Numb With Worry

I think it's called "crisis fatigue" or something like that. It's when you have to deal with a bad situation for so long that you eventually become exhausted by it: tired, numb, indifferent, desensitized.

I'm pretty sure I have crisis fatigue over what's going on in the world today. Wars, rising gas prices, the economy tumbling to pieces, persecution, the decline of Christianity in Western society, the apathy of most people... it just gets to me. I can't even stand looking at the news page in the morning, because of the doom 'n gloom it represents. Worry is waging a war with my life, and sometimes it has the upper hand.

So this morning's personal exercise is to have God remind me how much I actually need to be concerned. Matthew 6:25-34 has Jesus' famous "don't worry" passage, and in reading it, here's what I'm taking away for the day:

1. We're commanded not to worry. The flipside of that is that worry is, in fact, a sin -- a sin of not trusting in God and His ability to provide for His people.
2. Jesus lists the very basics of life as worry points: clothing, food, drink, life itself.
3. Jesus points out that God's other creations do not spend their lives worrying -- birds, flowers and so on. Yet they're cared and provided for.
4. We are so much more valuable in God's eyes than the rest of creation, and He takes a special interest in caring for us.
5. Worrying accomplishes nothing. We cannot "add a single hour" to our life, no matter how much we worry.
6. Worrying is a sign of a lack of faith, or a struggling faith.
7. The world is consumed with worry -- we are called not to be like the world and follow in their ways.
8. God knows what we need -- He's not blind to them.
9. Our priorities in life are made clear: we are to FIRST seek the kingdom and God's righteousness, and THEN other things will be given to us as well.
10. By worrying about tomorrow, we overlook today.

Good things to remember. Guess my faith needs some shoring up.