The Craziness of Worry

Matthew 6:24-34, “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and wealth (or anything else) FOR THIS REASON I say to you, do not be worried about life… and who are you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing… Do not worry… But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

I write this in honor of the men of Iwo Jima. Not the WWII veterans, but the men who gather every couple of weeks here in Houston to share with and hold one another up. In particular I write this in honor of Bill (name changed to protect the innocent) and what his life teaches me about my own.

Bill story is pretty bad. The results, whether from tragedy or genetics I do not know, are bi polar, schizophrenic, post-traumatic stress disorder. He himself will tell you that he is crazy. And it does not take five minutes with him to know something is off. He is very functional, he drives, he takes care of himself, he works to the degree employers will hire him. But his mind is something from another planet. He is VERY intelligent, I imagine his IQ is off the charts, but he gets lost in infinite detail and his thoughts seem to go endlessly on, always expecting or predicting some personal attack or future tragedy.

Bill started out meeting with a story of a car wreck. Apparently he was rear-ended on the freeway. And yet with his condition he took all responsibility. So much so that even though the driver hit and total his car valued at only $6000. Bill somehow spun a web that led his insurance to pay the other driver, in spite of the other driver being cited for a moving violation. Now Bill has received a subpoena to appear in court and testify against the assailant in a misdemeanor traffic violation and inexplicable, nuclear worry kicks in.

Bill is wracked with fear that his mental condition will cause him to testify in such a way that the prosecutor will charge and confine him. It scares him so much that he has considered fleeing to Mexico, but that is to no avail as he has also gone through all the reasons in his mind why that won’t work.

And so Bill’s crazy worry, reminds me, and everyone else present of how crazy our worries are. To God our worries, no matter how valid they seem to us, are just as crazy to Him as Bill’s seemed to me. We worry about storms, and Jesus sleeps in them… worry free.

We worry about money, we worry about our kids, we worry about politics, and our health. We worry about our job, we worry about making heaven, we worry about worrying. And none of it adds a day to our life.

Mark Twain is credited with saying, “I had a lot of fears (worries) most of which never came to pass.”

So much of worry, if not all, is about tomorrow. We need to focus on today.

Oh God help me to live today. Help me to be aware of and in pursuit of Your Kingdom today. Help me to serve You, and not the god of tomorrow whose name is worry. Give me Your perspective so that I would not be consumed by the craziness of worry. 

p.s. If you have an old car and want to donate it to "Bill" I assure you it would be an incredible expression of God's love to him. He went from car to motorcycle, and fell off the motorcycle and broke his collar bone. -- so if this is you contact me and I will make it happen. Jeffyuna@gmail.com