| “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.” |
| —Psalm 118:6a |
I used to be too busy to worry. I have always had a tendency to act like a “workaholic.” Even as a teenager, I used up every waking hour of the day in some activity or another. Especially on weekends, I liked the fact that every Saturday night was planned out for me.
- Two Saturday nights a month we had Youth for Christ rallies. Led by a dynamic young man in his early thirties, Ted Hess, we had over 200 young people gather in one of the churches for a time of singing, skits, a brief devotional, and fellowship.
- The two other Saturday nights each month we had Youth Fellowship activities sponsored by my local house of worship, Hill Memorial Evangelical United Brethren Church. Our youth leaders, Tom and Sandy Bolles and Jean and Dale Hutton, always had a wonderful program of activities. We went bowling, roller skating, caroling at Christmas, and a host of other neat activities. We also had some very intense Bible studies led by Isabel Young—a lady in the church who had attended Bible School.
- On the occasion when there were five Saturdays, I was totally lost on that fifth Saturday. No Youth for Christ, no Youth Fellowship, nothing. I imagine the youth leaders breathed a sigh of relief on those special few Saturdays each year. But, I was beside myself.
In all that busyness those many, many years ago, I was too engaged and too busy to spend time in worry. I didn’t really worry about anything. Even as a middle-aged adult, I filled my days and weekends with as many activities as possible. I kept busy and had little to worry about. But then, everything changed.
In 1998, I became gravely ill. By 2003, I had to retire on disability. My health became too fragile for my liking and I begin to be consumed with worry that, from time to time, will arise in my conscious thoughts even to this day. The Psalmist understood how easy it is for people to become weighed down by worry. Notice what he wrote in Psalm 118:5-6:
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Over the last twenty-five years, I have found myself crying out to the Lord more and more. I have longed to be brought into that spacious place that the Psalmist wrote about. In response to my outcries, God often gives me very concrete signs that He is at work in my life and in my circumstances. I have come to realize that a certain amount of difficulty is just part of life. But, even after all these years, I am still learning how to walk uprightly with God, how to trust that He is always in control, and that He always has my best interests at heart.
I suggest we go out into this new day confident that God hears our cries for help. He is quick to come and give us aid through His Holy Spirit. We simply need to learn to trust Him. I need that reminder every day, and maybe you do, too.
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, April 5, 2017
