06/18/2024
People from every culture, country, and continent swim in the waters of “what if.” What if I lose my job? What if my child gets sick? What if my marriage fails? What if my health fails? What if our country slides into a recession or worse?
I was talking with a pastor recently who said that on a Sunday morning between worship services, an elder pulled him aside and whispered, "I need to talk to you as soon as possible." Typically, that type of message is not dripping with good news.
My pastor friend dreaded that conversation for two days, and he finally reached out to the elder and said, “Let’s talk.” When they eventually did so, the elder said, “O, I just wanted to make sure you knew about so-and-so. That was all. Sorry if I caused you any concern.” My friend said that the what-if conversations he created in his mind were far worse than what the elder actually said.
The stories we tell ourselves are often like that. We concoct worst-case scenarios and spend exorbitant energy on creating negative narratives that are rarely played out in reality. We worry the worst is on the horizon.
Perhaps there is a better way than the worry way.
Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life” (Matthew 6:25). Easier said than done, though, right? But as we know, the greatest victories in life come through some of our greatest challenges. Complacency doesn’t breed victory; it breeds anxiety. Our minds were created to focus, not fixate, and the more we embrace the challenge, the more our minds work on solutions than supposed inevitabilities.
The remedy? Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Perhaps the Apostle Paul had these words of Jesus in mind when he wrote, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).
Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, “Purity of the heart is to will one thing.” In other words, when we choose the path of our thoughts, when we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness, when we set our minds on things above and not on earthly things, we have nothing to fear, nothing to lose, and nothing to worry about.
I love the quote from Elizabeth Elliot, wife of martyred missionary Jim Elliott, “The older I get, the more I want to say, `Why has it taken so long to find out there is nothing to worry about?’”
Just like my pastor friend experienced after his conversation with the elder, worry leads us to play the “what if” game, which we rarely win. Instead, we need to choose the path to peace by setting our minds on things above. Hopefully, it won’t take us until old age to find out there really is nothing to worry about.
