Find yourself worrying? Here are a few thoughts.

As the sun sets today, it is already rising somewhere as tomorrow.

Do you worry a lot? Here are a few thoughts about worry that I found.

• Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.

• Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.

• Troubles are a lot like people - they grow bigger if you nurse them.

• Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.

• Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.

• Worry is a complete cycle of inefficient thought revolving about a pivot of fear.

So what is the one thing all these thoughts have in common....think about it for a second.... Worry just wastes time, drains energy and is bigger than what it really is. How many times have you worried about something, only to have it never happen? Or what if you worried about something and it did happen? Either way, it either was going to be or not. What did worrying accomplish? I can tell you what it easily can accomplish... higher blood pressure, anxiety, depression, ulcers, short temper, stress, nausea, muscle tension, headache, dry mouth, dizziness, irritability, sleeplessness, nervous energy, heart attack, shortness of breath, suppression of the immune system, overeating, and drug/alcohol use. Quite a list.

However, a little bit of worry may help you. What, help me? It may help in this way – if you have a test, a little worry may help you study more. If you have a job interview – it may help you prepare more for the interview. The problem is when worry becomes so irrational that you can't think clearly. It is easy to say – Stop Worrying! The fact is, it is hard to do.

One way that I cope with the “worries” of life is to rely on God. There are so many verses in the bible that speak on this very topic. Here are a few that encourage me:

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:25-27

"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

We live in a very fast paced, crazy world. Things are happening quicker now, than at any time in history. We are in information overload and it is only going to get worse... Maybe it's time to step back, take a deep breath, re-examine priorities and look to the Lord for comfort, peace and rest. Let God worry about tomorrow for you...He already knows what tomorrow holds :)

Have a great day friends.

Reality Check... for me

There is a lot of dead animals around. I am not sure if it is just because it is spring and all the grass has yet to grow? And the thing is, I'm not talking about the regular road kill - groundhogs, raccoons, and the odd deer.

Just in the last week I saw a coyote about 40 feet off the road, dead. It's light gray coat standing out in stark contrast to the brown forest floor. It just looked like it was sleeping. It's legs underneath, and it's head lying to the side. 

deceased coyote in the forest

Then, the other night, there was a dead calf. It looked like the coyotes had dragged it to the side of the bush. And last night, there were 4...yes 4 deer skeletons at the side of the road within 10 feet of each other. 

4 deer skeletons on the edge of a bush

Makes me wonder what happened to these animals? I do know that they probably didn't think when they awoke that that would be their last day on earth.

A couple verses keeps coming to my mind - they are found in James 4:13-15 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” ¹⁴ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

So many times, I find myself planning...thinking that I am in control. Then I get a reality check. Sometimes all it takes is a drive down a back road or a walk through a bush to see how quick life really is...an interesting reality check.