In 2014, a pest management professional named Paul J. Bello relayed a few stories of his career of crazy critter infestations in an article titled “Termite Horror Stories.” In one of his stories, he recounts a beautiful, Southern-Living-type home with a cozy, wraparound porch. The home was set on a lovely 10-acre pasture, appearing to the be perfect retirement home escape.
Unfortunately, the house was destroyed with termite damage from within the walls. Practically every piece of lumber in the home showed signs of termite activity. Some of the floor joists had even fallen from their own weight.
The beautiful house was deemed a total loss, for it would take seven times the number of funds to repair the home than to demolish and rebuild on the same property.
Often, I see is parallel in our hearts. Nothing seems to be wrong from a ways off, but inside a person’s heart, everything is crumbling due to the worst pest exterminators have ever faced: worry.
Worry eats away at a person’s soul. It causes one to never rest and to consistently be on edge of disaster.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we have no reason to worry! In Luke 12:22-34, Jesus commands us to not worry. He says to “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”
Luke even inserted an exclamation point there, people: I think Jesus really meant it!
Of all people in the Bible, Paul probably was in the running for people with actual reason to worry; he was constantly being questioned, beaten, and imprisoned for his faith in the Gospel. But rather than allowing worry to consume his mind, he saw the power of the Holy Spirit and learned to take God at His word.
In the middle of his persecutions and confinements, Paul writes to the church at Philippi to compel them to stop being anxious amidst the harsh trials they are facing, which are similar to his own. He promises that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds” because of what Christ Jesus has done for us (Phil. 4:6-7). He reminds the believers at Philippi to tell of their requests to the Lord and to ask for the inexplicable peace only granted through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Something God has radically changed me with is my view of worry. I used to accept worry as normal and just a part of being a human. But that’s exactly what it is; worry is me trying to accomplish everything on my own strength and not having the faith to believe God is big enough to handle the uncertainties of my life. When I worry, I put God in a box. I look up at him in the heavens from my insightful perspective (AKA the ground) and tell Him He can only do what fits in His box in my mind (probably the size of a moving box). Everything else that doesn’t fit in the box automatically goes on my shoulders. The problem is, the weight is too heavy and my worry is making me like the house mentioned in the beginning; I’m crumbling from the inside.
As humans, we were not made to carry the weight of worry. The Psalmist of Psalm 55:22 calls us to cast our burdens on the Lord because He cares for us! He is faithful to provide for our needs and tend to our wounds. God will sustain His children, whether it be physically or spiritually.
All the things of life we feel are too hard for us to handle truly are too hard for us to handle. Give your cares over to the Lord of Life, and He will manage to them on your behalf.
