Worry weighs a person down ... Proverbs 12:25 NLT
When I was in high school, I was in the cast of my senior play The Mouse That Roared. It was a satirical comedy about a miniscule, little country that declared war on the United States and accidentally, impossibly won. That phrase, “the mouse that roared,” has come to be a descriptor for a person, organization, or small entity that unexpectedly exerts significant influence despite being considered small, weak, or insignificant. It is an archetype of the underdog who surprises everyone by overcoming a much larger, more powerful opponent.
That describes worry. Worry is a small, nearly invisible thing that carries much weight. It’s the proverbial mouse that continues to roar. It is unseen and starts so small, generally as a passing possibility or thought, but can quickly become an obsessive and dominating cloud. It can dampen and destroy hope and do much damage. In fact, in all of history, though it is very powerful, worry has never accomplished anything good.
What does worry do?
- It weakens our physical and mental health. We don’t operate at peak capacity, we lose sleep, and don’t function well.
- It robs us of peace. We have a background buzz of stress day and night.
- It wastes our time. It steals precious moments and mental energy for things over which we have no control.
- It weakens our relationship with God as our trust in Him inevitably prohibits intimacy.
- It robs us of the "fruits of the Spirit" (love, joy, peace, etc.) that are ours as God’s gift, replacing them with simple emotions that go up and down with circumstances (Gal. 5:22-23).
- It makes our spiritual life empty and barren. Cares and worries choke our God’s truth, according to Jesus (Luke 8:14).
- It divides and distracts. Jesus told Martha that her worries kept her from what was most important (Luke 10:41).
You could add more. I could too. But all of these things worry can do only add to the futility and discouragement that defeat us. Worry and fear add nothing good to life. They only diminish. Worry is a mouse that roars. It can’t do anything beneficial at all, and we don’t have to let it in. We can defeat that mouse. The future is NOT in its hands. The future is not in our hands. Our future is in the hands of the One who knows us best, loves us most, and has the power and commitment to handle it for us.
- God, worry has weighed me down too long. I am Yours and I will trust You.