The opposite of trust is not doubt, but worry. Doubt can eventually strengthen faith as we reason through different issues, yet worry always drains us. The English word worry comes from the German wurgen, which means “to strangle, to choke.” It’s not hard to see how worrying chokes a person’s spirit, making healthy functioning impossible. That’s why Jesus cautions,
“I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink: nor about your body, what you will put on… But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” – Matthew 6:25, 33, 34
Once, for a teaching lesson, a middle-school teacher filled a large water vat with five gallons of water.
“This water,” he said, “represents our trust in God. Five gallons of faith.” He held up a bottle of cooking oil. “This oil represents our worry.” He poured in one cup of oil.
“Now, Eric,” he told a student, “I want you to mix this little bit of worry into our large faith so that the worry disappears.” Happy to oblige, Eric churned the water into a froth. The water continued spinning for half a minute.
At first the oil couldn’t be seen, but as the water stilled, six globules congealed on top. The globules flattened, moved toward each other and formed an oily film. In the end, one cup of worry covered five gallons of faith. Just as oil and water don’t mix, worry and trust cannot coexist.
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
As we’re stilled in bed after a spinning day, worries congeal, expand and cover our peace of mind. We must trust God entirely, giving our worries to Him. If a problem is not large enough to be acted upon or handled with a prayer, it is not big enough to worry about.
MY PRAYER
God, take these worries of mine and bury them beneath Your love. They are Yours now. I do not fear tomorrow, for I know You are already there.
