If you are at all familiar with Mad magazine, you know that the fellow whose picture is always on the cover is Alfred E. Newman. Alfred E. Newman has a good-natured smile and a simple motto. His motto is, “What, me worry?†It’s not that Alfred E. Newman is so confident or so secure that he has no reason to worry. It’s just that he is so naive and simple-minded that he doesn’t have enough sense to worry. Mad magazine had its beginnings in the 50's when its editors suggested through Alfred E. Newman that worry was essential (and perhaps necessary) for normal people. Is that the way it is for people in general and for Christians in particular?
It is true that some anxiety is inevitable in life. In fact, mild anxiety is productive. It moves us to action. I read of a new drug that is on the market for worry. It doesn’t help you relax, but it does help you feel good about being tense.
Worry, however, becomes counterproductive when it becomes severe. Severe anxiety can immobilize us. How can you handle the inevitable tensions that come in your life? Let me suggest several principles:
1. Accept the fact that some worry is part of life. It only becomes destructive when we allow it to multiply and overwhelm us. The piranha is one of the most dangerous fishes in the world. Persons who fall into some sections of the Amazon River can be eaten alive by them. One piranha, however, never killed anyone. It is only when piranha are swimming in schools that they are dangerous. So it is with worry. Try to limit your worries to one at a time. If a thing is worth worrying about at all, it deserves your undivided attention.
2. Make your worry definite. Take it out and look at it. Write it down. Define it. You can’t worry successfully until you realize exactly what you are worrying about.
3. Don’t worry alone. Share it with a friend. Bounce your worries like a rubber ball off the “wall†of a friend.
4. Recognize that it doesn’t really do any good to worry. Worry only weakens you and makes you less able to cope with your problem. This can become an intellectual exercise that may be helpful.
5. Finally, let God in on it. Remember that God is interested in you and that you are important to Him. Rely upon His grace and strength to empower you.
A man carrying a heavy bucket got on board an elevator. As the elevator began its ascent, the man continued to hold the bucket. The person standing next to him said, “Why don’t you set your bucket down? The elevator will carry it for you.†Why don’t you do that with your worry? Trust it to God and let Him carry it for you.
