"Why pray......when you can worry"

I just received an e-mail from a dear friend of the family. She was writing in response my note to her that mother had passed away. This friend lives many miles away, so she was not able to be at the memorial service.

She pointed out the great heritage that we have in our family. But also, her e-mail reminded me of a couple of things. First, her story:

“I remember one time when I was in a meeting with them in Minnesota..... I'm not even sure which town. It was during the 70's and I was traveling alone. I had two meetings in a row which had been cancelled.....both of them were "legitimate" cancellations, which the pastor could not help. I had got up early one morning and was in the dining room making some phone calls, trying to fill those "empty" spots. The door to the kitchen (where your parents were cooking breakfast) was closed. I think I was sitting at the dining room table, with my head bowed in my hands......partly in prayer, and partly in desperation. Anyway, the door to the kitchen opened, and your Dad came in to get something, and saw me.

I think he immediately got "the picture".....and started singing in his big booming voice:

"Why pray......when you can worry"

I had been singing the little chorus with the children:

Why worry, when you can pray
Trust Jesus, He'll be your stay.
Don't be a doubting Thomas
Trust fully in His promise...
Why worry, worry...worry, worry
When you can pray.

Anyway, we had a good laugh.........and my despair gave way to hope.....and "sure 'nuff"........I soon had some phone calls and filled those empty dates.”

Several things come to mind:

First: relationships are so wonderful! My parents had opened their home to this friend, who was an itinerant preacher. And, little did she know when she came to visit that she would need them! She needed dad’s “encouraging song” done with humor….but it got the point across. But, she probably might not have received it had they not been her friend.

Second: songs, even when mixed up and done in jest, can be powerful reminders!

Third: reminders are important. She needed to be reminded that worrying was getting her nowhere. She needed to pray. She had been singing the chorus with the children but it had not gotten into HER heart at that point. It was a nice message, but it was not yet a reality in her own situation.

Funny how we can get into situations that blind us to doing what we know we should do! When we are worried we should pray! We know that, but sometimes we need other people such as family, friends, colleagues, to remind us of that fact. So, let’s all be sensitive to needs around us and be an encouragement to someone today.

So, if you are in one of those difficult, “stuck between a rock and a hard-place” times, let someone help you! Or you can do what dad said: "Why pray......when you can worry"

Well…actually NOT! Here is a great reminder:

Do Not Worry

"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?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:25-33 NIV)