Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Luke 12: 25-27

I wonder how many of Jesus' disciples actually understood where Jesus was going with those questions. It seems that anxiety was just as much a problem in the first century as it is today. Sure, the circumstances were different, but the feelings were probably very similar: fear of the unknown, fearing the loss of control, fear of things that have not happened yet. These uncertainties; these variables, if you will, can gain power and purchase in a person's life, sometimes to the point of outright relational paralysis. How many today suffer silently, held captive by the mere thought of possible calamity?

Bad things happen. Bad things have always happened. Bad things will continue to happen. Some of those things have happened to us or to people we know. Some of those things are too terrible to ponder. Yet, we know that the Son of God heals all. There is no personal experience or grievous circumstance that he can not mitigate; no brutality he can not soften; no violation of body or mind that he can not use to bring us closer to him.

However, even when we were healed, many of us continued to attempt to exert control over uncontrollable circumstances...constantly focusing on the sting of transgressions past, being unwilling to completely let go.

There are people in your life who need you: spouses, children, friends and enemies. There are people you haven't even met yet who will be forever changed by a single kindness that escapes your mouth. Despair would like nothing more than to see you frozen with worry...made immobile by the spectre of fear...made moot.

Living out the assertion that God is in control means allowing him to control all of it; all the "what ifs" and possible pitfalls; all the maybes and anticipations. Once we actively do this, fear quickly becomes the awkward, unwelcome house guest that heads for the exit. We find ourselves moving in a new boldness that is resolute and potent.

Worry is a decay that seeks to master the mind and spirit. Jesus tried to explain the folly of worry to his disciples, illustrating the idea that we can not control the outcome of circumstances by worrying about them. This came from someone who knew, ahead of time, the horrible suffering he would endure, knowing that God was in control.