The mother of James and John came to Jesus saying, "When you come into your kingdom would you see to it that my sons get places of honor?" James and John were grown men. They were doing pretty well on their own. They were a part of Jesus' inner circle of three. But she was still worried about their future. They had given up a family fishing business to follow Jesus, and she wanted to make sure they were going to be successful.
You worry as you get older. You fret. You waste energy and time. You hoard money to protect yourself. You refuse to take any risks because of fear. You turn to pills or alcohol to calm you down. Or you lie awake, churning about it.
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Thomas Carlyle complained to his neighbor that his rooster, crowing in the middle of the night, kept him awake all night long. The neighbor said, "I counted last night, and he only crowed three times. Carlyle said, "Yes, but if you knew how I suffer, just lying there waiting for him to crow."
Jesus asked, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Did you ever watch people roll a bowling ball? It's entertaining to watch what they do after releasing the ball. They talk to it, use body English, contort their bodies, hop on one foot, tilt their heads, as if they had some magic control over the ball. But it doesn't change the roll of the ball one bit. All they can do is let it go and get ready for the next shot. Worry is like that. It accomplishes nothing. It just wastes energy, makes us look foolish and demonstrates our lack of faith.
Worry isn't overcome by pretending that nothing bad is ever going to happen because that's unrealistic. Worry is overcome by trusting that God will care for you regardless of what happens. Philippians 4:6-7 reads, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
So you decide: I can't prevent my kids from falling into the gutter. I can't prevent the split in my family. I can't prevent every hurt from happening to me. But I believe God's Word is true — He cares for the birds and the flowers, and He cares even more for me. Therefore I'm going to release the results to him.
Isaiah 46:4 in the Living Bible reads, "I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior."
Do you believe that? Then quit churning about tomorrow and live each day to the fullest. Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). God gives us just enough energy for each day. When we spend a day worrying we've wasted some of the resources He intended to be focused on that day.