A mom and daughter were talking about her upcoming college graduation. The biggest issue at hand was what was going to happen once the graduation was over . . . where was the daughter going to live? What were her next steps going to be? The daughter told her mom, “Don’t worry! I’ve got it under control.”
The mom took her at her word, so only offered a few more questions periodically.
And if her four years in college were any indicator of future success, she reasoned with herself that she had nothing to worry about!
The daughter had very good grades, graduating with a 3.35 GPA in a field where many businesses were hiring. She had experienced a great four years in college, surrounded by lots of friends, enough money to pay the bills and have fun when/where appropriate. It seemed like anything she desired was within her reach.
Graduation day came and went. The daughter’s lease on her apartment ended and she moved in with some friends. While the daughter wasn’t worried, the mom and dad were starting to get very concerned.
One afternoon they asked her how many jobs she had applied to over the past several weeks.
The daughter replied, “Not many. I’m not really worried about it. You always taught me not to worry.”
Then the mom “got it!”
Somehow her lessons on “Don’t worry” had been misinterpreted to, “don’t really be concerned.” The daughter just kept waiting for something to work itself out. She didn’t realize that “not worrying” didn’t mean that she also didn’t need to put forth an effort.
You and I read this story and think, “Well, yeah! Duh! How dumb! OF COURSE she had to put forth an effort in order to get some results.”
BUT . . . what if we started applying that to our everyday lives.
When we find ourselves pondering something and really holding on to it, what if we pause to consider the difference between concern and worry.
Not having concern causes us to be fatalistic, thinking it doesn’t matter what we do, the result is already determined. Nowhere in our faith is that a principle.
However, we are told repeatedly in scripture to “not worry.”
Psalm 55:22
22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Today let’s perhaps start checking ourselves every time we start down the “worry road” and see if it is something that we can control by putting energy into it (that would be a concern), or if it is truly a worry (something beyond any of our control).