Do Not Worry

Lesson Ten: Do Not Worry

Worrying.  Yeah, I tend to do that... a lot.  I'll be the first to admit, worrying is one of my greatest weakness.  I know that it shows a lack of trust in God to worry, but sometimes I do it without even thinking.  I don't even realize that what I'm feeling is worry until I say it out loud.  It's something as a follower in Christ and a Sailor Scout in training that I'm continuously working on.  Heck, I think I could argue everyone has this issue and is working on it (okay, a good majority of people), but that still doesn't give us the excuse.  It says clearly in the Bible (Matthew 6:25-34) not to worry.

Something I've noticed about myself is that I don't tend to worry about objects or things.  I worry about people.  Whenever someone is going through a hard time, I worry about them (how their doing, what God is doing with them, etc.).  Like I said, a lot of times I do unconsciously and I don't usually realize it until someone points it out to me.  I also worry very little about myself.  Even if I'm the one more hurt from a situation, I worry more about that person's feelings.  I'll be honest, I feel like it's almost an insult not to worry about someone.  If I didn't, I feel like it's saying "I don't care about you and your situation."

But something God has shown me is that reminiscing and worrying isn't the solution.  You can still care about that person and not worry.  It's called Compassion.  Instead of worrying about people, we need to show more compassion towards them.  What I mean by compassion is saying, "I want you to know that I care about you and I'm thinking of you.  I'm here to help in any way I can."  Whereas worry says, "I hope you'll be okay and God will take care of you."  Hope?  God is taking care of the weary, of the hurt, and the broken.  There's no need to hope for what is already being done.  "To worry is to believe that God will fail." Worry shows a lack of trust in God and it's something I need to work on.  I have trust issues (just like many people in the world), and my worry clearly points that out.

Even the Sailor Scouts worry, it's not something anyone is perfect at.  It seems like in every episode, a Scout is saying to another Scout, "Do not worry."  Most of the time it's about defeating the bad guys, but a lot of times it's about little things too, like passing a test.  Now, this isn't saying that we all just need to let lose and never care.  We should care about things, it's what motivates us to get stuff done and move on in our day, but it shouldn't control our lives to where nothing good comes from it.

Abba, help me overcome my worry and my lack of trust.  I know you hold us all in your loving arms, so I do not need to worry.  Your will is what I want, no matter what that means.  I don't want to worry about my future anymore, it's too painful and it consumes my thoughts.  Take it away.

~Alyssa (SSD)