PERSPECTIVE ON WORRY
When my daughter Abigail was 2 or so she came down with what is now known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Basically, a person’s entire body gets covered in cold sores. The end result is skin scars, loss of vision, and even death. She could not be touched. She was in constant physical pain. She could not see. She could not eat. Even talking about it all these years later gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach. It was a horrible time for her. She still does not like doctors or hospitals to this day.
I can think of no greater time in my life when I have worried. What if she went blind… that was a real possibility. What if she was disfigured for the rest of her life… that was an even greater possibility. Yet even in the midst of this situation, Jesus would say to me and to you, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
My wife reminded me about a time when I was greatly worried. It was just before we moved to Florida in 2006. Can you believe it has been six years?! I had experienced a great time of testing in the church I was at and was looking to move out of that situation. I was looking to perhaps leave ministry all together. I was quite broken. I was broken down. I was worried about providing for my family. To be honest, a Bible degree lets you be a minister and the greeter at Wal-Mart and that is about it. I was going to have to go back to school. What was I going to do as my next career because God had called me into His service and had not removed that calling? What would people think of me? Where would we live? The unknown haunted my steps. Yet even in the midst of this situation, Jesus would say to me and to you, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
From a sermon by Troy Borst, Worry Worry Worry, 5/31/2012