Is Worry Worth It?

I admit it – I’ve been worried today.

My daughter, attending school over 2000 miles away, is not well. She’s been in pain for several hours now and is away from her home. She will have to rely on someone else to get her to help – which will be administered by doctors she doesn’t know, in an unfamiliar city.

It’s such a helpless feeling.

I’m texting back and forth with her as care is being arranged, and trying to remind myself that she is God’s daughter, first, and then mine, and because of that, I can trust that He will be watching over her and sending aid.

I read an article by Becky Cooke and Diane Kummer* this morning about the difference between worry and concern, stating that concern can prompt us to constructive action, while worry can paralyze us and send us “spiraling down to despair.” One quote from that article is going to carry me through this day.

“…worry boils down to a lack of trust and a desire for control. Who do you trust? Someone once said we should be more defined by who we trust than by what we fear.”

I know in Whom I trust. I have been blessed by Him in countless ways, and carried through many dark days by His tender hand. Every trial I have been through I have felt His unmistakable presence near me.

I have experienced what is described in Philippians 4:6-7: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

So today I have a choice. Will I continue to trust Him, knowing that, somehow, good will come of this, too? Or will I allow myself to stew and worry, and begin that spiral toward despair?

It’s not a very hard choice, really. I don’t like that knot in my stomach that worry produces, nor the cloud that hangs over my day when I focus on the bad things that could happen. I much prefer trust and the peace it brings.

Because after all,

Worry isn’t worth it.