handled, then it falls to us — not to God — to fix it.
There is story of a young boy, about five years old, playing on the front porch of his house. His family were all doing different things around the yard when suddenly they heard the toddler squealing with delight. He was jumping up and down, calling out, “My fwend! My fwend! Daddy, look! He’s my fwend!”
His dad strolled over and asked, “Where’s your fwend? Is it an imaginary fwend?”
The boy chirped, “No, Daddy!” and pointed excitedly.
“Look! My fwend!” And there, directly at his feet, was a small rattlesnake. The dad got a shock of his life, jerked the child away from the snake, then stomped on the snake’s head and crushed it — immediately after I first cut off its head with a shovel.
Many of us treat worry like our fwend. We don’t consciously think or talk about it that way, of course, but how we live tells a different story. We clutch worry to our chests like our favorite stuffed animals from childhood. We have many different euphemisms to mask this. But at the end of day, no matter how you refer to it, worry is the complete opposite of faith!
Worry indicates we’re not willing to let God handle certain things — at least not in his way, and certainly not in His time. And hence reeks of arrogance!
Here is a lovely poem that touched me:
Life’s Daily Doses
Lenora McWhorter
Life is measured in daily doses
Of trials and pleasures each.
Day by day grace is dispensed
To meet our immediate needs.
Comfort comes to the weary
We find that which we seek.
A bridge is built at the river
And power is given to the weak.
One day’s load we have to bear
As we travel on life’s way.
Wisdom is given for the occasion
And strength to equal each day.
We are never required to stagger
Under tomorrow’s heavy load.
We journey one day at a time
As we travel life’s rugged road.
God’s mercy is new every morning
And His faithfulness is sure.
God perfects all that concerns us
And by our faith, we will endure.
Kenrick Vaz 