Devotional

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”         

  —Corrie ten Boom

If you’ve spent any time on a pool-deck you’ve likely seen this drama play out: a terrified child stands on the side of the swimming pool facing a parent, who is chest-deep in the water and pleading, “Jump to me! I’ll catch you!”

You may even recall the experience from your own childhood as you learned to swim. You knew, cognitively, Mom or Dad wouldn’t let you drown. But still, the decision to step off the edge—to trust—was daunting. The water was unfamiliar … and deep!

Worry never works. Jesus asks, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25). Not only does worry fail to add a moment to life, it wastes life. Think about it: Worry saps you of energy and time—what would you call that if not a waste?

Worry doesn’t lighten a matter. Proverbs 12:25 begins, “An anxious heart weighs a man down.” Instead of relieving a burden, worry makes matters heavier to bear.

By contrast, trusting in God results in rest. Jesus invites, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Doesn’t rest from worries sound good? It is!

The Bible declares: “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). When staring into the unknown, I want to remember I trust in a God who demonstrated His love for me by sending Jesus, the One in whom every promise of God is “yes” and “amen.”

We know it cognitively—like a loving parent extending their arms in a swimming pool—our Heavenly Father won’t let us drown. Worry never helps; trust never fails. And trust over time builds.

Fast forward through that swimming pool memory. The same child once terrified, a summer later, is now a capable swimmer. Now they won’t stop running and jumping into the water, usually accompanied with an ecstatic shriek to a parent sitting in a deckchair, “Watch me!”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

My prayer for this week—Lord, would circumstances and concerns of today, the outcomes of which are unknown, be occasions for me to trust in you? Would you remind me of your promises and your faithfulness to “catch me” and give me rest? Would you grow my faith?