W.O.R.R.Y.

by Tom Ellsworth

As an elder are you a worrier?  Is today simply a stress rehearsal for tomorrow?  Do you stew, fuss, and fret over your role in the church?  Do you experience the occasional butterfly in your stomach, or do you endure a whole fighter squadron of them flying in formation when you’re required to make important decisions in the life of the church?   

Feeling anxious comes so easily in stressful moments but remember, worry is like a rocking chair.  We feel a lot of moving and shaking, but we don’t get anywhere.  These last twenty months have been challenging at best but worrying about the “what ifs” gets us nowhere fast.  COVID will never depose the King of kings.  Our sovereign God is still on eternity’s throne and is in complete control.  If you believe that, then you are well on your way to putting worry in its place. 

Worry, after all, is a thief; it robs us of our:

Worth

Opportunities

Relationships

Reason

Yoke

Worry, like a stone mason, chips away at our self-worth.  Make no mistake about it, worry never uses a small chisel as if working on a marble masterpiece, it employs a jackhammer that rips through even the toughest granite resolve.  Worry can reduce you to second guessing decisions made prayerfully as a team of elders.  Don’t allow outward stress to destroy your inner confidence in the Spirit’s guidance.  You are in this role for a reason; you’ve earned the trust of the congregation so don’t let worry cause you to doubt your calling.  

Worry, like a fog, blinds us to some wonderful opportunities.  According to our nation's Bureau of Standards, a dense fog covering seven city blocks to a depth of a hundred feet contains less than one glass of water.  Hard to believe, isn’t it?  All that fog, if it could be condensed into its liquid form, wouldn't quite fill an average drinking glass.       

A dense fog obscures our vision, blocks out the light and makes us feel disoriented.  What fog is to our surroundings, worry is to our mind.  It prevents us from being able to visualize the big picture, it blocks out the light of godly reason, and it makes us feel disoriented as we try to focus on spiritual goals and objectives.  Jesus said, “…do not worry about your life.  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap…and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26)

Have you noticed that birds don’t seem to be bothered by the fog?  Very often, they simply fly above it. Don’t let the fog of worry keep you grounded. 

Worry, like an unwelcomed intruder, plays havoc with our relationships.  To begin with, worry makes us irritable and unpleasant to be around.  Worse yet, the impact of our stress and anxiety has a way of rubbing off on those we love.  Those closest to us will feel the sting of our prickly demeanor when we allow worry to dominate our lives.  Worry has few friends but lots of enemies; it is no ally to building lasting relationships.

Worry, like a believable lie, undermines our ability to reason, and trust me, the world is full of believable lies.  I’m sure you’ve heard that George Washington reluctantly wore his false teeth because they were made of wood.  Believable, yes, but not true.  He did wear false teeth and they were reportedly very uncomfortable, but they weren’t carved from wood.  Every day we are taken in by what seems reasonable but in the final analysis is untrue.  Worry undermines our ability to reason: I can’t get everything done…I’m a failure in the church…I can’t do this role of elder anymore.  None of these statements is reasonable, but when worry dominates our thinking such thoughts become believable lies. 

Worry robs us of our spiritual yoke.  Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…”  (Matthew 11:29), A yoke is designed to enable two oxen to pull together as one.  We are not alone in the work of the Kingdom but worry makes us feel like we’re pulling the load in a single harness.  When you feel overwhelmed with responsibility, remember to learn from Jesus.  It’s his yoke we share, and it is always a perfect fit when we lean into him. 

Educator Leo Buscaglia wrote, “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”  What a futile endeavor!  No wonder Jesus commanded us not to worry but to seek him first.   It has been said, “Many of our worries are like small trees that temporarily cast long shadows.”  Most of the things we worry about are not nearly as big as we believe – they are just long shadows of small things.  Take charge of the thing you can handle.  And don’t worry about what you can’t control – leave those matters in the Lord’s hands.  Do your best to keep anxiety out of the eldership – no more stress rehearsals!  Store that rocking chair of worry in the closet and ground that squadron of butterflies.  You are a servant of the King of kings and Lord of lords!  Why should you worry?