From my book Are You Listening?, a reflection on the theme of anxiety, and a call to place everything in God’s hands and try not to worry.
I’m worried, Lord
Introduction
It’s hard sometimes not to worry. We may know it achieves little, but when we or our loved ones are facing some kind of threat to our well-being, it’s difficult to be rational about things. And let’s face it, we wouldn’t be human if every problem, no matter how great, just rolled off us like water off a duck’s back. Yet, left unchecked, worry can take over our whole life, reducing us to a shadow of the person we are meant to be.
Read
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Pray
I’m worried, Lord,
more than I’ve ever been in my life.
I know I shouldn’t be –
there are enough people telling me that –
but I just can’t help it,
the more I struggle to stay calm,
the more worried I become.
It just adds another anxiety to all the rest,
and there are enough of those already,
aren’t there? –
health,
money,
work,
family –
never allowing a moment’s peace.
Time and again, despite my efforts,
I catch myself brooding,
haunted by a multitude of questions
about the future –
and all the time the spectre grows
of life spinning crazily out of control,
taking all I value with it.
It’s easy to say, ‘Don’t worry’,
that everything will be all right,
but what if it isn’t,
what if my fears come true?
What then, Lord?
My child,
you know what I’m going to say, don’t you?
That’s right – don’t worry!
But before you jump down my throat,
stop and hear me out.
I’m not pretending everything will come good,
for I know it doesn’t sometimes –
all too rarely for my liking.
And I’m not saying your fears are unfounded,
for sadly some of them probably aren’t.
But what I am telling you is this:
the only thing worry will change is you –
for the worse.
It won’t make you feel any better,
that somehow you have everything sorted.
It won’t stop your fears coming true,
still less help you face them if they do.
On the contrary, it will suck you dry,
sap you of energy,
rob you of the very strength you will need
should crisis come.
That’s one reason I tell you not to worry –
because I see what it does to you
and know it achieves nothing.
But there’s another reason, more important still,
for the main thing is I love you,
and understand your needs,
and care about your welfare
more than you would ever imagine.
No, I can’t promise you a bed of roses –
that’s not the way I work –
but I do guarantee this:
whatever you face,
however many nightmares come true,
I’ll be there with you always,
come what may,
to see you through.