Stuck in Worry

Tuesday - November 9th

Scripture to Read Today: Luke 12:22-34

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And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Luke 12:29 & 31

Scenes in movies or TV shows that included everyone and everything being frozen or suspended in time except for one or two characters have always fascinated me. Old sitcoms like Bewitched or I Dream of Jeanie loved to use special effects to give the impression that a witch or genie suspended time, thus stopping everything at that moment. Usually, the characters did that to analyze something going on or prevent something from happening just before it was about to happen.

What fascinated me was the idea that a character or two that had not been suspended or frozen in time could walk around, comment, and analyze those who were. Usually, some great one-liner jokes emerged as these characters roamed the frozen scene of people. Those who had been frozen could not go back in time or forward in time. They were stuck.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his listeners not to worry. But, of course, that is much easier said than done. The second time he commands his audience not to worry, he changes the word he uses for "worry." He transitions in Luke 12:29 to a word that means "be suspended" or "get stuck." He describes worry as being stuck, unable to move forward or backward.

What an insightful explanation of what worry does to us! It paralyzes us. We stop in place when we fixate on what might happen (much of which never does). We cease any progress. We get suspended in time. There is no magic about that. Nothing special at all. The fastest way to frustration and ineffectiveness is getting stuck in a pervasive spirit of worry.

The Sermon on the Mount focuses on how we live out Christ's Kingdom here on earth. His Kingdom is about movement, progress, and transformation. Therefore, the antidote to worry, fear, and anxiety is growth and change. It's about obeying God, taking the next right step.

Instead of letting worry and fear paralyze or put you in a state of spiritual suspension today, take the next right step in a relationship, at work, with your finances, in your home. Take life one step at a time. Don't get stuck in endless cycles of worry. Take the next right step!

Don't put off what you know you should do today because of what might happen tomorrow!