Stop Stewing And Start Doing

Stop Stewing and Start Doing

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?

Luke 12:25-26

A University of Michigan study determined that 60 percent of human worries are totally unwarranted. Of the remaining portion of our worries, 20 percent are about already past activities and completely beyond our control. And another 10 percent are so petty that they don’t make much difference at all. Of the remaining 10 percent of our worries, only 4 to 5 percent are really justifiable. And even half of this residue of viable worries is beyond our capacity to change! The final half, or 2 percent of our worries which are real, can be solved easily, according to these researchers, “if we stop stewing and start doing!”^a

Whether these statistics are reliable or not doesn’t really matter. The indisputable point is that most of our worries are not worth the stress they generate. How many times have the two of you let worry cloud your dinner conversation? How often do you lie awake at night consumed with an obsessive worry?

You don’t have to let the poison of worry contaminate your marriage. Jesus Christ came to give us eternal life, but also abundant life (see John 10:10, NASB). He came to give us life to the fullest and to set us free from the harmful effects of worry. By the way, Jesus practiced what he preached. When faced with the hostility of Herod and the pressure of the public clamor for healing, for example, he had plenty to worry about. Instead, Scripture tells us, he and the disciples rested. Jesus said to his disciples: “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).

So don’t allow worry to get a foothold in your marriage. Life is too short. The possibilities are too great. Instead, you can help each other to “give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7).

When I had a sleepless night, I learned to turn my insomnia over to God. I’d just say, “Lord, you know I’ve got to get my rest. You worry about these problems. You’re going to be up all night anyway.”

—Mary C. Crowley

^a 138