Why Worry?

My friend is in the middle of a difficult workplace situation. He’s torn between pleasing his boss and certain career decisions that must be made. It rips his heart to have to be in the middle of a no-win situation. He’s losing sleep, anxious over the turbulence and disruption.

I didn’t mean to dismiss the situation, but I asked, “In the end, in the final scheme of all things important, in light of eternity, where will this rank?”

I have been in the middle of situations, when, at the time, seemed devastating. I’ve been betrayed by lifetime love, lost friends who walked away and gained enemies from sources never imagined. I’ve lost jobs, wrecked cars and been in the hospital. In every one of those situations, I was just certain that my life would be crushed, that I would never walk upright as a man again.

God proved them wrong.

I still fidget over my security. Will my job last? Will my meager savings wash out to sea with the next storm? And my mind plays games with relationships. Will I be a good friend, lover, and brother to those around me?

The truth is that all of my thoughts and energies revolve around the temporal. Is any of this all that important?

Rick Warren puts it like this. “You will not be in heaven two seconds before you cry out, why did I place so much importance on things that were so temporary? What was I thinking? Why did I waste so much time, energy and concern on what wasn’t going to last?”

I don’t want to dismiss the cares of my friend. And if you have cancer, or your husband walked out of your life, or you lost your job, or your home has been surrendered to the bank, those things are important to God.

But I do wonder, in the end, if we will look back at of this, shake our head at all of our spent energy and displaced thoughts, and ask, “What was I thinking”

Linking up with True Vine Challenge at Oikos Living..