Friday, April 4, 2014

A Fool's Errand


“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (I Peter 5:6-7 NIV)

As Jesus points out, worrying is the futile attempt to control what is beyond our power to influence. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)  

Our culture is notorious for worry.  On campus, students worry about homework, projects, exams, and what lies ahead for them in the future. Adults also do the same.  They worry about their finances, their children, and the future.  

As Jesus implies, it’s a fool’s errand.  Worry creates undue stress and anxiety, raises blood pressure, heightens irritability, and crowds out peace in our lives without changing the very things about which we are anxious.  

This may sound a bit odd, but I think at the heart of our worrying is pride. I think that is why Peter connects the two.  Casting our anxiety on the Lord as opposed to carrying it requires humility.  It requires us to recognize we are not in control of most things and to submit to and trust His control of the things in our lives.  We worry because we don’t truly trust the Lord. We would rather have our hands on the wheel of our lives, and worrying gives us that sense, albeit false, that we are somehow in control.  

At its heart, worry is sin because it pushes God aside in favor of us being in control.  It is foolish because it gives us the illusion of control without actually having any.  

Today, free yourself from worry by humbling yourself before the Lord. Give up your need to be in control.  Give over your anxieties to the Him who cares for you and who is the One who is truly in control.  And then you will begin to experience the peace that has so long eluded you.

© Jim Musser 2014

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