WHAT'S INSIDE THE BAGS?

WORRY

Worry is the burlap bag of burdens. It's overflowing with "whaddifs" and "howells." "Whaddif it rains at our wedding?" "Howell we know when to discipline our kids?" "Whaddif we marry a person who snores?" "Howell we pay our baby's tuition?" "Whaddif, after all our dieting, we learn that lettuce is fattening and chocolate isn't?"
The burlap bag of worry. Cumbersome. Chunky. Unattractive. Scratchy. Hard to get a handle on. Irritating to carry and impossible to give away. No one wants our worries.
The truth be told, we don't want them either. No one has to remind us of the high cost of anxiety. Worry divides the mind. The Biblical word for worry (merimnao) is a compound of two Greek words, merizo ("to divide") and nous ("the mind"). Anxiety splits our energy between today's priorities and tomorrow's problems. Part of the mind is on the now; the rest is on the not yet. The result is half-minded living.
That's not the only result. Worrying is not a disease, but it causes diseases. It has been connected to high blood pressure, heart trouble, blindness, migraine headaches, thyroid malfunctions, and a host of stomach disorders.
Anxiety is an expensive habit. Of course, it might be worth the cost if it worked. But it doesn't. Our frets are futile. Jesus said, "You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it" (Matt. 6:27 NCV). Worry has never brightened a day, solved a problem, or cured a disease