Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. [Proverbs 4:23 (NCV)]
You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. [Matthew 6:27 (NCV)]
As I look out the window, I can see the cars and trucks speeding off to their various destinations. Meanwhile, I am at the gym, feverishly pumping away on the elliptical and going nowhere fast. What really annoys me is that, no matter where I put it, my Fitbit doesn’t fully credit me for my steps or distance. If I’m going to break a sweat and cover a couple of miles on that pitiless machine, I want credit for all my work! Next to me is my husband pedaling the stationary bike. Like me, he’s expending a great deal of energy to go absolutely nowhere and his Fitbit, like mine, won’t properly acknowledge his effort!
It occurs to me that worry is a lot like running on the elliptical or riding the stationary bike. We expend a lot of time and energy when we fret and fuss but all that effort gets us nowhere and accomplishes absolutely nothing. Moreover, we don’t even get credit for the time we spend doing it!
At least, we get stronger and fitter when we exercise; the opposite is true of worry. Along with stealing precious hours, worry can steal our health. Stress hormones like cortisol boost blood sugar levels and triglycerides and can cause fatigue, headaches, nausea, and shortness of breath. Excessive worrying and chronic anxiety can have even more serious consequences: suppression of the immune system, coronary artery disease, digestive disorders, and heart attack.
While God has blessed us with many things, including gyms, elliptical machines and stationary bikes, let us remember that worry, fear, stress and anxiety are not from Him and have no part in a Christian’s life. While the time we expend exercising (and getting nowhere fast) is not wasted, time expended in worry is. The time we spend in worry would be better spent on our knees in prayer—for it’s in prayer that we give Him our concerns and get His peace in return.
My doorbell rang and, by the time I got to the door the FedEx man was walking away, having left a large box on the porch. As he backed out of the driveway, I shouted a thanks and brought in my latest order from Amazon.
Last Friday, a crazed young man attacked a Munich shopping mall and ten were left dead. A few days earlier, an ax-wielding teen on a rampage hacked at passengers on a German train and, less than two weeks ago, 84 people died in Nice, France, after a terrorist plowed a truck into a crowd of Bastille Day celebrants. My 16-year old granddaughter has been living in Germany the last three weeks and my first reaction to these horrendous incidents was to get her home so she could be safe here with us. Unfortunately, she would be no safer here than there. I’m sure families thought their loved ones were safe last month in that Orlando nightclub where 50 were killed and another 53 injured or when they walked into their classroom at Umpqua Community College last October and nine were carried out on stretchers while another nine were carried out in body bags. Parishioners had no reason to fear when attending a prayer meeting in Charleston last year until a man opened fire and killed nine of them. While writing this devotion, news just broke of bombings in Kabul, Afghanistan, that left 80 dead and 231 wounded. Mass acts of hate and terror are becoming ever more frequent and it both alarms and sickens me that these horrific events are beginning to seem commonplace to us.
Within a day of having written yesterday’s words about trusting Jesus and following Him, God reminded me how difficult it is to actually do that. Granted, it wasn’t God’s voice we were following but His point was well taken. Mid-way through our 1,400 mile drive north, the GPS cautioned us of one accident after another within a few miles ahead of us. After the first such warning, I studied the map trying to find a detour but couldn’t seem to find a route that wouldn’t lead us right back into the accident area and the promised lane closures. When five accidents lay right in our path, not wanting to spend hours in a traffic jam, we reluctantly decided to let the GPS lead us around the congestion. Following its guidance, my husband exited the interstate while I kept trying to figure out what route we’d be taking. Although the GPS screen always indicated the direction of the next turn, we never knew the long-range plan for returning to the highway. We simply had to trust the GPS and take it one turn at a time. Of course, with my trusty map, I tried to second-guess the GPS the entire way. I just couldn’t cede complete control to that sweet calm voice directing us. Without any help from me, however, that voice got us back on the interstate well north of all of the accidents and congestion.
Devotions of the Heart 