Will worrying make matters any
better? J. R. Miller, Daily Bible Readings
in the Life of Christ, 1890. Who of you, by worrying, can
add a single cubit to his height? Matthew 6.27 So it is useless
to worry. A short person cannot, by any
amount of anxiety, make himself an inch taller Why, therefore,
should he waste his energy and fret his life away in wishing
he were taller? One worries because he is too
short, another because he is too tall, one worries because
he is too lean, another because he is too heavy, one worries
because he has a lame foot, another because he has a mole on his
face. No amount of fretting will change
any of these things. People worry, too, over their
circumstances. They are poor and have to work
hard. They have troubles, losses, and
disappointments which come through causes entirely beyond their
own control. They find difficulties in their
environment which they cannot surmount. There are hard conditions
in their lot which they cannot change. Now why should they worry
about these things? Will worrying make matters any
better? Will discontent cure the blind
eye, or remove the ugly mole, or give health to the infirm
body? Will chafing make the hard work
lighter, or the burdens easier, or the troubles fewer? Will anxiety
keep the winter away, or keep the storm from rising, or put
coal in the cellar, or put bread in the pantry, or get clothes
for the children, even human reason shows the uselessness
of worrying, since it helps nothing and only wastes one's strength
and unfits one for doing one's best. The Christian gospel goes
farther and says that even the hard things and the obstacles
are blessings if we meet them in the right spirit. They are
stepping stones lifting our feet upward, disciplinary experiences
in which we grow. So we learn that we should quietly
and with faith in God's providence accept life as it comes to us,
fretting at nothing, yet changing hard conditions to easier ones
if we can, and if we cannot, then we must use them as means
for growth and advancement.