Are You a Worrier? Jesus Said: Don't Bother!

There are two types of personalities: 'the sky is falling!' crowd and then everyone else.

In a season rife with political angst, rapidly evaporating retirement plans and rising grocery bills, we see the worriers more apparent against the American landscape. You know the type. A relative who says, "she must be mad at me because she hasn't called in two days!" or the friend who cannot sleep because she is trying to map out a good seating chart (Uncle Henry and Uncle Tom don't get along) for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner - three months away.

I am personally blessed with two generations of worriers in my family and despite my attempts to help them do away with the omnipresent sense of pending doom, they continue on in their battle with - with - what exactly is it they are battling, anyway? It is a fact that most of our worries never come to fruition. When one perceived crisis passes, they seem to be comforted by the revelation of yet something else to worry about.

I have yet to see an epitaph read, "She was a great worrier!" or "Mom lost a lot of sleep over the years but the house sure looked great!" Do you notice that most worriers we know are women? And that they lose sleep though they are often plagued with the same problem as their spouse who snores away all night without a care in the world? Perhaps he just thinks that since she is worrying about things, the problem is in good hands.

If the laundry piles up, be thankful you have the family who fills them. If the kids are noisy, know that those sounds will one day be a memory and you would give anything to hear them in your house just one more time. If the 401k value has plummeted, be thankful you have one. Most people do not.

God does provide, you do know that don't you? If the sky is going to fall, do you think your worrying is going to stop it?

Let us look at what Jesus said about worrying. It is found in the Gospel according to St. Matthew 6, just after the Our Father.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'

All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

God bless you and when you are tempted to despair, rest in Him. He knows what He is doing.